Can one single exercise alone give you toned abs?

Recently I have seen a viral hook everywhere on social media, about how one single exercise, that apparently everyone’s Pilates teacher recommends, gives everyone toned abs, a snatched waist and reduced belly fat. So let's see whether this is something you can believe...

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When I started seeing this hook more and more often I was thinking to myself: 'Who is this Pilates teacher and how come everyone seems to know their name?' Suspicious right? I didn’t think this Pilates teacher actually existed, and my suspicions were confirmed by an ACTUAL Pilates teacher who would never advice the above. Why?

Let's debunk:

Scientifically speaking, the success of your toned abs project may be influenced by factors that you should know about, before hoping for a fix from one single exercise:

❌ Spot reduction does not exist: You can’t target fat loss in specific areas. You can't just decide where the fat loss comes from in the body, it's not a pick and mix game. Ab exercises can strengthen muscles but won’t directly burn fat from the stomach area, that’s why you need a holistic approach. So, anyone selling you a toned abs programme without mentioning other major factors like your diet and muscle mass is wasting your money and time. This, I find, is often the misleading, quick fix type of advice that make women hate their bodies even more, because they don't change anything about their lifestyle, just start doing this one exercise and then feel disappointed that it did not do anything.

✔️ Overall body fat matters: A flat stomach comes from overall fat loss, which can only be achieved through a combination of diet, cardio, and strength training, not just focused ab workouts. On their own, they are likely to bring you little to no results. The goal would be to do cardio on a daily basis, with min. 2-3 times of strength training per week.

🌿Diet is your secret weapon: Even with intense ab workouts, if your diet isn’t aligned with your fitness goals, you won’t see results. Nutrition is your friend, nourish this friendship. Literally. 😂 Depending the goals, the ration of fat, protein and carbs can be different for everyone, so I am not going to give you one generic rule of thumb, but changing this ratio might be the right strategy for sustainable fat loss.

🧬Genetics: Your genetics don't decide everything. BUT. Some people are genetically predisposed to store fat in certain areas (like the stomach), and for them, getting toned abs can be more challenging, even with consistent exercise. That’s why we don’t compare our progress to anybody else’s, remember?!

🧘🏻‍♀️Lifestyle factors: The hardest part of healthy living might be is stress management. Sometimes we get so used to the daily stress that we don't even realise the state that our body/health ends up in. High levels of continuous stress can impact your health in many ways and your stomach area/digestion is definitely one of them. You need to find a way to manage stress and unwind, not only for toned abs, but also for the sake of your overall health.

+ You have to be realistic: Temporary bloating related to digestion and your menstrual cycle can mean loss of muscle definition in the stomach area. This can happen no matter how hard you train, it’s completely normal! I can promise you even people with the most toned abs experience this sometimes, and unless bloating is severe or constant, this is not something we have to worry about.

I hope you found this post useful. I am always trying to look for fitness trends and myths to debunk to help you make better and more informed health & fitness decisions. This is also why I created my freebie, the Consistency Kickstart Kit, a simple guide to help you cut through the misleading fitness advice and build sustainable, simple healthy habits that actually last and make you feel better, more energised and full of life.

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