How To Get Eye Candy Abs

If you could sculpt one body part to perfection for next summer, what would it be? Let me guess - six pack abs! It's what we all want , eye candy abs. I don't know anybody who does not want to shrink their waistline, lose body fat, eliminate lowe'r back pain and develop a jaw-dropping set of rock-hard six-pack abs. Building eye-popping abdominals is not the hardest thing to achieve in the world but it's definitely not the easiest either.

Before you can start learning how to get eye candy abs and discover the truth about what it really takes to build a beach-worthy abdominal section, you must first expose the lies, myths and rumors. Before we talk about how to get six-pack abs, the right way, we must re-program your hard drive and empty the trash can of garbage you have been fed.

Because of all this hyped-up and misguided information - even among so-called 'fitness experts' - you should be skeptical of all abdominal training equimpment and programs. Let's first eliminate the top four ways not to get a six-pack:

Learning how to get a six-pack does not require expensive workout equipment promoted through obnoxious infomercials. You can't flick on the TV anymore without seeing two new abdominal exercise machines being promoted at once. There are so many of them that if you get suckered into these 'ab workout' gimmicks, you will be broke quicker than Ben Johnson sprints the 100 meter dash! And get this: Of the $520 million dollars a year spent on exercise equipment, abdominal machines get a $208 million dollar piece of the pie!

Learning how to get a six-pack does not require thousands or even hundreds of crunches a day. So much for the Brittany Spears ab workout! Crunches are decent but totally overused and associated with more being better. Crunches are a very general exercise, and general exercises get general results. Excessive floor crunches shorten the abdominal wall, pull your head forward and emphasize poor posture. They also involve a very low level of stimulation which neglects adequate muscle-fiber recruitment.

Learning how to get a six-pack does not involve starvation diets. Starvation diets starve the muscle when you should be feeding the muscle instead. Guess what happens when you starve your body? Your metabolism shuts down out of survival and causes your body to store fat. Your body must get energy from somewhere, so guess what gets sacrificed? That's right, your precious muscle which is, in fact, responsible for maintaining a high metabolism. Starve your muscle - great logic!

Learning how to get a six-pack does not require fat-burning pills. What did the last weight loss pill you bought do for you? The same thing the next one is going to do - nothing! Except give you a thinner wallet but not a thinner waist line. The entire concept of taking pills to 'burn fat' is built on a sandy foundation and misleading because diet pills only treat the symptoms and not the root cause. Without focusing on the root problems of a flabby mid-section, like poor nutrition, a crazy lifestyle and improper training, you will just end up where you started - farther away from having a six-pack for summer instead of closer.

Just Because You're Skinny Does Not Mean You Will Have A Six-Pack

The volume of interest I receive from skinny guys who wish to build their mid-sections is more than enough evidence to disprove the false reality of "I should be able to 'see' my abs if I have low body fat." I'm sure you know of a friend who is completely scrawny, yet, without a shirt on he, has zero abdominal definition! To me that would be salt on an open wound.

Abdominals Are A Muscle, Too!

You want your arms to be bigger, your shoulders to be broader and your chest to be fuller, correct? And what is the solution to making these muscle groups increase in size? High intensity weight training, overload, consistency and a healthy surplus of calories. Starting to sound familiar?

The same goes for your abdominals. Your abdominals are a muscle group that requires the same formula and attention and are not any different from other muscle groups. For some reason many consider abdominals to be a 'special' body part that requires a different set of rules and a completely different formula for training. Abdominals were not given a 'secret code' to crack. To get thick, dense abs - the ones that 'pop' out - you must train them with intensity and overload. Here are some practical tips you can apply to your program so that you can be the 'man' or 'gal' at your gym with a ripped and muscular six-pack. Then I will provide a sample program!

Prioritize By Sequence

If your abs are your worse body part, then why do you keep training them last, at the end of your workout? Which muscles group will receive the highest priority when you train? The ones done at the start of your workout or the ones done at the end of the workout? Of course, the exercises done at the start of the workout while you have the most energy and focus. If abdominals are the muscle group you wish to prioritize, then don't be afraid to disagree with the 'experts' who say "Never train your abdominals first because you'll weaken your core muscles for the rest of your workout...". I completely disagree with this and often reply, "Show me the evidence." The typical response is "Nobody does abdominals first...". That is pure BS. This just supports the notion that many people who work out don't ever question what they hear or do. They want to be spoon-fed answers and follow the trends of others without thinking for themselves. I ALWAYS train abdominals first in a workout if they need the highest attention.

