Over the years I have seen a lot of flimsy ideas of how to get a set of six pack abs. The most common scams are special machines that will do it and sometimes some kind of drink. I remember at one point Slim Fast seemed to be showing chubby people suddenly spawning a set of six pack abs.
Anyway I wanted to put this notion to rest that there is some magic to getting a six pack. Sure there is some genetics involved in sculpting perfect abs but the two most important factors are diet and exercise.
What? Did you think there was a shortcut?
Six Pack Abs Diet
The diet part is fairly simple; you need to drop any extra fat. You have probably heard this before but there is no such thing as spot reduction when you are losing weight. You will lose weight proportionately, generally, as you lose weight.
What you may find is that you have a large stomach and if that is the case of course you will lose that fat faster than you lose the fat on your legs but that is just because that is where the fat deposits will be easiest for your body to use.
As you probably know from reading other posts of mine I subscribe to the idea that people eat too many carbohydrates generally but I still do not support the Atkins diet generally but more of a Paleo style diet with no breads, rice, or even potatoes, all your carbs should come from fruits and vegetables.
I believe that you must increase your protein to at least 20% of your diet, keep fats at about 20% of the calories of your diet and then have carbs as the other 60% of the calories of your diet. If you still have trouble losing weight and fat you may be a bit sensitive to carbohydrates and you can up the protein a little.
Six Pack Abs Exercise
As for exercise, to get a set of six pack abs you will have to do two things; get in an hour of cardio a day to increase your metabolism and start really dropping the fat and secondly make sure that you do your abdominal exercises at the start of your workouts.
For cardio exercise it does not really matter what kind of cardio exercise you get but it is always best to vary your exercise so that you do not overtrain any one muscle group. I never see people speak of this in regards to cardio training but I have found in the past with my bicycling that when I am riding a lot my legs get sore but the rest of my body recovers fine.
So maybe try to alternate some kind of biking, swimming, hiking, running, brisk walking and even using a rowing machine if you have a chance. Do cardio almost every day, five or six days a week is good, seven days a week is pushing it a little too much in my eyes.
Next is the abdominal exercises themselves. There are three places to target for your abdominals, the obliques, which are on your sides, your upper abdominals and your lower abdominals. Doing abdominal exercises is something that some people believe you should do every day but I really believe you are doing well if you just do them every second day or three days a week.
Six Pack Abs – Oblique Exercises
For your obliques you can do twists. Simply sit on a bench with you body straight up and down and put some kind of a light bar or broomstick across your shoulders and then do twists twist from one side to the other as far as you can go for two sets of 100 reps.
The key is to not use much at all as gaining muscle on your obliques will widen your midsection which is not something most people want to do.
Six Pack Abs – Upper Ab Exercises
To work your upper abdominals you want to do some kind of sit ups or crunches.
I am more a fan of crunches as they are easier on your neck and mower back. Lie on your back with your legs up on the seat of a chair so that your legs are at a 90 degree angle to your body and then just lift your shoulders a few inches of the ground and then let them down again.
This should put stress on your abs and you should feel it pretty intensely after just a few reps. be sure to do this exercise slowly and for at least three sets of 30 reps.
Six Pack Abs – Lower Ab Exercises
To work your lower abdominals you need to do something that raises your legs in the air as opposed to lifting your upper body into the air.
The exercise that I prefer for this is a kind of reverse crunch that I do not have a name for. I lie flat on my back and hold something behind my head to keep my upper body stable and then I just bring my knees up towards my chest and back down to the ground again.
If you get really strong this way you can try just lifting your legs straight out and up but sadly I am not that strong.
Transverse Abdominis Exercises
Your Transverse Abdominis muscles are a set of muscles that sits underneath your core and wraps its way right around your body. This muscle is affected most I find by doing planks and side planks.
Working your Transverse Abdominis is a finishing exercise as ince you finish doing these planks and side planks you will have nothing left in your to do anymore working out. Your entire core will be spent
Get Six Pack Abs Now
If you follow this plan you will see results very quickly and depending on how much fat you have to lose you can see rock hard abs fairly quickly. The other great thing about strengthening your abs besides looking better is the fact that strengthening your core makes you stronger overall and help out with your balance and even your stamina.
Still need more help? There is a great book out called The Truth About Six Pack Abs. The book is an ebook and is only available on the internet. If you would like more information click the link and check out the Six Pack Abs book now.
I am 13, 5’5 and i weigh about 114 puonds. Im not fat, i know. But im really not in very good shape. i sit around on the computer alot, and i feel like if i follow these habits, i will end up very over not to far down the road. The , though, is not the issue. Its the fact that i am not phisically active, and i am have no upper body strength, and im just not very fit. Im not so worried about now, but when im more insink with my body and the fat hits faster on me. Will this help???
my name is janisa and im really fat i weigh 746 pounds. i have a custom desk i sit in at socastte high school. im in 9th grade. i would love to get down to at least 345 pounds. i would like to sit in a regular desk. i would like to fit in the limo when i go to prom please help me!!!!!
i lost alot of wait using this i would recamend to everyone. my name is skyler and if my fat butt can lose wait so can you. dont wait get yours today
If you are chubby, like 5’5-5″6 and 160 lb. how long should my workouts be?
