Sculpted abs tell us about the determination and perseverance of their owner, not to mention how great they look! However, just because you haven't developed a six-pack yet doesn't mean you're not working hard enough!
Many work hard to remove belly fat and patiently wait for the coveted sculpted abs to appear.
However, making just a few simple changes to your routine can be an incredibly effective way to shed some of that unwanted fat and allow you to finally show off your six-pack to the world!
1) Low body fat = visible muscle definition
This is probably one of the most important rules you need to know if you want to get the abs of your dreams! No amount of abdominal exercises or crunches will lead you to a sculpted belly as long as you have a high percentage of body fat. The percentage of body fat at which muscle definition can be achieved varies from person to person.
The healthiest way to reduce your body fat percentage is to control your diet and exercise regularly. Monitor your progress by taking frequent pictures and measurements; this will help you stay motivated as you pursue your dreams!
How to measure visceral fat?
It is impossible to determine by eye how much visceral fat is in the body. The only reliable measurement methods are MRI, CT or abdominal ultrasound. In total, the norm for visceral fat is approximately 10% of total fat.
Women are usually protected from visceral fat and its harm during their reproductive years. But a sharp decrease in estrogen during menopause often leads to an unhealthy silhouette and its accumulation in the abdominal region. Signs may include a protruding belly and a wide waist. In women, according to a Harvard study, the waist circumference should not be more than 90 cm, in men - 101 cm. Indicators exceeding the norm serve as an alarm bell and require a medical examination.
2) Abs are created in the kitchen
What you eat and how much you eat directly affects the creation of a sculpted belly. If you constantly consume large amounts of unhealthy food and do not watch your portion sizes, you will have a very difficult time achieving ripped abs.
It's a completely different matter if you eat right and calculate the number of calories you consume, keeping an eye on portion sizes. Junk foods usually contain a lot of sodium, which can lead to flatulence due to fluid retention.
Make sure you drink enough water throughout the day to avoid unnecessary fluid retention, especially in hot weather.
Belly fat: causes of appearance in women and men
Fat deposits form in different parts of the body for reasons that depend on genetics, body condition, nutrition, physical activity and lifestyle. Therefore, if you cannot get rid of the fold on your stomach for a long time, pay attention to the following:
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Poor metabolism
If a severe malfunction occurs in the body, this is reflected in a slow metabolism. As a result: excess weight appears. This occurs due to poor nutrition, strict diet, lack of sleep, stress and anxiety, lack of exercise, physical inactivity, bad habits and non-compliance with the drinking regime.
Genetics
Scientists conducted studies that revealed that people with poor heredity are less common than those who lead an unhealthy and sedentary lifestyle, and whose diet exceeds the daily caloric intake.
Excess weight does not appear with any genes, if you move a lot and do not overeat. In other words: to reduce the influence of genetics, you need to reconsider your lifestyle.
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Passive lifestyle
Sedentary work, stooping, and a protruding neck also affect the condition of the spine and, as a result, a protruding stomach.
Binge eating
The main reason for any fat deposits is poor nutrition. It is important to maintain daily caloric intake, even if your clean diet consists of healthy foods. Not to mention fast food, sweets, buns, fried foods, and so on.
Eliminate food waste, reduce salt intake, and give up alcohol for a while. The amount of energy consumed should be less than the amount spent. Energy comes from calories, which come from food.
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Poor posture while sitting
Posture is the core of the body that bears most of the load. With incorrect posture, internal organs are displaced and the stomach protrudes. This occurs due to a weak and undeveloped muscle frame, which leads to deterioration in appearance and negative health consequences.
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Stress and illness
Frequent stress provokes the production of cortisol, the stress hormone. Under the influence of this hormone, the body begins to rapidly produce fat cells. Therefore, the terms “stress fat” or “cortisol belly” are used by doctors to refer to the result of increased cortisol levels in the body.
There is a health hazard if your waist size exceeds:
*for women: 80-85 cm; *for men: 90-94 cm.
