Abdominals For Life - Part 2

This is not an article about abdominal exercises. This is an article for all those people who are exercising like crazy and not getting anywhere. There are only so many crunches that you can do (an often ineffective exercise anyway) before you realise that more exercise wont work. Here is what to do next.

In part one of this topic, Abdominals For Life, I covered the basic principles that are required for abdominal specific improvement. You should start with this before reading this article.

Intestinal Health

I have several clients who every week ask me for more abdominal exercises to flatten out their abs. And every week I give them the same response - "You dont need more exercise, you need to clean out your gut!". These arent clients that are grotesquely overweight, in fact one of them is all of about 50kg. She doesn't have a body fat problem, she has an abdominal bloating problem. The staples of her diet are wheat and pastuerised dairy food which she is obviously intolerant to. Consequently, her lower stomach has a permanent bloated appearance. No amount of exercise is going to flatten this region because it is internal inflammation that is causing the problem.

Intestinal inflammation is probably one of the most common ailments of people today, and causes more issues than just bloating. An inflammed internal environment can cause back pain, hip pain, injuries such as ankle and knee sprains, reflux, headaches and a host of other disorders.

What Causes Intestinal Inflammation?

Food intolerance and stress are your two major factors. The common culprits in my experience for food intolerance are adversities to:
1. Wheat and wheat based products.
2. Pasteurised dairy foods (all legally sold dairy is pasteurised).
3. Excess consumption of grain products.
4. Alcohol (duh!).
There is a large body of evidence growing that the first three foods (and I use that word loosely here) are a major cause of obesity, fatigue and general poor health in the western world. In fact, Dr Joseph Mercola a renowned expert on natural health has stated that removing grains and sugars is the number one step you can take to improve your health! Anecdoatally I can say that the clients of mine that remove or reduce these three foods make aesthetic and health improvements without fail. Alcohol is just poison by another name - there is no safe amount of alcohol that can be consumed.

Energetically much of your stress is carried around the gut area. Many people have experienced this as butterflies in the stomach when about to give a school or work presentation. This is literally a blockage of energy and many chronically stressed out people will attest to being constipated or having weak digestion. Digestive issues also have an impact on your hormones and energy levels. An example is the increase in the hormone cortisol (a stress handling hormone) that is also a fat storage hormone.

So how do you tell if bloating and inflammation are your problems. Here is a checklist that should be taken about 30 minutes after eating.
1. Take a visual account of your abdominal region (do it side on in the mirror). Does your belly look distended (like it is hanging under load)?
2. How does your stomach feel? Is there pressure below your navel, or a heavy feel?
3. Have you experienced any gas since your meal?
4. Do you have a headache?
5. Do you feel lethargic or tired?
6. In the past week, have you have diarrhea or loose stools?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions then it is likely that your problem is not external but internal. You need to address your diet and stress levels and not your choice or frequency of exercise.

What To Do

Here are some practical tips that will have a marked improvement on the appearance of your abdominals.
1. Remove wheat, dairy and grain foods from your diet for a 2 week period (I suggest trying to do this separately so that you can isolate a particular intolerance). If you notice an improvement in energy levels, wellbeing or your elimination (poop), then you are likely intolerant and should seek further assistance regarding your diet. Alternatively, if you do not notice major changes, then add the food back to your diet and compare how you feel.

2. Eat according to your metabolic type. This will ensure that you get the correct nutrient ratios for your body, and balance out many of your internal systems. Metabolic typing will ensure that you minimise your body fat storage so that the abs you have can be seen.

3. Learn techniques to manage stress. Stress management can be as simple as taking 30 minutes a day to sit and not think about anything. To achieve this, Deepak Chopra suggests imagining your thoughts as clouds and watching them fly by as they come into your consciousness.

4. Get a colonic. If you have ever eaten anything processed then you will have build up in your colon. A colon hydrotherapist will be able to clear out crap (literally!) that is being stored in your body. They can also provide the added benefit of telling you which foods you are eating that are causing you problems. (In Perth I recommend Sue Monroe at The Rejuvenation Center (08) 9381 1729). I had a six pack when I had my first colonic, and my stomach still came out flatter and harder after the treatment.

5. Stay well hydrated. Water is required for just about every process in the body, including flushing the junk out of your colon.

As Paul Chek states "If it were just about exercise, men would all have six packs and women would all have flat tummies". Abdominal appearance goes well beyond just the right exercise - it is a by product of a healthy lifestyle. If you have been consistently following an exercise program (approx 8 weeks) and are still frustrated by the state of your abdominals, then chances are exercise is not your answer and you must begin addressing these other factors.

In health and happiness,
Ryan Prigg