There is a question as to whether doing specific ab-related exercises during pregnancy will help foster a quicker return to your ‘original’ flat stomach.  This was addressed by Martica Heaner in recent article as she answered a reader’s question:

Q. I’m worried about how my stomach is going to look after I have my baby. Is it a good idea to start working out my abs now, while I’m pregnant? Will that make them recover faster?

A. While some women snap back to their formerly flat abs after they have baby, others swear that their tummy never recovers. A pregnant belly is big for several reasons: excess fluid, excess fat and, of course, a baby. To determine the likelihood of returning to your pre-pregnancy state, and how to do so if you can, you need to look at the different factors that make a belly flat.

Keep in mind that genetics play a large part in the appearance of your belly and your whole body, so you’ll always be working within those constraints, but you can make changes within those limits.  Two main points to remember for pregnant women trying to remain healthy and reduce the amount of fat accumulation during pregnancy are:

• consume nutritious foods and avoid high fat and high sugar snacks
• exercise regularly, but only under the care and recommendations of your doctor

For pregnant women, as with everybody else, doing ab-specific exercises will not help you spot-reduce fat in that area, but general exercise that includes some strength training and cardio, along with a nutritious diet will help burn fat throughout the entire body, including your midsection.

You work out zealously and eat healthy meals — at least most of the time — and the pounds are starting to drop off. You’re looking and feeling more toned, too, just as you’d hoped.

But with all this effort, shouldn’t you lose fat? Shouldn’t the flab be dissolving faster? If you’re of a certain age, you know the flab we’re talking about.

If you’re a woman, you may still have the dreaded muffin top, that slab of fat that spills stubbornly over the top of your best jeans, spoiling the look. Or if you’re a man in that same bracket, you may have the unsightly pot belly that adds years to your otherwise youthful physique.

Shouldn’t fat burning be faster? Not to mention easier?

WebMD consulted an exercise physiologist and an exercise physiologist/registered dietitian to find out how best to burn fat — once and for all!

Here are their five best fat-burning strategies:

1. How to Burn Fat: Get Realistic

Get real tip No. 1: “You can’t spot reduce,” says Darlene Sedlock, PhD, an associate professor of kinesiology at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. “Nobody wants to hear that.”

Translation: If you’re hankering to get rid of the jeans spillover or the pot belly, you need to burn fat from head to toe. “Anything to reduce your overall body fat will help,” she says.

Get real tip No. 2: You need to give it some time. “There’s no easy fix to the flab,” Sedlock says. “Over time, some of the flab will disappear,” if you’re diligent about the eating and exercise plans. Give it several months, she suggests. Your weight might not change, but you will notice a difference in the way your clothes fit, she says.

Get real tip No. 3: This is perhaps the cruelest. You probably can’t expect to be as flab-free as when you were 20. “Skin loses elasticity as you age,” Sedlock says. The sagging of the skin adds to the unsightly appearance of flab, she says.

Other factors also make flab a challenge, says Jim White, an exercise physiologist and registered dietitian in Virginia Beach, Va.  who is a national spokesman for the American Dietetic Association. “As we age, muscle mass declines, and metabolism slows, so we are definitely fighting an uphill battle.”

So is some flab inevitable with age? “It seems to happen, but if you make a concentrated effort to avoid it, you can,” Sedlock says. Too late if you’re reading this article, of course, but preventing flab is a lot easier than banishing it, she says.

Even so, it’s possible to reduce your fat and flab, White and Sedlock say. Besides being realistic, here are their best tips.

2. Fat-burning Workout: Pump Up the Cardio

A good overall cardiovascular conditioning exercise program is crucial to burn fat, say Sedlock and White. “Walking is excellent,” White says, but most people have to pump it up a bit from their routine pace, especially if they’ve been exercising for a while and the flab isn’t budging.

2. Fat-burning Workout: Pump Up the Cardio continued…

“Increase the days,” White suggests. “If you work out two days, go to three. Or if you’re jogging for half an hour, increase it to 45 minutes or an hour.”

Interval training — that is, alternating bursts of intense activity with bursts of lighter activity — is a good way to burn more fat, White says. “Walk for five minutes, then jog for five,” he says, then repeat. That strategy will burn overall more calories and more fat. If you are already jogging, jog then sprint to mix it up, he says.

Increasing intensity for a short period within your regular workout will burn more total calories and therefore more fat, Sedlock says.

3. Fat-burning Workout: Pump Iron or Do Other Strength Training

If you’re trying to banish flab, weight training three times a week for a half hour each session – if you’re a beginner – is ideal, White says. Once your flab is under control, two weight training sessions a week usually will help you maintain tone, he says.

“Work the full body,” he says, rather than focus only on, say, triceps work for flabby upper arms. A full workout works all the major muscle groups, not just the flabby ones.

If you’re a beginner to weights or other kinds of strength training, such as resistance bands, get some expert instruction first by hiring a personal trainer for a session or two, experts suggest.

You can incorporate the full-body weight training exercises that focus on your flabby areas, of course, White says. “For the muffin top, focus on the [abdominal] oblique muscles by doing bicycle kicks,” he says, “or do oblique twists with the cable [weight] machine.”

