How To Get the Abs You Dream About.

Nice tight abs is what I wanted when I first started working out. Surely you have the same picture in you head of that awesome washboard stomach.

Well most people have that image or would desire to have a nice tight stomach.

For that reason, I wanted to dedicate a whole page just on developing the abdominal area.

There are a couple important things that you should be aware of when it comes to sculpting the abdominal area.

-Isolation: Improper technique can put a strain on the back and not work the stomach area as much as you would like.

-Diet: A proper diet is important. It doesn't matter how much you build your abdominal muscles. If you can't see them, what's the point?

-Expectations: Don't expect a change over night. Don't be disappointed if at times you seem to go backwards. You will, just keep moving forward.

-Forget the Pills: Diet pills won't get you that six pack look. There are supplements that work well. However, you must start a diet and exercise program.

-Time: Understand that it takes time. You have to dedicate a part of your day for exercise. If for some avoidable reason you miss a day. Make up for it the next day.

With the right diet and fitness routine, you can start seeing a very noticeable difference in a few weeks.

Strong stomach muscles can help prevent lower back problems

DIET

To get that so desired six pack you have to change you eating habits. Let's face it, those bad habits are the reasons that you don't already have the look you are wanting to achieve.

In my WEIGHT LOSS section about nutrition you will find some great information on how to improve you diet and form better eating habits. For now I will give you a brief description of a proper diet.

Six Meals A Day: This is important to losing weight. Break your meals into six smaller portions instead of 3 larger meals. This will help keep you from getting hungry and over eating.

Low Carbs: You must decrease the amount of calories that you take in each day. And if you are going to lower your calories, cut the carbs. Especially the simple sugars.

Watch the Snacks: We never seem to be able to remember or count the calories from the snacks. Most high calories snacks do not even fill you up. Stay away from snack foods or at least switch to healthier snacks.

The Company You Keep: You do not have to abandon all your friends just to have great abs. But you probably have some with bad eating habits that you may want to limit your time with. Or at least don't go to lunch with them.

Balanced Diet: Meaning that you should try to have the same proportion of carbs, proteins and fats during every meal. This will help the body to regulate blood sugar. This is very important to burning fat.

EXERCISE

First you need to set a schedule. Get a calendar and figure out how many days of the week you can workout. Then you must figure out the time on those days that will be for exercising. 4-6 hours a week would be good for most people. So if you have 4 days a week that you can workout, then set a time where you can spend 1-1 1/2 hours exercising.

Remember that there are other areas of this site that are dedicated to EXERCISES FOR WEIGHT LOSS. Refer to those areas for more detailed descriptions of specific exercises.

One third of your exercise should be devoted specifically to targeting the mid section. The other two thirds should be dedicated to weigh training and cardio. (Remember, this is about focusing on the abs.)

-Don't for get your obliques. These are on your sides. You know, behind the "love handles".

The best way to work the obliques is by doing side bends. First start doing as many as you can. Rest for about 60-90 seconds and do it again, as many as you can. Continue to do this 4-5 times working both sides. Once you are able to do more than 100, start doing them with weights in your hand. Ideally you should do between 15-30 reps.

-After this begin with some old fashion crunches. Keep you back to the floor and your knees bent. Do as many as you can then do 5 more. -You have to push it to work off the weight.-

When you do your crunches always concentrate on your stomach muscles. By focusing on the abs you will work that area more and less on your back. Be sure to do a few set adding a twist at the top.

-Now you need to work the lower abdominals. This is done by doing legs raises. There are two ways I like working the lower abs.

1. Lay flat on you back, point your toes to the ceiling and raise your butt. It's kind of like you are trying to reach the ceiling with your toes.

2. Continue to lay flat on your back. This time with your fight straight out. Slowly raise your legs (knees locked) until they are almost pointing to the ceiling. Then let them back down to the floor. Don't let them rest, do it over and over. As you become me advanced, try doing this without letting your feet touch the floor.

Now I said to spend 1/3 of your workout on abs. But you still have to do the other 2/3. This is where most people get frustrated with their ab workout. They do not work the rest over the body.

