Secrets of the six pack

Secrets of the six pack

Over 10 years ago, it was reported that it would take 250,000 crunches to burn 450 grams of fat, according to estimates from University of Virginia scientists. We’re pretty sure those researchers published that statistic to make a point. But more than a decade on, the point still may not have hit home. “I’m amazed at the number of people who think that simply doing abs exercises will make their belly disappear,” says strength coach Craig Rasmussen. “That is probably the least efficient way to reveal a six-pack.”

“Muscle is your body’s primary fat burner,” says Rasmussen. Your muscles require energy to contract, which is why you burn kilojoules when you exercise. But resistance training, unlike running or cycling, also causes a significant amount of damage to your muscle fibres. That’s a good thing. “You body has to expend energy to repair and upgrade those fibres after a workout,” explains Rasmussen. “And a single total-body workout training session can boost your metabolism for up to two days.”

"You can do lots of crunches and sit-ups and still have a weak core," says Wunsch. "We see that all the time." The reason: classic abs moves like crunches and sit-ups work the muscles that allow you to flex (that is, round) your lower spine. True core exercises, on the other hand, train the muscles that prevent your spine from rounding. They also allow you to transfer force from your lower body to your upper body (in a golf swing, for example), and vice versa. Core exercises target the same muscles that crunches do, but they also include your hip and lower-back muscles. So what's a true core exercise? One that trains you to keep your spine stable and in its natural alignment. Besides the plank (more on that in a minute), scores of exercises qualify, including the side plank, mountain climber and even the push-up.

"We test everything in our gym," says strength coach Mike Wunsch. "And we've seen that people achieve far better results when they do core exercises at the beginning of their workout instead of at the end." The reason: by training your core when your muscles are fresh, you achieve the fastest gains in strength, says Wunsch. That's important for the average person, Wunsch and his colleagues have found, because the core is the limiting factor in almost every exercise. "A weak core is what keeps most men from lifting more weight in the squat and deadlift and just about everything else," says Wunsch. "If we focus on strengthening their core first, they'll ultimately be able to lift heavier weights, which allows them to work more muscle and burn more calories. We're thinking about long-term success."

While five minutes of exercise a day isn't enough to reveal your abs, it is about the right amount of time to dedicate to targeted core training. "We've found that just 2-4 sets of one or two core exercises is quite effective," says Rasmussen. "Our goal is to make you stronger, not more tired." A five-minute core routine prior to weight training has a side benefit, too. "It revs up your core muscles so they fire better as you do other exercises," says Rasmussen

This exercise may appear boring and easy - after all, you look like you're simply holding a push-up position but with your weight supported on your forearms instead of your hands. "The plank is easy only if you're doing it incorrectly or don't know how to make it more challenging," says Wunsch. What's more, he adds, the plank is key, because it teaches you to make your core stiff. "That's a skill you need for almost every exercise."

"If you have only 30-40 minutes to devote to a workout, then every second has to count," says Rasmussen. "In those cases, our clients do zero running." His contention is that you can achieve faster fat loss with resistance training. How so? First, drop the assumption that running burns more kilojoules than lifting does. A University of Southern Maine study found that a single set of a weight-training exercise torches as many kilojoules as running at a five-minute-kilometre pace for the same amount of time. So for every second you spend lifting weights, your body is expending high amounts of energy. There's also the metabolism boost of weight training. "Resistance training has a much larger metabolic impact than long-distance running does," says Rasmussen. "Plus, your body is being given a stimulus to gain strength and build new lean tissue." One last efficiency benefit: lifting weights through a full range of motion can improve your flexibility as well or even better than static stretching does, reports the University of North Dakota