Six Untruths About Six-Pack Abs

Most women are looking in the wrong places for the answer to 6-pack abs. Sit-ups, crunches or other ab-specific workouts are NOT the answer. This is difficult for people to understand, but directly working the abs is the least effective training method for ab definition.

There is no magical or hidden, “trainer-known-only” abs exercise that will bring forth those long-lost six pack abs after years of fruitless exercising.

Of course, good-looking women with washboard midsections typically do have the effect of making people’s jaws drop. Some women incorrectly fantasize, however, that if they can do one hundred sit-ups per day, they will be the ones causing those jaws to hit the floor. It’s all because of the misconceptions, half-truths, and dare I even suggest, LIES, that have been circulated for many years in order to peddle some worthless contraption or system.

Let’s consider for a moment, that the inability of most women (and men) to achieve those near-perfect abs is a direct result of this misinformation. To avoid wasting our time and increasing our frustration, let’s examine six of those lies and offer some corrective responses.

UNTRUTH #1: Abdominal muscles are different from other muscles.

There are no different types of muscle! Abdominal muscles have the same characteristics as biceps or glutes, for example. All that differs is where the muscle is located. Rather than covering bones, abdominal muscles sit on top of the stomach and intestines. This is a distinction that should have no effect on how we treat our abdominal muscles.

UNTRUTH #2: Strong abs lead to a strong back.

A strong back requires balanced abdominal muscles. On a daily basis, your abs should not necessarily be worked any more than your other. Don’t buy into the unfounded emphasis on working the abs, and the contribution of such workouts to general good health. Some product marketers may lead people to believe that working out a single body part will be greatly beneficial to their overall health.

Your workouts should NOT simply focus on one particular body part (abs). Complete body fitness is necessary to be healthy.

UNTRUTH #3: Train your abs at least every other day.

In actuality, you should engage in exercises that sufficiently fatigue your abs to the point that they require some recovery time, but no more or less. Your regimen should naturally include exercises that require ab functionality. For example, because of the body-stabilization properties of the abs, extended push-up positions can help to develop abdominal muscles.

UNTRUTH #4: High repetitions lead to higher quality results.

If you focus on abdominal endurance, you can do more crunches with successive reps. The problem is that this does not strengthen the abs significantly; it just unnecessarily consumes more of your workout time.

UNTRUTH #5: Rock-hard rock abs result from doing a lot of sit-ups.

Many doctors have stated that crunches and sit-ups are exercises that shouldn’t be done at all. One thing that typically happens while doing crunches, is to throw the neck out. Crunches and sit-ups excessively pull the abdominal muscles, putting too much stress on the neck. Over-crunching may have an effect on thoracic extension and could be responsible for promoting poorer posture.

UNTRUTH #6: Sexy, six pack abs take years to achieve.

It’s really good to know that this is not true! The truth is that everyone has a six pack. You just need to engage in the proper combination of exercise and sensible diet to reduce the fat which surrounds your abs. In some cases, we may be talking about a couple of months. For some people, several months will be more likely. Obviously it depends on a person’s current physical condition and dedication to their nutritional and workout regimen.

Having covered these myths, the truth is, the solution to anyone being able to sport a well-defined six-pack would be to get her body fat percentage to a level that is low enough for her abs to be visible (again). Most people are unaware of the six-pack that is hiding underneath their stomach fat. For women, ab visibility usually occurs around the 16-18 body fat percentage.

The bottom line is: a well-designed, full body training program, and a lifestyle that consists of a maintainable, high-quality nutrition plan. Forget about short-term gimmicks.

Visit Truth About Abs for useful, detailed, truthful information about foods and exercises that are effective for women trying to get a more sexy, flat stomach.