Do Ab Weight Machines Burn Fat?

Many advertisements for ab machines promise to trim your waistline and give you a flat stomach quickly. However, this sales pitch can be misleading. While strength training can help burn calories and lead to overall weight loss, you have to combine this with cardio and a low-fat diet in order to actually burn fat and lose weight.

  1. The Myth

    • Many people believe that focusing on ab exercises will help them lose weight in their midsection. However, there is no way to specifically target the area where you burn fat. Muscles throughout the body burn fat proportionately, so you will only lose stomach fat as your whole body begins to shed weight. Doing abdominal exercises, on an ab machine or otherwise, will simply help strengthen your core muscles. Only after the extra weight drops, through a combination of strength training, cardio and eating a low-fat diet, will you be able to see the results of all those crunches show through.

    Resistance Training

    • While doing only resistance training will not get rid of your fat, it can help burn calories and contribute to your overall weight-loss efforts. This is because your body has to burn more calories to maintain muscle. In fact, by replacing 1 pound of fat with 1 pound of muscle, you are helping your body burn up to an additional 50 calories a day, according to "Women's Health" magazine. The more fat you transition to muscle, the more calories you burn. So rather than only targeting abs, focus on a strength-training routine that incorporates all of the major muscle groups for the best results.

    Cardio

    • You need to engage in aerobic exercise to help your body burn calories and fat. The Mayo Clinic recommends doing at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise a day to stay healthy and working up to 300 minutes of cardio a week to effectively lose weight. You can engage in a combination of moderate and vigorous aerobic exercises to reach this goal. You should also choose activities that you enjoy so you are more likely to stick to your routine.

    Diet

    • Exercise needs to be combined with a low-fat diet in order for you to lose weight. You need to create a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound, so reducing the number of calories you eat can contribute to this calorie deficit. Choosing low-fat foods and a diet rich in plant-based foods can help minimize the amount of fat you take in as well as the number of calories you store. Consistently eating a healthy diet can help you shed fat throughout your body, including on your midsection, and give you the results you can't achieve using only an ab machine.