Building extra muscle there won't burn off the fat, but it will build density that can make our waists look bigger, especially when we have a layer of fat sitting over the muscle. This is because the muscle underneath fat pushes that fat out further giving us a bigger midsection.
We tend to lose muscle mass, so our abdominal muscles aren't as tight as they once were, and the loss of elastin and collagen in our skin allows gravity to have its way so skin starts to sag. Both can cause the waistline to expand.
You may know that doing crunches doesn't shrink the waistline. If you want a slimmer belly, this you have to build your oblique muscles. This workout has numerous torso-twisting exercises that will build your obliques. Make sure you maintain proper form while doing the various exercises in this workout.
V-Ups and Knee Hugs
Lie on your back with your legs straight and your arms over your head. Move both arms and legs towards each other so they meet above your waist. Squeeze your abs as you slowly lower down to the floor in a controlled movement. Repeat for a total of 15 repetitions.
1) Doing planks will shrink your waistline.
As the transversus abdominus gets stronger from doing planks, it will tighten your waistline all the way around in a way that crunches never could.
“Another kicker is that you cannot spot reduce. That means that there are no specific exercises that will specifically target the reduction of belly fat. Not even 100 crunches a day will slim your waistline. It just doesn't work that way.”
One reason for belly fat is a sedentary lifestyle. Even skinny people can spend too much time in front of the television or computer screen, and this can encourage what little extra fat they have to settle into the stomach. A diet high in processed foods can also cause belly fat, even in skinny people.
On average, the pelvic width of the oldest people in the study was nearly 2.5 cm larger than the youngest patients. This increase in pelvic diameter could lead to an approximately 7.6 cm increase in waist size from age 20 to age 79, regardless of body fat increases.
People who regularly eat and drink more calories than they burn each day are more likely to gain extra weight, including belly fat. Getting older also makes a difference. People lose muscle as they age. And the problem is worse for those who are not physically active.
Unfortunately, ab workouts alone won't give you a flat stomach. In fact, you can't target where you want to burn fat. You have to work on burning fat overall. To burn fat, you need to raise your heart rate and body temperature through medium- or high-intensity exercises, depending on your fitness level.
Go for twist exercises like the Russian twist, plank twist, and tummy twist exercises. These moves can help you get closer to your desire of a slimmer waist. They can also build core strength and burn calories. Begin incorporating these twist exercises to lose weight and tone your abs.
Fitness Myth: To get flat abs or six-pack abs, do 100 crunches every day. The crunch is a classic abdominal exercise but only work on the top layer of superficial abdominal muscles that when worked out alone, do not sufficiently achieve visibly trim and ripped abs.
Aerobic exercise includes any activity that raises your heart rate such as walking, dancing, running or swimming. This can also include doing housework, gardening and playing with your children. Other types of exercise such as strength training, Pilates and yoga can also help you lose belly fat.
There is not a set number of crunches that will give a person abs. Although this exercise can help strengthen the abdominal muscles, it cannot reveal them. Instead, body fat percentage must be at a certain point so that stomach fat cannot hide the abs.
Bent over rows are a great back exercise that can help build that hourglass shape to mirror a slimmer waist. Begin with feet shoulder-width apart. Add a slight bend to your knees, pushing your hips back, hinge forward with a straight back to a 45-degree angle.
Incorporate strength or resistance training to build your upper and lower body muscles to create that silhouette. Add core workouts such as reverse crunches, leg raises, Russian twists, V-holds, weighted crunches, and planks to chisel up your abs. Consistently do cardio to burn up those calories and shed extra fat.
Even if you're thin, you can still have too much visceral fat. “The popular term for that is 'skinny fat,' ” Alexander says. That is, you can look thin and see a healthy number on the bathroom scale and on that measuring tape around your waist, but unseen visceral fat has gathered deep in your belly.
So, killer abs boil down to diet, cardiovascular exercise and resistance training. If you do all three at the same time, you can get some progress in about six weeks. You might not end up with a 6-pack, but at least you won't be carrying around the ENTIRE keg.