Remember all those calories you took in through out the day. Well if you don't burn them off then where do you think they will end up? You guessed it, that stomach you have been working on.

So get going on the weigh lifting and cardio. Want more? Check out this recommended E-book. Click Here!

Burn The Fat!!!

Six Pack Abs - These 3 Mistakes Will Ruin Your Success

By Tom Gifford

If you are training for six pack abs then there are a few things you need to be aware of that will be absolutely vital to your success.

First, you should understand the differences between developing abs and losing body fat. Getting six pack abs is a all about having extremely low levels of body fat. For men, the optimal body fat percentage is around 8% and for women it is around 15%. Training and eating to get body fat levels this low is much different than someone who just starts a diet and wants to lose 20-30lbs.

If you are just trying to lose a lot of weight, then making small changes to your diet will help you make a lot of progress very fast. For example, if you were to only drink water, unsweetened iced tea, and green tea, then you will not be consuming any calories from beverages. For someone who just wants to lose weight, a small modification such as this can make a big difference.

For someone who wants to get six pack abs, the process is much more detailed. These are two common mistakes that people make when trying to developing them.

Six Pack Abs Mistake #1: They try to do too many crunches and ab exercises.

While crunches and other ab exercises will help to build a stronger core, they will not help you get down to a low level of body fat. Trying to use endless reps of ab exercises simply does not build enough muscle or work your body hard enough to burn significant calories.

The myth of "spot" reduction is where a lot of people get caught up. The concept of spot reduction basically states that if you want to lose fat in a certain part of the body you should work the muscle underneath it. Our bodies do not store fat in one specific place, therefore you cannot lose fat in one specific place either.

You simply will never see a person with a ripped six pack and flabby love handles. If spot reduction actually worked this is what would happen. In the real world however, you need to concentrate on losing fat all over your body in order to develop a toned and sexy six pack.

Six Pack Abs Mistake #2: Trying to use infomercial ab gimmicks

When you see an advertisement for an "miracle" piece of ab equipment, the people who are using them usually have great bodies, low body fat, and a great abs. However I can guarantee you one thing, and that is they did not get that way to using one single piece of abdominal exercise equipment.

Like we just talked about with why lots of crunches do not help you get them, the same holds true for any ab crunch machine or anything else you see on an advertisement.

This all goes back to the false concept that working the abs with lots of exercises will directly lead to abs. All the people who have the best abs got them by exercising their whole body and by adhering to a very strict diet. Not by using some ab crunch gimmick for "two easy payments of $29.95."

Six Pack Abs Mistake #3: Eating too many calories.

Sounds overly simplistic doesn't it?

This is one of the most important core concepts that is crucial to understanding how to lose body fat and develop six pack abs. So many people try to eat healthy and still have trouble losing weight. Sometimes they think they have something physiologically wrong with them and their bodies simply cannot lose weight.

Before you fall into this trap and start seeking "miracle" quick fixes, you need to know that not being able to lose body fat is simply a matter of taking in too many calories. If you try keeping a food journal for a week and counting the calories you consume you will be amazed at the insight it will give you.

Even if you eat 400 extra calories a day from little snacks here and there (which is not difficult at all), you will be taking in an extra 2,800 calories per week. For some people, taking in an extra 500-1000 calories per day can easily come from foods that are extremely calorie dense but do not help you feel full. Such foods include bagels, donuts, muffins, potato chips, soda, any kind of fast food, and more.

So before you think that getting abs or simply losing body fat is impossible for you, try taking a few days to really track what you are eating. You will be surprised that losing weight can really be as simple as cutting out small calories dense foods from your diet.

A wise man once said that having sexy six pack abs feels better than the best tasting food in the world. Remember this concept and start taking action today. Good luck!

Are you not getting the results you want with diet and exercise? If so, there is good news for you. My name it Tom Gifford, Certified Personal Trainer, and I would like to extend to you a personal invitation to stop by my website at Six Pack Abs and check out the first two chapters of my brand new book! You will get lots of great tips you can start implementing immediately. Looking forward to seeing you there!

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