Ab Workouts and Their Myths - Find The Truth Here!

The Myths of Ab Workouts

I know you’ve heard the guys talking down at the gym, you’ve heard your friends tell stories about their abs and, most of all, you’ve seen all the media craze surrounding the human abdomen – from magazines to television to celebrities – we’ve seen it all!

On top of that, we want it? There’s nothing more aesthetically pleasing for someone to have a nice-looking “6-pack”. So, we’re all paying our gym fees and heading directly to the declined sit-up apparatus.

The problem is that ab exercises aren’t the end-all-be-all exercises that’ll put you on top of the fitness world. After all, have you ever seen an otherwise unhealthy individual (besides some bodybuilders) with six pack abs?

Getting that nice washboard look is the result of hard work and commitment over an extended period of time. The problem has been misunderstandings and unrealistic goals. For example, you can’t lay down and do 1,000 crunches per day and get washboard abs by the end of the month (unless you already have a low body fat percentage). Set realistic fitness goals for yourself, then have at it!

So, let’s dispel the myths behind ab workouts and get you started down the right track to great fitness, well-being and overall health! The top 10 myths of abdominal exercises!

10) You need some sort of gizmo to successfully do ab workouts.

Absolutely not. Never pull out your wallet for some sort of contraption that’ll contort your body in all sorts of directions for the purpose of working your abs. Sure, they might help in the short term, but is it worth paying $99.99 plus shipping and handling for a handful of ab exercises? Definitely not. Heck, after you’ve used it for 3 weeks, you’ll hit a plateau since you’re body will become accustomed to the movements. The fact is that you can work every abdominal muscle by laying on the floor and getting busy. And the best part is that it’s free!

Not only are these gizmos expensive, but most of them aren’t compatible with a large range of motion – this includes the machines at the gym (I’m not a real big proponent for exercises machines, in general). In fact, many of them are working your lower back and hip flexors instead of your abdominal muscles.

Thankfully, the market for these ab slider-flyer-exercisers we’ve seen all over the tube in the '90s has greatly diminished in recent years. You’ll see a few ads here and there – I guess people are realizing that their ab exercises are best done on their yoga mats or on the floor.

9) You’ll reap more benefits from your ab workouts if you do more repetitions.

Think about how many reps you might do in your chest workouts, leg workouts, or any other muscle group. Would you sit there and do 100 reps of bench press per set? Or would you do 50 squats? The answer is…well, no! Your abdominal muscles are muscles just like any other muscle in your body – they should be treated the same in every regard! Doing 800 crunches per workout doesn’t do any good.

If you’re doing more than 25 reps per set, then you’re either doing the exercise incorrectly or it’s simply too easy for you. The first scenario is most likely. When you begin to fatigue in ab workouts, you’ll start to feel more burning in your hip flexors and lower back rather than your abs.

You should only do your ab workouts until you can no longer maintain proper technique and form. If you keep going beyond this point, you’ll just be wasting your time. In a usual case, 15-20 reps is optimal, while doing more than 25 with ease is cause for some concern with regard to technique.

8) Doing sit-ups is more beneficial than crunches.

In a sit-up motion, your abdominal muscles are only active in the first 20 degrees of the motion. This is about the point at which your shoulder blades are about 6 inches off the ground. The rest of the sit-up motion involves your lower back (namely the iliopsoas muscle) and hip flexors. I constantly see people in the gym doing these violent sit-ups like it’s some sort of mission. Up and down, up and down touching their elbows to their knees. This is simply not necessary, nor is it helpful or in any way beneficial – unless of course you’re trying to work your hip flexors or lower back.

7) You need to do ab workouts every day to achieve maximum results.

Actually, doing ab workouts everyday will diminish your results. Just like working your chest everyday will result in a plateau, overtraining and muscle fatigue. Remember, your abs are muscles, too! They’re no different than any other muscle in your body.

Working your abs every day can also result in neck problems mostly because people aren’t doing the exercises properly. For best results, take at least a day off between ab workouts.

6) "Ab workouts" is just another way to say "core training".

Absolutely not! Ab and core exercises are completely different. Your abs are a set of muscles surrounding your midsection. The core is the center of your body which houses shoulder, hip and lower back stabilizing muscles. A strong core is imperative for any competitive athlete, especially those that involve explosive movements, balance and repetition (as in most sports).

