(ThyBlackMan.com) Exercise has undergone quite a few changes over the past fifty years. We know so much more about how the body responds to muscular and aerobic stress than we did just a few years ago. One of the things we know more about is how to best train our tummy. After all, ask any would-be exerciser what’s the one area of their body they’d like change and conquer and the answer is invariably the tummy. The stomach always reigns supreme!
Approaches to taming the tummy have varied over the years – from exercise to surgical procedures to taking pills.
Here’s one thing that won’t change: if you want to conquer your tummy, it’s going to take a combination of smart and hard work.
Here are three tips for tightening your tummy.
Abs are Made in the Kitchen
The most important element to getting tight abs is the combination of diet and nutrition. Abs, as they say, are made in the kitchen. Monitor your diet; guard against foods with high a concentration of fat. Watch the intake of processed foods and fast foods. Work more low-glycemic carbs into your diet versus those carbs that break down quickly into the bloodstream (high-glycemic).
Also watch your intake of carbs period after 6pm and try to snack on more healthy treats at night such as celery sticks, low-sugar fruit or whole-grain crackers. And don’t forget the value of water; it cleanses your body by flushing out the bad stuff. Try to drink six bottles of water per day.
Do Your Core on the Floor
This principle is important because so often I see people on machines trying to work their abs. Machines are the worst thing for training the core simply because they are not designed to match the anatomical structure of our natural core design. In other words, they are not made to move in the plane in which our bodies are operate (this is true of all parts of our body).
The best movement for core development is ‘free’ movement – exercises that promote the working of the abdominal muscles in their natural plane. I call this ‘Core on the Floor’.
Core on the Floor essentially involves performing most if not all of your core exercises on the floor from supine and prone positions. This helps you body move in its natural sphere and is unrestrained by bulky machines.
Do Short, High-Intensity Workouts
Just a quarter-century ago the prevailing ethos was the longer we stay in the gym the better for our bodies. With advances in our knowledge and understanding of the human body, we know now that it’s the opposite: with few exceptions, our bodies respond better to short, powerful, high-intensity workouts.
High Intensity Interval Training (aka H.I.I.T.) has revolutionized not only the fitness industry, but also the way we train our tummy! It’s one of my favorite methodologies of training not only myself – but my clientele, too.
Short, high-intensity workouts burn more fat and calories and build muscle more quickly than the conventional mode of training in which you complete a set, wait three minutes and repeat.
Your body – and by default your midsection – respond more favorably to this quick burst of muscle energy development.
If you want to conquer your tummy, it’s going to take a combination of smart and hard work.
Staff Writer; W. Eric Croomes
This talented brother is a holistic lifestyle exercise expert and founder and executive coach of Infinite Strategies LLC, a multi-level coaching firm that develops and executes strategies for fitness training, youth achievement and lifestyle management. Eric is an author, fitness professional, holistic life coach and motivational speaker.
In October 2015, Eric released Life’s A Gym: Seven Fitness Principles to Get the Best of Both, which shows readers how to use exercise to attract a feeling of wellness, success and freedom (Infinite Strategies Coaching LLC, 2015) – http://www.infinitestrategiescoaching.com.