When’s The Best Time To Blast Those Abs?

October 3, 2018 Ashley 0 Comments

Anyone else save their ab workout for after cardio?

(Oh good. I’m not alone…)

I’m not sure why I do it.

Maybe it’s that I wanna finish strong. Or maybe it’s that I just wanna get the longest part of my workout out’ve the way before I totally lose motivation. (More likely.) Either way, according to the exercise experts, I’m totally doing it wrong. Demolishing my middle shouldn’t be reserved like a dessert following my main running supper. It should be the appetizer to my aerobic entree. (Elliptical dinner? Tread-meal? Whatever. This metaphor has devolved….)

And why should we be performing our belly burn first?

Simply put, we wanna wake it up. Why? Well, why does any one of us wake up? So we can go do things and provide for everyone else. (Or, if you’re me, just your dog.) Our core is similar. When we amble, half asleep, into a workout or come straight from a job (where we’ve been sitting so long our buns are numb), our abs are propofol level zonked out. This means we head into our strength training or cardio cold, using everything other than our powerhouse to help us move.

And what’s this got to do with weight loss? Plenty. For example, when you’re missing that core stability, a miscellany of injuries tend to transpire – from falls to twisted ankles. Plus, even if you don’t end up at the E.R., improper form is exhausting because it causes strain that makes you overuse some muscles, breathe poorly, and hold onto constant tension that leaves you feeling depleted. Exhausting workouts are intolerable. And guess what we tend to do when something’s intolerable? That’s right, class! We don’t do it. We fatigue quickly. We give up earlier than that thirty minute goal. And, next time it’s on the table, we find an excuse to eschew doing it at all.

Now, sure, doing it any time of day is good inasmuch something’s better than nothing.

We want those muscles strong for when we need them, even if the timing’s not ideal. But, if you’re only planning to power your middle’s muscles once a day, pre-gym is best. Because, by ringing that pre-jog alarm clock for your abdominals, you’ve subbed in the real MVP to your muscle game. (Plural, actually, since there’s more than one.) By firing these star players up, they can let all those other muscles (which aren’t meant to work so hard thrusting your flesh husk around in the first place), take a backseat. The result? You end your exercise feeling energized, replenished, ready to conquer the day, and eager to repeat it all again tomorrow. And that – that ability to make it a habit – is what makes for great weight loss.

In sum: commit that abdominal arson before aerobics…

So you can commit to a hot and healthy bod all the time.