Burning fat fromthe abdomen through exercises specially destined to the abdominal muscles was,is and will always be one of the most resistant myths.
Almost all the people with a big belly take up, with a lot of determination,sit-ups, crunches, side-bends, twists, etc., hoping that every new series orset of exercises, every session of repeating them, will help them get rid ofthe ‘ring’ of adipose tissue around their waist, also called ‘the ring ofdeath’.
Besides the fact that it is probably the most anesthetic ‘deposit’ of adiposetissue, abdominal fat involves many risks for the health of the person whichpossesses it (related to diabetes, high blood pressure, cardio-vasculardiseases, cancer, impotence, etc.).
We must keep in mind, once and for all, that when we refer to the melting ofthe subcutaneous adipose tissue, there is no spot reduction. No matter how muchwe strive to locate effort in the areas we are focused on, we will only fortifythe muscles under the fat, but the reduction of the fat itself will beinsignificant. The explanation is simple and is connected to the energeticsupport of the anaerobic effort, which uses, for the exercises, muscular andhepatic glycogen, and not fat acids from the adipose tissue. For getting to thedeposits of fat, what we need is cardio training (running, biking, fastwalking, swimming, etc.).This type of exercises must be maintained for a longtime (45-60 minutes) and they must be intense (60-70% from the maximum of heartrhythm).
An alternative is cardio training with periods when intensity varies, althoughthe total volume is not smaller than in the case of uniformly cardiotraining.
A very important role in burning fat is held by the diet. It is said that themost effective of training can be sabotaged in the kitchen.
The nutritionists say that a diet which maintains caloric deficit, but keeps abalanced proportion of the basic principles (proteins, lipids, blood sugar),with a slight increase of the protein part, will always have as a consequencelosing weight. Physical exercises like sit-ups, crunches, etc., without otherexercises meant to involve bigger groups of muscles (thighs, chest, back) andto fortify the abdominal muscles, do not increase very much the basic metabolicrate.
As a consequence, indirect burning of calories (during breaks, post-training)is very small in comparison with the burning due to aerobic effort (especiallythe ones with alternative periods) – in their case, during effort taking morethan 20 minutes, the energetic support is exactly the adipose tissue.
The magic formula for burning abdominal fat is a combination of hypo caloricdiet and exercise – especially aerobic, but also anaerobic (focused on all thebody, not only the abdominal muscles).
