i heard doing cardio for 20 minutes and then doing ab excersies help flatten your stomac i did it for a week and i lost and inch off my waist. then i got busy with school anyway i want to start again but im going somewere theres no treadmil but i could bike ride well any way i was wondering if bike ridding will work to. do i have to bike ride loner then 20 minutes ? thanks =]

Well, if you ride your bike for 20 minutes and only make it half a mile it probably won't benefit you the way you want it to. Riding your bike is good way to start getting active, but if you're looking to get a good physique there are probably better ways to do it. Do you ride your bike on a path? Why not alternate riding your bike and jogging? Or do exercises other than just those that are supposed to target your abs? You can't get a flat stomach without losing overall body fat, and you'd probably benefit if you started doing exercises that work your whole body, too.

When I go on bike rides, it takes me 5+ miles of bicycling before I start to sweat. A biking for 20 minutes exceeds 1 mile. Because running a mile usually only take 10 min average and that's at a slow running rate. I can run a mile in 7 minutes. If you're bicycling, I recommend it for an hour or more.

Ab exercises don't flatten your stomach. You should still do resistance training, but not under that presumption.

my response is pretty late here but in my professional and well regarded opinion as they usually are with the rare exception of hemorrhage and various internal bleeding, i would suggest with prior warning that it may not be the optimal but perhaps best option available, that you should probably, but not certainly… now what were we talking about again? …ah right, you should try swimming! swimming is the best work out there is right up there with the running of the bulls and professional dodge ball. Good luck

...on top of the ab excercises of course. happy thrusting!

talk to a personal trainer near you

Most personal trainers suck.

"The lack of preparatory courses in the average physical education or kinesiology degree program is a problem. The root of it can be found in the lack of a sense of identity within physical education. Who and what are physical educators? Just look at what physical education programs in universities across the United States produce. One academic department frequently generates teachers, clinicians, coaches, trainers, fitness traners, gym managers, sports administrators, recreation workers, cardiac rehabilitation specialists, exercise rehabilitation specialists, exercise physiologists, biomechanists, and sports psychologists. Programs are typically general in nature, producing generally trained students intended to occupy specific occupational and professional jobs. The names of the university departments that offer what are considered traditional "physical education" degrees are generic, nondescript names that the public does not recognize as being related to physical education. This lack of recognition actually starts on college campuses themselves.

A rethinking of modern physical education is warranted. Without change, trained professionals capable of contributing to the profession of sport and exercise will be a rarity. Graduates capable of occupying low level jobs subservient to some other professional managerial group, one that is actually less qualified to supervise and program exercise, will be the rule.

There are more than 300 different certifications available to exercise professionals, with nearly as many businesses and organizations offering them. California alone has nearly 40 entities offering some type of credential. This is an unregulated industry, and as such there are 'professional certifications' that can be obtained by writing a check to a company, receiving some course material in an envelope in the mail, taking a test at home or online, and then receiving your certification in the mail in a second envelope. Suddenly, you become a certified weight training professional and can put some extra letters after your name.

They certainly cannot develop - or even measure - the skills and knowledge required of a competent strength professional." -Practical Programming