Science Fact or Fiction: Hourglass Abs Workout

Defined abdominal muscles or “abs” have become a symbol of fitness and health. For this reason, the internet is full of information about how you can achieve a six pack. The latest influencers are posting their spot reducing formulas on the internet which can be incredibly convincing. 

Many of these recommendations involve exercises and devices that target the ab muscles. These workouts are designed to burn belly fat and get a “chiseled” abdominal look, however are these as effective as we think? One of the latest trendy workouts circulating at the moment is a 10-minute, continuous abdominal workout that claims to clench the waistline and give you an hourglass figure.

What does this workout entail?

The hourglass workout is 10 exercises, performed each for 60 seconds with no rest. These exercises include  

• Basic Crunches 
• Bicycle Kicks 
• Jack Knives 
• Russian Twists 
• Toe Taps 
• Bicycle Crunches 
• Scissor Kicks 
• Reverse Crunches 
• Butterfly Kicks 

The big question: Will doing just this 10-minute ab workout regularly change someone’s figure?

In summary – likely not.

The problem with many abs exercises is that they promote the idea of ″spot training″, which is ultimately focusing on one body part during exercise to change it. Spot training your stomach cannot get you ripped abs. 

The old saying ″abs are made in the kitchen," is somewhat true. Getting defined abdominals is a lot harder than many people make it look, and simply doing this workout in isolation likely won’t get you there. 

Yes, it may certainly feel like you’re getting a very toned waistline due to the burning sensation as you do your crunches, however the fatigue and burning sensation you feel after doing a continuous ab burner, such as the hourglass 10-minute ab circuit, comes from fatigue because blood flow to the muscle drops, which means there’s less oxygen available to the muscle. Less oxygen means your muscles end up feeling burnt-out, but there is no connection between this effect and actually burning fat or building muscle.