Our abdominals are probably the most talked about body-part and it is still full of myths that seemed to come out of when the fitness industry was just starting to boom in the early 80's. There are many of these myths but we will stick to the two main culprits here.
The first is that thousands of sit-ups done every day will get you a six-pack. This has never been true and yet still somehow manages to stay on point when talking about getting a six-pack. You cannot spot reduce body-fat, it has never been done and will never be done without having liposuction.
Your body loses fat by lowering its body-fat percentage and not just losing fat in only one area. A six-pack is made in the kitchen and not the weight room or the exercise bike. If you are eating too many calories during your day you will be adding fat and doing an hour running or cycling will only lose the calories you burn, which could be around 400 for a hard 60 minute workout.
The second myth is the myth of getting a flat stomach without looking at the way that you carry yourself and your posture. The torso is cylindrical in shape and this means that the stomach was never designed to be flat as it is shaped like a tube with round edges.
If we look at our structure and our posture as we go about our every-day duties we will see that we can tighten up our stomach and develop a 'flat' stomach by strengthening our back muscles and improving our posture. This will have a compounded effect on our breathing as well as our periphery circulation and the increase blood flow will enhance muscle repair.
We all have abdominal muscles because if we did not have them we would not be able to stand up straight. The slow increase in the core strength of a bodybuilder who is training with weights is what increases the thickness of the abdominal cavity. If that same bodybuilder is eating too much fat then he/she will not see the increased thickness of his/her abs as they get stronger.
That is why they say abs are built in the kitchen and not the gym. It comes from eating a well-balanced diet that never resorts to grabbing a burger because the next meal was not planned for. The losing of fat takes a dedicated attention to detail and making sure that food is taken in 6 times a day.