Prioritize By Frequency

What's going to receive better results? A muscle group that is trained one time a week or two times a week (assuming you recovered prior to the second workout commencing)? Of course, the muscle that is trained 2x a week. The more stimulus on a muscle, the more growth. That is why professional athletes are professional athletes. They have conditioned their bodies to such a high amount of stress that they are able to train more frequently.

How often you train your abdominals is based on the inverse relationship of intensity and volume. The harder you train your abs, the more rest they need. The less intense you train your abs, the more frequently you can train them! If your goal is rehab or injury prevention, then you will be able to train them often with more frequent and lower loads. If your goal is to make your abs more muscular and dense, then a higher load and less frequency would be ideal. If your goal is maintenance, then a medium load and frequency would be ideal. Refer to this table:

Purpose

Frequency

Intensity

Volume

Reps

If building a sexy six-pack is on your 'to do' list for 2007, then start training abdominals 2-4x a week. I will teach you in a moment how to split your abdominals up into two different days based on movement.

Your Genetics and Abdominals

Right now some of you can see a perfectly set of staggered abs that are wide and thick and separated by a line down the middle. Some of you have the classic four-pack which is four big abs with a smooth lower section. Some of you have tiny cubicle boxes sitting high on your abdominal wall. Some of you have the picture perfect eight-pack that makes people's jaws drop.

Like every muscle group, all you can do is train them as heavy and hard as possible and hope your genetics take care of the rest. You can't change the shape or alignment or separation of your abs. You can't move them around and place them where you want them. Your genetics will affect to which degree they "pop" out and to which degree they stay smoother or flatter.

The good news is that abdominals are abdominals and when your body fat levels are around 5-7% you are guaranteed to impress people, including yourself, with a set of hot-looking abs. Even though genetics play a huge role in how they look, it's important to know how to train them to make them look their best.

Divide Your Abdominals into Two Separate Workouts for Best Results

To train your abdominals safely and effectively you must know the basic movement patterns of your abs and train them within all sub-categories:

• Truck Flexion (upper abs)
• Hip Flexion (lower abs)
• Rotation (obliques)
• Lateral Flexion (obliques)

The majority of books and articles you have read revolve the bulk of the ab exercises around the trunk flexion that is better known as 'upper ab' exercises. A full sit up is a perfect example of this.

Bill Starr in his 1976 classic 'The Strongest Shall Survive' wrote that the abdominals "...can be strengthened in a wide variety of ways. Sit-ups of all types, leg raises, truck rotation movements all involve the abdominal muscles to a different degree..."

Even though you are training each movement twice per week, you will perform different exercises for each workout.

Perform this workout at least two times a week separated by at least 48 hours rest. You should experience a deep muscle soreness after each one of these workouts. Focus on using a load that causes failure within 8-12 reps and then move to the next exercise. This is a non-stop circuit. Rest 1-2 minutes and repeat until you reach 4 sets total.

Exercise Sets Reps Tempo Rest
Hanging Leg Raises 1-4 8-12 311 -
Rope Crunch 1-4 8-12 311 -
Reverse Crunch 1-4 8-12 311 -
Weighted Ball Crunch 1-4 8-12 311 1-2 minutes

Trunk Rotation and Lateral Flexion

Perform this workout at least two times a week separated by at least 48 hours rest. You should experience a deep muscle soreness after each one of these workouts. Focus on using a load that causes failure within 8-12 reps and then move to the next exercise. This is a non-stop circuit. Rest 1-2 minutes and repeat until you reach 4 sets total.

Exercise Sets Reps Tempo Rest
Side Bends Dumbells Overhead 1-4 8-12 311 -
Oblique Crunch 1-4 8-12 311 -
Side Bends Dumbells Overhead 1-4 8-12 311 -
Lateral Raises on Back
Extension Machine

1-4 8-12 311 1-2 minutes

Conclusion

As said earlier, buiding eye candy abs is not the easiest task in the work but nor is it the hardest. The above abdominal exercises will help you build a deeply separated and evenly placed set of abs in little time. The truth is that if you can't see your abs, then the best exercise for your abs will be better diet.

