You’ve been sweating through two-hundred crunches a day. Your torso hurts and you’re losing sleep because you wake up early each morning to complete more abdominal exercises. All this would be worth it if you saw some progress, but your frustration increases as the size of your tummy paunch fails to decrease.

Sound familiar?

Even if the rest of their body is fit and trim, many struggle with excess lower abdominal fat. And even after years of fruitless struggle, many continue to believe in targeted weight-loss, which is the idea that focusing workouts solely on a problem area will achieve satisfying results.

What are so many of us doing wrong?

To begin with: there is no such thing as targeted weight-loss because your body burns fat as a whole. Therefore, the first place you tend to gain weight will also be the last place you lose it. That’s why your thighs might be trim and toned while you can still grab two inches of flab off your tummy.

So how do you get the flat stomach you crave?

There are a few things you need to do. First, reduce your overall level of body fat through a combination of a sensible, balanced diet and frequent, moderately intense, cardiovascular exercise. Try jogging and power walking for at least 45 minutes each on alternating days to start. Second, and only second, you may want to concentrate on strengthening your abs to ensure they are tight and toned when you do lose the layer of fat covering them. In particular, you can make your tummy appear flatter by strengthening your lower abs because when your lower core is weak it can cause your stomach to appear distended. One great way to do that is with the Abdometer, which uses an air pocket to elevate your lower back and thus force you to perform proper lower-ab focused crunches.

Even though spot reduction remains a myth, you can still achieve the six-pack abs you’ve always wanted; you just need a combination of core exercises, a healthy diet, and consistently rigorous cardiovascular exercise.

Shaun Karp is a certified personal trainer. For further information call his office at 604-420-7800 or visit their web site www.karpfitness.com.