Centurion Blog

7 stomach sculpting secrets...

I have 7 tips for you that can help you maximise your training to help reveal that elusive six pack or flat stomach that everyone craves!

1)    Don’t spend hours doing crunches!

Those clever folks at the University of Virginia thought they would spend some time calculating how many crunches it would take to burn ONE pound of fat and the answer is quite literally shocking.

250,000 crunches would only burn off ONE pound of fat!

This just goes to show that trying to “spot reduce” the body fat on your stomach by performing hours and hours.... and hours of crunches is a fruitless endeavour and your time would be better spent reading secret number two below!

2)    To reduce body fat train your whole body.

As muscle tissue is constantly active you should see it as your bodies’ primary fat burner because your muscles require constant energy to contract and a large amount of muscle is used for everyday tasks. The more muscle you add the higher your RMR (resting metabolic rate – the rate at which you burn calories throughout the day)

Resistance training unlike cardiovascular training causes significant damage to muscle fibres and to repair these fibres the body must expend calories. Another added benefit of resistance training is that it can raise your metabolism for up to two days after your training session!

3)    Start your session with core exercises

You’ll achieve far better results if you perform your core specific exercises at the beginning of your workout when your muscles are fresh, rather than when they are fatigued and only get trained as an afterthought.

Core strength and stability can also be a limiting factor to most exercises for beginners so strengthening the core will also increase your weights used.

4)    No long duration cardio!

If you only have a limited time for your workouts then every second should be spend burning as many calories as possible.

DO NOT WASTE TIME ON PLODDING ALONG ON THE TREADMILL!

The University of Southern Maine found that a single set of a resistance training exercise burns as many calories as running on a treadmill for the same amount of time. There is also the increased metabolic benefits from weight training that make this your number one choice for fat burning! (see point number two!).

If you do need a quick fix of cardio then opt for interval training instead of steady state, long duration bouts of CV. (see our sample CV intervals here)

5)    Don’t spend hours training your core

Studies have shown that 2-4 sets of a few core exercises is the most effective way to make your core strong and stable. A 5 minute core routine prior to weight training also had a side benefit, by working your core muscles you’ll increase your total calorie burn and increase max weight lifted.

6)    Don’t neglect your legs!

Your lower extremities house more than half of your bodies muscle mass so by training them you burn more total calories, release more growth hormone and boost testosterone production which all equals fat loss and calorie expenditure.

If you’re busy train the whole body every other day which allows you to elevate your metabolism maximally throughout the week even though you are only working out three days a week.

7)    Keep moving!

To pack as much physical work as possible into whatever time you have you’ll need to implement strategies that save time without sacrificing results such as supersets and circuits. A 2011 Spanish study found that men who trained with no-rest circuits achieved the same gains as those who trained with straight sets – yet their workouts were 42% shorter!