[ILoveLove]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post, but if someone could help I'd appreciate it.

I've been doing 8 minute abs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWxM995gDDA) - I was wondering if anyone knows if this is a good program or if I should be doing other things to get my stomach looking flat. My biggest problem is the bottom of my tummy below my belly button. I heard once thats where all the really bad fats settle, but I'm not sure how true that is. Does anyone know an exercise that could get rid of this? Thanks!

[mandalinn82]

The only exercise that can get rid of fat is Cardio...You eliminate fat when you burn more calories than you eat. Crunches and ab exercises may help your ab muscles be stronger, but if the muscles are covered by fat, the fat has to be burned off before the muscles will start to show.

Unfortunately, we can't "spot reduce"...there is no way to work an area to get that particular area to shrink.

[Scenestealer]

Just want to throw in a good word for the 8 Min Fitness series: I love it. It's long enough that it does SOMETHING (not a lot, but something), and it's short enough that I can make myself get up one snooze cycle early to do it. Other DVDs have 15-20 segments, and 2 snooze cycles is just really pushing it!

Mandalinn pretty much covered it by saying you can't spot reduce and that only cardio will get rid of fat, but just remember that once the fat goes away you want the muscle underneath to be tight and toned. That's what 8 Min Abs can do.

[ILoveLove]

Thanks guys! I'm glad you like the 8 min series scenestealer - it makes me feel like I'm not the only one.

Maybe I just have to do them more often to see results, because I dont have much fat around my stomach. My waist is very tiny and when I stand up my stomach is flat except for the very bottom which I just don't understand haha. I'll have to look into that.

[tomandkara]

I think the reason they say that the fat around our middles is the "most dangerous" is because they mean the fat on the inside, around our organs. I've got a bulge below my belly button, too, but I know what mine's from - being pregnant three times! Wish I could magic wand it away, but alas, I'm stuck with exercise and making good food choices. Not such a shabby way to live a life, though!

Kara