You’ve bought every contraption from the infomercials. You’ve spent hours doing the work. You still don’t have the magazine cover abs. I feel bad for everyone who is in this situation because I know you’re trying. Unfortunately you are either uninformed or have been misinformed at some point; even an extra hour in the gym isn’t going to change the outcome (unless you are very lucky and stumble upon the solution). The “stumble upon” approach is the reason people state that “some people are just built differently” or “he/she has good genes”. Nope, you’re wrong!
The only difference between you and the so-called genetic lottery winner is that you aren’t burning fat and they are. Right about now you are probably saying, “But TTH Guy, I work out hard…I work out for hours…I follow the philosophy ‘No Pain, No Gain’ and still have nothing to show off at the beach.” Well this intensity is the problem! There is nothing wrong with being motivated, but you have to let off the throttle occasionally for the desired results. Now have a seat because it’s time to enter the TTH classroom.
Are you burning fat or sugar?
If you don’t understand the difference between aerobic and anaerobic, then you are probably where I was some time ago. Don’t worry, it’s a quick fix. Well, by quick I mean you can start revealing your six pack sooner once you read this. The fat won’t exactly disappear in 20 minutes…it still takes work. If you are new to the active lifestyle (or just have been an “all-out, everyday” athlete), you need to understand your body will use two different fuel sources throughout activity. The first is fat. The second is sugar. Endurance athletes understand this concept well because burning sugar can only last about an hour. Burning fat, however, will provide you sustainable energy for as long as your mind is able to think straight! 
So the real trick is teaching your body to burn fat. How? Stop redlining your workouts! This is a hard concept for some and falls into a category I write about frequently regarding Americans’ desire to overdo everything (you know the attitude…more is better, go big or go home and the previously mentioned no pain, no gain). It usually pertains to portion control and obesity, but in this case it fits right in with the all too common internal demon known as your ego. Just because you max out the speed on the treadmill and run a couple miles, heck even 7 or 8 miles, doesn’t mean you are burning fat! Then you go do 1,000 crunches every other day and say WTF?!? Where is my six pack? Here is the answer to your WTF: You must do aerobic work to burn off that layer of fat. If you do a crazy amount of muscle building (crunches) without getting rid of your fat, you will actually just create a larger waistline without uncovering any definition.
There is much debate as to when this threshold is crossed and you drift into anaerobic (sugar burning) training. But true to TTH policy of “learn by doing”, we have tried numerous formulas and come through with the appropriate way for you to uncover those abs.
It’s as simple as subtracting your age from 180 and using this calculated number as your heart rate (bpm). There are, of course, some minor tweaks that need to be made based on current fitness levels (for a more complete explanation read The HR Puzzle – What’s Your Number?).
So now you know. We all have the same abdominal muscles, but in order to show them off we need to understand how to attack that visceral fat. The answer is keeping all workouts below your max aerobic heart rate.
Six pack revealed,
TTH Guy
Tags: abdominal muscles, abs, aerobic, anaerobic