Unscrupulous weight loss companies have been feeding you a very profitable lie. This lie has been the basis of $100's of millions of dollars of profit, and this lie is still continuing to sell to unsuspecting people who want to lose fat and get toned. People just like you. I'm talking about the companies that bring out one ab-targeted machine after another, each one promising to shed those pounds from your flabby stomach and make your abs rock-hard.

Some of them promise the world, telling you that you'll look like a super model or a toned well-conditioned man in under 10 minutes a day. I know no matter how much you wanted to, you had doubts about all this.

Your intuition was onto something - let me give you the tip. The truth is that this type of exercise, by itself, is never going to help you get the toned abs or fat loss you really want.

Is it any wonder there seems to be a new one of these machines on the market every year?

Let me explain why.

When you put on fat, it builds up all around your body. Yes, genetically you may put on more fat in one area than another, but you still put on fat in all areas. So when you try and lose fat, the same principle applies.

You can't target fat loss from one area of your body. If you lose fat, you're going to lose fat from various areas of your body, all at the same time. Losing fat is NOT like gaining muscle. You can target muscle growth in one part of the body, but you can't do that with fat loss. It just doesn't work.

So what actually happens when you use one of these ab-machines?

Let's say you do your ab workout. Maybe you do develop firm abs. The only problem is that you won't see them. That's because you still have a layer of fat that covers up those firm muscles. It's the same thing for any other body part. If you work out your biceps intensely, but have a layer of fat, you won't see the tone to them. There'll still be flabby on top.

So you see, making your abs stronger and tighter is not the same thing as burning away the fat tissue which sits on top. The reason is that you need the presence of oxygen to burn fat. Doing an ab workout with those machines is a type of anaerobic ('without oxygen') exercise, so you don't burn fat directly. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do them - it just means you shouldn't rely on them and them alone.

So if you want to lose fat from your stomach, you can't just focus on one specific type of exercise that focuses on your abs. You have to work out all parts of your body, focusing on exercises that use more body parts. This is how you get the most metabolic mileage out of each ounce of effort you put into your workout. You'll learn how to put this together in the exercise section of this site.

So, now you don't ever have to fall for their marketing hype again.

There are unfortunately more myths, and bad advice like this around in the weight loss industry. You should also take a look at our article on healthy weight loss tips if you're interested in finding out more on topics like this. It covers how much weight you should lose on a regular basis to maintain consistency and safety.