Did you know that your abdominal weight is an indicator of your overall health?
In fact, research has suggested that visceral fat increases your risk of diabetes, inflammatory mediated diseases, intestinal cancer and is a strong predictor of all different types of mortality in men. (1,2) Improving the strength of your abdominal muscles will also improve your balance, the stability in your spine, reduce the potential for lower back pain and improve the way you look in your clothes. (3,4)
In other words, there is plenty of motivation to reduce the amount of belly fat you are carrying and improve your abdominal and core muscles.
Getting those great abs, and even a shredded six pack, takes more than just a few crunches every day or lifting some weights at the gym. The muscles you do develop must not be covered by subcutaneous fat or all your exercising will have been for naught if you want to look fabulous in your bathing suit. You’ll still have the strength and stability in your spine, but you won’t look as good as you could.
Exercises that will build your abdominal and core strength well are planks, side planks and Spiderman planks. Each of these exercises keep the spine stabilized and work both the back and abs for a very effective and efficient exercise.
Let’s move beyond localized exercise routines which build muscle, and look at what you can do to reduce the amount of visceral and subcutaneous fat that cover those muscles.
Visceral fat is developed with the chronic release of cortisol. This is a hormone that is responsible for the fight or flight response in your body when you are under stress. Although it can save your life under a physically stressful condition, it can also produce abnormal amounts of cortisol under chronic psychological stress which results in deposits of visceral fat.
Your goal is to reduce the stress you feel by using specific relaxation techniques or removing the factors that are causing stress in your life. Sleep is another factor that raises the amount of cortisol released in your body. When you are chronically sleep deprived you can suffer the same consequences.
Sugar is addictive. It spikes your blood sugar, is high in calories, has almost no nutritional value and will cause you to gain weight. Instead, look for foods that are low in carbohydrates and higher in fat because it will take longer to digest and make you feel fuller for a longer period of time.
When you are reducing the amount of sugar and simple carbohydrates which metabolize to sugar in your system, you’ll want to replace those foods with those that are higher in fats. Most notable, monounsaturated fats which are healthy for your brain and make you feel fuller longer. You’ll find these in raw nuts and seeds, avocados and salmon.
And, while localized exercises are important to the development of abdominal muscle, cardiovascular exercise is important to burning off the visceral and subcutaneous fat.
In a study published in 2005, scientists found that in a group of 175 overweight individuals those who performed low degrees of cardio exercise stopped in the increase of visceral fat but it wasn’t reduced. The inactive groups increased the amount of visceral fat they had and the people who exercised at a high intensity lost their visceral fat. The higher the intensity, the faster they lost the fat. (5)
Your waistline says more about your health than about the clothes you can wear. Using a three-pronged approach of localized exercise, intense cardiovascular exercise and changing eating habits you can burn off the visceral fat that raises your potential for disease and increases your risk of death.
References:
(1) Obesity: Visceral fat in an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in men
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16571861
(2) American Association for Cancer Research: Viceral fat Causally linked to intestinal cancer
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16571861
(3) MayoClinic: Core Exercises: Why You Should Strengthen Your Core Muscles
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/fitness/in-depth/core-exercises/art-20044751
(4) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: Low Back Pain Fact Sheet
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/backpain/detail_backpain.htm
(5) Journal of Applied Physiology: Inactivity, Exercise and Visceral Fat
http://jap.physiology.org/content/99/4/1613.full
Resources:
Hypertension Research: Relationship Between Visceral Fat and Cardiovascular Disease risk Factors
http://www.nature.com/hr/journal/v30/n3/full/hr200732a.html
Harvard: Abdominal Fat and What to do about it
http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/Abdominal-fat-and-what-to-do-about-it.shtml
MayoClinic: Belly Fat in Women
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/womens-health/in-depth/belly-fat/art-20045809
Science Daily: Soluable Fiber Strikes a Blow to Belly Fat
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110627123032.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+sciencedaily+(ScienceDaily:+Latest+Science+News)
Science Daily: Exercise Keeps Dangerous Visceral Fat Away A year after Weight loss
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029102740.htm
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