Absolutely no quick fixes

Last time, we talked about spot reduction, but let’s expand on that a little… I’m going to lay it all out right now to avoid any confusion. Tight, defined abs are difficult to get and even harder to keep. Only those who are genetically blessed with a body that doesn’t store fat in the stomach, and those who stick to a strict diet and fitness routine, will reach what might be considered perfect abs. Even if they work hard and eat right, some people’s bodies just aren’t meant to lose the amount of fat necessary to reveal stomach muscles.

That doesn’t mean you should give up, just that it’s not something you’ll accomplish without a lot of hard work. It’s a good idea to become comfortable with the thought that your stomach may never be washboard flat. You should just be happy your strong abs are doing what they were originally meant for – moving and stabilizing the torso and preventing injury.

Can an ab machine get you cut?
If you incorporate the ab machine’s moves into a complete fitness routine the answer is yes, sort of, depending on how effective the machine is at working your abdominals. For the most part you don’t need a machine to work your abs. Regular, bicycle and side crunches isolate each of the abdominal muscle groups, while a number of compound strength training moves, such as push-ups and deadlifts, utilize ab muscles to stabilize the body.

Quality not quantity
When targeting their abs many women go for the all-or-nothing approach, doing hundreds of sit-ups a week. They’re often so concerned with numbers that they don’t give much though to their form.

If you’re not focusing on engaging your abdominals each time you perform a crunch, of course you’ll be able to do a huge number of them. Once you start doing ab exercises right you’ll feel results with a fraction of the repetitions. If you’re devoting more than two or three strength training exercises to abs you’re probably doing too many.

Are ab exercises the key?
It’s not just ab exercises that’ll give you a six pack. In fact, ab exercises make up the smallest part of the formula. Many of us already have firm abdominal muscles, they’re just hidden beneath fat. To uncover your abs you need to consistently eat a well-balanced diet. If that diet consists of more calories than your body needs at its usual activity level, you’ll have to burn enough calories through aerobic exercise to lose fat. Add to that a consistent routine of total body strength training and you’ve got the “secret to flat abs”.

The abdominal muscles
• Rectus abdominis – These abdominis muscles are responsible for the “six-pack” look. Work them and lose the overlying fat and you’ll eventually see those telltale stomach bumps appear.
• Transverse abdominis – These muscles lie underneath the others and act as a sort of natural girdle for your midsection. Really focusing on pulling in the abs during crunches and even during other exercise can strengthen these muscles and trim your waist.
• Obliques – These muscles line the sides of your abdomen, often right below love handles and are responsible for torso twists. Side crunches, weighted side bends and medicine ball twists can really hit the obliques.

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It’s impossible to target just one area

Have you seen one of those countless new ab (lounger, rocker, blaster) machines that promise to help you tone your midsection? Do you believe they will do everything promised, from flattening your tummy to helping you lose weight? If you believe the hype it’s time for a spot reduction intervention.

Working only one part of your body, be it your arms, thighs, abs or butt, won’t get you the results you crave. And no, buying a several hundred dollar machine to target that area won’t make a bit of difference.

Why women want spot reduction
Every one of us has a body part we loathe. Even women who are generally happy with the way they look can pinpoint at least one body part they wish was a little smaller, firmer or more defined.

In an ideal world we could decide to work just that one area until it suits us. You’re satisfied with your weight overall but wish you could remove some of the fat on your thighs? Go out and purchase a thigh machine and use it everyday religiously until the fat starts melting off your legs.

You know as well as I do (probably from experience) that it’s never going to happen, but when you’re unhappy with the way your body looks it’s easy to get caught up in a product that promises easy solutions.

Why is spot reduction impossible?
• Fat can’t turn into muscle – The idea behind some of these spot reduction promises seems to be that training one body part will transform the fat in that area to muscle. Muscle and fat are two completely different things, one can’t turn into the other.
• Ab exercises don’t burn calories – After my last point you may be thinking, “It shouldn’t matter if fat can’t be transformed into muscle. If I work my abs shouldn’t I be losing fat in that area while also building muscle?” The answer is no. Losing weight (fat) requires expending more calories than you take in. About 3,500 less calories a week will result in one pound lost. Ab exercises (or most other isolation exercises) done alone burn a very small amount of calories, meaning no weight loss. So although you may be building ab muscles, they’ll likely be hidden beneath layers of fat
• You can’t choose where your body will gain or lose fat – Look around your group of girlfriends the next time you’re all together. Chances are you all have very different shapes. Even women who are the same height and weight carry their pounds differently. Some (apple shapes) store fat in the middle, while other (pear shapes) have small waists and larger hips and thighs. You can’t control where your body stores fat, so there’s no use trying.

A complete approach to fitness, which includes aerobic exercise and total body strength training is the only way to lose weight and reveal a toned body. Don’t be surprised if you find your body has its own ideas about where the weight will come off first.

