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Fitness Article : The Abs-olute Truth Part I

Posted on April 28, 2012 | 5 comments

I guess the centre piece of every well defined body is the abdominal muscles, a bulging set of six packs which show superior genetics, discipline or dieting. And in fitness, many people would like to train to get that centre piece and see that as the end-all in the training.

It isn’t that difficult, but it also requires hours of dedication per week as well as a sensible diet plan. And you can stow away the myths that some hi-tech equipment would help you achieve abs with 8 minutes flat, or some diet mix would help you.

Well, there’s this one equipment that will DEFINITELY help you get an instant six pack, except that its a bit ridiculous and would be only good for a laugh.

Instant Six Pack Abs – For about 10 minutes

But seriously, you cant buy fitness instantly, though you can fake it. But why deprive yourself of the joy of exercise and go through dubious shortcuts. It defeats the purpose of the journey – its like telling people that you can become an expert on a subject matter by reading just one book. Like I always say, fitness is the journey, you have to enjoy the journey and all the benefits would come naturally. And now on to the “short cut” methods and their efficacy.

The Lowdown on these “Short-Cuts”

TV Advertised , Ab-cruncher type machines

These come in many forms, and they all promote a rocking motion of the body to enhance the flexion of the abdominal muscle and cradle your neck, making the exercise easy and giving you a nice tight feeling on your waist, and all in 8 minutes a day.

What you dont see is the fine print that says this should be conbined with a sensible diet a an hour of exercise 4 tims weekly in the box, which would make the money back guarantee almost impossible to get back unless you expend real effort. But by buying this product you dont expect to put in any substantial sweat meets the ground (1-2 hour hard workout) kind of effort would you ?

These exercises work by creating an easy abdonminal exercise, but you dont need easy abdominal exercise to get stronger abs. Lifting weight or running would use your abs in substantially more useful ways than an ab specific machine. The abs are not powerful muscles but rather muscles that are quite fatigue resistant and strong by themsleves. They are not visible because they are covered by fat and not that they are weak.

The only real and compelling reason to strength your core (not just abs which i will explain later) is to have greater back support and stability which will help in all aspects of movement, sports and daily life, and there no specific one exercise to do it. Over-strengthening the abdominal muscles would only cause potential for more injury if the rest of your muscles are not strengthened in proportion. Which leads us to the next point.

Diet Pills and Powders 

They have been around for some time, each diet powder promising that you will lose 5 kgs of weight if you follow their strict diet plan and take their miracle powder – which is made from safe herbs and ingredients. Basically, its like paying for overpriced dubious vitamins and a diet plan.

Like exercise equipment, these diet pills and powders come with a nice disclaimer, which says that you have to follow the strict diet plan (which is at a restricted 1000 Kcal or less). Meaning even without the diet pills and powders, you can lose 1kg per week or more. Maximum weight loss recommended is about 1 kg (2 lbs) per week. To lose 1 kg, you theoretically have to cut back on 3850 calories per week or 550 calories per day. But these diets make you cut about 1000kcal per day. (Normal Intake is about 2000-2500 Kcals).

Essentially, you are paying to starve.

Furthermore, alot of the ingredients in these diet pills are not tested, diet pills are not FDA regulated because they are viewed as supplements and not drugs. Thus, they could get away with claims like lose 100kg in 1 day and still get your money. Alot of the ingredients contain substances which might not be good for your liver, there are documnted instances which led to liver failure and death.

Popular Fat busting drug Hydroxycut under big brand name Muscle Tech

“Hydroxycut is the most popular brand of weight-loss supplement, selling approximately 1 million units per year. On May 1, 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) issued a warning after some Hydroxycut products were linked to liver damage, rhabdomyolysis, and at least one death. The manufacturer then agreed to recall the products. Shortly after the recall, Hydroxycut was “reformulated” with reportedly some different ingredients and placed back for sale.“

Many more of these untested drugs by smaller companies up for a quick buck are making huge claims with harmful substances. So before you put these in your body, ask youself.

“Would i waste time and money and health on untested diet pills and powders that will only make me rely on them in the long run, or should i stop relying on quick fixes and start putting in the time and effort on the things that i know will work and will be beneficial for me in the long run”.

More on Fitness Article: Ab-solute Truth Part II (How to get a six pack and keep it).

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