Best 7 Reasons Why You Do Not Need to Do Ab Crunches

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:27:01 +0000

I just spent two and half hours reading through all your ab questions from last week and I must say I’m shocked. I didn’t realize how many people were still using crunches to try and get a flat stomach and six pack abs.

Unfortunately, I have bad news…doing crunches is NOT going to get you the results you want. (Although you knew this already, of course, as so many of you also wrote in with frustration that the crunches were not working.)

So I’m going to prove today what you already knew, and that’s how you NEVER need to do crunches again…here are the 7 reasons:

1. Crunches aren’t working for you now, and didn’t in the past, so why would they work in the future?

It’s time to give them up for good. You know the old saying about insanity? It’s doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Time to change it up!

2) Crunches are most dangerous when they are most effective.

When you are overweight, there can be a lot of resistance on the abs when you do crunches – and technically that is good. HOWEVER, because your ab and low back muscles are weak, that’s when you use bad form and end up with a pain-in-the-neck or low back pain from crunches. So even though crunches can work your abs as a beginner, they end up causing more harm than good.

As a beginner, you are much better off using the Beginner Turbulence Training for Abs 4-week program AND the bonus DVD, the TT Beginner Total Torso Training program.

3) Crunches get LESS effective as you get leaner and fitter, because there is less resistance on the muscle and you’re now too strong to get anything out of crunches.

Here’s a dramatic demonstration of what I mean. Take your left arm and extend it out to your side. Now clench your fist and do 20 biceps curls. Now tell me, do you really think that will “work your biceps” and make them lean and sexy? Of course not! So why would the same high-rep method of crunches work for your abs? It won’t, of course.

4) A couple of years ago, Men’s Health magazine made a big deal about a research study proving you would need to do 20,000 crunches to burn 1 pound of belly fat. Twenty thousand!

Even a “crunch fanatic” would need a few days to do 20,000 crunches. The bottom line is that ab crunches are a HUGE waste of
time when you are trying to lose belly fat.

5) Even those lean, mixed martial artist guys don’t do crunches.

On the weekend, I was reading an interview with the trainer of world champion fighter, Georges St. Pierre, and the trainer explained
how they don’t do crunches, but instead do anti-rotation and extension exercises for the abs. Not sure what those are? Don’t worry, you’ll get some of those in the TT for Abs workout DVDs.

6) Interval training works your abs harder than crunches.

Whether it’s sprints or kettlebell swings, your abs will shape up faster with interval training than they will with crunches. Guaranteed.

7) Crunches don’t make your abs “pop out”.

This was a big problem mentioned in so many of your questions. A lot of TT readers had lost the fat, but still couldn’t see their abs because they didn’t “Pop out”. Listen, crunches will never do that…but the exercises we use in the TT for Abs DVDs will, I promise.

So when you’re ready to give up crunches (like right now, right?) and use proven ab exercises and workouts, then you’re ready for the TT for Abs DVDs.

One more thing: Nutrition also beats crunches EVERY time.

That’s why I also filmed the Simple Nutrition DVD for you and you’ll get that DVD and manual as well as another bonus gift.

Say goodbye to crunches and hello to sexy abs!

Best Exercise to Burn Belly Fat

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:21:00 +0000

I often get asked, What’s the best way to burn fat and lose my belly? People want to know if aerobics is better than strength training, or if traditional cardio exercise is better than intervals. Cardio is not the best way to burn fat. Intervals are a better fat burning workout to burn belly fat.
With over 15 years experience helping others, training myself, training for sports, spending countless hours in the gym, AND actually conducting laboratory research studies on different exercise methods, I’m pretty confident in knowing what works and what does not.

But first of all, I want to frame my responses. I’m going to talk about what works for people that have a limited amount of time to exercise, mostly because I expect your readers don’t have 90 minutes per day to devote to a workout, unlike the typical audience of a fitness magazine.

That’s why there is a huge disconnect between some of the information found in magazines and the ability of the reader to apply it to their lives.

We just don’t have 6-8 hours per week for exercise, nor do we need it. If you’re a triathlete, you might need that, but not someone that just wants to lose fat and gain muscle.

Having said all that, the bottom line for getting a better body is…

Use body weight exercises to warm-up, strength training supersets to build muscle, and then finish your workout with interval training to burn fat in a short amount of time. I’ve structured my system so that you are in and out of the gym in 45 minutes, three times per week.

You’ll do 5 minutes of body weight exercises to warm-up. This is a much more efficient approach than spending 5 minutes walking on a treadmill, which really doesn’t prepare you for anything except more walking on a treadmill.

Then we move into the strength training supersets, where we use two exercises performed back to back with minimum rest between each. This cuts our workout time, while still giving us maximum results. We only need 20 minutes for this, and we’ll use basic exercises, and sometimes even more bodyweight exercises, depending on the client’s goal for muscle building.

And finally, we’ll do 18 minutes of interval training. A warm-up, followed by six short intervals at the appropriate fitness level for the client, interspersed with short periods of low-intensity recovery. Finish with a cool-down. And that’s the workout. Again, about 45 minutes total.

Compare that to what most people do, which is run, jog, cycle or use the cardio machines for 45 minutes straight. Sure, that will burn calories, but it doesn’t build a better body.

In fact, there are a few “dark sides” to long slow cardio, including less-than-optimal results, the potential for overuse injuries, and it is an inefficient form of exercise. If you only have 30-45 minutes for your workout and you spend it all on a cardio machine, when are you going to train the rest of your muscles and sculpt a better body?

So the best way to burn belly fat is with a combination of strength training and interval training. It’s fast, it works, and it’s fun!

Compare that to what most people do, which is run, jog, cycle or use the cardio machines for 45 minutes straight. Sure, that will burn calories, but it doesn’t build a better body. It might even leave you hurt!

So if you want to burn belly fat fast, drop the slow cardio and try interval training. Use strength training to sculpt your body and boost your metabolism. You’ll be shocked at the results from this new way of training to burn fat and lose that belly!

Best Exercise To Lose Weight » Belly

Best 7 Reasons Why You Do Not Need to Do Ab Crunches

Best Exercise to Burn Belly Fat