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After a number of unsuccessful wakeboarding attempts at a cottage a few weeks ago I came home with a bit of a bruised ego, not to mention a sore lower back. Maybe it’s because I wrenched it trying to turn the board sideways and glide it up over the water (I’m told the board does this on it’s own if you “let it” but I think one of my more successful friends was just rubbing it in). Maybe it’s because I wanted to stand up so bad I held onto the rope as the boat wrenched me through the waves.

Either way, I ended up at work the next week with pain that made it difficult to sit for any length of time. The pain made my Pilates and yoga classes even more difficult. After some rest and stretching I’ve gotten back to my usual routine, but it got me thinking. I consider myself to have a pretty strong core. I do Pilates several times a week and never neglect the less popular core muscles (transverse abdominis, erector spinae) in favor of working my six pack muscles. I make sure my movements are slow and controlled, with deep breathing and a focus on quality over quantity.

You may take this to mean that it doesn’t matter what you do or how good of shape you are in, you can still get injured. I guess that’s true, but I look at it as a sign that what I’ve been doing has paid off. It took a lot of abuse before my back let me know it wasn’t happy. Imagine I’d strained it lifting a heavy box or that it simply hurt due to lack of muscle strength. After the strain I got back on my feet pretty quickly. Because of my experience with strength and flexibility training I knew what I could and could not do and worked my way up to being pain-free. I feel sorry for people who haven’t experienced how healing strength training and can be.

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As a pesonal trainer certified through Can-Fit Pro the best way to stay relevent and up-to-date is by attending the conferences that happen several times a year. You get continuing education credits, meet people working in the industry and learn from the best master trainers, teachers and presenters in the business.

It was my first visit  to the Toronto conference this year and I’m glad I took the opportunity. The summer has been so blah I’ve actually been gaining  weight over the last few months. (Usually by the end of a summer full of trips to the beach, hiking, biking, runnning and playing sports I end up a few pounds lighter.) Not so this year. I haven’t even built up half the store of sun I’ll need to get me through the winter.

For the majority of last few weeks months I’ve been busy working and staying indoors out of the rainy, cold weather and because of that my energy forkeeping active had been waning. I’ll worry about my own workouts in the fall I’d tell myself. Recently Ibegan worrying that by the time I got back into my usual routine I’d find my body had a much different proportion of muscle to fat than I was used to.

But the Can-Fit Conference changed everything. After three days full of lectures, classes and workshops I came home with my head full of exciting new ideas I couldn’t wait to try out. It’s been a few weeks and I still haven’t worked through it all. Cycling, Pilates, yoga… I took as many different workshops as I could and learned something new in each one.

I want to stress that fitness conferences aren’t just for professionals working in the industry. The Consumer Fitness and Wellness Show was great, but if you like group fitness classes, learning about how to take care of your body and stay motivated or you just being in an electric atmosphere, there’s nothing wrong with checking out the same courses instructors do. And since you don’t have any obligations to take certain classes or earn CECs you can pretty much do whatever you want.

I say take inspiration wherever you can find it. And for me courses are where I find it most. Being surrounded by so many people, the excitement and energy can’t help but rub off on you.

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It’s possible to get effective exercise with a limited cash supply, in fact it’s more than possible to get a total body workout without spending any money at all. But if you’ve got some extra green and are itching to spend it, there are worse ways you could go about it than buying fitness toys.

I for one would rather pay for non-essential items that can help me stay fit and healthy than ones that keep my eyes glued to a screen with my butt on the couch and a remote in my hand.

My dream home gym:

1. Elliptical machine or cross trainer – What cardio machine would I buy if I had unlimited resources? A gym-quality Precor elliptical is a the top of the list, but I’d be just as happy with a good cross trainer. Treadmills are good for variety but I love how easy ellipticals can be. They’re great for adding cardio to strength training intervals or just jumping on for a 10 minute sessions throughout the day.
2. Free weights, bands and accessories – In my dream gym there would be no isolation machines. I’d have a row of dumbbells of every possible weight and resistance bands of every strength. And for those situations where skipping from a 10 to 12 pound dumbbell is difficult, I’d have a supply of  half pound weight magnets to make progression easier. I’d use the resistance bands alone to work my muscles in new ways and pair them with dumbbells or bodyweight exercises to make things more challenging. Push-ups alone are tough, but with a resistance band pulling down against your upper back there’s no comparison.
3. Cables – The other weight training I enjoy most is done on a cable pulley machine, so of course I’d need one of them. Glute kickbacks, cable chops, airplane rows and more can keep me busy for hours.
4. Flat screen TV - I’m not picky about this aspect of my gym. Just a television that’s a decent size and mounted on the wall.
5. Workout video library - Pilates, yoga, dance, kickboxing. I don’t do workout videos on a regular basis but I love watching them for new ideas and the dance ones are just plain fun.
6. Balance toys - BOSU, fit disk, foam roller (also useful to roll the tension out of sore muscles afterward). All these essential balance tools have an important place in my gym. Did I mention a stability ball, which I could use for killer ab workouts and the most challenging balance moves.

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