I am consistently asked how do you get rid of belly fat, especially, lower regions.  The guy who asked me that, had the football lineman’s build of a tackle; he could have been a defensive end. 

Anyway, that build will not necessarily ever taper to a gymnast physique but can still taper to a solid core with a lot of explosive potential.  Therefore, anyone with that physique should train for that.

To obtain abdominals for that particular build; the muscles might respond better performing slow, longer, static contractions like planks, or steady spinal hyper extensions, then to hanging knee tucks or quick, controlled crunches.

Playing with the speed variable from more slow steady exercise directly to quick and explosive action emulates performance training for a lineman.  This is not exclusive to just the core. Try that with all the exercises you do. 

A beginning and foundational strategy is to do compound exercise.  Try these calorie burning lift transitions using a lot of joint action and overall movement like:

Incline dumbbell press with a sit up
Squats or lunges with shoulder press/bicep curls
Dead lifts to sit-ups (NOT dropping the weight)
Chin-ups with a knee tuck

A lineman does not necessarily have the cardio endurance to burn all fat just running but changing speed variables can turn a basic weight room routine into a cardio workout.

Addressing the initial question, showing abdominals is completely different from building them.  It is impossible to do hundreds of crunches and cardio exercises to burn the fat.  You will dehydrate yourself before you burn off that mess. 

This issue has more to do with what you eat, how often you eat, how big the portions are, and how balanced your diet is.  Just watch what you eat.  Know your daily caloric intake and reduce that by 500 calories a day. Search online for “caloric intake calculator” and plug in your variables to get a better idea. Eat wholesome, unprocessed foods.

Fat and muscle are different tissues and fat cannot turn into muscle.  If you only use cardio machines or run/jump-rope, exhausting the muscular system triggers a higher metabolic rate when you are resting. Try one or two easy sets of the compound exercises in intervals with a cardio focused routine.

Finally, do not forget to stretch. It is not just for warming up or cooling down.  The irony is that people spend hours contracting their muscle and forget to balance that by extending and lengthening their muscles. 

Dancers dedicate their workout to stretch and lift their own body weight, hardly weight lift and are in good shape for their sport.  This will stimulate muscle development.  Push a stretch to your threshold daily with your work out. The benefit will develop shaping your body and getting lean, solid muscle.

Dominic Moncada can be reached at [email protected]