There is such an overflow of information, diet gimmicks and exercise advice, that it is easy to get caught up in this advice and believe it word for word. But did you ever stop to think that much of this information could be myths? When trying to tone your abs it helps to have information that is true and that works. When you have information and advice that helps, you will tone your abs in less time and with fewer worries along the way. So here are 5 secrets to tone abs: exercise and diet myths busted.
Myth 1: If I train with weights I will bulk up and look like the hulk.
If you avoid weight training because of this crazy and wrong myth, you are missing out on serious fat burning opportunities. If you train with weights, your body won't bulk up overnight and it won't bulk up at all. Training with weights is actually the best way to burn body fat and to get lean. This is because when you train with weights, your body has to make space for your muscles and it then burns fat in return.
The only way you can bulk up is with you weigh train the way body builders do: overtraining their muscles and feeding it extra muscle building foods. So if you train with light weights regularly, you will gain lean muscle mass and by getting rid of your stomach fat, you will be able to tone your stomach muscles much more effectively.
Myth 2: The more cardio I do, the better my toning and weight loss abilities
Steady state cardio at long time intervals is not the most effective method to rid the body of excess fat and to lose weight. The truth about doing cardio for longer than thirty minutes at a time is that you start to burn muscles after only twenty minutes of steady state cardio. As muscles are very important if you want to tone your abs and lose weight, doing more than 20 minutes of cardio at a time should be avoided. The best cardio to tone your abs is training for twenty minutes doing interval training.
Myth 3: If I train hard, I can look like a super model.
Although when you train hard, you will tone your body and lose excess body fat, the fact of the matter is you can't change what you where born with. If you are pear shaped, or if you have short legs, you will never be able to change your body shape or to lengthen your legs. So stop trying to look like a super model, and start trying to look and feel your best.
Myth 4: There is miracle pills that will help me lose inches and fat faster
Diet pills and fat burners are not the way to go to lose body fat and to tone your abs. Pills like that only have horrible side effects and are bad for your body. So ditch the "Miracle pills" and tone your abs the natural way.
Myth 5: Eating little will help me tone my abs and to lose weight.
If you want to lose weight and tone your abs, eating almost nothing on a day is the worst thing you can do. When you don't eat enough or you don't eat often, your metabolism will slow down. And this will decrease your long term ability to lose weight and you may also shed muscles instead of fat.
Like I already said, muscles are vital to lose fat. Check out my article on the dangers of the 7 Day Diet for more information.
So by ditching the above myths and by starting to train with weights, doing interval cardio training and by eating small healthy meals more often (6 meals a day is recommended) and by accepting your body as it is, will you tone your body and keep the weight off. You might also want to look at some more specialized ab training equipment, like the Supreme Pilates [http://loselovehandleshowto.com/supreme-pilates] machine.
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