The Hidden Dangers of Your Excess Abdominal Fat – It’s More Serious Than a Vanity Issue!

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

Did you know that the vast majority of people in this day and age have excess abdominal fat? The first thing that most people think of is that their extra abdominal fat is simply ugly, is covering up their abs from being visible, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body.

However, what most people don’t realize is that excess abdominal fat in particular, is not only ugly, but is also a dangerous risk factor to your health. Scientific research has clearly demonstrated that although it is unhealthy in general to have excess body fat throughout your body, it is also particularly dangerous to have excess abdominal fat.

Two Types of Stomach Fat…

There are two types of fat that you have in your abdominal area. The first type that covers up your abs from being visible is called subcutaneous fat and lies directly beneath the skin and on top of the abdominal muscles.

hairy-beer-bellyThe second type of fat that you have in your abdominal area is called visceral fat, and that lies deeper in the abdomen beneath your muscle and surrounding your organs. Visceral fat also plays a role in giving certain men that “beer belly” appearance where their abdomen protrudes excessively but at the same time, also feels sort of hard if you push on it.

Both subcutaneous fat and visceral fat in the abdominal area are serious health risk factors, but science has shown that having excessive visceral fat is even more dangerous than subcutaneous fat. Both of them greatly increase the risk your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, various forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases.


Why Visceral Fat is Dangerous…

woman-squeezing-her-belly-fatPart of the reason visceral fat is particularly dangerous is that it apparently releases more inflammatory molecules into your body on a consistent basis.

If you care about the quality of your life and your loved ones, reducing your abdominal fat should be one of your TOP priorities! There’s just no way around it. Besides, a side-effect of finally getting rid of all of that excessive ugly abdominal fat is that your stomach will flatten out, and if you lose enough stomach fat, you will be able to visibly see those sexy six pack abs that everyone wants.


How to Get Rid of It!…

belly-fat-to-six-pack-abs-transformationSo what gets rid of extra abdominal fat? Is there actually a REAL solution beyond all of the gimmicks and hype that you see in ads and on commercials for “miracle” fat loss products?

The first thing you must understand is that there is absolutely NO quick fix solution. There are no pills or supplements of any sort that will help you lose your abdominal fat faster. Also, none of the gimmicky ab rockers, rollers, or ab belts will help get rid of abdominal fat either. You can’t spot reduce your stomach fat by using any of these worthless contraptions. It simply doesn’t work that way.

The ONLY solution to consistently lose your abdominal fat and keep it off for good is to combine a sound nutritious diet full of unprocessed natural foods with a properly designed strategic exercise program that stimulates the necessary hormonal and metabolic response within your body. Both your food intake as well as your training program are important if you are to get this right.

I’ve actually even seen a particular study that divided thousands of participants into a diet-only group and an exercise/diet group. While both groups in this study made good progress, the diet-only group lost significantly LESS abdominal fat than the diet & exercise combined group.

Now the important thing to realize is that just any old exercise program will not necessarily do the trick. The majority of people that attempt getting into a good exercise routine are NOT working out effectively enough to really stimulate the loss of stubborn abdominal fat. I see this everyday at the gym.

Most people will do your typical boring ineffective cardio routines, throw in a little outdated body-part style weight training, and pump away with some crunches and side bends, and think that they are doing something useful for reducing their abdominal fat. Then they become frustrated after weeks or months of no results and wonder where they went wrong.


The Good News…

man-on-top-of-mountain-raising-armsWell, the good news is that I’ve spent over a decade researching this topic, analyzing the science, and applying it “in the trenches” with myself as well as thousands of my clients from all over the world to see what works to really stimulate abdominal fat loss.

The entire solution… all of the nutritional strategies, as well as training sequences, exercise combinations, and more have all been compiled in my Truth About Six Pack Abs Program.

Keep in mind that the point of this whole program is NOT abdominal exercises (that is only a very small portion of it). The main point of this program is showing you the absolute most effective strategies for losing your stubborn abdominal fat, so you can get rid of that dangerous health risk, as well as get a flatter more defined midsection.

If you follow the guidelines, you WILL lose your belly fat that has been plaguing you for years. This is not guesswork… it is a proven system that works time and time again for all of my clients on every corner of the globe that actually apply the information I teach. If you apply it, the results will come. It’s really that simple.

The only reason most people fail in their fitness goals is that they have good intentions at first to adopt a new lifestyle, yet after a few weeks or months, they abandon their good intentions and slip right back into their old bad habits that gave them the excess body fat in the first place.

I want to help you succeed in finally getting rid of that extra abdominal fat that is not only UGLY, but also DANGEROUS.

Don’t waste another day allowing that nasty abdominal fat to kill your confidence as well as contribute to your risk for MAJOR diseases.

Get the solution to rid yourself for life of this problem at…

http://www.gethotabs.com/

Train hard, eat right, and enjoy life!

