3 Flat Belly Saboteurs

Even though we are called Booty Boot Camp the #1 reason I hear for why women join us is: “I need to lose this BELLY!”

And while things like pregnancy or major illness are often the reason why a belly gets stretched out of shape in the first place, the reason a belly STAYS that way comes down to a few mistakes/bad habits:

-The wrong kind of ab training
-Doing the wrong kind of cardio and too much of it at that! All while ignoring strength training
–The Big one: Poor NUTRITION

Here’s why:

Ab/core training IS important – Most of the time people just say “abs” but leave off the last bit –muscles. Your abs are muscles (abdominal muscles) and they need to be strengthened, conditioned and depending on your goals, increase in size. Having strong tight ab muscles WILL help keep your tummy pulled in and look flatter. So yes, you need to work your core. But honestly traditional ab work, like hundreds of crunches don’t do much more than waste your time at best and tweak your back and neck at worst. They are not very efficient and don’t address the layer of fat on TOP of the muscles.

Cardio –Another important element to a flat stomach but NOT the kind you think. While hopping on the treadmill for an hour sounds and FELS like the best way to zap fat fast it’s just not the case. I mean take a look at the cardio section of your gym next time. I bet you’ll notice a lot of faithful cardio junkies that pretty much look the same as they did last year. And guess what next year will bring? Probably more of the same. Long cardio sessions are just NOT the way to go. And that news should make you happy because it means you can take that time and use it elsewhere; like with your family or on your hobbies.

Poor Nutrition – There is just no way around it; what you eat, and the amount you eat are the most important factors to getting a flatter stomach. After all excess fat on the body is basically stored excess food. So if what you eat ends up on your body it makes sense that it’s THE most important element you need to control. But diets comprised mostly of sugars; natural and artificial, carbohydrates, minimal protein and lots of processed foods (especially so-called “diet” foods) not only lead to immediate belly bloat (all that sodium and chemicals!) but also progressive fat storage on your belly, hips, thighs, arms…basically your whole body.

So how do you actually FIX the above problems and rock a two-piece this summer?

I’ve got some tips and next week I’ll lay it all out for you. Until then you can go ahead and stop the following immediately:

– Crunches or even worse that ridiculous crunch machine at the gym, ughhhh!

-That hour long run you’re planning (or whatever long cardio session), if you just LIKE to run then knock yourself out. But if you are doing it to get RESULTS, leave it.

-Pick just ONE, just ONE processed food that you will replace with a whole foods version the rest of the week. Just ONE. Don’t go crazy and ditch everything. That’s setting yourself up to fail. Just pick ONE and let it go.

Look at how much wasted time and effort I just saved you! 😀

Now go do some double unders and eat your kale.