How to Lose Lower Ab Fat

I'm not a big fan of bodybuilding, but I know good fat loss info when I read it. And last Thursday while I sat in the Toronto Airport waiting for my flight to Tampa Bay, I finally got around to reading an interview about how to lose lower ab fat with bodybuilding expert, Tom Venuto.

This guy knows his stuff.

You need to search high and low to find everything Tom says about building 6-pack abs and burning belly fat.

I have, and fortunately I was able to get permission to re-print the following article from Tom on how to get rid of lower ab fat...

"How to see your lower abs"
By Tom Venuto

Seeing your abs, or any other muscle group, for that matter - is almost entirely the result of having low body fat levels. You get low body fat from proper diet (as well as cardio and strength training), not from doing hundreds of ab exercises every day.

My guess is that it may seem like your lower ab muscles are "hard to develop,"but it's not really an issue of "muscle development" at all, you simply have too much body fat and are storing it in your lower abdominal region more readily than other parts of your body and you can't see the muscles through the fat.

Most people don't have their fat distributed evenly throughout their bodies. Each of us inherits a genetically determined and
hormonally-influenced pattern of fat storage just as we inherit our eye or hair color. In other words, the fat seems to "stick" to certain areas more than others.

MEN often tend to store fat more readily in the lower abdominal region (the "pot belly", "spare tire", "beer gut", or "love
handles").

In WOMEN, the "stubborn" areas are usually the hips, thighs ("saddlebags") and the triceps ("grandmother arms").

You could focus on more "lower ab" exercises like hanging leg raises, reverse crunches and hip lifts ("toes to sky"), but even these won't help as long as you still have body fat covering the muscles.

You can't "spot reduce" with abdominal exercise.

The lower ab area is often the first place the fat goes when you gain it, and the last place it comes off when you're losing it.

Think of ab fat like the deep end of the swimming pool. No matter how much you protest, there is no way you can drain the deep end before the shallow end.

I would suggest cutting back the volume on your ab training and spending that time on more cardio work instead. Personally, I only do about 15 minutes of ab work two times per week. (About two to four exercises with reps usually ranging from 10-25 reps).

As far as nutrition goes, here are a few fat-burning nutrition guidelines in a nutshell:

- Eat about 15-20% below your calorie maintenance level. If you use a more aggressive calorie deficit of 25-30%, then do not keep calories too low for too long; increase calories to maintenance or maintenance +10-15% 1-2 days per week.

- Spread your calories into 5-6 smaller meals instead of 2-3 big ones. Be very conscious of portion size. eat too much of anything and you can say goodbye to your abs. Period.

- Eat a source of complete, high quality lean protein with each meal (egg whites, lean meat, fish, protein powder, etc). Choose natural, complex carbs such as vegetables, oatmeal, yams, potatoes, beans, brown rice and whole grains. Start with aprox. 50% of your calories from natural carbs and reduce carbs slightly (esp. late in the day) if you are not losing fat.

- Avoid refined, simple carbs that contain white flour or white sugar.

- Keep total fats low and saturated fats low. Aim for 20% of your total calories from fat (and no more than 30%). A little bit of "good fat" like flax oil, fish fat, nuts & seeds, etc is better than a no fat diet.

- Drink plenty of water - a gallon is a good ballpark to shoot for if you are physically active.

So while doing 1000+ reps of ab work four days a week is an amazing feat of endurance, but thats not how you get visible, rock hard, 6-pack abs!

You might have outstanding development in your abdominal muscles, but if your abs are covered up with a layer of fat, you won't be able to see them even if you do 10,000 reps a day!

You "get abs" from reducing your body fat and you reduce body fat mostly through diet and cardio.

Tom Venuto
Fat Loss Expert at Global Health & Fitness (GHF)
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You just can't argue with Tom's solid advice. If you want to ask Tom more questions and get more of his fat burning articles, visit Global Health & Fitness. 

Click HERE for the Global Health & Fitness Program