Losing body fat around the stomach area and having a thin waist is arguably one of if not the most common fitness related goal for the majority of the public, and people spend hours upon hours discussing about what the best way to do this is.
Sadly, a large number of people don’t actually know the ins and outs of what is involved in getting that trim waist. And that’s what your friendly neighbourhood PT is hear to settle things once and for all.
Sit Ups for Days
Firstly, there’s one thing I want to make very, very clear as it’s a topic I get asked about on a very regular basis – you cannot do specific exercises that will make fat disappear from one particular area of your body.
Sorry, hate to break it to you, but all those sit ups, leg raises and ab crunch machines you’ve been doing aren’t really going to budge that pesky spare tyre. What abdominal and core exercises to is strengthen and, to an extent, build up the muscles within our stomach area to make them appear more visible and defined once our body fat levels are low enough for us to see them.
So those 50 crunches a day you’ve been doing might have done some benefit in strengthening your six packs muscles, but they won’t do much to shrink your waistline.
Cut it Out
So if doing ab exercises isn’t the answer then what the flipping hell is?!?!
Well my lambs, the answer lies in what I have said time and time again when any question about fat/weight loss comes up – You must be in a calorie deficit. It really is that simple.
Eat less calories than your body is using and your body fat will come down. Now, it might take some time and it may end up that you lose inches off other parts of your body before your waist, but that sadly is nothing we can do about. This is mainly due to hormones which dictate where on our bodies the most body fat is stored and for a lot of people, the stomach is one of the slowest/last places for it to come off.
Method in the Madness
So to summarise, the key points to remember are:
- Be in a consistent calorie deficit and your body fat WILL come down. If is doesn’t, then you’re probably still eating too much (Weekends count too remember).
- That’s it.
Hope that helped you understand the main myth surrounding losing stomach fat, but if you have any questions or need some advice, then please feel free to drop me a message on Facebook, Instagram or send me an email adam@adamcmorris.com.
Adam C. Morris - Fitness Coach 