A simpler at-home exercise to burn fat, White says, is: Get a broom, hold it straight up over your head, then lean to the right and the left. You should feel the effort in your so-called love handles.

For flabby upper arms, you can do dumbbell kickbacks with hand weights. (With upper arm parallel to the floor and bent at the elbow, lean over a weight bench or other low bench with your other arm supporting your body. Extend the lower arm holding the weight until it is straight. Repeat and switch the weight to the other hand.)

To maximize the fat burning during weight training, women should aim for 12 to 15 repetitions per exercise, White says, and focus on a higher number of reps rather than constantly boosting the weight. Men should aim for eight to 12 reps and increase the weight periodically.  

4. Fat-Burning Workout: Crunch Your Flab

Although a lot of people think a thousand sit-ups or crunches a day will get rid of the flab, that’s not entirely true, Sedlock says. “Sit-ups aren’t going to get rid of your abdominal fat, per se,” she says. “Sit-ups strengthen the abdominal musculature.” So that means with enough sit-ups your tummy should have a better appearance, she says.

“If part of the muffin top is due to those muscles not being exercised for a long time, toning up those muscles may help,” she adds.

Pot bellies can be toned up with crunches and reverse crunches (lie flat and raise your hips and legs to work the lower abdominals).

5. How to Lose Fat: Overhaul Your Diet

Every other week, it seems, there’s some new “fat-burning” food or supplement. On the list: chili peppers, low-fat dairy, and numerous dietary supplements.

There’s some truth to the fat-burning food claims. “Some studies show certain foods can speed metabolism,” White says.

For instance, capsinoids — compounds derived from chili peppers — increased fat burning slightly, and more so in subjects who had a body mass index (BMI) over 25, the beginning of overweight, according to Japanese researchers who published the study in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry.

Researchers have debated the role of dairy foods in weight management. Diets with at least three daily servings of [low-fat] dairy products speed weight loss and body fat loss in obese people compared to a diet with little dairy, according to Michael Zemel, PhD, of the University of Tennessee, who has published his results of the value of dairy in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition and other journals.

But White says don’t rely on the so-called fat-busting foods to banish flab while you eat whatever you want the rest of the day. Instead, White suggests, incorporate the fat-burning foods into a sound diet.

What’s sound and flab-unfriendly? Whole grains, lean protein, plenty of fruits and vegetables, and eight glasses of water daily, White says.

Small frequent meals also help you lose weight, White says, although not all experts agree that many mini-meals are better than three square meals.

“I have a client who came in eating one [huge] meal a day, and he weighed 300 pounds,” White says. He put the man on five small, healthy meals a day. He lost weight, White says, and was amazed. Eating often also helps keep your energy levels up, White says.

Long-Arm Weighted Crunch

This abs exercise targets your upper abs. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Hold a light dumbbell in each hand and extend your arms straight back beyond your head. Now crunch your rib cage toward your pelvis, keeping your shoulders still and your arms straight. Don’t generate momentum with your arms. Perform 12 to 15 repetitions.

Seated Ab Crunch

Sit on the edge of a bench. Grip the edge of the pad and lean back slightly, extending your legs down and away and keeping your heels 4 to 6 inches off the floor. Bend your knees and slowly raise your legs toward your chest. At the same time, lean forward with your upper body, allowing your chest to approach your thighs. Return to the starting position. Perform three sets of 12 repetitions.

Corkscrew

This abs exercise targets both the lower abs and the obliques. Lie on your back, with your legs raised directly over your hips. Your knees should be slightly bent. Place your hands at your sides with the palms down. Use your lower abs to raise your hips off the floor and toward your rib cage, elevating your feet straight up. Simultaneously twist your hips to the right. Hold, then return to the starting position. Repeat, twisting to the left. Do 10 repetitions to each side.

Weighted One-Sided Crunch

This abs exercise targets both the upper abs and the obliques. Lie with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, and hold a dumbbell with both hands by your right shoulder. Curl your torso up and rotate to the left. Lower yourself, finish the set on that side, then switch directions and repeat, holding the dumbbell next to your left shoulder. Perform three sets of eight repetitions to each side.

Kneeling Cable Crunch

Kneel facing the pulley and hold the ends of a rope attached to the high cable along the sides of your face. Bend forward, aiming your chest at your pelvis. Return to the starting position, then repeat the movement, this time aiming your chest toward your left knee. Return, then repeat to your right. That’s one repetition. Perform three sets of eight repetitions.

Crunch/Side-Bend Combo

This exercise targets both the upper abs and the obliques. Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet on the floor, and hands behind your ears. Curl up so your shoulder blades are off the floor. Bend at the waist to your left, aiming your left armpit toward your left hip. Straighten, then bend to your right. Lower yourself to the starting position and repeat. Perform three sets of eight repetitions to each side.

-Side Bends
-Side Plank with Twist
-Crunch with Hip Raise
-Plank Push Ups
-Slow Motion Bicycle Crunch
-Leg Raises

Do at least 20 reps for most of these moves. Do what you can and of course, consult a professional before beginning a new exercise.

