Abdominal Circumference: Friend or Foe?

  • Published
  • By Col. Laura Torres-Reyes
  • 380th Expeditionary Medical Group commander
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  Are you frustrated with the abdominal circumference score for the new fitness standard? Have you pounded out hundreds of crunches, pumped oodles of push-ups, only to find your abdominal girth doesn’t get you past a composite score of 80?

I must admit that I was at first perplexed and amazed that the numbers and scores didn’t change based on height or age. How could that be?

The key to understanding why abdominal circumference takes a huge chunk of your fitness score is in understanding that our new fitness program is about maintaining the health of your whole body.

What really matters now to the Air Force is that you are maintaining a state of health that decreases your risk of preventable diseases. Research has shown conclusively that abdominal size reflects this concept of whole health. Besides the obvious risk factor of smoking tobacco, your amount of abdominal fat is a good predictor of your risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke and some types of cancer. Isn’t that amazing?

You don’t need a palm reader or crystal ball. By just taking a simple tape measurement, you can get a pretty good idea of your chances for enjoying a long, healthy life.

Of course, the hard part is deciding what to do if your abs just aren’t measuring up.

Take heart! You don’t have to look for a liposuction specialist or invest in expensive gadgets advertised on TV to make an improvement. The only proven way to decrease your abdominal circumference is to decrease your body fat.

The fact is we all have those enviable six-packs of muscle hidden under our abdominal fat. As you lose the fat, the muscle definition becomes clear. If you increase your aerobic capacity and strengthen your shoulders and core muscle groups, your total body fat will decrease and your abdomen will firm up.

It is really a pretty good package deal; as you improve your scores for the 1.5 mile run, push-ups, and sit-ups, you should see your abdominal girth decrease. Of course, you will also have to burn more calories than you eat, actually exercise aerobically by maintaining your training heart rate between 60 and 75 percent, and build more muscle to boost your metabolism.

Okay, so I never said it would be easy, but don’t you feel better just knowing it makes sense?