The Fat-Loss Trap

Now, pretty much everybody has fallen into this one before! Whether its been in the gym or on your bedroom floor, this mistake is so common beacuase it seems to be the obvious solution:
If you have a belly and want to get rid --> do a tonne of Sit Ups!!

Unfortunately, the human body doesnt work in this way. Each and every person gains weight in a different way or pattern. For example, some people may respond to a lack of exercise, poor diet and little sleep by storing fat around the gut, some on the bum, arms, in the face etc. We have zero control what the our body does with it and where it stores it. What we can control, is how much fat (if any) is actually stored, and how much we can burn! Our body uses this same pattern of fat storage, but in reverse, when we want to lose weight.

If you look at the exercise, the Sit up, it is using predominantly the abdomial muscles, which are relatively small in comparison to the glutes, quad and hamstring groups. Smaller muscles use less calories. It is also not very aerobic, it is a short movement, which again doesn't really need much energy to complete.
In order to lose weight, burn fat, we need to expend more calories than we take in. High intensity, Interval based exercises where the large muscle groups are used, paired with long duration sub-maximal exercise, is the most effective way to burn a load of calories. Completing exercise similar to the above, will result in fat stores being reduced, wherever your body likes to reduce it!

So, the best way to lose that gut, is not to do 100 sit ups a night, but rather a load of squats, swings, rows, burpees, jumps, sprints and long runs, eat a balanced diet, drink loads of water and sleep at least 8hrs a night. Basically, do the stuff humans have always done for thousands of years!