Monday again? Let’s make it a good one! need to catch up?
Friday: Friday Favorites: Target C9
Sunday: Hop into the Weekend
So what do you think of my clever title? If you don’t get it, you will by the end of the post! I am now in week five of 6 weeks to 6 pack. I have been working hard, and also doing research on ab workouts just out of curiosity. When I started into level Two of the video last week, I noticed something.
Level One was full of met work, tons of ab work, lots of sore abs but not much else. Level Two is a LOT more cardio based and my legs have been way more sore than my abs! There is not near as much mat work, but a LOT more sweat and high intensity intervals. That got me to more thinking and more research, and I must say, it makes sense.
Let’s face it, everyone has stomach muscles. Some are of course bigger and stronger than others, but you still have them in there somewhere. The key is uncovering them. (Get the title now? heh). Jillian is currently kicking my butt in a cardio kind of way with some ab work thrown in to UNCOVER my newly formed muscles from level one. I can tell/feel I am not as squishy in the middle as I was a month ago, but I still don’t see a LOT of visible difference, because my abs are being covered up by some stomach fat. So I need to step up my cardio in addition to my DVD to shed all over fat to expose my ab muscles. Does this make sense? Totally does to me, not really sure why I didn’t think about it before…oh, I know! because I have never really focused on abs before.
(random insert of picture to break up the writing…)
Doing a million crunches will not give you a 6 pack. Yes you need to build up strength in your core but you also need to eat healthy and burn overall body fat to shed it off your stomach so you can SEE the abs you have been working so hard for. Last week was totally lame in terms of running/cardio aside from the DVD, so this week I am going to step it up a bit (and cut out nightly ice cream and brownies) and see if I can tell a difference in my last two weeks of the DVD.
So, if you are currently working on abs for swimsuit season, don’t simply do crunches during the commercial break of your favorite TV show. Pair it with some heart pumping cardio and healthy eating to “expose” all your hard work!
QOTD: Thoughts on this? Do you pair cardio with your strength training to expose your muscles? What do you think about the terms flying around concerning “fat fit people?”
I always look better when I do cardio + strength training. I definitely feel better too!
me too!
I find planks to be the most effective and challenging workout for my abs–and side planks, too!
oh I loathe side planks!
My favorite saying is “Abs are made in the kitchen” meaning, if you don’t lose the fat by monitoring what you eat (along with cardio) you’ll never see them! Great blog!
great saying Morgan! love it!
Thanks for the great tips! I’ve always had a hard time getting nice abs. I had them for a bit in the summer and then during the winter, I put on my hybernation weight. 🙂
Are you a fan of Jillian’s DVDs??
I have only done this and 30 day shred and like them both!
I was actually just reading an article about this today in Fitness magazine. They said the exact same thing. The times in my life when I’ve had the best abs, I was barely doing any ab exercises at all.. I was either exercising a lot or training for something, etc.
This is the way I tackle it.. I work on losing the fat then toning.. Right now I have a lot to uncover! I just havent been motivated to actually get it done.
HEYA again!! 🙂
This is a GREAT post!! So many magazines and stuff give the impression that all you need to do to get a toned stomach is lots of crunches, but obviously you aren’t gonna SEE that if you’ve got a layer of fat there!
Aaah I love Jillian- she’s so hardcore!! 😀
You are so good! I stopped doing the DVD! I need to get back into it!
It scares me how many people believe you can “spot reduce”. Umm no, to lose your gut, you do cardio, not ab work! Of course, cardio + strength is the best way to get a total body workout!
Great job on your DVD series 🙂
Yep! A combo of the two always gets me the best results! 🙂
Great post!
it’s definitely true that you need to pair both cardio and strength training for great abs. I think the important things to remember is that interval training can be the most effective for fat burning during workouts and strength training increases fat burning after workouts. So heavy lifting combined with healthy diet and interval cardio will get the best results!
your pup is adorable! 🙂
This definitely giving me some “food for thought”. Pun intended. 😉 I was reading about Jillian’s “ripped in 30 days” and there is an eating plan that goes with it. Are you supposed to do the Abs every day or can you do it one or two days a week?
Jillian reccommends doing the DVD 5 times a week. I am in my 5th week and typically do it 4 times a week. I just can’t seem to get that fifth time in! I think the second week maybe I did it 5 times?