Hundred becoming with a sixpack

We are now only a handful of weeks away from the most spectacular fashion show of the year, as the little angels strut their super (HA) tight butts and bone-dry bellies on the runway. And those abs, well, we all want those. It's just that we prefer to skip the hundred sit-ups we have to do every day. Still, it's a good idea to jump out of bed a quarter of an hour earlier every day for a set of misery. Research from the University of Sydney, published in the journal American Journal of Epidemiology, shows that they not only contribute to a nice belly, but also significantly reduce the chance of dying prematurely.

A team of scientists led by Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis analyzed data from over 80,000 people who participated in the study and came to a remarkable conclusion. People who regularly hit the gym had a 23 percent lower chance of dying prematurely and a 31 percent lower chance of dying from cancer than those who never picked up a weight.

“The study shows that exercise that promotes muscle strength is just as important for health as a round in Vondelpark or an hour on the spinning bike,” said Stamatakis. And unfortunately for us, those miserable abdominal exercises are part of it too. Many people associate strength training with sweaty muscle heads and pounds being lifted in the gym, but that doesn't have to be the case at all. Everyone can achieve a lot (even at home) with their own body weight. Just with push-ups, sit-ups, and lunges, you can get quite far. Alternating cardio with strength exercises is, according to the researchers, the perfect recipe for a healthy and slim body.

So girlfriend, no more excuses. Come on, put on that new sports outfit . You don't even have to go out in the cold. Squatting to a hundred.