Nic Roberts
Read More:
http://www.learnhowtobuildmuscle.com

How to Get 6 Pack Abs Without Going to the Gym

You have always wanted to have 6 pack abs, but just didn't think that it was attainable. Well, one can have just that, one just needs to know how to get 6 pack abs without going to the gym. The gym was fine years ago and still is for those who have the time and the money. But the world is now in the 21st century and moves at a fast pace. Many of us just simply don't have the time. So here is a way to get your new abs, in the privacy of your own home.

To begin with, assign a small area of floor space as your own personal gym. Buy a yoga mat, or even easier, commandeer the living room rug and place it on the floor which from now on will be your personal gym at home.

Make sure the rug or mat is near your bed so you can use the edge of your bed to place your feet for ab crunches. By assigning a mat or rug like this, you create a mental reminder that will always sit there reminding you to do your 3 sets a day. If you have done them, seeing the mat or rug on the floor will give you good feelings and a sense of achievement. If you skipped them, the rug will be a nagging reminder that they still need doing.

Make sure to drink large amounts of water through the day and especially during the work out. Growing muscles and especially increasing the size of the abdominals requires lots of fluid. The anabolic effect is a process where nutrients and amino acids are assigned and travel to the muscles being rebuilt. If you are de-hydrated, the movement of those micro nutrients have a harder time being moved by the body. Message is clear...drink copious amounts of water every day. There are many other health benefits, like it flushes toxins out of your system more effectively.

Before any exercise, stretch your body. You can do this lying down or standing up, whichever is easier for you. Once you have stretched, lie down (if you are not already lying down) and bend your knees toward your chest. Did you drink some water before your stretched? Now place your hands behind your head and breathe in. While breathing out lift your head up until you feel a nice pull in the stomach muscles. Release and lie your head back down.

Repeat a set of 12. Stretch and drink some water. Repeat another set of 12 and stretch again. Then one more time. You are done. When you get up, get up slowly, so to not become dizzy.

Do these exercises every day, and once you have reached the desired effect of a tight lean six pack, to maintain healthy abs, perform these exercises three times a week.

If you would like to get a six pack in 23 days or less, buy The "Abs In 23 Days" training program. You can learn more about this award winning, abdominal pumping, fat stripping product by clicking HERE.

How to Get Defined Abs

How to get defined abs as a question really is the wrong question. Knowing what to do, can mean the difference between a set of cool bumps on your belly and wasting your time grovelling on the floor for 30 days without any results. Everyone know's that exercise is the key to shaping muscle, but exercise alone is not the whole picture. Let's look into how to get defined abs more deeply.

Of course before you exercise, you should always speak to your doctor first. A positive attitude is crucial before you begin and knowing with confidence after a physical check up that your doctor encourages you to exercise is a comforting thing. Whats the use of a nice set of Abdominals if you dropped dead of a heart attack!

Let's leap in! The way to get defined abs is a question of body fat. The first question is hydration. Many people exercise without drinking anything and this can wreak havoc on the body or even be dangerous. Water that is room temperature is best, as cold water may cause cramps.

Secondly, is proper form. Proper form is vital with any exercise and without it, you can actually sprain the muscle or shape it wrong - which is much worse!.

Finally there is repetition. Repetition is an important facet of any exeercise program as it creates the necessary strain on the targeted muscles that will create the enlargement you seek.Repetition will actually shape the muscle and maintain it after the desired look is reached.

Bare in mind that repetition of an exercise need not be in the hundreds. Actually, you are not going to benefit from hundreds of reps as the muscle will get accustomed to the work load. You don't want that.

Unreasonable amounts of sets will only bring discouragement and failure. 3 sets of 12 sit ups is enough daily to allow the stomach muscles to respond. One must perform these 3 sets every day.

3 simple ideas that will get you pumping your abs in no time at all. The way to get defined abs is to reduce body fat so your new larger abs will show through.

