I don’t have cable or internet in my house.
I know it’s weird but it allows me to be much more productive and read a lot. However, when I travel I can’t wait to turn on the little TV on the back of the airplane seat!
On my most recent travels, my flight left at 6:10 am. When I flipped on the mini-TV, there was info-mercial after infomercial selling workout videos, ab devices and even a cream to burn belly fat.
I clicked off the TV and opened up the Sky Mall magazine and inside more of the same devices for sale! All promising to get you ripped without dieting.
So let me clear this up with a bit of recent research.
A six week study conducted at Southern Illinois University found that performing endless repetitions of abdominal exercises had ZERO effect on body weight, body fat percentage, abdominal fat percentage, waist circumference or abdominal skin fold measurements.
(source: Journal Strength Conditioning Research, 25: 2559-2564, 2011)
What did improve was abdominal endurance. In other words they got really good at doing abdominal exercises. If your goal is to get really good at doing ab exercises then hit 30 minutes of abs a few times per week. If your goal is to burn fat, then train the abdominals with less volume, much like other muscle groups.
What you can take away from this research
Working your abs will not burn fat off of your abs. To burn fat you need to eat in a manner that releases fat for fuel, you must train all of the muscles in your body and you must provide the body with adequate rest and recovery.
...and never buy some ridiculous ab device or 30 minute ab workout video (sorry Jillian, love ya but I gotta tell the truth.) They don’t burn fat from your belly. Got it?
Good. 🙂
Want a great Ab workout? Get one here… (no catch, it’s free)
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This amazing sculpture called “self made man” says it all. Intelligent, hard work pays off
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I add extra ab exercises at the end of my workouts should I stop?
David, That depends upon your goal. If your goal is to get good at ab exercises (spinal flexion, rotation) then go for it. If your goal is to get lean then I would avoid adding anything beyond what is needed.
Great info BB3! If people would realize that they get the biggest bang for their buck by having an optimal nutrition, they wouldn’t waste tons of hours a year doing a million crunches. Good stuff, thanks for sharing!
Great work BB3! I’m a fan!
Although, I would avoid spinal flexion altogether when doing abdominal exercises and opt for isometric exercises. Repetitive bending of the lumbar segment (as found in many “core” exercise routines) in particular will cause the nucleus of the intervertebral discs to pump outward and bulge against the spinal chord way before the abdominal muscles are trained at a high level.
The study by Vispute et al. (2011) is good stuff.
Thanks Scott,
There is some evidence that repetitive spinal flexion may lead to back problems. However, I cannot say I agree that ALL people must avoid spinal flexion abdominal exercises conclusively. There is a time and place for everything and the truth is that we do in fact flex our spines every time we get out of bed or get up off of a chair. Over the last 18 years I have worked with clients…lots of them…without a single case of low back pain associated with doing an abdominal spinal flexion exercise. There is some truth to what you are saying though…
And this is where I absolutely agree with you…EXCESSIVE abdominal spinal flexion exercises are unnecessary and can lead to injury over time. The 30 minute ab classes got to go 🙂
The study you referenced is a great one indeed and supports the fact that ab exercises don’t burn fat from the stomach just as butt exercises don’t burn fat from the glutes. Thanks for the quality post. Gratitude to you Scott!