Myth: Crunches are one of the best moves to target your abs.
You probably know crunches are old-school, but you may not know why they're not very effective. What's their weakness? Most women initiate crunches with their hip flexors without engaging much of their core. This may get the surface muscles in your abs, but it ignores the ones underneath, which are also essential to a flat stomach.
Plus, crunches mimic the sitting posture we use for much of the day. We don't want to aggravate this 'hips flexed/shoulders hunched' position. The point of training is to fix the gaps and do something different. Crunches repeat a similar movement pattern.
A better way to get those flat abs? Focus on moves like the plank and side plank that work often-neglected areas of your core. And don't forget your butt, too. Weak glutes push your stomach out and give you a belly even if you don't have one. (Not fair, I know!)
I tend to stray away from crunches lately because of back pain, so I use the ab machine at the gym, use a ball for core workouts, and really focus myself on strengthening my lower back and butt muscles to increase my core strength.
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Showing posts with label daily exercise myth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label daily exercise myth. Show all posts
July 14, 2010
July 11, 2010
Daily Exercise Myth
Myth: Cardio burns more calories than strength training.
Contrary to long-held belief, strength training is—as new studies have shown—superior to steady-state cardio in caloric burn. In one University of Southern Maine study, participants blasted as many calories doing 30 minutes of weight training as they did running at a six-minute-per-mile pace for the same amount of time.
The other huge benefit of weight training? It boosts your metabolism after your workout—and builds muscle that will further increase your fat-burning potential in the long run. "If you do steady-state cardio, when you leave the gym, that's it for your calorie burn," says David Jack, general manager of Competitive Athlete Training Zone in Acton, Massachusetts. "But when you do strength work, you'll continue to burn calories for up to 36 hours."
I have been seeing this become such a truth in my calorie burns every week. When I add more weight training or just a core workout in circuit training I see a lot more results then when I just do cardio. If you already have the muscle mass then just use light weight with 3 sets of 12 - 15 and usually do this for about 30 minutes focusing on core, upper, or lower body muscles.
Contrary to long-held belief, strength training is—as new studies have shown—superior to steady-state cardio in caloric burn. In one University of Southern Maine study, participants blasted as many calories doing 30 minutes of weight training as they did running at a six-minute-per-mile pace for the same amount of time.
The other huge benefit of weight training? It boosts your metabolism after your workout—and builds muscle that will further increase your fat-burning potential in the long run. "If you do steady-state cardio, when you leave the gym, that's it for your calorie burn," says David Jack, general manager of Competitive Athlete Training Zone in Acton, Massachusetts. "But when you do strength work, you'll continue to burn calories for up to 36 hours."
I have been seeing this become such a truth in my calorie burns every week. When I add more weight training or just a core workout in circuit training I see a lot more results then when I just do cardio. If you already have the muscle mass then just use light weight with 3 sets of 12 - 15 and usually do this for about 30 minutes focusing on core, upper, or lower body muscles.
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