This topic is quite trendy on the Internet at the moment. What do you pay the most attention to while choosing what to write ?
I meant to say 40 minutes of cardio per week, not 4 minutes. Sorry.
I am 6′-1″, and 160 lbs. I spend about 40 minutes a week on cardio, and about 3 hours a week on fitness equipment for upper and lower body. I do some sit ups, but don’t see the six pack abs.
What should I target?
Is it possible that genetics prevent from ever having the six pack abs?
I am 6′-1″, and 160 lbs. I spend about 4 minutes a week on cardio, and about 3 hours a week on fitness equipment for upper and lower body. I do some sit ups, but don’t see the six pack abs. What should I target. Is it possible that genetics prevent from ever having the six pack abs?
I run on the treadmill for 20 to 25 minutes everyday the speed i run at is 7.5 so im burning about 450 calories everyday is that a goodway to loose fat? also I lift s everyday and im sure I burn quite a couple of calories doing that. Its weird because my top 2 abs show but my lower abs are no where to be found because of the little flab i have on my stomach.
As well as doing the exercises it is very important to lose as much fat from your body as possible. This is the secret to six pack abs. Work the top of the abs, the bottom of the abs and don’t let any fat hide your abs.
hey my name is marcos i recently started following these steps ive done push upps and crunches and others exercises. after am done excersising i can feel my abs because my stomach is tighten what else should i be doing so people can see my abs? please get at me i know am doing better everyday i excersise i just need more advice
If you can’t get 6 pack in 2 weeks then you should try SEX! You must have SEX 9 times a day for 7 running days then you will get a complete stunnin 6 pack!
je kan net zo goed op http://www.mensworkoutguide.com / http://www.Iwantsixpackabs.com of de nederlandse versie http://www.becomeaspartan.nl daar staan oefeningen en eettips. dit vind ik zelf een beetje geld verspilling.
hey ok so if i do this it will work???
hi i exercise with a ab lounger 2hours a day 5 times aweek and im not fat but not skinny so is that good oh and i useto eat junk food all the time now i eat sallads fruits vetables and subway is that good
A trick I use to mix up treadmill running is to use two stride patterns shorter and longer alternating, say, every ten or fifteen minutes.
This takes some experience because it also means adjusting breathing rhythm.
However, it helps to adjust pressure on the knees and hips which is somewhat automatically catered for running outdoors over variable terrain.
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I think i will buy this ebooks
I am from the army and there is an excercise that we do and it is called the fludder kicks and what you do is you lay down on your back and lift your legs up off of the ground about six inhes and then you start kicking as if your were swimming and keep your feet at six inches when your kicking if you start by kicking your left foot up and then you will kick up with your right foot and then you will kick up with your left and that would be one rep and do about 100 reps a day and when your kicking for maximum result keep your legs straight
what are the best foods to eat to lose . i only have a little bit but i would like to get rid of it.
I will get a six pack if i just follow those two rules .like for example doing sit ups and crunches atleast three sets of 30’s.get back at me if u can
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COMMENT:
ive been following these basic rules for about 3 weeks now and not seeing any possitive results. if sum1 cud get back to me and tel me wat im doin wrong tht wud be great !
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COMMENT:
What part is not working? As you can imagine there are really two things to worry about.
If you have too much fat across your belly then you will need to get rid of that fat to see what lies underneath. There is a chance that you could be doing everything right and it hyst takes some time to lose fat and see six pack abs.
The second part of the program is the exercises. When you do ab exercises like crunches and leg raises you will get strong and larger abdominal muscles and you could tell because you will get stronger and be able to do more reps of these exercises. Again if you have great abs but have to much fat on your stomach you or anyone else will not be able to see them.
Kepp up the exercises and diet and sooner than later you will see the results and have a great set of six pack abs.
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COMMENT:
i would like to know what sorts of foods/amounts a should be having… if you hav a meal plan or something you could send me that would be great. 🙂
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COMMENT:
Hey i just recently purchased a rowing machine, gonna do an hour every day on it and with the exercises and diet would you think i would lose fast and get good abs, atm i have some to lose but any advce would be cool
tj
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COMMENT:
I am jogging everyday, and doing pushups and crunchs also. Can you tell me what i should be eating to help me lose fast, and what i should not be eating!! Thank’s
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COMMENT:
I just started following your plan, and I would like to know if u can give me specific foods and amounts because the percentage is good but compared to what?
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COMMENT:
I’ve been trying to get in shape for about 4 month. but no abs so I was thinking can i drink water or milk
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