Myth busters part I: Absolutely ridiculous

I hate to tell you but 1.000 sit ups will not make you skinny. Ok, not unless you do them really fast for about thirty minutes straight. This is more likely to make your back ache than to make you lose weight.

Why is this? Because doing sit ups work out the muscles in your abdominals. It does not necessarily get rid of the layers of fat covering those muscles. Your body is a whole system—not just individual parts.

Working out certain muscles, while good for building those muscles, does not target the entire system. Losing weight, because fat goes everywhere (even if you THINK it’s just going to your stomach or your bum or your thighs or….you get my point), requires that you keep the entire system healthy.

Wondering what will give you a flat stomach or toned thighs?

Getting your heart rate up and feeling the burn. The best way to lose weight in an individual part of your body is to lose it everywhere. Although it may seem crazy thirty minutes of walking, running, biking, dancing or playing tennis will do more for your abdominals than 1.000 sit ups. I promise.

So what are sit ups good for? I’m not telling you never to do sit ups. Working out your abdominals is just as important as working out any other muscle. Having strong abdominals is great for keeping your back healthy and for doing most forms of physical activity.

If you have lost enough weight, are naturally thin enough or are a man, you can likely get those stacked muscles everyone seems to want (women, alas, will likely have a harder time…we are not really built that way). But first, you have to get moving.

Amity Weiss is a professional personal trainer from America living in Kigali.