Such obesity may be a sign of a dangerous metabolic syndrome, when the issue of burning fat is not an aesthetic, but a medical task. This is due to an excess of visceral fat, which interferes with the full functioning of internal organs.
Due to compression, inflammation, disruption of the gastrointestinal tract, diseases of the stomach, bladder, and liver can occur, but the most negative consequences can occur for the cardiovascular system. This leads to the development of vascular atherosclerosis, the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, chronic heart failure, and diabetes mellitus. Moreover: visceral fats affect brain function and provoke the development of dementia.
3) Lose fat with cardio
Cardio is a really useful tool to help you lose fat and make your abs visible. A popular and effective type of cardio training is HIIT, high-intensity interval training. This is actually a very good approach to cardio because thanks to such training you will be able to burn fat and at the same time maintain muscle mass.
Basically, you train very intensely, at your maximum, for a short time, then slow down and continue at a low intensity for the same amount of time or longer, depending on your fitness level. This technique is quick, and your fat continues to burn long after you go home. Typically completing five to ten intervals is an indicator of great performance!
Reasons for the accumulation of subcutaneous fat
When thinking about how to remove subcutaneous fat, remember that you need to respect the limits of reason, because this layer is vital for the body. There are two types of fat tissue imbalance. The first is associated with the process of fat breakdown, or lipolysis. The second is lipogenesis. This is the name for the process of creating new cells.
An imbalance is caused first by local fat deposits and cellulite. In lipogenesis, this manifests itself in the fact that the tissue begins to hypertrophy. The result of this process is compression of the lymphatic and blood vessels, which entails fluid retention and destruction of collagen fibers.
What are the causes of imbalance between lipolysis and lipogenesis? This is an eating disorder that is expressed in the following:
- predominance of carbohydrates and fats in food;
- large meals occurring from time to time;
- constant overeating;
- late dinners;
- snacks between main meals.
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Another reason is physical inactivity, in which the fat layer actively grows, since the body does not expend the energy stored in the connective tissue.
Therefore, proper nutrition and optimal physical activity are the key to reducing this layer.
Burning subcutaneous fat leads to the release of toxins that can provoke further growth of adipose tissue if not removed with sufficient amounts of water.
4) Don't waste time trying to remove fat from certain areas of the body
This is one of the most common myths in the fitness industry. You cannot lose fat only in a certain area of the body. However, you can train your muscles so that after you lose some fat, the area you focus on will be more toned.
This is where specific abdominal exercises come in handy. If you exercise regularly and watch your diet, you will find that your body fat decreases and ripped abs begin to appear.
What is fat burning
To understand how to burn belly and flank fat, you need to understand what fat burning is and how it happens.
Fat burning is a process of reducing body fat, which includes two stages: lipolysis and oxidation.
Lipolysis occurs under the influence of adrenaline and norepinephrine, which are released during physical exercise. Under the influence of hormones, fat cells are released, enter the bloodstream, rush to those places where active muscle work takes place, and “burn” there.
By the way, daily abdominal exercises to combat belly fat are absolutely useless. These muscles are too small to provide significant calorie expenditure during exercise and burn fat deposits in the problem area. It is impossible to burn belly fat without starting the fat burning process throughout the body!
Then how to burn belly fat? – Through complex training. Engage a large number of muscle groups or large muscles (for example, the gluteus maximus, pectoralis, latissimus dorsi) - then adrenaline and norepinephrine are evenly distributed throughout the body and promote uniform melting of fat, including in the abdomen and sides.
5) Impact your abs with special exercises
Exercises such as planks, bicycles, or hanging leg raises are extremely effective for the abs. Do different exercises, and as you progress, add some weight to your movements to make them even more effective.
For example, you can make the exercise heavier by simply placing dumbbells between your legs while performing reverse crunches. You can also add a plate to your hanging leg raise.
