Thursday, April 16, 2009

Toned Abs - Exercises To Help You Lose Belly Fat

By Dan Solaris

An increasing number of people around the world are becoming obese because of the proliferation of fast food. The availability of delicious, calorie-loaded western food has in fact caused roughly 65% of people in North America and Western Europe to become obese.

The first mistake people do in their attempts to lose belly fat and get toned abs is doing ab isolation exercises. Although common-sense may make sit-ups and crunches seem effective in isolating belly fat, getting a lean, flat abdomen takes much more than that.

Exercises that isolate the muscles of the abdomen are not totally useless of course- they serve to strengthen and develop the muscle tissue under the stubborn layer of belly fat. The only way to lose belly fat and get really toned abs however is to do exercises designed for fast body fat burn.

Experts have long determined cardiovascular workouts to be the fastest way of getting a lean physique. Only by involving the whole body in compound movements can we exert enough physical effort to burn a significant amount of calories to burn excess body fat and get nicely toned abs.

Whole body exercises that get all the major muscle groups to exert effort get the cardiovascular system to work at high intensities. This not only strengthen the heart and lungs, they also dilate the blood vessels- improving elasticity and blood flow. It also elevates the body's metabolism resulting in even more calories burned long after you've left the gym.

The human body's ability to prevent fat-gain is improved significantly when our metabolism goes up. The higher our metabolism is, the more calories we can burn even while away from the gym. Everyone knows that weight-loss results from burning more calories than we consume from food each day.

Doing exercises that build muscle can also help in raising our metabolism to better combat body fat and help us get toned abs faster. Most people would be surprised to know that muscle tissue actually burns calories just by being there. Therefore, more conditioned our muscles are, the more calories we can burn without making an effort.

Choosing cardio exercises that you won't get bored with can spell success or failure in your quest for lean, nicely toned abs. The more repetitive and boring your workouts, the easier it will be for you to get bored with them. Boredom is the main reason why people don't exercise consistently- prolonging the agony of having a flabby belly. - 16887

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