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How To Sculpt Your Abdominal Muscles

By Machelle Lee

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Published: 07Sep2007
Word count: 405
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Contrary to popular belief, doing millions of crunches will not sculpt your abs. While there is a time and a place to use the beloved crunch in your waist slimming effort, this alone will not create the body of your dreams. The key to creating an enviable midsection lies in your ability to effectively challenge your abdominal muscles.

The "crunch" movement only targets your upper abdominal muscles, the ones found between your rib cage and belly button. Imagine you are doing a crunch - better yet, get down and do one - notice where you feel the burn. Those are your upper abs.

To effectively sculpt your waist, you will need to focus on strengthening your upper, lower and side abdominal muscles.

In order to achieve an overall look of symmetry your flat abs routine should consist of at least one exercise for each portion of your midsection.

A surefire way to kick up the intensity, and thus the results, of your abdominal workout is to add resistance training. By working your midsection against resistance you open up the possibility for greater muscle stimulation which equals greater results. You can do this by using a medicine ball, cable machine, elastic band or dumbbells.

First, consistent cardiovascular exercise is needed to burn off stored energy.

Follow these three tips to ensure your success:

* Choose an aerobic exercise that uses major muscle groups such as walking, jogging, swimming, dancing, biking anything that uses your big muscle groups. The more muscle groups you are using, the better.

* Find an exercise that you enjoy. This will make it easy for you to stick with it. I often get asked, "What is the best exercise?" The best exercise is something you enjoy doing. That way you will look forward to doing the activity.

* Make sure that you are exercising aerobically for at least 30-60 minutes three times a week. However, feel free to do it longer and more frequently.

Second, to uncover your abdominal muscles we have to discuss....your eating habits. I'm sorry to say it, but the food that you put in your mouth will surely have an effect on the size and shape of your waist.

Use these three pointers to help you slash fat:

* Eat small meals frequently throughout the day and avoid overeating.
* Processed foods should be kept to a minimum or avoided completely.
* Load up on vegetables and lean meat before partaking in grains or starches.

Machelle Lee owns and operates The Invisible Gym in Santa Cruz, CA. Her mission is to inspire people to become physically active and enjoy the benefits of a balanced, healthy lifestyle. For more information and questions you can visit her website. http://www.the-invisible-gym.com/

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