Lifestyle changes to reduce subcutaneous fat
Avoidance of sugar and sweeteners
Not only sugar, but also its substitutes cause harm to your health and figure. Among the latter are fructose, corn syrup, molasses and others. Eating foods containing sugar leads to an increase in subcutaneous fat. These include sweets, carbonated water, juices, and semi-finished products. Both sugar and sweeteners are quickly transformed into glucose, absorbed into the blood, and the excess is stored in adipose tissue.
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Increasing protein intake
Weight loss depends on the amount of protein food consumed. Foreign researchers believe that this figure should be 25–30% of the daily diet. It helps:
- reduce hunger by up to 60% and consume up to 450 fewer calories per day;
- stimulate metabolism;
- prevent weight gain again after losing weight (yo-yo effect).
Reducing carbohydrate foods
A complete refusal of carbohydrates can greatly harm health, and most of all the female body. But reducing their amount in the diet helps:
- faster weight loss (2-3 times) than when reducing fatty foods;
- reduction of visceral fat.
A competent reduction plan includes giving up “fast” carbohydrates (sugar, fructose). This is followed by a reduction in the consumption of potatoes, pasta, and white rice.
Increased fiber
Both water-soluble and insoluble dietary fiber are needed. They affect gastrointestinal motility and saturate the body with energy longer.
Fiber can be found both in a large number of foods (cereals, legumes, vegetables and fruits) and in dietary supplements.
Please note that sudden changes in diet must be made under the supervision of competent specialists in the field of nutrition and endocrinology. Especially for problems with the gastrointestinal tract, since an unbalanced diet can cause exacerbation of diseases.
Reducing portion sizes
To lose weight, you need to reduce the amount of food you eat, even if it mainly consists of foods high in protein and fiber. Here you should not rely on your feelings about how much to reduce the portion. It is better to weigh your food and count, at least approximately, the calorie content.
Reducing portion sizes
Quitting alcohol
This is due to its ability to stimulate appetite and cause excessive stress on the liver. With heavy alcohol consumption, the functioning of the organ is aimed at eliminating ethyl alcohol, not glucose. Therefore, the process of losing weight is impossible. In addition, strong drinks disrupt the production of hormones, in particular testosterone and growth hormone.
6) Include challenging exercises in your training routine.
Compound exercises such as squats and deadlifts are multifunctional exercises and therefore work both the abs and the entire body.
These exercises require a lot of effort and are guaranteed to burn a lot of calories, so you can double the effect of burning calories and toning up in just one exercise!
Burning more calories leads to more fat loss later on, as long as you continue to watch your diet! In addition to burning calories, a big plus is that these exercises preserve lean muscle mass.
Lean muscle mass burns more calories at rest than fat and thus will also result in even more calories burned overall.
Why is visceral fat dangerous?
Firstly, if you have too much of it, you will have to make efforts to find a beautiful waist and lose weight in your stomach. Secondly, visceral fat is an active endocrine organ that produces hormones, inflammatory proteins and fatty acids and releases them into the bloodstream.
Excess abdominal fat increases your risk of developing serious and life-threatening diseases, including:
- heart attacks and heart disease;
- type 2 diabetes;
- stroke;
- mammary cancer;
- colorectal cancer;
- Alzheimer's disease.
Chemicals released by visceral fat enter the liver and can affect cholesterol levels. Unlike the cells in subcutaneous fat, visceral fat is essentially an endocrine organ, so it is important that its amount remains normal.
The UK Million Women Study demonstrated a direct link between the development of coronary heart disease and an increase in waist circumference over a 20-year period. Even when other risk factors were taken into account, the odds of developing heart disease doubled among women with larger waistlines. It was concluded that every additional 5 cm in the waist increased the risk of developing the disease by 10%. This is primarily due to blockage of the arteries.
According to another study of 350,000 European men and women published in the New England Journal of Medicine, having a belly and a wide waist doubles the risk of premature death, even if overall body weight remains normal.
In addition, abdominal fat produces a hormone called cytokine, which in turn can cause inflammation. This leads to blood clots and the likelihood of stroke in the long term.
