How many crunches?

• No amount of crunches in the world will reveal your abdominal muscles! You can increase the strength/size of these muscles but unless your body fat is low enough you will not see them. Everyone has abs and for majority of people they are hidden under a layer of fat. So what can you do about it?

• Firstly check out the beginners guide for weight loss.

• Do you have to do crunches or even any direct ab work? yes/no. Isolation exercises do get a lot of attention on social media as they highlight the muscle. To build a strong all round core (includes deep core muscles, oblique’s, lower back, etc) the big compound lifts as well as some isolation exercises will give you the most bang for your buck. However everyone’s ideal core is completely subjective.

• Some people just want to lose weight off the midsection whilst others want to have chiselled abs. So again How? The main point here is to create an energy deficit and lose body fat. If you already have low body fat then concentrate on building and strengthening the muscle. Your core will still work hard in the big lifts (Squats, Deadlifts, Presses) however recent research shows isolation exercises activate the rectus abdominis more effectively. if you want to add in some exercise these are my go to’s:

1. Ab Rollouts

2. Swiss ball Pikes

3. Hanging leg raises

4. Reverse crunch

5. Wood chops on cable

6. Pullovers

• Actively engage your core during compound lifts. Try this next time before squatting or a big lift. Take a breath in and pretend someone’s about to punch you in the stomach (tighten abs) then squat down and as you come up breath out whilst still maintaining tension. Not only will you engage your core but you will also be safer during these lifts through extra stabilisation.

• The biggest factor to weight loss and decreased body fat will be a calorie deficit however other factors do come into play. For example if you cut calories drastically below your BMR you will experience rapid weight loss. However your body will quickly down regulate your metabolism and adjust to the drastic calorie deficit thus burning fewer calories daily. By cutting calories drastically cortisol becomes elevated to keep you functioning. This eventually leads to fat being stored around the waist in order to have access to energy quickly. So what’s the solution?

• Fat loss is best done slowly (either increase cardio or decrease calories slowly). Focus on a diet that keeps you satiated and be consistent with this.

• Do HIIT or sprint intervals: High intensity interval training and sprints forces your body to improve utilisation of energy. If you have the time or have gone over calories for the day you can use sprint/hiit to offset energy balance for the day.

• Finally…lower stress levels. This isn’t going to be done over a day, week, month or even a year. Stress management is an everyday thing (sleep, nutrition, deep breathing, home/work/social life balance, positive outlook on life, etc) just like everything else this will take time.

If you'd like the guesswork taken out, click here to go to the online coaching page.

​