Author: Frank Miller

FALSE: We may refer to our abs as the “upper part and lower part” for the sake of describing what we are talking about, but when it comes to anatomy, there really is no such thing.  A quick lesson in anatomy will explain this myth.  Your abdominal consists of several different muscles.  The main part that gives us the “6 pack” or the part that we visually see working is the Rectus Abdominus.  So when most people say they are working the “lower abs” they mean the bottom portion of the Rectus Abdominus, even though all the muscles in the abdomen are working. However, there is a another muscle that lies underneath your Rectus abdominus called the Psoas.  This muscle is part of your hip muscles and responsible for flexion of the hip (raising of the leg). SO if you are doing leg raises or knee tucks, your abdominal’s are more so stabilizing your movements than being worked. And unless you’re getting a strong contraction on your abs at the peak of the movement, you are not really working your abs at all!  Instead, that “burning feeling” you feel is probably your psoas muscle.  And doing this exercise incorrectly is why some may even feel “lower back pain.”

If you are unsure of how you are performing this exercise, stick with crunches and planks.

FALSE: There is no such thing as spot reduction in either men or women.  If you have a higher percentage of body fat and are unable to see significant definition of your obliques (or any muscle group), doing side bends is not going to burn the fat any faster.  Yes, you will probably strengthen the muscle group. And you will strengthen any muscle group that you put resistance on and include a periodized workout. However, if you want to lose the fat on your belly, it comes down to correct dieting and a proper routine to insure loss of body fat and increase muscular definition.  If you  predominantly concerned with fat loss, then you may want to include more aerobic exercises (carido) in your routine.  When you decrease your body fat, you decrease it from your entire body, not just one spot.  In fact, the last place to lose body fat is usually the midsection, hips, and thighs.  Stick with a solid diet and routine, and you will get the desired body you want in ALL SPOTS.

FALSE: The real reason why someone may gain weight has nothing to do with the time of day.  It comes down to total calories taken in vs. total calories burnt throughout the day.  If you find that your schedule only permits to eat at 9pm or 10pm, do it!  And yes, there may be more optimal times of day to eat certain foods depending on if you are active or not.  But in the same sense, if you eat something 2pm and are not active, that food will partially be stored as fat for later use anyway just as the 8pm food.  Just remember, your total calorie intake does not change just because its after 8pm!

I believe that the only correlation between the truth and this myth is that majority of people do NOT eat balanced and continuous meals throughout the day.  This causing the metabolism to slow down and not stay at a steady state.  And when you finally get home for dinner, you engorge yourself.  The over abundance of calories in one sitting are not readily needed for energy and thus create weight gain over a period of time.