Questions were opened up to the members of iGYM, and a popular question was “Do crunches reduce belly fat?” The truthful answer is no. Crunches will help build-up strong abdomen muscles, but if there is a layer of fat over top of it, you will not be able to see the nice muscles. Now, that doesn’t mean to stop all core exercises, there are still great benefits to having a strong core even if your abs don’t show. Such as injury prevention, reducing back pain, good posture, and better balance. You might be wondering ‘well, what do I have to do then to get a flat tummy?”. The answer to that is a combination of things; clean diet with a slight calorie deficit, consistent cardio, and strength training. Consuming the right diet ensures that your body is burning more calories than it is taking in, and the effect of that is weight loss. To boost that process, one can add cardio into their routine to burn extra calories. Most cardio only burns calories during the duration of the workout. While on the other hand, weight lifting can have effects outside of the workout too. One reason for this is because the more muscle a person has the more calories the body burns in a day to sustain the current physique. Do keep in mind that there is no such thing as spot reducing. Weight will come off the body all over, just not in one place creating an overall slimmer, more fit appearance. Always remember health is just as important, so celebrate non-scale goals too!