Kym Perfetto’s Ab Workout from Kym Perfetto on Vimeo.

I couldn’t believe how much muscle building expert
recommended good ol fashioned stretching to promote
more muscle growth…

Lazy Man’s Guide To Stretching For More Muscle
http://bit.ly/fpPSZ6 <= full routine

In this episode of Vinny’s Live Large TV show he
also shares 4 recovery tactics to prevent over-training
and ensure you experience unstoppable muscle gains.

Plus, much, much more… Don’t miss this one!

http://bit.ly/fpPSZ6

You can achieve a nice six pack abs if you complete a good lower ab exercise program in your ab routine. The secret to achieving a nice six pack is to take action and be consistent in working out, especially in doing lower ab exercise. There are tons of routines out there and many videos with tons of information. But it is all up to you. I guarantee you if you start working out your abs consistently, adding lower ab exercise to your routine, in 3 to 6 months you will see a drastic change in your abdominal section.

If you are in the gym, my favorite lower ab exercise is the roman chair due to many years of success in that ab exercise. You can create that nice V muscle and a nice cut lower abs. But at home you can also get a nice six pack doing some home lower ab exercises. Here is a short quick video that I created to show some home exercises that you can do. Sorry for the quality, not a pro in video creating (at least not yet) but just to show you that it can be done if you want to do a quick lower ab exercise if you don’t have time to go to the gym.

As long as you do this routine at least 3 times a week for a couple of months, you will see results. Do not quit after 2 or 3 weeks like most people. The key is to keep doing it and you will see results. In order to walk 1000 miles, you need to take one step at a time and you will reach your destiny. It’s the same thing with anything in life.

I want you to achieve that nice six pack that you want, so start taking action today. Write down on a piece of paper or place some sticky notes with your goals on the mirror or fridge. You need to always look at your goals to program your subconscious mind to keep moving you forward in taking action. You can achieve anything you want in life, if you take action.

Thank you for visiting my website and please make sure you leave me a comment, tweet, or like it on facebook. Thank you for your support!! God bless!

Start doing your lower ab exercise today!

David

Article source: http://www.zimbio.com/Best+AB+Workout/articles/D4yPaaV39AV/Lower+Ab+Exercise+Killer+Home+Routine+Start

But, they usually tend to forget that it takes more than just basic crunches and crash dieting to carve a drool worthy, flat stomach. Explains fitness trainer, Deanne Pandey, “Ab exercises + cardio exercises + right diet – this is the most effective formula to achieve well-toned abdominal muscles. Missing upon any one of these will take away the real impact of an abs-workout.”

“An ideal diet and workout for every individual depends upon his/her weight loss requirement, body type and body shape,” suggests Pandey. For instance, a pear shaped person may indulge in a less strenuous workout and minimal diet modifications to get the desired tummy in comparison to an apple shaped body, who is usually heavy in the tummy area.

Here are a set of workout and physical activities, which when combined with an ideal eating plan and cardio workouts can assure you of the killer abs that you always dreamt of…

1. Naukasana- A common yoga posture that works wonders on your abs.
Method: Lie flat on the ground, with your back on the floor. Raise your upper body and legs to an angle of 30 degrees and hold the posture for 30-40 seconds, then relax. Repeat this asana for 10 times to begin with, graduating to 30 times. Breathe normally all through the work out.
“Holding onto the posture tightens and contracts your upper and lower abs while repeating the movement tones them up,” tells yoga expert Usha Chegappa of Bharat Thankur’s Artistic Yoga.

2. Ushtrasana : It is the counter pose to naukasana .
Method: Stand on your knees, with heels facing upwards. Arch your back, placing your hands on your knees one by one. Hold your head behind pushing your belly outwards. Hold this posture for 30 seconds and repeat 30 times.
“During naukasana , the ab muscles contract building up tension in the area, while ushtrasana releases the tension by giving your tummy a good stretch. It is important to practice ushtrasana after naukasana to save one’s back from injury,” explains Usha.

3. Basic crunch : The good old crunch still remains the best exercise to bag the perfect abs.
Method: Lie on the floor with your legs off the floor in a right angle. Keep your shoulders just above the floor. Breathe in and bring your knees in towards your chest, while lifting your upper body to an angle of 30 degrees and breathe out while you relax. Repeat this exercise 15-20 times to begin with.
“Don’t arch your back. The crunches will help you contract your abdomninal muscles giving them an effective workout,” suggests Deanne.

4. Bridging: Stretch till you feel the burn!
Method: Lie flat on the floor with your hands resting by your sides, feet flat on the floor, shoulder width apart and knees bent. Now, contract your abdominals, lower back and gluts and slowly lift your midsection to form a bridge from your knees, through your hips to your shoulders. Hold this position for a few seconds, and then slowly lower. Fitness expert Kiran Swahney suggests, “Avoid this exercise in case you are suffering from lower back problems.”

Article source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/fitness/8-Wonder-ways-for-a-flat-tummy/articleshow/4200924.cms

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