Have you been lying on your back, with your hands behind your head, straining your neck upwards in search of shredded abs? You are going about it all wrong. Traditional crunches do work your core, but very minimally. The majority of individuals who attempt a floor crunch usually perform the move incorrectly, and end up with a strained neck rather than rock hard abs. For the people actually performing the move correctly, don’t be surprised if you end up with a 2 or 4 pack. Traditional crunches only work your upper abs, and do nothing for lower abs or obliques where the majority of midsection fat settles.
The secret to attaining ripped abs is not any of those ab workouts that you may have seen in the magazines or in that fitness app you downloaded. The real secret is to achieve a caloric deficit. This means that you need to burn more calories than you intake. That is why many fitness junkies count their calories and eat small portion meals. They are making sure that they don’t take in too many calories to ensure that their scheduled workout burns enough for that caloric deficit.
Crunches vs. Jump Rope
Generally, ab exercises like crunches burn 84 to 151 calories every 15 minutes depending on intensity, weight, and multiple other factors. This may seem sufficient until these numbers are compared with 15 minutes of high intensity jump rope training (HIJRT).
During a HIJRT session, the routine traditionally is to jump rope as fast as physically possible for 30 seconds with 10 second rest periods in between. You can expect to burn around 250 calories during this 15-minute period, but that’s not all. Due to a process called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), your body will continue to burn calories hours after the workout. This can raise your caloric burn up to 400 calories for that same 15-minute workout!
If you couple these high intensity jump rope sessions with healthy eating, you will be well on your way to getting those heralded washboard abs. For high-intensity training that has proven results, look no further than High Intensity Jump Rope Training’s JRT Shred fitness program. This fitness regimen can help shred belly fat in just 20 minutes a day! We provide other effective training methods specific to whatever you fitness goal may be. Visit us online for a full list of our programs and start your transformation today!