One of the most commonly asked questions about Kore Power Trainer is, "Can KPT help me to get rid of my belly?"  I can understand where the idea comes from.  We only have to turn on the television late at night to see any number of products which claim to promote instant weight loss.  We see someone with phenomenal looking abs rocking back and forth on a plastic seat or pushing down on some spring-loaded device and then we are told that he or she got this way by using the gimmick.  Such infomercials always include testimonials with before-and-after pictures of "real people" who claim to have lost a huge amount of weight and several inches from their waistlines by rocking, squeezing, or twisting for 5 minutes a day.  The images are compelling, even as our guts warn us that we are being scammed.  At 54 years old, one thing has become clear to me: when something feels like a scam, it probably is.  

THE TRUTH

Strength training exercises such as Kore Power Trainer help to burn a very small amount of fat.  And core work alone–even with Kore Power Trainer–is not sufficient to burn away significant amounts of belly fat.  Getting a super strong core is healthy.  It is good for your back, improves your posture, and enhances athletic, work, and sexual performance.  When abdominal fat is low, strengthening the core creates that chiseled look that many of us want.  But significant amounts of abdominal fat, or adipose can only be depleted through diet or by a combination of diet and exercise.  A healthy diet low in starches (carbs) and based on fresh, natural foods eaten in small portions several times per day (see The Human Diet) combined with regular cardiovascular exercise and full-body strength training, including Kore Power Trainer, is the combination that works best for getting rid of belly fat and looking and feeling your best.  Unfortunately, there are no good short-cuts to significant, lasting weight loss.  It requires commitment and a shift in lifestyle.  Magic pills and gimmicks do not, in my experience, deliver on their promises.   

BUT DOESN'T BELLY FAT TURN TO MUSCLE WHEN YOU DO AB EXERCISES?

Fat cannot be converted into muscle through exercise.  Nor does muscle turn into fat when we are sedentary.  Muscle and fat are separate organ tissues, like heart, lung, bone, etc.  We cannot convert one kind of tissue cells into another.  Lack of exercise causes muscle cells to shrink and fat cells to swell over time, giving the appearance that muscle can be 'turned into fat.'  Similarly, more exercise can help build muscle size and burn some fat, giving the appearance that fat is being 'turned into muscle.'  But doing ab work does not do very much to burn belly fat.  I am certain that the models you see in those late night infomercials did not come to look the way that they do by rocking, twisting, or squeezing 5 minutes a day with smiles on their faces.  Kore Power Trainer is not a gimmick.  It is the safest, most efficient tool for gaining a strong core.  But it is not a weight-loss device and if you have a layer of belly fat covering your mid-section, you will not be able to see your beautiful, strong abs until you add a healthy diet and exercise routine to your daily habits.  

LOSE THE BELLY + STRENGTHEN THE CORE = BETTER HEALTH

There are good reasons to lose belly fat beyond achieving that sculpted-abs look.  Belly fat (also called visceral fat, or adipose) causes the production of inflammatory hormones which promote aging and increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, strokes, and cancers.  Extra fat on the abdomen pulls the spine into extension causing compression of the joints in the lower back.  It causes stress and strain on spinal discs and facet joints which lead to degenerative changes and chronic back pain.  Adipose is one of the key drivers of the aging process and is implicated in virtually all forms of chronic disease.  KPT in conjunction with a healthy diet and cardiovascular exercise is the ideal combination for both optimal health and spectacular, chiseled abs.  Click on this highlighted link for more information on The Human Diet.  

Many of my patients have worked with trainers or used workouts found on the internet to help them strengthen their core muscles prior to seeing me for back pain.  Sit-ups on the slant board, crunches, and Roman Chair back extensions are popular core exercises.  Certain yoga poses seem to engage the core to a degree and can offer a kind of introduction to core strengthening as well.  But perhaps the most commonly promoted exercise for strengthening the core is the plank.  Planks are performed by getting into a push-up position (putting your weight either on your hands or elbows) and then holding the legs and torso in a straight line above the floor for a protracted period of time.  

The core can be thought of as having four separate quadrants: front (rectus abdominus), back (lower back and buttock muscles), and left and right sides (obliques and transversus abdominus).  Unlike sit-ups, crunches, and back extensions which each work only one of the four quadrants of the core, planks, when done correctly, engage three of the four quadrants (front and sides).  In this way, planks are a more comprehensive core exercise than sit-ups, crunches, or back extensions.  But there is a bit more to the story and before we rate planks as a core exercise we need to discuss the differences between exercises that involve motion and those that do not.

