A flat belly signals good health and good fitness. But getting there from here can seem impossible until you break the process down into a combination of healthy diet and regular exercise. You'll bust through a few myths along the way too, including spot reducing, the popular misconception that doing ab exercises somehow magically removes fat from your abdominal area only.
Types
Three primary types of exercise contribute to developing a flat stomach. Cardio helps you lose fat all over your body, including the belly. Strength-training exercises that target your abs help you sculpt muscles to shape a flat, attractive abdomen. And stress-busting practices such as yoga and meditation help manage stress, which in turn can help reduce deposits of deep abdominal fat due to cortisol, the so-called "stress hormone."
Duration
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, recommends that adults should do 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity cardio per week. That works out to 30 minutes of moderate activity or 15 minutes of vigorous activity, five days a week. The CDC also recommends that you strength-train every major muscle group at least twice a week. All of this physical activity can contribute to developing a flat stomach, especially if you focus on aerobic exercise that uses your stomach muscles -- such as dancing -- and strength-training that incorporates abdominal exercises.
Frequency
Jessica Matthews, certification director for the American Council on Exercise, busts a popular exercise myth in ACE's Ask the Expert column. In her column entry, Matthews explains that contrary to the myth that you should work your abs every day, "Your abs, just like your other muscle groups, need recovery time between workouts too." Matthews also notes that one to three sets of 10 to 25 repetitions, if done with proper pacing and form, are enough to develop your abdominal muscles, so there's no need to do hundreds of crunches.
Misconceptions
Many abdominal exercise machines promise to get you up off the floor. But you don't have to lie down to work your abs, and you don't need a special machine either. Any activity that requires core strength will help you shape your abdominals. Examples include dancing, kayaking and rock climbing. Many weight-training exercises that work your abdominals, including hay balers and wood chops, don't require you to lie down or even sit down.
More Misconceptions
In a 2001 study commissioned by the American Council on Exercise, EMG activity showed that the average person exercising cannot willingly contract the upper and lower abs. Your rectus abdominus, the long strap of muscle that runs across your stomach from ribs to pelvis, works as the single, entire muscle it is -- not as isolated top and bottom halves. But you can still train a variety of ab movements to help you develop the flat stomach you're after, including crunches, reverse crunches, planks and bicycle crunches.
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