Do Ab Workouts Really Get Me Abs?
- Jessica Koeman
- Mar 8, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 3, 2023
"I need to keep up with my ab workouts to get a flat stomach and abs!"
Ohhh my children...
This is the most common myth I hear and it can be further from the truth! With that being said, I can't judge. Before I graduated with my B.S. in Kinesiology, I once thought the same thing. Then goes the painful throwback to the many times I did countless abdominal exercises only to see absolutely no consistent progress and question if I was pushing myself hard enough or if I'm doing the right ab workouts. Maybe I need to do more? Maybe I need to go harder! Maybe I'm not targeting my muffin top enough? Maybe I need a new set of ab workouts because clearly these aren't working? Oh, I got it! I Need to do lower ab workouts!
Nope...nope. It wasn't any of that at all actually. Little did I know, the circumference of my stomach had very little do with what workouts I was doing and more so what I wasn't doing outside of my workouts.
Much of the frustration around the dream of having a flat stomach was due to a lot of miss information combined with a lack of education. There are actually a number of myths surrounding the goal of a flat stomach, but today we are going to focus on the main one:
Doing Ab Workouts To Get Abs
First, before we dive into this myth, lets understand our abdominal muscles shall we? In simple terms, our abs hide under a layer of of fat that sits on top of them (as shown in the picture below). You got that right, I'm taking it back to grade school here! In order to make your abs visible, you must FIRST reduce the fat that is sitting on top of your abdominal muscles! However, normally visceral fat (shown in the picture) responds first and THEN subcutaneous fat responds slower.
To keep simplicity, that’s all the boring anatomy education we are learning for today. Now lets move on to the fun stuff!
Unfortunately spot reduction doesn't work for any part of the body, especially the abs. The myth at hand assumes that if we perform continuous ab exercises, it will make the fat sitting on top of our abdominal muscles go away. Oh how I wish! We can't workout to specifically target a change in one single area simply due to the fact that we don't have the power to control what areas of our body burn the most amount of fat first. Although exercising the muscle may increase its endurance or strength, it won't burn off the fat in that area. The reason for this is because the body draws energy from the entire body when exercising, not just from the part you're working.
The ONLY way to burn fat from your stomach is to reduce your OVERALL body fat by eating in a caloric deficit!
Funny how everything comes back to diet! Yup sister! As convincing as product and supplement commercials/influencers are, there are no shortcuts! However, this doesn't mean you go on a crazy diet where carbs are the enemy, your calorie intake is so low your starving yourself and so on. For the love of all things holy, please don't. The healthiest way to go about reducing your overall body fat while still keeping a good relationship with food is as follows:
1. Ensure you are eating in a balanced caloric deficit! The most efficient way to the results you desire is making sure you‘re consuming less calories in then you use in energy on a day to day basis! I promise you, this is EXACTLY how I got the results in the picture above! The best way to ensure you have yourself on the proper macros is using a reputable macro calculator. My favorite macro calculator is this one! This will ensure you are consuming the right amount of carbs, protein and fats. However, that doesn't mean you can have whatever kind of carbs, protein and fat you want! (Nice try reaching for that Mac and cheese for carbs and fat). If you want the ultimate guide on what type of food to eat in order to lose overall fat the quickest, I have a free resource here.
2. Incorporate the appropriate type of exercise into your routine! The type of exercise to include into your fitness regimen is another myth in itself that I will discuss in a later blog post, but the correct type of exercise you want to ensure you are doing is weight training that includes some cardio. Notice how I didn't say to ensure you are doing cardio with some weight training.....the focus here is weight training! The cute 3 mile runs, the cute 12 sprints or the cute uphill steady state walk isn't going to do it sister. According to science and research studies, the type of workout that burns the most amount of calories is weight or resistance training! After the weight training portion is complete, then focus on finishing your workout with cardio! Finding the proper exercise routine and balance is KEY to overall fat burn in combination with your diet!
3. Have a careful eye on your sleep and stress levels. Seriously. A five year study was shown that those who got an average of 5 hours of sleep or less accumulated more fat, where as those who got an average of 8 hours of sleep had significantly less fat. Take your sleep seriously as it literally has so many benefits to your health other than just your waist.
Same goes for your stress levels. Stress literally has the power to completely wreck your body. Countless studies have been performed on the effects of stress to someone's body. Engage in a daily routine that helps you keep stress at bay. Seriously, you will see and feel such a difference. I personally saw the effects of stress in a very short period of time. The picture above shows the quick effects of what stress does to your body. The picture on the furtherest left was the week before my Dad passed away from his stroke in 2019. The middle was the day after he passed away. The picture on the right was a week after, when I returned to regular eating and quickly started to manage stress. These changes are so big in just a short time frame! Had I never done the work on myself to keep stress levels down, I would've never got to the physique in the picture you saw of my on the WBFF Dallas show day! Imagine what chronic levels of stress is doing to your body! Take care of yourself and your body will trust you!
So as you can see, there is no quick fix to getting a flat tummy! Breaking our bodies part by part does not exist as our bodies function as a whole! However, work on the things you can control! This includes your diet, exercise routine, stress management, and sleep quantity and quality. If you just focus on those 4 main things, and I mean REALLY focus and DO it, you will see a world of a difference. All you have to be is consistent, committed and willing to learn and shape your habits, you can literally achieve any goal.
Now go have a fabulous day with your fabulous self and #JessMove!
Disclaimer: The contents of this blog should not be taken as medical advice. If you have a health problem, this blog post is not intended to help treat, diagnose or cure it. This blog post is also not intended to replace and/or go against the advice of a physician or medical professional. Always consult with a doctor before taking advice and/or making changes to your health.
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