Our tummies are always the hardest to trim whenever we decide to shape up. We do crunches and sit-ups to get rid of the bulge and unwanted "love handles," exerting so much effort into toning and firming them up, yet with little or no results--until after at least a month of doing them daily. But did you know that there’s a simple way to achieve a flat belly?
The secret, if you haven't discovered it yet, is simply practicing good posture. Abdominal muscles are partly responsible for holding our bodies upright, and research from a Yahoo! Health article showed that poor posture contributes to "belly slump," common to women especially after giving birth.
No need to worry since posture can easily be corrected, and it even has a bonus: "Correcting poor posture can make you look five pounds slimmer instantly," said Deborah L. Mullen, a certified strength and conditioning specialist in San Luis Obispo, CA.
A study in Australia observed 20 people who tended to slump in chairs: when the subjects stood with their backs erect, muscles "jumped to attention" after staying slack while slouched. "The less we use our muscles, the weaker they become," says posture researcher Thomas Cowan, MD.
The solution, other than trying yoga or Pilates, is simply to make it a point to stand and sit up straight more often. If stomach crunches never worked or are too strenuous for you, working on your posture is certainly a good alternative!
7 Comments
Add Commentachel_wei
Wow, nice info. Thanks. :)
September 2, 2008 at 5:40 pmnaniace
it's very true.. :)
September 3, 2008 at 4:02 pmicyfwo
great info! maraming salamat..i'll tell my friends about this..=)
September 4, 2008 at 9:02 pmladyellehcor
wow!ill definitely do this. I noticed that i tend to slump na sa chair ko sa office specially after giving birth that makes me kuba even when standing na.
September 8, 2008 at 4:38 pmrah_rah
nice info!!! thanks! great help guys!
October 15, 2008 at 9:17 pmbhing_810
good thing i read this...hmmm, gonna practice good posture.hehehe
October 20, 2008 at 5:04 pmjessicamarielim
good posture is so easy to do but so easy to forget about also! in less than 2 minutes, i'm back to slouching on my chair!
November 15, 2008 at 11:40 pm