6 pack abs
6 Pack Abs Secrets
get 6 pack abs
Men and women everywhere spend countless time and energy looking for the best ab workout they can find. Having a tight firm stomach has become something of a status symbol that denotes a healthy fit body. Getting a set of 6 pack abs does take work and dedication to the goal that is set.
Everyday there is not shortage of TV and internet advertisements that cater to this very need. Everything from fat burning, appetite suppressing pills and potions to the latest ab exercise machine that twists and turns your body into all sorts of pretzel shapes are being sold to the six pack crazed public these days. Those fitness models and other “beautiful people” they feature in those commercials probably didn’t get those bodies using whatever it they are trying to sell. They worked hard to get their bodies in shape and they continue to live a healthy lifestyle to stay that way.
No matter how many ab specific exercises you do on those machines or doing 1000s of sit-ups and crunches you will never get those hard firm abs you’ve been looking for without making some changes to the way you eat and exercise. You can have a 6 pack but nobody will see it if it’s hidden under a layer of fat.
That’s right, the best ab workout doesn’t just focus on the abdominal muscles but the health and fitness level of your entire body. By focusing on living a healthy lifestyle that includes eating right and doing a variety of different exercises that work the entire body you can have the type of abs you see on those commercials.
It will take some work and dedication to achieve that washboard stomach but the steps needed are actually quite simple, if you have the desire to do them. If anything just look at those fitness model in those commercials. They look that way because they made a conscious decision to get in shape.
The best ab workout to get a set of 6-pack-abs consists of the following three things.
1. A Healthy Diet – You are what you eat. That old saying is true in so many ways. Everything you eat or drink has an effect on your body, whether it be good or bad. The human body needs and demands certain forms of nutrients so that it can run at optimum efficiency. Giving it the nutrients and calories it needs will increase metabolism and burn away excess fat.
2. Weight Training – If you weight train you will naturally strengthen not just the muscles specific to the exercise you are doing but also your abdominals and lower back because these are the muscles that stabilize the body during any form of physical activity. It will also increase lean muscle mass which require large amounts of caloric energy just to maintain.
3. Aerobic Training – Aerobic or cardio exercise is a good way to burn excess calories and strengthen the entire cardiovascular system. Get out and take a walk, go for a bike ride, or any other form of activity that you enjoy doing.
Getting a set of six pack abs will take time, how much depends on what kind of shape you are currently in and how dedicated you are to that final goal. Just remember that the best ab workout is a combination of diet and exercise. By making healthy lifestyle choices you can have the body you always dreamed about.
The two things you would need in order to achieve that perfect six pack abs are: discipline and determination. Without one or the other, the road to abs perfection can be a very long, torturous road indeed. Discipline means that you are more than willing to cut a lot of unfavorable elements in your diet, your exercise and current lifestyle; and really keep to a rigid perfect six pack abs program instead. Determination means you are sticking up to your discipline, no matter what. This sounds easier than it really is. But if you do want that perfect six pack abs, you really need to make some major sacrifices, like:
1. Keeping up with an escalating workout regimen. Like all great exercises, your perfect six pack abs program should be done on an escalating scale. As you grow stronger and more athletic, your exercises should also increase in both intensity and duration. This allows your body to gradually gain that musculature definition via natural means. Try to get into tip top condition first before trying any one of these intensified exercises. This is especially true if you are overweight, or you have a not-so-regular exercise regimen. These intensified exercises can give you perfect six pack abs, but only if you body is at par with the task. Don’t push yourself too soon into doing exercises that may be a bit more advanced than your current state of physical fitness. You will only find these exercises painful, and these will still not yield you the results you want. Escalate your workout regimen as gradually as possible.
2. Push yourself but learn to pull back too. The same way that people tend to overindulge with good food; people also tend to overindulge in exercising their physique. True enough: a lot of exercises (intensified or otherwise) can get you that sculpted look in a hurry. But if you constantly push yourself to the edge, without any thought to rest and relaxation, your muscles have the tendency to snap and break. This is particularly worrisome when it comes to abdominal muscles. You have to remember that abdominal muscles are connected extensively to the groin area and the back area. If you push too hard, too soon, and too fast, these are the areas that will most likely take the strain. Hernia and pulled back muscles are only too common in such cases. Give yourself some time to really rest before and after workouts. And try to get as much sleep as possible. This way, the muscle cells of our perfect six pack abs will retain its shape longer. Read more
How To Get Abs
Essentials for Developing 6 Pack Abs
how to get pack abs
We all want to possess killer abs – male or female, young or old. What myths are out there about developing athletic abs and what do you really need to do in order to develop a lean and defined midsection?
Below I have listed the four key ingredients you will need in order to develop a killer midsection and I have listed them in order of importance. You might be surprised to see that ab training is listed last. The four key areas that need to be addressed are:
1. Nutrition
2. Resistance Training
3. Metabolic Training
Ingredient 1:
The Importance Of Nutrition In Developing Lean Six-Pack Abdominals They say that your abs are made in the kitchen. Well I like to think that the recipe for developing lean abs begins in the kitchen. However, there are other ingredients you will need in order to cook you up a set of lean abs, but let’s focus on the importance of nutrition here.
