Ab exercises aren't useless -- not by a long shot. The rules of ab exercises are straightforward. If you do your exercises correctly and regularly, you're bound to build your stomach muscles. The only problem is that building your stomach muscles and being able to see them are two different things. In order to get the visual results, you will need to understand exactly how the process works and the factors that affect your final results.
The Fat Blanket
Beneath your skin is a protective layer of fat and beneath that are your muscles. In order to make your muscles visible you will need to build them, but burning some of the fat that is lying overhead wil make them more noticeable. This is usually attainable between body fat levels of 10 and 20 percent. Men require a lower body fat percentage (10 to 15 percent) to make their abs visible, while women can achieve the same results with a body fat percentage of 15 to 20 percent.
Ab Exercises
Not every ab exercise is effective. In fact, some exercises can be quite counterproductive. The only way of ensuring that your ab exercises are not useless is to choose routines that are guaranteed to produce the results you need. In a study conducted at the Bio-mechanical lab, San Diego University, exercises such as the bicycle and the Captain's chair were discovered to be among the best ab muscle workouts. Other effective exercises include the Reverse Crunch and Vertical Crunches.
Frequency
Hitting the gym everyday is a not that effective or healthy. During a workout, your muscles are broken down. If your ab exercises are going to be effective, you will need to give your muscles enough time to rebuild. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that resistance exercise be done twice or thrice a week for a healthy outcome. This will give your body enough time to rest.
Your Diet
If you continue to eat processed foods and binge on sugary drinks then yes, ab exercises will be quite useless. Exercising can only help you so far. Without a healthy diet, hitting the gym will be like trying to put out a fire that is being constantly fueled by a gas line. In order to burn away your body fat, you will need to curb it at the source, which is your diet. Making careful changes to your diet such as cutting out processed foods and eating more fruits and vegetables will affect the efficiency of your ab exercises.
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