Abs Aren't "Made" in the Kitchen

Hey there! Welcome to our little corner of the internet where we explore all things fitness. Each week, we'll take a deep dive into the secrets of a healthy lifestyle, busting fitness myths along the way, and making exercise a breeze with some super handy tips. So get ready to join us on this exciting fitness journey!

This Week’s Healthy Discussion

1. Abs Aren’t “Made” in the Kitchen 

2. How to Properly Engage Your Abs

3. My Favourite Ab Exercise

Abs Aren’t “Made” in the Kitchen

Too many people are skipping abs because of this one concept that is popular on social media:

“Abs are made in the kitchen”.

This is wrong.

Abs are just like any other muscle, they can and will benefit from resistance training.

Plenty of people have underdeveloped abs and wonder why they can’t see theirs when they start losing weight. Just like any other muscle, if you progressively overload your abs then they will start to grow and be more defined.

Yes there is some truth that nutrition is what you need to fix to show your abs. A calorie deficit is necessary to get the fat off your stomach, but if you grow your abs, they will be more visible at higher body fat percentages.

So, make sure to program some exercises 2-3 times per week and continue to progress through reps or weight on those exercise, to get the best bang for your buck.

How to Properly Engage Your Abs

Not just any exercise is going to grow your abs. Some exercises can be confused about whether or not they are training your abs or just your core.

When picking exercises to train your abs, you need exercises that involve rounding/flexion of the lower back.

This would be something like a cable crunch, a body weight crunch, or a hanging leg raise where you intentionally round your lower back up while raising your legs.

This is what will truly contract your abs because they flex the lower back.

My Favourite Ab Exercise

My favourite ab exercise at the moment is a cable crunch.

It’s very simple to set up and all you need is a rope attachment and a cable machine.

Set the cable height to be around head height and lower down onto your knees. You can grab a pad for your knees, if it is uncomfortable for you.

While holding the rope attachment by your head, perform a crunch motion while intentionally rounding your back to contract your abs.

Now you’re good to go.