Doing Crunches Won't Make Your Stomach Flat

Do you have stomach fat you would like to get rid of? Have you been doing crunches religiously? How is that working out for you? Chances are that if that's all you're doing to get a sexy stomach, it's not working out very well at all. The reason it isn't working is because you can't spot train for fat loss.

You can certainly target a specific muscle to increase its size and strength, but it doesn't work that way for fat. If you take a minute to think about it, it makes a lot of sense. If you have ever lost a significant amount of weight before, then you know you can't control which area gets small first. A lot of women know about this first hand when they watch their large breasts go bye-bye after losing weight.

When you do crunches and sit-ups, you are strengthening the abdominal muscles. If done correctly for a long enough period of time, that will do a great job of increasing your ab strength. However, the thick layer of fat laying over those muscles will prevent you from being able to showcase those beautiful abs you're building under there.

So unless you do something to promote fat loss while you're promoting muscle gain, the most you'll have to show for your efforts is the ability to do more crunches this month that you did last month. If you really want to flatten your stomach, go for the one-two combo of trimming fat and doing ab exercises.

It is also important to make sure you're doing exercises for all of the muscle groups in your core. Specifically, be sure to work your:

Internal obliques

External obliques

Upper abs

Lower abs

If you're working with a personal trainer, you should already be focusing on all of these individual muscle groups. If you're not, then take some time to research two different exercises for each part of your core.

Lastly, it is very important to work your lower back muscles as much as you work your abs. This is because opposing muscles work as a team. The abs, lower back and obliques form your core and they all work together. If you work only your abs and neglect your lower back, you could risk injury.

If you have never done any exercises with your lower back before, be very careful not to overload these small muscles. Start with a very light weight and do only one set of 8-10 reps at first. You can gradually work your way up to more weight and sets.

Now you're ready to get the stomach you've always wanted!