WEIGHT LOSS EXERCISE 2:

EFFECTIVE WAYS IN APPLYING

TRAINING VARIABLES WHEN DOING ABDOMINAL EXERCISES

Do you wonder why you often get tired and bored of your routine exercise regimen? Do you feel that you are not successful in your effort to lose belly fat? Does it seem that you have not achieved your target in your cardio workout programs and lower abdominal exercises? Do you wonder why most people fail to achieve their dream to get six pack abs? If so, you will find the answers to these questions in this article.

First, I would like to briefly explain the human body’s reaction to physical exertion. During any form of exercise such as abs workout, weightlifting, or cycling, the body gradually adapts to the physiological changes that are brought by exertion. You will notice that the gym instructor always inform you to have warm-up activity prior to doing strenuous exercise. Why? It is because your body needs sufficient time to adjust to the expected physical demands. Once your body is already

conditioned to do active tasks, it can handle activities with ease due to its response to exercise stimuli. This is especially true when you perform belly fat exercises. The heart increases its beat in order to pump more blood. You rapidly inhale and exhale in order to provide more oxygen supply into the body and to release carbon dioxide. You sweat profusely, getting rid of toxic by-products of metabolism. You thirst because your body needs to replenish fluids that are excreted during exercise. Doing physical training daily, particularly standing abdominal exercises, will keep your body adjusted to stress, and you will feel alert and you can lose stomach fat.

Nevertheless, the human body can quickly adapt to the demands of routine exercises and this can lead to a plateau. The fact is that doing the same pace of this training will no longer result into improvement. As you have observed, you may have experienced some sort of “lack” as far as your progress is concerned especially when doing standing abdominal exercises. You may have even felt that your body has not reached its full potential when you are doing belly fat exercises. Actually, this happens because it is already accustomed to the usual pace of your exercise regimen. Unfortunately, you believe that the reason for this feeling is that you are not exerting yourself more. Thus, you tend to push even harder and lengthen the time of your exercises. Even though you feel that this is productive to your body, the

truth is that this is already harmful. You become overworked and exhausted as you work out harder and longer that the usual. As a result, you get muscle cramps and pain. If done in an even more strenuous and longer manner, you can injure your joints. This is even more unproductive if your push your abs workout by doing lower abdominal exercises to the breaking point.

Do you know the basic ingredients of exercise? If not, let me explain first its three basic aspects. The first is the type of physical effort such as flexion and extension of muscles, the second is the repetition of physical effort, and the third is the duration of the exercises. The reason why you are feeling bored during your lower abdominal exercises is that you are doing these three aspects in the same manner: same effort, same time, and same pace. It means that your body has become so accustomed to what you are doing. To break this routine, especially when doing standing abdominal exercises, you need to vary the differences of these three aspects by setting up different pacing, repetition of flexion and extension, and your time frame. This is when variable training exercise comes into mind.

How do variable training exercises work? There are two elements that make any physical activity such as abdominal exercises. The first is the repetition of physical exertion and

the recovery action. In doing your usual regimen, you do physical exertion with the same pace and the same resting time when doing belly fat exercises. In training variables, you change the pace and duration of your abs workout. This “challenges” the body to perform to its maximum capacity in response to the variation of exercise stimulus. As a result, you will gain back your strength and excitement when exercising. By being persistent in your training habit as well as with proper diet and sleep, you can achieve your dream to get six pack abs.

As far as physical exercise is concerned, there are many factors that affect your results. These are as follows:

1. Sequence or order of exercises. Especially if you target to lose stomach fat.

2. Exercise grouping such as super-setting, circuit training, and tri-sets.

3. Exercise type such as multi-joint, single joint, free weight or machine based.

4. The number of exercises per workout, including ab workout.

5. The amount of resistance (this refers to the adjustment of weights of your gym equipment).

6. The base of stability such as standing, sitting, on stability ball, one-legged support.

7. The volume of works (computed as sets x repetitions x distance moved).

8. Rest periods between sets. Take time to rest when doing an ab workout.

9. Repetition speed.10. Range of motion (involving full or partial flexion and

extension of biceps, etc.)11. Exercise angle such as inclined, flat, declined, bent

over, and upright.12. Training duration during every ab workout.13. Training frequency every week. This can help you

lose stomach fat.

Using the different factors that are described above, you can vary these combinations and apply the training variable technique to maximize your exercise regimen and get more effective results.

What are the benefits of doing training variables? There are many. The change in routine will start a chain reaction in your body by stimulating your musculoskeletal and nervous system. These exercises will bring physiological changes such as cell metabolism, which will result in “burning” lower belly fat and promoting weight loss. The second benefit is that your body can build up more muscles, and this will provide you with more

strength and stamina than before. You can eventually get six pack abs.

So how should you specifically apply the training variable technique in your exercise regimen such as your abdominal exercises? Instead of doing the usual workout of 3 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions per exercise, lose belly fat by integrating the following suggestions:

1. Using medium weight, try 10 sets of 3 repetitions and rest for 20 seconds only per set.

2. Using a heavier weight, try to complete 6 sets with 6 repetitions. Within the 3-minute allowance between the sets, do something different such as a treadmill sprint.

3. Using a maximum weight, complete 10 sets of 1 repetition and rest for 30 seconds between sets.

4. Using a lighter than normal weight, do 1 set with 50 repetitions.

5. For 20 minutes, try only one intense, full-body exercise, particularly abdominal exercises with barbell clean and presses, as well as dumbbell squats and presses.

6. Do a series of 12 different full-body exercises continually for a certain amount of time without stopping to rest. Only rest when you have completed all these activities.

7. Do a series of the 12 different full-body exercises continually without rest, but in reverse order.

8. Vary your repetition speeds during your usual abs workouts. Do a faster repetition speed in one workout. During your next workout, do the repetitions in a very slow speed.

9. In one week, complete five 30-minute workouts. On the following week, try three 1-hour workouts. This is very good to help you lose lower belly fat.

10. In all of your exercises, do drop sets. This technique is done by dropping the weight of each set and doing repetitions without rest until your muscles feel tired. By then, you can take a rest. A good example is to use full extension and full flexion during biceps curls (dumbbells) as well as bench presses (barbells). This can also be applied when doing abdominal exercises such as crunches in order to lose belly fat.

Described above are just a few of the examples on how to apply training variables in your exercise plan in order to lose stomach fat. If you are interested on applying other examples of these exercises, you can order a copy of my e-book titled “The Truth about Six Packs Abs.” You will discover creative ways in doing physical training to lower belly fat and to strengthen your abdominal muscles.