Wednesday, 28 November 2012

"I am doing sit ups everyday but it's not working...."

The next comment usually is

"It's in my genes"...

RUBBISH!

I don't mean to be rude or mean. I am not a medical doctor. I do know that there are people with conditions that make them susceptible to weight gain and that with some, it's almost inevitable. But that is a minority. For the most of us, what we carry around has all gone through our mouths, yes, think of it that way, that small opening is responsible for all that we carry around, how much damage that little organ can do.

Back to my sit ups, or rather, yours...and most Kenyan women.

We have deluded ourselves into thinking that sit ups are the answer to our potbelly problem, the magic pill, if I do twenty a day, surely this muffin top will go. Oh, and let me add some crunches and some of those butterfly ones I saw on that exercise DVD...that's all well and good, you're firming up those ab muscles alright, your core is getting strong, but it's all going to remain hidden under a layer of fat.

I do not have perfect abs, I work on them five times a week incorporating at least one ab set when working on other parts of the body. In other words, it is a work in progress.

I have more bad news, it is more difficult for us women to get ab definition. I have a dear friend who started working out with her husband, her husband's abs started getting definition before the third week...she was a bit incensed, but she's a doctor, she understands, it's biology, its unfair, we have to work harder. But then think about it, as career women, sisters, mothers, wives, aunts, and so much more, don't we (usually) work harder than men anyway?

So, instead of developing a six pack or something close to it that is hidden underneath a layer of fat, why not burn the fat as you develop those abs?  The best way to do this is to get your heart pumping. Some good cardio work will get that done. When I do not have enough time to run, or do a tae bo, or kickboxing work out, I usually incorporate 5 minutes of skipping in between weight training sets, this gets my heart pumping and I can be sure I burn fat as well as build muscle (which is the fastest way to get fit, lose weight and keep it off). Jumping jacks also work, and for the more advanced, push up burpees really get that heart pumping.

Think about it today as you do your sit ups or crunches at home...are you burning enough to show off all that hard work?

No comments:

Post a Comment