Chloe Ting's YouTube workouts probably won't give you six-pack abs — here are 4 things she doesn't tell you about getting fit

• Chloe Ting, a lifestyle vlogger from Australia, is best known for her series of wildly popular YouTube workouts promising to help burn fat and lead to six-pack abs in weeks.
• It's possible to follow along and still get a workout, but Ting's form is questionable and she doesn't explain the techniques, potentially making them less effective.
• How your abs look is primarily related to diet and genetics, and no amount of crunches can change that.
• It's not bad as a free program for beginners looking to break a sweat, but there are more effective ways to build a workout routine with good form and realistic expectations.

Australian lifestyle vlogger Chloe Ting has dominated the YouTube fitness world since coronavirus lockdowns began. Her most popular videos, promising six-pack abs and a toned butt in weeks, have netted more than 200 million views.

The videos, and specifically their claims about building six-pack abs, omit key information.

In the descriptions of her most popular videos, Ting says her "video titles are subjective and shouldn't be seen as absolute truth. As an example, targeting fat reduction is not scientifically proven but a video title might suggest otherwise."

Whether you're looking to get a more defined core or just get stronger, it's important to prioritize good form in exercising, be realistic about your goals, remember nutrition if you're looking for weight loss, and finally, be patient about getting the results you want. For that, you'll likely want to look beyond quick-fix YouTube routines.

Proper form is key for getting the most out of your workouts

Ting's videos are 10 to 15 minutes long, made up of a series of short bursts of exercise followed by an even shorter rest (known as Tabata in the fitness world). She uses no-equipment exercises like squats, lunges, and planks, combined with jumping for added intensity.

For exercise to be effective, you need to engage and activate the muscles you're working, maintaining the correct form of each movement.

Ting's workout videos, however, have little advice about how to do this (and Ting herself isn't a personal trainer or otherwise qualified to teach). Her brief description of the movements leave out important details. For example, she tells viewers to engage their abs during core work, but not how to do that correctly (Press your lower back into the ground; this protects your spine and activates your abs).

It's possible to follow along and you'll likely still get a workout, but you may not be working your muscles as efficiently as if you had a personal trainer to provide corrections and more detailed examples.

For instance, when Ting does exercises like v-ups, planks, and leg raises, it's not clear that she's maintaining tension throughout the movement. This could potentially cause viewers to rely too much on momentum or be unstable in their movements, reducing the effectiveness of the exercise.

You can't spot reduce fat

Ting's most popular workouts are designed to give you a toned, flat stomach or even six-pack abs. But her videos alone likely won't do that for most people.

Evidence shows you can't spot reduce fat — that is, doing a targeted exercise like a crunch won't melt the body fat off your stomach.

The only way to burn belly fat is to lower your overall body fat percentage. For that, the biggest factor is being in a calorie deficit by consuming fewer calories than you expend each day.

"It's like 90% diet. If you watch your nutrition very, very closely, you can get abs," personal trainer Noam Tamir previously told Insider.

Exercise can help reduce body fat (and build muscle to raise your metabolic rate) but unless you're putting in hours a day, that only goes so far, since the majority of our daily calories are burned at rest.

When you do start to lose fat, your genetics largely determine where your body burns fat the quickest, meaning that some people will have a much harder time losing fat on the stomach area.

No exercise will change your natural body shape

Ting's other claim to fame is helping people achieve "11 line" abs, a specific aesthetic wherein the stomach muscles are defined to form visible, parallel lines along the midriff . It's often associated with an hourglass-shaped torso.

But this look depends on factors like height, weight, body structure and the natural shape of your ab muscles, which are determined by genetics. While exercise can help increase the size of the ab muscles or make them more visible, no amount of crunches will alter the structure of your torso or muscle shape.

That means that while anyone can strive for more defined abs, this particular look isn't realistic for many people. Some people may be able to achieve it with effort, but for others, it's almost impossible or would require dangerously low body fat percentages.

Healthy weight loss and muscle definition require patience and precision

Ting's video claim to offer abs in just weeks, but whether that will work for you depends on where you're starting from. If you're already relatively slim, a few weeks of defining your ab muscles may be enough to see results. But if you have a larger body size, burning fat and toning muscle in a healthy way can take months or years.

Ting's videos aren't a bad place to start if you need a free, convenient workout, since they do target a wide variety of muscle groups. There's constant movement and little resting, making it a good option for fitness beginners.

But chances are, you're not going to look like her (or have abs like she does) after two weeks, and you shouldn't feel bad if that's the case.

Especially if you're new to fitness, consider seeking out experts in exercise science who can give you strategies to support your goals.

Read more:

Personal trainer: How to start a new home workout routine in quarantine, even if you're new to fitness

How to work out during a self-quarantine, from free yoga classes to Arnold Schwarzenegger's bodyweight routine

How to burn fat without losing muscle, according to a keto bodybuilder