Abdominal exercise machines are equipments that assist in the exercise of abdominal muscles, the muscle group found at the stomach area. Colloquially, these mucles are called “stomach muscles.”
A lot of people complain about stomach or belly fat. Stomach fat can be a bother even for people who do not need to lose weight based on their overall weight. Unfortunately, the stomach is the part of the body that’s most sensitive to fat. Middle-aged adults have the propensity to accumulate stomach fat, especially women who have been pregnant or those who like to eat too much or drink beer regularly.
Recently, a number of abdominal exercise machines made their way to the weight loss field and was promptly followed by an obsession for six-pack abs or flat stomachs. But do these machines really work?
An In-Depth Look at the Secrets behind Abdominal Exercise and Stomach Fat
- The Nature of the Abdominal Muscles and Abdominal Exercise
- Is There A Connection between Abdominal Exercise and Belly Fat?
- The Ugly Truth behind the Belly Fat
1. The Nature of the Abdominal Muscles and Abdominal Exercise
The abdominal muscles are found under the anterior abdominal wall. There are 4 muscles in all, namely the rectus abdominis muscle, the transversus abdominis, the internal oblique, and the external oblique.
Abdominal exercises and abdominal exercise machines can really help the body build these muscles found in the stomach area. Strength of abdominal muscles are useful in certain sports activities. These muscles also allow an individual to take more punches at the said body part. Some studies also found a connection between abdominal muscles and back pain, saying that if the muscles are stronger, there is a reduced chance for back pain.
2. Is There A Connection between Abdominal Exercise and Belly Fat?
Contrary to popular belief, the building of the abdominal muscles does not significantly reduce stomach or belly fat. In fact, you can have strong abdominal muscles but they can be hidden underneath a thicker layer of belly fat.
A lot of people are still mistaken in this regard, but more and more health experts are coming out with this information to counter the various claims being made by manufacturers of abdominal exercise machines.
Thus, before you undertake abdominal exercise and pay for an expensive exercise machine for your abs, you need to get rid of the belly fat first.
3. The Ugly Truth behind the Belly Fat
To effectively get rid of belly fat, you first need to understand some truths about it. Belly fat becomes a bigger problem as an individual ages. This is because several factors contribute to belly fat, not only poor eating habits and the beer habit, root of the highly popular beer belly.
Aside from these commonly known factors, belly fat also becomes more prominent as one enters middle age, when the metabolism slows down. At this point, the way fat is distributed all over the body also tends to change, and instead of the fat being distributed to the arms, legs, and hips, they mostly end up in the abdomen. Other causes are heredity, menopause, and other hormonal changes.
Aside from the cause of belly fat, you also need to know that if you want to get rid of it, there are two types of belly fat you should be worried about. The first is easy – it’s what you see on the surface and can easily grab. This is called subcutaneous fat; it lies just beneath the skin and is easier to get rid of. Also, they do not pose any health risks.
However, there’s another type of belly fat – the fat that gets accumulated inside the abdomen. This fat sets up shop around the abdominal organs. This type of belly fat is closely associated with certain medical problems including diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This is called visceral fat, and what’s worse is that they tend to release hormones that may lead to insulin resistance or even to breast cancer.
How to Get Rid of Belly Fat
Abdominal exercise machines can play a role in building the stomach muscles. This can help decrease the amount of belly fat, but the change is inconsequential. The best way to get rid of belly fat is to lower the amount of body fat in totality. You can do this by doing fat burning exercises. Even though you don’t see signs of a problematic abdomen or haven’t reach middle age or the menopausal years yet, doing regular fat burning exercises can prevent belly both, both on the surface and inside, from piling up.
Abdominal exercise machines can help, but they need to make you sweat and they should be used along with other cardiovascular fat burning exercises.