Flat Stomach Exercises

MYTH: Exercising is tedious and non-enjoyable.

MYTH: Exercising is only for actors, models, health freaks and professional athletes.

MYTH: You need to be in fit shape before you begin to exercise regularly.

That couldn’t be further from the truth. It is never too late to start exercising and working towards a flat stomach. The only differences will be the intensity of workouts and with time and effort it takes to reach your ultimate goal. Don’t be discouraged by how far you have to go; think about the rewards and why you want to get that flat stomach.

MYTH:  It is essential to have a home gym to use, with exercise equipment and various other exercising tools, in order to get that flat stomach.

While having a home gym would be convenient, it is absolutely not needed to start exercising and getting a six pack. There are a lot of cases where people have the exercise equipment at home and still don’t get motivated to take advantage of it. Sometimes it takes getting out of the house to refresh yourself and get a great workout.

That being said, you can get a great workout at home and save precious time if you have access to exercise equipment. Utilize what you have at home or what is close by, use the time you save to prepare healthier meals, get more rest, and enjoy your leisure time.

MYTH: You need to exercise for hours upon hours daily to see your efforts pay off with a flat stomach.

When you exercise, it is the quality of the routine in combination with the time that counts. You do not need to spend countless hours lifting, running or in the gym/pool. You can start to see results after doing daily routines of as little as 10-20 minutes a few days a week. If you are able to get regular workouts of about 60 minutes you will see excellent results, so try to see if you can squeeze these longer workout in on the weekends.  See our FAQ for some great info.

MYTH:  Spot-reducing is the key to improving specific areas on your body.

Spot-reducing, meaning, exercising one place on the body to diminish fat, can not only be harmful to you, but it is essentially not worth your while. What you do want to do is go for an overall workout that coincides with a healthy diet.

In order to lose your love handles and get the six pack abs you desire, you will also need to incorporate cardio exercise which help to raise your metabolism and burn fat in all areas of your body.

MYTH: If you don’t feel the burn in your muscles, you are doing something wrong.

Pain doesn’t necessarily mean progress. However, a little bit of that burning sensation should be expected when you work out parts of the body that have not been exercised in a long time. This is actually pretty common when doing flat stomach exercises, but keep in mind not to over do it.

By systematically introducing new and different workouts into your exercise routine you can continue to make great balanced progress towards losing your love handles and getting six pack abs.

MYTH: There is no such thing as too much exercise.

Most people think there is nothing wrong with incessantly exercising, but there definitely can be. Exhaustion is bad. Be aware of your pulse and try not to burn yourself out too early on your path to a flat stomach. Excessive exercising can also lead to strain and in some cases pulled muscles, so you may want to consult a trainer or doctor to see what level is right for you.

MYTH: Eating less or nothing will help me lose weight fast

Starving yourself is actually counter-productive. What this does is send a signal to your body to begin storing more of the fat and calories it does receive, since it is unsure when your next meal is coming. Also, this negatively impacts your metabolism and decreases your energy. Once this type of diet ends, you will quickly gain back any weight you lost and in many cases add more.

For additional guidance on diet, check out our nutrition page or consult a nutritionist.

Myth: Strength training will make you very muscular.

This myth is particularly popular amongst females but can also be a concern of males who do not want to get “too big". A common misconception among women is that lifting weights will make them bulk up. Bodybuilders spend hours at the gym every week, may use addition weight gainers, pills, and other enhancements and also follow strict diets to achieve their physiques. In addition, compared to men, women have less of the hormone testosterone, which is key to developing large muscles.

Doing some strength training in combination with your health diet and cardio training will help lead to a lean and toned appearance.
 

MYTH: You should lose weight every week if you are regularly exercising.

This is not the case, so don’t be discouraged if you can’t seem to drop the pounds. In fact, many times you will gain weight because of an intensified cardio or lifting regiment. This is because the muscle you are packing on weights more than the fat you may be burning. Also be wary of placing too much value on the scale, your body can fluctuate many pounds just based on water weight.

A better measurement of progress is your own analysis, do you see more tone? Are you down a couple notches in your belt? The best measurement is body fat percentage. If you can get access to a trainer, nutritionist, or friend who has BMI equipment, definitely take advantage of this to track your progress.