You cannot get your abdominals to stand out and trim your waistline, unless you address the area of nutrition. The only way to get your abs to stand out is to remove the layer of fat that’s keeping them from being exposed.
You can do all the abdominal training in the world, but it will do nothing to remove the fat that’s covering your abs. You must look carefully at your nutrition, addressing your eating habits and meal planning. Even if you are performing the perfect training program, it won’t matter if you are eating poorly. There is no training program that I know of that is powerful enough to overcome a poor diet.
Ingredient 2:
Resistance Training is of the utmost importance when Developing Lean Six-Pack Abdominals. Remember the primary objective is to get your bodyfat levels low enough to expose your abs. Resistance training will help you enormously in getting your bodyfat levels down to a point where your abs will be able to be seen while helping you to maximise the development of the muscle itself.
The BIG Lifts!
Focus on the BIG lifts and bodyweight exercises. The BIG lifts are exercises such as the barbell of dumbbell bench press, squats, lunges, dead lifts and Olympic lifts. These exercises will do more for your abs than any isolation abdominal exercise or abdominal gadget could ever do.
Unilateral Training!
Unilateral training (single leg or single arm exercises) of ANY description requires the abdominals to perform anti rotation movement and stabilization of the entire body. These actions are the primary function of the abdominals. The idea that abdominals are for trunk flexion is a massive misconception!
Bodyweight Training!
People have developed the notion that bodyweight training is easy and they MUST do weights in order to tax themselves. I beg to differ. Just because you can do 10 half arsed push-ups does NOT mean you can master your Bodyweight!
Bodyweight exercises such as push ups, chin ups, parallel bar dips, inverted body rows, bodyweight squats, single leg squats, jumps, burpees and plank exercise variations all have progressions and they can all create a VERY effective workout that EVERYONE can benefit from. Supporting your body in all these positions not only taxes the abdominals, but it’s functional as well! You should always have the goal of been able to perform these exercises and it’s never too late to learn how to master your own bodyweight. Not only that but once you master these bodyweight exercises you can always start adding additional load in order to further challenge yourself and keep progressing.
Ingredient 3:
The importance of metabolic training in developing lean six-pack abdominals. We just told you that you have to remove the layer of excess fat from your midsection in order to get your abs to show. So how do you do that??? Well you primarily want to be using fat loss training principles and protocols. thats where the problem originates. They DON’T KNOW how to properly train for fat loss.
Way to many people train like endurance athletes when it comes to fat loss. since when did endurance equal fat loss??? Just because endurance athletes are skinny or slightly built does not mean that it is the way to train to get lean and burn bodyfat. Sprinters are much better built and leaner than endurance athletes, and sprinters DO NOT perform endurance training. They train metabolically and to increase work capacity, not endurance. Remember you are training for fat loss, not to increase your endurance or become an endurance athlete.
You need to HIT the fat loss accelerator and you do that by performing HIT (High Intensity Training). This means you should be doing full body resistance training routines, various bodyweight or weight training based circuit training protocols, and interval training protocols.
All these training methods have a metabolic component to them. They not only attack the muscle, which is metabolically active, but these training methods also create EPOC. EPOC or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption is your friend. I like to refer to this as ABE (After Burn Effect). ABE is your fat loss friend. Performing metabolic type work will not only allow you to burn a load of calories whilst you train, but due to the elevation in your metabolism post exercise, you will continue to burn more calories post exercise. This is why we say you need to think outside the workout. You must not only be concerned with what impact the training you do has on your body and metabolism during training, but also what impact your training has on your body and metabolism after you complete your session (POST EXERCISE).
Sprint Training!
Sprinting has shown exciting results for both abdominal development AND spot reduction. This is simply an observation that I have made, but I DON’T think it’s in any way a coincidence that SPRINTERS have highly developed and LEAN abs. I very much doubt it’s from the crunches they do before they go to bed every night. Correct me if I’m wrong but I think it just MIGHT be the sprinting!
So remember to train METABOLICALLY for fat loss, not aerobically. Train like the sprinter, not the endurance athlete.
Ingredient 4:
The Importance Of Abdominal Training In Developing Lean Six-Pack Abdominals. How important do you think ab work actually is in developing a lean set of abs??? Most people tend to give the right answer, but the amount of ab work they tend to do doesn’t line up with what they say. The fact is that you don’t need to do endless amounts of ab work. The priority is getting your bodyfat levels down.
However, everyone seems to love doing ab work. Problem is that most people perform the most ineffective ab exercises possible. Multiple repititions of crunches, oblique work and leg raises. You may need to adjust the way you think about training your abs. Don’t forget that the big lifts and the big movements, such as sprinting, will do more for your abs than any isolated or direct ab exercise.
Here’s are the main problems I see with people and their abdominal training routines:
- Too much direct or isolated ab work
- Too much ab work, performed too often
- Too much emphasis placed on trunk flexion (crunches)
- Too many exercises performed in a lying supine position (crunches, oblique crunches, etc)
- Too many total repetitions and not enough load/stress placed on the abs
Instead you should focus on performing the following:
Perform ‘ab work’ no more than 2 times per week. Perform stability based, anti-rotational and anti hyperextension exercises
Perform exercises that require transfer of energy through the midsection; back muscles and the abs through full body movements. Perform exercises in various positions. Supine, prone, side positions and grounded. Read more
