12 Week Plan to Get A Flat Stomach

It's not often I post articles written by other people, but this article by Abi Shaan contains some good sensible advice on how to go about achieving a flat stomach. What I like about the article is that it dosen't make any false promises. It makes you realise that success depends upon an individuals circumstances. Achieveing a flat stomach will take longer for some people than others.
It also promotes weight training as the best form of fat loss exercise over long slow CV routines. More muscle = more energy consumption = less body fat.
As you know 'Get Fit' does not support the 'one size fits all' approach to diet and exercise. You are an individual and your success depends upon finding out what works for you. But applying the techniques in this article will help you to hit the ground running.

12 Week Plan to Get A Flat Stomach
By: Abi Shaan

It doesn't matter what others do and don't do to get a flat stomach because I am only going to show you what YOU should do if you really want to get flat sexy abs in a span of 12 weeks.

Before you get over excited with the fact that you could get flat abs in just 12 weeks, I should warn you that results very depending on the individual. An overweight person with a 38 inch waist can lose 4-5 inches within 12 weeks which doesn't mean that person got a flat stomach. Instead he/she lose 4-5 inches, and if the person continues following the system, he/she will get super lean in a very short period of time.

Let me take you through a brief journey to the world of quick and effective fat loss where the dirtiest yet most popular myths of fat loss with be finally revealed.

-- Doing 1000s of Ab crunches every day will never get you a flat stomach.

You can cry and break yourself doing thousands of Ab crunches every single day, but you will never see those strong muscular abs if you don't get rid of the fat hanging around your belly. In order to remove this fat, you need to lose fat from all over your body. As you continue to lose body fat, your abdominals will start to reveal itself in the form of a six pack for men or really sexy abdominals for women.

-- Spending hours on the Cardio machine is a waste of time for fat loss.

If you were already aware of the fact that you need to lose total body fat to get a flat stomach, then you probably would have started spending too much time on the cardio machines hoping to burn more calories as displayed in the digital meter of the treadmill or stationary bike.

Well, let me tell you right now that slow boring cardio is really boring and a real waste of time. Have you noticed that the overweight people in the gym always hang around near the cardio machines while the lean and ripped individuals spend their time in the free weights section?

If you want to get a flat stomach, you need to build muscle. The more muscle you build in your body, the harder your body works to maintain that muscle while repairing damaged muscle tissue from the most recent workout. This causes your body to burn a lot of calories for energy and fuel.

And here's where the original golden rule applies.

Calories Out Greater Than Calories In = Fat Loss.

If you build muscle in the right way by performing compound muscle building exercises like the Chest Press, Rows, Squats, Deadlifts, Chinups and Pullups by performing 3 to 4 Sets of each exercises to muscular failure, you will be very well on your way to get a flat stomach in a very short period of time.

-- Eating Too Little to Lose More Weight is A BIG FAT MISTAKE!

This is by far the most popular and legendary myth of all times. Eating too little so that you lose weight only works in the short term, and leads to get double fat in the long run. This is really big mistake and I am going to shatter this truth and claim (with thousands of backup experts) that the best way to get a flat stomach is by eating 5-6 short meals a day with two portions of high fiber carbs, a handful of healthy fats like almonds and one portion of lean protein in every meal.

In order to lose weight, you need to eat anywhere from 1500 calories to 2000 calories a day depending on your weight and gender. In short, you need to consume 500 calories short of your maintenance level every day until you reduce your total body fat to the level you want. If you want to get a flat stomach and see your six pack abs, you need to be at least at 9% body fat for men and 14% for women.

Keep following this plan and you will be well on your way to get a flat stomach in just weeks!

Article Source: http://physicalfitnessarticles.net

Home workout

You don't need to join a gym, have any specialist equipment or even leave the house to have a great workout that will improve your overall fitness.

Check out this video of a very simple Home Based Body Weight Circuit that you can do anytime, anywhere without any equipment.

This circuit will improve your cardiovascular fitness, tone muscle and burn body fat.

Do this circuit at least 3 times per week. Start with 1 set of 15 repetitions

The exercises should be performed in a circuit format one after the other. You should aim to perform at least 15 repetitions of each exercise.

If you are new to exercise then start slowly and only do what you can. You can rest for up to 60 seconds between each set of exercises. As you progress and get fitter, reduce the resting time between each exercise set.

Once your form begins to fail then you should stop and rest. You should aim to progress each time you do the circuit, for example, if you can only manage to do 5 push ups, then the next week, aim for 6. This is how you will eventually get fitter and stronger by continually moving the marker posts and challenging your body.

If you find any of the exercises too difficult to perform even 1 rep, then replace it with one you can do. For example; Push Ups, you can do them on your knees. If you can't do declined push ups (feet on the bench) then try inclined push ups (hands on the bench, knees or feet on the floor)

Here's the exercise order again;

• 15 x Y Squats
  
• 15 x Push Ups
• 15 x Lunge
• 15 x Declined Push Up
• 60 x Star Jumps
• 15 x Runner Squat Thrust

Get started right away. Your aim is to to be able to complete all the exercises and repetitions with perfect form, one after the other without any rest. Once you can do this, then it's time to move on and change the routine to a more challenging one.

Is the fat gene an excuse for being overweight?

I was watching a TV programme last night, in fact I'm sure many of you also saw it. Basically, they took DNA samples from a group of people to see how many of them had copies of the fat gene. The results were analysed and the group was then split into 3. Those who had no copies of the fat gene,those that had one single copy and those that had two copies. As genetic sequences come in pairs, the effect is greatest in those with two flawed copies. So you would have expected those in the group with 2 copies of the gene to have all been very overweight right? Wrong. In fact the 3 people in the group that had both copies of the gene, weren't actually overweight. What it did show is that the group with the two copies of the gene had a slightly higher than average body fat percentage than the other two groups. What that means is they have a slightly higher body fat to lean body mass ratio, but that does not necessarily make someone overweight. You can still have a relatively high body fat percentage and be well within your healthy weight range.

Now their were some people in the other two groups who were convinced that they had the worst case scenario, that is 2 copies of the fat gene, when in fact they had none or only one copy. They were really suprised to find that they could no longer blame being overweight on genetics. So are we as a nation using the excuse of the 'fat Gene' for being overweight?

Certainly, your genetic make up can play a big part in you being overweight and if this is the case then you can't do much about that, but it's only one part of the equation. Their are several other factors all related to poor lifestyle that can be addressed in the war against obesity. These are things that you can influence and make a difference even if your genetics are against you;

1. Dietry habits - Nutritional imbalance. You are eating more calories than you need
2. Physical inactivity - Sedentary lifestyle. Not eneough exercise
3. Smoking and alcohol - Both have a significant influence on the body in relation to storing body fat

So before you start blaming the fat gene for you being overweight, make sure that you have addressed the other three parts of the equation. Being overweight can be addressed with a healthy balanced diet and regular exercise regardless as to whether you hold the 'fat gene'.