I’ve been working in the fitness industry going on 6 years now and hands down the most common question I have been asked is, “what’s the best exercise for my abs?”
It’s actually rather simple…The only type exercise for your abs that will make a difference is whatever exercise occupies your hands so you can’t constantly put food in your mouth! Your diet is everything when it comes to Abs.
My goal involving this topic is to infect your mind with the “exercise smart & eat clean” virus. You need to burn that layer of subcutaneous fat you have wrapped around your midsection. Burning fat is roughly 70% eating “clean” and 30% working out “smart”. Doing that in reverse is a whole other story. I don’t care if you can do decline sit-ups holding a hippopotamus over your head. If your fitness regimen is more like 70% working out smart and 30% eating clean, you’ll never see your superhuman abs.
Another important fact…you can’t spot reduce fat. You reduce fat all over your body or you don’t lose any fat at all. You have to move your center of gravity through space. What does that mean? Move your BODY! Boost your metabolism by lifting weights and interval training. Lying on the ground and doing a million crunches is going to do more damage to your neck than benefit to your Abs. That would be equivalent to me trying to obtain lean and chiseled legs by sitting and standing off a bar stool. Yes, eventually my legs will get tired, but most likely out of boredom than anything else. You need to treat your Abs like any other muscle in your body. If you want to build them, you need resistance. Using kettle bells, medicine balls and ankle weights will take you light years ahead of standard sit-ups and crunches.
Most people are so over “fat” no amount of abdominal work will make any difference to your abs at all. You need to exercise smart AND eat clean to burn the fat. Exercise alone will not give you the Abs of your dreams. If your food plan sucks, you’ll have the Abs of your nightmares.