Why Having A Rock Hard Stomach Isn't Always A Sign Of Good Health

Most of us are striving to be in better shape and get rock hard abs, but having a hard stomach isn't always a sign that all is well.

If we aren't one of the lucky few that puts the work in and has that washboard stomach that most of us can only dream of, we all wonder what it really takes to get those abs. For the most part, there are no shortcuts. If you want to lose that belly and to be able to bounce a quarter off your stomach then you have to eat healthily and put the work in at the gym.

As it turns out, simply having a hard stomach should not be the ultimate goal. If your stomach is hard it does not always mean that you are the epitome of good health. Men's Health recently pointed out that if your stomach is hard it can actually mean quite the opposite and that your health might be at risk rather than in tip-top condition.

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via puregym.com

Chances are if you have the unhealthy type of hard stomach then you'll know about it. It doesn't come with doing sit-ups and stomach crunches. It's caused by something called visceral fat. That fat will push against your abdominal wall and create something of a gut, but it won't jiggle like regular belly fat, also known as subcutaneous fat.

There are a few things that can cause visceral fat to build up in this way. First off the most obvious one, diet and lifestyle. If you eat poorly and don't exercise you may very well have a hard belly, but not the kind we're all striving for. Next up, genetics. A study has shown that three different genes can affect your waist-to-hip ratio and thus dictate how much visceral fat you have. A healthy lifestyle can help counteract that though.

A large amount of visceral fat can have a detrimental effect on your health, causing scary things like cardiovascular disease and type two diabetes. Like any type of fat though, it can be lost. In fact, if you lose between 5 and 10% of your overall body weight that can strip away as much as 40% of the visceral fat you have stored up. Your best bet is to squeeze in plenty of cardio and make sure you tweak that diet.

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