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Author – The Truth about Six Pack Abs

Weighted Reverse Crunch

[pro-player width=”600″ height=”319″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MePi5ynkXS8[/youtube]

Instructions

Preparation

  1. Place a dumbbell in between your feet
  2. Lie on your back with no tension in your neck
  3. Raise your legs, bending at the knees, until your thighs are at a 90-degree angle to the floor and your chins are parallel to the floor

Execution

Using your lower abs and with control, lift your hips off the floor and towards you chest. Hold for one second.

Return

With control, slowly lower your hips back to the starting position.

Repeat

 
Which part of the weighted reverse crunch do you find most challenging? Share your opinion by leaving your comments below.

One-Arm Dumbbell Swings

[pro-player width=”600″ height=”319″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdSfNtlRQEI[/youtube]

When the word “dumbbell” is mentioned, what often comes to mind is using it to condition and increase the strength of your chest, arms or shoulders. What you may not know is that dumbbells may also be used to condition your hips and lower body. This is what one-arm dumbbells swings intend to do.

One-arm dumbbell swings has an extended range of motion which is why it is not surprising it can work out a large number of your major muscle groups, from your glutes and hamstring to your quadriceps, core muscles and shoulder muscles. Doing this exercise is like performing a combination of squats and weight lifting so you can actually reap the benefits of these 2 exercises. Due to the intensity of this exercise, you can also expect a great boost in your metabolism.

Hence, one-arm dumbbell swings should be part of any six pack abs exercises. You can start with lighter weights for muscle toning then move on to heavier ones for strength training.

As this is one exercise where success greatly depends on proper form, do this in front of a mirror especially if you are a first timer. Better yet, check out this video on performing one-arm dumbbell swings.

Instructions

Preparation

  1. Straddle dumbbell with feet slightly wider apart than shoulder width.
  2. Squat down with arm extended downward between legs and grasp dumbbell handle with overhand grip…with dumbbell sides facing front and back.
  3. Position shoulder over dumbbell with strong arched back (not rounded)
  4. Torso close to vertical.

Execution

  1. Pull dumbbell up off floor, slightly forward, just above height of ankles.
  2. Immediately dip down slightly and swing dumbbell back under hips.
  3. Quickly swing dumbbell up by raising upper body upright and extending legs.
  4. Continue to swing dumbbell back down between legs and up higher on each swing until height just above head can be maintained.

Return

  1. Swing dumbbell back down between legs.
  2. Allow dumbbell to swing forward but do not extend hips and knees (as would be required to continue the swing). Slow dumbbell’s swing and place in starting position between feet.

Repeat

 
Have any tips to doing dumbbell swings safely? Share them by adding your comments below.

One-Arm Dumbbell Snatch

[pro-player width=”600″ height=”319″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJWQxfCVB-U[/youtube]

Instructions

Preparation

  1. Stand with feet apart and toes pointing outward slightly.
  2. Position dumbbell in front of thigh with knuckles forward.

Execution

  1. Squat down with back arched and lower dumbbell between knees with arm straight and shoulder over dumbbell.
  2. Pull dumbbell up by extending hips and knees.
  3. Jump upward extending body.
  4. Shrug shoulders and pull dumbbell upward with arm allowing elbow to pull up to side, keeping elbow over dumbbell as long as possible.
  5. Aggressively pull body under dumbbell.
  6. Catch dumbbell at arm’s length while moving into squat position.
  7. As soon as dumbbell is caught on locked out arm in squat position, squat up into standing position with dumbbell overhead.

Return

Lower dumbbell to front of shoulder, then down to original position in front of thigh.

Repeat

Renegade dumbbell rows

[pro-player width=”600″ height=”319″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60mHSzgcP14[/youtube]

Dare to do something different with your six pack abs exercise routine by trying renegade dumbbell rows. This exercise is just perfect for targeting your abs muscles because while you are working to increase your strength in lifting the dumbbells, you are also giving yourself stabilization training while trying to balance yourself.

Because of combined strength and balance needed, renegade dumbbells rows can be a very challenging exercise. Yet, its demands can also force your upper body muscles to tighten and contract to remain rigid and hence, balanced the entire time.

Apart from the resistance it gives to your upper body including the chest, renegade dumbbell rows also gives your shoulders, middle back, triceps and lats a good workout while you carry your body weight with one arm and lift the dumbbells with another.

The goal of this exercise is to contract the target muscles as much as possible so there should be no reason to do them in a hurry. Renegade dumbbell rows are a tough but highly effective core exercise. You know this exercise is working when you can feel the desired muscle groups contracting. All the more, once you see those sculpted hard midsection you have always longed for!

Watch the video to see how this exercise can be properly executed.

Instructions

Preparation

Start in a pushup position with the hands on 2 dumbbells.

Execution

Row one dumbbell up while stabilizing your body with the other arm.

Return

Bring the dumbbell back to the ground and alternate the rowing arm while stabilizing with the opposite arm. This stabilizing effect during the rows creates incredible work for your entire midsection core area. Trust me… you’ll feel it in the abs!

Repeat

 
Has this exercise worked for you? Tell us how by entering your comments below.