Jillian Michaels is on the cover of Women’s Health June issue, looking strong and beautiful as always. It’s obvious the celebrity trainer works hard for her body – just look at those abs! In the magazine, Michaels reveals that abs are the area that most women struggle with the most, so she opens up on her secrets for scoring your own 6-pack (or at least toning up a bit)!
First thing’s first: “You can’t spot-reduce fat,” she says. “You must burn calories to burn fat while you condition your abs.” Doing a hundred crunches a day won’t cut it if you’re not doing tons of calorie-burning cardio.
She also explains how stress and certain foods can hurt:
“When your levels of cortisol–a fight-or-flight survival hormone–are high, it can put your body in fat-storage mode. So stress is one of the worst things, not only for your overall health but also for your metabolism. You want to eat things that are high in fiber and that keep moving through your body. For a lot of people, a ton of dairy can screw up digestion and cause bloating.”
And finally, forget about those gym ab machines!
“If you’re getting on one of those gym ab machines and crunching 100 pounds, pass. You could hurt your back, and you don’t want the thick bulk.”
