Crunches for the CURVE !

1,2,3,4,10,15,25,45,55,75,105,155,200…. These are nothing but the insane number of crunches one believes one should do to get the perfect curve or the love handles as we call it today.

Such a pity, after so much awareness on fitness, so many articles on overall health, we still have our own notions and fake beliefs when it comes to exercising. We still don’t talk about overall reduction, overall toning, and overall fitness and are so area specific.

Just the other day I bumped into my neighbour and obviously as always she also ended up asking me this one “most popular and frequently asked” question on my list. What should I do to reduce my “stomach”? It sounds horrible to hear the word stomach but anyways I have come across this one so many times that I don’t even have to think before answering. She asked me if by doing crunches everyday at home would help her get “the curve”. When I asked her about her routine workouts I found out there weren’t any and her existing diet plan was like a treat in every meal. So basically she did not have the right to complain in the first place. Even if she does crunches all day it was not going to help. Before answering her query there was one question I wanted to ask her as to what she intended doing by just reducing the specified area. What about the other bulging areas she had?

There is NOTHING like spot reduction. You cannot point out at one area of your choice and demand on loosing fat from there only. That’s ridiculous. I mean come on what about the other areas where your fat is equally distributed. This is where the slimming centres step in and help you achieve your special unfit temporary spot reduction.

The point I am trying to make here is you don’t only work on the area you think requires the most attention and would want to reduce. You have to make a conscious effort in working out a combined exercise program targeting the entire body. I am not saying it is impossible to loose on or reduce the “stomach”. No, that’s not true. But doing infinite number of crunches for it is also not the solution. Please don’t get carried away and get impressed by celebrity workout articles on how they keep their abs maintained and start imitating their program. That’s not how it should be.

I get a lot of clients coming to me and asking me to concentrate only on their abs and hips as they want it to look like a certain celebrity’s body and unfortunately I have to disappoint them by my harsh truth and instead ask them to concentrate on themselves and their body.

There is a very simple trick we need to master here. And that is to start treating your body as a whole. Instead of focusing only on the abs try focusing on the entire body. Focus on achieving that one healthy diet plan you have only been thinking about all this while, try achieving the regular gym sessions you have only been dreaming about all this while. Someone once told me that abs are not only made in the gym but also in the kitchen. Once you get that under your control, your dream abs will follow. Just by becoming your own instructor and doing vague things at home is not going to take you anywhere.

You have to realise the importance of a healthy diet plan and a combined cardio vascular and strength training program. You are indirectly working on your desired area even when you’re not actually working on it. That’s the trick, the sooner to master it the faster you will be rewarded with the love handles you have always desired and also that pair of jeans you have always wanted to fit into.

The Real "Burn-Out"

Each of us now knows the importance of fitness in our lives. You need not be an athlete or a sportsperson but yet need to be Fit! We all even know the importance of a cardio vascular exercise. Given the kind of stressful lives we live today it is very essential to make our hearts strong. Read enough on it.

But how do we find out if our workout is really working for us, working on the body, the heart and the FAT!

I hear a lot of people asking me actually complaining to me about their body just not showing any results in spite of doing a particular cardio exercise everyday. Yes one reason to it can be “Plateau” but before that it can also be something as simple as not giving your 100% to the activity. I am told by the same people that they walk everyday but are not seeing any difference. Walking is good but what is more important is the pace/speed at which you walk. Now this a lot of people don’t get. They just climb on to the treadmill and walk at their leisure speed or put on their sneakers, go to the park and walk while chatting with a friend. The FAT at this rate is never going to burn; the HEART at this rate will never become strong. Sadly a lot of us are not told this and so unaware of the fact we continue doing the activity at the same (comfortable) intensity all the time.

So how do we know at what pace one should walk or perform any aerobic activity? Here, I introduce to you the concept of “The Target Heart Rate” (THR).

Target Heart rate is nothing but a desired range of heart rate to be reached during any aerobic exercise which enables ones heart and lungs to receive the most benefit from the workout. Your heart rate needs to be elevated to its maximum during the cardio exercise for the fat to burn then whether it is walking, jogging, aerobics or cycling. Each one of us has our THR zone depending upon our age and their training intensity. It might sound really technical and complicated here but it really isn’t. It’s got a very simple formula to it. All you need to do is subtract your age by 220 which will give you your maximum heart rate. Now you derive 60% and 90% of that number. Those two numbers will be your THR zone.

For instance, if your age is 20 yrs, then your THR will be calculated as below.

220 - 20 = 200 (Maximum Heart Rate)

Now 60% of 200 = 120

And 90% of 200 = 180

So, ideally your THR is between 120 and 180 and your heart rate per min should be between 120 to 180bpm.

The real “Burn – Out” will happen here! The real “Benefit” will happen here!

After about 30 to 40 mins of performing your cardio vascular exercise all you need to do is count your pulse for 10 seconds and multiply it by 6. You will know if you’re in your THR / Fat burn zone or not. If not you will now know that you need to push yourself harder.

For an easy reference you can follow the chart below. The heart rate column shows what your heart rate per 10 seconds should be. No further calculations required.

So let’s get started all over again, this time for The Real Burn – Out!!!

Age	Heart Rate / 10 sec
15 to 19	25 to 30
20 to 24	26 to 30
25 to 29	26 to 29
30 to 34	25 to 28
35 to 39	25 to 28
40 to 44	24 to 27
45 to 49	23 to 26
50 to 54	22 to 25
55 to 59	22 to 24
60 to 65	21 to 24