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Monday, March 30, 2009

6 Pack Abs - Different Opinions

By Dan Solaris

Getting 6 pack abs means eliminating enough belly fat to expose the contours of the muscle tissues around the abdomen. Since fat can't really be spot-reduced through exercise, the trick is to just work on shedding all-around body fat through calorie burn. Programs that include some form of cardio exercises are proven to be the fastest way to achieve this.

It's a well-known fact that a combination of body-building exercises and cardiovascular workouts are the most effective in developing the muscles and facilitating fat loss at the same time. Since there are two types of cardio exercises, the question here is which type is the best for getting 6 pack abs?

A lot of folks use the low-intensity approach for the simple reason that they're easier to do. Even beginners, the elderly and the extremely obese can benefit from low-intensity aerobic workouts.

Another aspect the low-intensity cardio theory has going for it is that it's a proven fact that exercises done at low-moderate intensity over an extended period targets body fat as the only source of calories used up. Exercising at intense levels actually cause the body to use up carbohydrates as well as fat for energy also.

Glycogen is a form of carbohydrate that is necessary for muscle repair and development. Since muscle helps in proper metabolism its retention is essential for losing body fat. For this reason, folks that belong to the low intensity cardio faction say high intensity exercises can lead to loss of muscle tissue- delaying the process of getting 6 pack abs.

Experts who swear by high-intensity cardio exercise for forming 6 pack abs say the sheer amount of calories burned working out hard offsets glycogen loss which can be replenished through post workout food. Of course, the faster the calorie-burn, the shorter the workout sessions.

High intensity folks also say hard cardio exercise causes muscle development because it works the whole body hard. In addition, intense workouts kick-up the body's metabolic rate hours after leaving the gym. The more calories spent throughout the day, more fat loss and faster 6 pack abs.

Another disadvantage of low-intensity exercises is it takes 10 minutes before the heart rate goes high enough to be able to start burning calories. It's clear that choosing between the two cardio 'schools of thought' depends on how much time a person can allot to exercising each day to get 6 pack abs and how developed his cardiovascular system is. - 17273

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