These core muscles are also important for daily activities – they support our spine, hips and shoulders allowing for improved posture and confidence. Yes, your abdominal muscles also support your spine and lower back, but they’re not used as much for balance and stability as the core muscles.

5) Your upper and lower abs are separate muscles.

The rectus abdominus, the muscle that sits front and center, is a single, flat muscle that extends from your lower ribs all the way down to the bottom of your pelvis. It’s one single muscle. Yes, doing certain exercises can emphasize the upper, lower or even sides of the muscle, but the fact of that matter that any abdominal exercise will work the muscle in it’s entirety. The same aspect applies to the oblique muscles that lie on either side of the rectus abdominus.

4) No pain, no gain!

Nah, doing ab workouts until you can’t move is a fantastic way to overtrain, hit a plateau. It’s also a great way to work your hip flexors because most of the workout has probably been done incorrectly due to fatigue. As with any other workout, if it hurts, then stop. If it burns too much for you to continue, take a break. Don’t let your technique suffer – this will only force you to work the wrong muscles to compensate for those that are tired.

Over time, you’ll be able to complete the workout in its entirety without faltering. If you reach this point, it’s time to move on to a different program to avoid hitting a plateau.

3) Anyone can develop six pack abs if they put forth enough effort in their ab workouts.

You could be the greatest fitness phenom of the 21st century and still not have anything resembling a six pack. You have a low fat diet, you do cardio exercises 6 days a week, you have a great diet plan and still don’t have that six pack you’re looking for.

The truth, harsh as it may be, is that not everyone is capable of getting that washboard look. These individuals usually have a genetic predisposition to not deposit much fat in the abdominal area. This phenomenon isn’t present in normal individuals, so don’t get discouraged if you just can’t seem to get over that last hump. If you’ve been working hard, you’ve got a fantastic abdominal area that can outperform the average Joe and some athletes.

How do all the celebrities get this look? The answer is lots of money and plastic surgery. Yes, many celebrities have liposuction procedures done so they can have a six pack in their upcoming movie, photo shoot or television appearance. And some of these procedures include implants to mimic the abdominal muscles. Not everything you see on TV is true.

2) Doing barbell twists is a great abdominal exercises.

Not only does this exercise not work your abdominal muscles, but it torques your lower back so much that you’ll feel it for weeks. Continuation of this exercise will simply cause back problems, more than likely forcing you into the doctors office to explain how you injured your back. It’ll be kinda hard telling him you injured your back while working your abs.

With this exercise, you may be under the impression that you’re working your obliques. In fact, because the force of gravity on the weights is towards the floor and not centered over your abdominal muscles, you’re simply using the momentum of the weight to swing your back into an overly twisted position that can cause some serious problems.

And now, for the number one ab workout myth!

1) Doing ab workouts melt the fat from your midsection.

Doing ab workouts doesn’t help with removing fat from your waistline. The idea of spot-reducing in this way is completely false, no matter what anyone says. Muscle does not turn into fat, as marketers claim. You could do thousands of crunches and ab workouts with perfect form and technique over a period of years and never burn any fat from your abdomen. The key is cardio exercises and increasing your metabolism through building muscle. The more cardio you do, the more fat you’ll burn while you’re resting. The more muscle you have, the more fat you’ll burn while you’re resting. It’s a known fact of metabolism.

The same thing goes for any other body part. Many women’s magazines claim to have specific “trimming exercises” to shave the fat off a woman’s legs, arms or abdomen. These claims are completely false. Why?

Training a muscle does not result in the burning of fat in that specific area. Fat is mobilized from all sorts of areas – whether it’s from your face, your arms, or even your belly and doesn't depend on the area you're working.

Again, there’s no relationship with working a specific muscle group and also burning the fat covering that muscle group.

Doing ab workouts doesn’t burn fat off your abs, doing hip extensions doesn’t burn fat off your quadriceps, and doing shoulder extensions doesn’t burn fat off your triceps.

Bottom line? Treat your abdominals as you would any other muscle group. After all, they are muscles! Forget what people are saying down at the gym - do your ab workouts the smart way, without the hype!

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