Exercises that cause muscles to shorten as they contract are referred to as concentric exercises, while exercises that cause muscles to lengthen as they contract are referred to as eccentric exercises.  When you do a push up, the part where you move upward from the ground is powered by concentric contraction of chest (pectoral) and triceps muscles which become progressively shorter the higher up you go.  If you then lower yourself quite slowly to touch your chest back down to the floor, those same muscles progressively lengthen while contracting, resulting in eccentric work.  Planks do not involve movement, so there is neither shortening nor lengthening of muscle fibers.  Exercises that involve muscle contraction without motion (shortening or lengthening of muscle fibers) are referred to isometric exercises.  

Of the three forms of exercise (concentric, eccentric, and isometric), isometric conditioning is the least effective for building muscle strength.  Isometric exercises such as planks are often used in clinical practice as the first phase of rehabilitation because they are a gentler form of exercise and carry less risk of injury when patients are de-conditioned and particularly vulnerable.  Following surgeries or prolonged immobilization, planks, yoga poses, and other forms of isometric exercise can be very useful for establishing base stability safely.  But base stability is insufficient for back health and will not provide a sculpted, chiseled mid-section. 

Kore Power Trainer offers three levels of workouts: Core Stabilization, Basic Workout, and Advanced Workout.  The Core Stabilization routine engages each of the four quadrants of the core in isometric exercise for one minute.  This makes it more effective than planks which do not engage the back quadrant.  Once Core Stabilization becomes easy to do, we recommend that you move to the Basic Workout which involves both concentric and eccentric work.  Four minutes of the Basic Workout, 3-5 times per week, can build sufficient core strength to reduce, eliminate, and prevent many forms of chronic back pain as well as help give a chiseled appearance to the mid-section.  

Though popular in the fitness world (for now), planks actually rank quite low as a core strengthening exercise.  For a truly powerful core and a sculpted mid-section, you must do concentric and eccentric work.  We invite you to try 4 minutes on a Kore Power Trainer.  

The 'core' is a term used to describe several different muscles in the lower back buttocks, abdomen, and sides which function together during bending, lifting, straining, pushing and pulling.  Broad, full-body activities such as these require coordinated work between the upper and lower body with the low back as the connection between them.  Strong core muscles not only help power many of these activities working in conjunction with the arms, legs, chest, and shoulders, but they also support the lower spine.  When core muscles are weak and de-conditioned, the physical stress of lifting, pushing, pulling, etc., can overwhelm them, causing microscopic tearing known as a 'strain' injury.  Even more harmful is the effect that a weak core has on the discs and joints of the lower (lumbar) spine.  When core muscles are strong they act to bolster and support the spine.  In a sense they act like a weight-lifter's belt, encircling the lower back, keeping it strong and tight and absorbing some of the burden of forces applied through the back during heavy activity.  

When core muscles are weak, those forces are transferred exclusively to the small joints and discs of the lumbar spine.  However, these structures are not well designed to bear extreme loads and over time, they too can become overwhelmed.  When a joint is overwhelmed, the ligaments holding them together get stretched and torn.  This is called a 'sprain' injury.  When a person with a de-conditioned core tries to lift a heavy object the forces applied to the lower back can result in both overwhelmed muscles and joints.  We call this a lumbar strain and sprain.  Repeated lumbar strain and sprain injuries take their toll on discs.  Each episode causes microscopic tearing and over time, multiple tiny tears begin to coalesce and form larger tears that ultimately lead to disc herniations.  

Disc herniations occur when the softer material inside the disc (called the nucleus) is squeezed out through tears caused by repeated lumbar sprain and strain injuries.  This nuclear material can wind up trapping nerves causing pain, numbness, and/or weakness down the leg sometimes referred to as sciatica.  Sciatica caused by a pinched nerve is a more serious condition and once discs have herniated, the nuclear material can never be put back inside the disc.  

Ever wonder why people shrink in height as they age?  The most common reason is repeated injury to the intervertebral discs.  Discs act as weight-bearing shock absorbers for the spine, and when they herniate, they lose height.  This diminishes their ability to absorb forces and makes us shorter.  Discs normally bear twice as much weight as the smaller lumbar facet joints, but when they herniate and loss their height more of the weight-bearing function gets shifted to the smaller lumbar facet joints causing them to undergo excessive wear and tear as well.  Osteoarthritis is the body's response to excessive wear and tear.  It consists of thickening of joints to compensate for weakened muscles and damaged ligaments and discs.  A sedentary lifestyle leads to a weak core and a weak core sets the stage for recurrent lumbar strain and sprain injuries, disc herniations, and ultimately, chronic degenerative osteoarthritis.  This is why a core routine is so vitally important!  A four minute core workout on your own bed, 3-5 times per week using Kore Power Trainer can promote and maintain sufficient core strength to support the spine, prevent many lumbar strain and sprain injuries, and slow or halt this process.  Think about it.  Can you commit to 4 minutes of exercise every other day?