The most common question I hear as a personal trainer is easily, "How do I get six pack abs?!" The answer to that question isn't really as black and white as people think.
Nor is it as complicated as it's made out to be.
For instance, a person that has love handles may need to work on trimming down fat through diet and cardiovascular exercise.
Whereas a person who has a flat stomach would need to do more high intensity resistance workouts to tone the abs.
But fear not! It's not as difficult as people make it seem.
The only challenge is to commit long term, and through these tips, you'll be ripped in all directions in no time! The information from this point on is considered global, meaning no matter what your physique or personal needs, it will benefit you.
First off, most of us lacking a toned six pack have the problem of body fat around our central core region inhibiting progress.
Here are some dieting rules I use: Diet - 1: Stay away from high fructose corn syrup.
This is found in carbonated drinks, as well as Gatorade.
Yes, I said stay away from GATORADE.
However if you must indulge, the rule my ex-Olympian wrestling coach told me was to pour half of it out, and fill the rest with water.
This brings me to my next point, which is very important.
2: Drink LOTS of water.
Now we all know from growing up that the daily recommended amount of water intake is 8 glasses per day.
Now how many of us actually drink that much? I admit, I'm guilty of keeping myself under-hydrated too, but with a little daily self-motivation, the water drinking eventually becomes habit.
This is good.
3: Replace much of your carbohydrates from bread and grains with carbohydrates from fruit.
Now I have to admit, I was a little flabbergasted when I first heard this.
There are carbs in fruit?! Any way you cut it, it will provide the energy needed to push through your workouts WITHOUT the added calories.
4: Supplements.
There are tons to choose from out there, however go by this rule: make sure that it doesn't serve more than 20 grams of protein in each shake.
Yes, I know companies try to advertise how they have X amount of protein and you'll get X times bigger and stronger, however taking in more than 20 grams at a time is wasteful.
Your body simply won't be able to use the rest.
Exercise - Now for the nitty gritty fun portion.
Here's a list of my favorites: 1.
The coil crunch - the basis of this workout is the basic crunch.
However the position is changed.
Instead of having your feet on the ground, pull your legs up so your knees hover above your stomach.
Now cuff your hands around your ears (do not place them behind your head).
In this position a constant steady strain is put on your abdominals from the start.
To perform a crunch, simply lift your upper body using the pull from your abs until your shoulder blades are well clear of the ground.
This is one crunch.
Each crunch will strain your ab muscles much more than they would normally because of your altered position.
Keep in mind to keep your abs flexed throughout to compound the intensity.
The added strain results in much tighter, toned abs.
(30 - 70 reps at a time).
2.
The rotating coil crunch - in the same position I just described, you will also be able to work on the obliques with a varied motion.
Instead of coming straight up, you will now rotate your entire upper body WHILE pulling yourself up.
Sound difficult? The hardest part, believe it or not, is getting the motion right.
Many make the mistake of beginning the torso rotation while still on the ground.
This makes the motion much more awkward and less beneficial.
The correct way is to wait until your shoulder blades are well clear of the ground, and once this happens, THEN begin the rotation.
There should be enough rotation so that each elbow makes contact with the opposite knee.
One repetition occurs after both elbows have made contact with their respective knees (up, right elbow touches left knee, down, up, left elbow touches right knee, down <-- ONE).
(20 - 50 reps at a time).
3.
The bicycle coil crunch - a variation of the previously mentioned exercise that produces results in a shorter amount of time is the "bicycle" variation.
In this the upper body motion remains the same, however the lower body now becomes active.
Instead of keeping the knees still, simply push out the leg that will not be making contact with your elbow.
You should keep pushing until your leg is straight.
With the the other knee, simply pull it in a little bit closer.
The end result is upper and lower body motions that are anchored at the core, thus making the abdominals work harder.
By doing so, it allows you to achieve abs that stay hard even when you're not working.
Sounds cool, huh? (20 - 50 reps at a time).
4.
The leg floater - while lying down on your back, lift your legs up until your heels are 6 inches off the ground while keeping them together and straight.
It is important to keep your buttocks flat on the ground during this.
By simply holding your legs in this still hover, you are putting lots of tension on your abdominals.
Now it may sound like a painfully simple exercise, but believe me when I say "it burns!" The good burn, that is.
In fact, this is one of the best fat burning exercises, and there are countless variations of it to keep you entertained.
For instance: the scissor kick (kick your legs back and forth in a swimming motion), the building blocks (change the height and hold it in each position for 10 seconds) and the scanner (move your legs together side to side for an allotted number of reps).
(Reps and times vary).
5.
The balance - one of the most effective exercises mentioned.
In this exercise, lift your legs straight up while reaching to and touching your toes with your arms extended.
To actually reach your toes, you will have to do a crunching motion which pulls your shoulder blades off the ground.
This exercise combines the best of both worlds (the leg lift, the crunch) into one high-intensity workout.
This is one you will not regret doing as it feels great to finally achieve these! Not to mention the body fat falling off every week and the "ab bulge.
" (10 - 30 reps at a time) To recap, I want to stress a few principles: -NEVER stop dieting - dieting is not as complex as many make it out to be.
It's more about having a good, broad overview of what to and what to not eat or drink.
I provided a basic overview, however watch out for my for my further articles that dig deeper on the subject.
-Supplements, supplements, supplements - will they solve everything alone? No.
However the benefit of supplements comes into play by compounding the effort you do put in.
You get more bang for your buck so to speak.
After all the hard work you put in, I doubt you will be satisfied with "somewhat" good.
You want great results, and you deserve them for all your work!.
-Push your abdominals - to get real results, you must put high intensity strain on your abs.
With my aforementioned exercises, this is easily possible.
No strain no gain (I like to call it "strain" instead of "pain.
" So what? :P).
These workouts burn fat whilst building and hardening your core body.
Remember to take breaks every now and then for your muscles to regain stamina.