Ripped abs, ab workouts, ab machines…all mantras for over a decade of fitness products and weight loss advertisements in the US. How many variations of the Ab-Name-Goes-Here, Ab Machine? The stomach tightener, or whatever you want to call it, have been marketed and sold under the banner of giving the wearer ripped abs. Then there are the endless magazine articles with headlines like “Best Ab Exercises,” “How to Get Ridden Abs,” or “Firmer Abdomen in Just 10 Days.” If aliens landed on earth, these would be some of the first sentences you’d learn, at least in English.
Here’s the truth of the matter that anyone who’s put through a good, solid year of fitness and weight training can tell you: ripped abs is as much about what and how much you eat as it is how you exercise your ab muscles.
I remember a “wise older workout master meets novice” quip that happened just a few feet from where I was working out one afternoon at the gym. (It was, of course, around the ab machines.) A solid, well-defined young man, clearly dedicated to what he was doing, asked an older member that he had a more defined set of abs how he got them. The young man protested that he was going crazy doing all the abdominal exercises recommended by the gurus, but still he was not getting the results he thought he should given the work he was doing.
Don’t get me wrong: I had a relatively flat stomach, and I’m sure most people would love to have. He just didn’t match his arms, chest, or legs, which were clearly top notch for a serious fitness enthusiast.
The wise old man stopped what he was doing, shook his head and laughed to himself, then said, “I’m not laughing at you. You just wouldn’t believe how many times people ask me that. There are actually three things going on here. You’re already doing all the workouts you need, so that narrows it down to two. One is genetic, and you can’t do anything about it. The other part is diet. I don’t care how hard you work your abs, if you’re eating too much. or eating the wrong foods, you won’t see a six pack. You’ll have great abs, but you won’t see them.”
Okay, I know you’re probably not aiming for an ab fitness model, but I’m giving this example to demonstrate how critical the diet component is. Everyone who makes and markets such abdominal training devices knows this too. Just look closely at the ad and you’ll see that each product includes a handy diet program to go along with the abdominal exercises. At some point during the infomercial, or in the ad copy if it’s a print ad, they make it perfectly clear that if you want to achieve the flat stomach of your dreams, you’ll also need to follow their dietary guidelines.
You have no idea how many guys and girls are out there with textbook abs, but no one has ever seen them because they’re hidden under a layer (or two or three) of fat.
The other thing they’re not telling you: There’s no such thing as “spot reduction.” You cannot target fat loss in the abdominal region through exercise. The calorie burn that accompanies any form of muscle training affects the entire body, which means your gut-busting ab workout will likely be apparent first on your face. Then, depending on factors outside of your control (genetics), you will lose weight in other parts of your body, the order of which may differ somewhat from person to person.
Do not misunderstand. If you work your abs hard, you’re certainly strengthening them, and that’s a good thing. But they can stay hidden under belly fat until it’s time for your body to get rid of them.
For men, ironically, the last place you can see the effects of your weight loss exercise program is your abdominal area. As we all know by now, Mother Nature has programmed men to store fat in the stomach area. Women get it mostly on the hips and also on the abs. Mother Nature doesn’t care if you look like a fitness model. She’s going to keep a little more around the waist just to be safe.
In the final analysis, ripped abs are overrated and too hard to come by. When it comes to building a stronger abdominal section, unless you’re genetically gifted in this area, it’s probably best to focus on diet control and balanced workouts, which lead to good weight management and better health. Let abdominal development creep up on you over time. If you can control your diet and get both aerobic and weight training into your workouts, you can develop a stronger, flatter abdominal area, which is an achievement you can be proud of.
