If you tuned into the last blog, I mentioned that the top two requests from clients are to tone their arms and their abs. First things first, ABS ARE PREDOMINATELY MADE IN THE KITCHEN. Technically, everyone has abs underneath their belly fat because we are all born with a rectus abdominis. Toning your midsection involves two things: losing belly fat and strength training. Strength training your abs will surely help in building the muscles and sharpening them, but the key to having them be visible abs is lowering overall body fat through proper diet (caloric intake) while exercising (caloric expenditure).

#1 FAT LOSS

Because achieving a six-pack is strongly dependent on fat loss, a healthy diet is the biggest contributing factor to your success.

Losing fat typically requires a weight loss diet or reduction in calorie intake. When you decrease your calories, your body is forced to rely on stored energy - typically in the form of body fat. So the longer and more consistently you can cut calories, the more body fat you can lose.

If you haven’t checked out the DETOX meal plan, I would get started there!

#2 EXERCISE

Any exercise that supports calorie burn is going to support your fat loss goals. However, some types of exercise can help you strengthen and define your abs - especially strength training and core exercises. It’s not necessary to spend all your time doing crunches and ab workouts to see results. Similar to your diet, focus on a full-body approach to training and find movements you enjoy to help build strength and burn calories to support your fat loss goals.

SCIENCE BASED STRATEGIES

1. MACROS - We really stressed this in our latest meal plan. Calorie control determines how much weight you can lose, but macronutrient intake can help determine the type of weight you lose - aka more body fat! Macros (protein, fat, and carbs) are where all of your calories come from, and learning your macro balance is one of the most efficient ways to control calories and balance your nutrition. Macros not only support fat-loss directly but may also make the process of cutting calories feel a bit easier. Typically higher protein, healthy fat and lower carb approach works best for most people.

2. SAY GOODBYE TO REFINED SUGAR AND EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL - Not only can calories from added sugar and alcohol add up quickly, but they provide very little nutritional value and have been linked to increased belly fat. Additionally, both alcohol and sugar can lead to poor food choices from lowered inhibitions and increased sugar cravings - making it harder to stick to your healthy diet. Alcohol also messes with your metabolism and ability to burn fat efficiently when you overdo it.

3. BURN CALORIES - You have to move your body, period the end. This includes opting for time-efficient workouts like high-intensity training, strength training to build muscle that burns calories throughout the day (Siwicki Fitness sounds pretty good right now, right?), or just being more active in general by taking the stairs, sitting less, and walking more.

4. STRENGTH TRAINING - When it comes to developing any muscle, including your abs, strength training is crucial. It’s also a great way to increase your calorie burn since muscle is metabolic and burns calories all day long - unlike fatty tissue that just sits there. Additionally, strength training will help you maintain your existing lean mass (and potentially gain muscle) so you can keep your metabolism strong and achieve that “shredded look” you set out for in the first place. The best strength training workouts for your abs include compound lifts that require a strong core, like squats, deadlifts, snatches, cleans, and overhead press. You can also add weight to traditional ab workouts like sit-ups, bear crawls, planks, v-ups, toes-to-bar, and scissor kicks. But don't just focus on lower ab exercises, aim to work your full body and develop your overall strength - you'll burn more calories in your workouts and see better results in the end.

5. DISCIPLINE - Change takes time. You have to build the habit. Give it one month. One month - I PROMISE you will see a difference. I know it’s hard if you’re not in the habit, but once you stick to it for a few weeks you will feel “off” if you don’t workout or you start eating things that don’t fuel your body.

6. BE MINDFUL - Stress and lack of sleep can affect weight loss. Similar to how being tired can mess with your willpower, being stressed can also cause you to overeat, succumb to cravings, and potentially store more belly fat. Your body’s stress response releases cortisol - a catabolic hormone that increases appetite and promotes the breakdown of muscle for more immediate energy. This is helpful when a true fight or flight situation occurs. But when immediate energy is not needed - such as in the case of chronic stress, excess nutrients released from your stress response may get stored as abdominal fat. If you haven’t tried the app CALM, check it out!

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