Washington, DC Personal Trainer Lets You In On The Facts About Core Training

Everyday millions of people pack themselves into Pilates classes or simply lie down on the living room floor to exercise their core. The core muscles include the abdominals and surrounding muscles that are often trained by doing basic sit-ups or crunches. These exercises are some of the most popular in the world today. In fact, there are many people who don’t do anything other than train their core. Why? The answer is simple: they want to obtain that elusive six-pack. They want rock hard abs like the Spartan warriors in the movie 300.

Ever wonder why sit-ups and crunches never seem to get you anywhere in regards to that six-pack you have always wanted? According to a Washington D.C. fitness trainer, doing crunches and sit-ups alone really yields no results in the sculpting department. Of course that’s not something all trainers will tell you. They in fact, will continue to push the sit-up and crunch angle to their clients in order to have them keep dreaming of that flat, sexy tummy, all the while knowing the results will be minimal to none. This helps to ensure that the personal trainer continues to get paid by the clients.

Why crunches do not work in order to get a flat stomach

People should really work towards having a flat stomach instead of the almost impossible six-pack. Most people do not realize the hard work and dedication that comes with having a six-pack, plus the maintenance in keeping it up. Those people that do have the abs that we all dream about have normally worked for years in order to obtain them at the gym and eating correctly. They are also blessed with the good genes that allow them to acquire this asset. It really is much simpler and more realistic to concentrate on having a healthy stomach instead of a picture perfect one.

The stomach, as you are likely aware, is a problem area for most people. It seems to collect fat more quickly, especially in men. We all know about beer bellies and how they make men look like, well, their fathers. It is no wonder that most men are desperate to shed some pounds from this definitive area, and more often than not they turn to core training to help them do it. But to be blunt, core exercises are an incredible waste of time.

Everyone has abdominal muscles but you can’t always see them because they are located under a layer of fat. Getting rid of the fat layer that is on top of your core is really the only way to get a flat stomach or the mystical six-pack. Simply working these muscles with core training, though making your muscles a little stronger, will not get rid of this layer enough to be seen by the naked eye.

We are talking of course about targeted weight loss here, which is one of the biggest myths in the exercise industry. There is no such thing as targeted weight loss. There is no such thing as working out one specific area of the body and losing weight just from that area. The body doesn’t work like that. When you lose weight, you lose weight from everywhere.

Therefore, the best thing to do is a series of exercises that will help you burn calories and burn off the fat. Core training, as we said, is not an efficient use of your time because it doesn’t burn many calories and it won’t help you take off weight. Probably the best exercises that you can do are cardiovascular ones like swimming, running, bike riding, jumping rope, or simply walking, fast.

The truth about core training is that it can also damage the neck and spine if the exercises are not perfectly performed, and we all know when we start to get tired our form is the first thing to suffer. If you have preexisting back or neck problems, you should not attempt to do core work, it will often aggravate your condition.

So if the only kind of exercise you do is core training, stop! They will not help you flatten your stomach and they are a waste of time. You would be far better served taking a run around the block or riding on you bicycle than you are doing endless crunching in pursuit of an elusive dream.