Each time you work your abs in an effort to define them, you should hydrate your body constantly. use proper form when executing your crunches and do enough repititions to create an anabolic environment without actually over doing it.. So go on and define those ab!

If you would like to get a six pack in 23 days or less, buy The "Abs In 23 Days" training program. You can learn more about this award winning, abdominal pumping, fat stripping product by clicking HERE

How to Get Abs at Home With These Simple Exercises and Diet Tips

My wife has always confessed, it is so frustrating to put on a dress or slacks and have a pooch around her stomach. She claimed, abs should be firm and tight. But she often complained that she just doesn't have the time to go to a gym and work out. Well today, you can learn how to get abs at home with these simple exercises and diet tips.

When you look at people in magazines or on television commercials with great looking abs, you think they must have worked out years in a gym. Sometimes that is the case, but more often it is not.

People right at home, have developed great abs and have developed them with just simple exercise and diet. So let's dive in and discover how to get abs at home.

To begin with, think healthy. This really does work. Each time you eat something ask yourself if it is healthy- if it is not; substitute it for something that is. It is that easy. Vegetables, fruits, and plenty of water can turn your body around.

If you do crave something fattening, drink a glass of water prior to eating it and you will eat less of it, or follow it with a piece of fruit. Next, begin to crave the health benefits of ab exercises. Crunchs and sit ups work great. 3 sets of just 12 little repetitions at home on some floor space next to your bed will do wonders!

Convince yourself this is for your health, and the exercise will come naturally and be more effective. Next comes actually doing the exercises. Repetition and keeping good form of each repetition is the key. Sit on the floor with your back straight, you should feel a small pull as if you are lifting up a bit. Don't arch your back this is very bad for it.

Bring your knees toward your chest, but do not have them touch your chest. Now place your hands behind your head and lean in to your knees. Breathe in and out, then release. Lean in again, but this time lean into your right.

Breathe in and out again and release. Lean in again, this time to your left. Inhale and exhale. Repeat these simple exercises 12 times for 3 sets each day. Within a short time of just a few weeks, you will feel the difference and within a month see results.

How to get abs at home, the key is consistency. Remember to stretch and stick with it.

If you would like to get a six pack in 23 days or less, buy The "Abs In 23 Days" training program. You can learn more about this award winning, abdominal pumping, fat stripping product by clicking HERE

Does Spot Reduction Work for Abs or Doesn’t?

Burning fat from the abdomen through exercises specially destined to the abdominal muscles was, is and will always be one of the most resistant myths.

Almost all the people with a big belly take up, with a lot of determination, sit-ups, crunches, side-bends, twists, etc., hoping that every new series or set of exercises, every session of repeating them, will help them get rid of the 'ring' of adipose tissue around their waist, also called 'the ring of death'.

Besides the fact that it is probably the most anesthetic 'deposit' of adipose tissue, abdominal fat involves many risks for the health of the person which possesses it (related to diabetes, high blood pressure, cardio-vascular diseases, cancer, impotence, etc.).

We must keep in mind, once and for all, that when we refer to the melting of the subcutaneous adipose tissue, there is no spot reduction. No matter how much we strive to locate effort in the areas we are focused on, we will only fortify the muscles under the fat, but the reduction of the fat itself will be insignificant. The explanation is simple and is connected to the energetic support of the anaerobic effort, which uses, for the exercises, muscular and hepatic glycogen, and not fat acids from the adipose tissue. For getting to the deposits of fat, what we need is cardio training (running, biking, fast walking, swimming, etc.).This type of exercises must be maintained for a long time (45-60 minutes) and they must be intense (60-70% from the maximum of heart rhythm).

An alternative is cardio training with periods when intensity varies, although the total volume is not smaller than in the case of uniformly cardio training.

A very important role in burning fat is held by the diet. It is said that the most effective of training can be sabotaged in the kitchen.

The nutritionists say that a diet which maintains caloric deficit, but keeps a balanced proportion of the basic principles (proteins, lipids, blood sugar), with a slight increase of the protein part, will always have as a consequence losing weight. Physical exercises like sit-ups, crunches, etc., without other exercises meant to involve bigger groups of muscles (thighs, chest, back) and to fortify the abdominal muscles, do not increase very much the basic metabolic rate.

As a consequence, indirect burning of calories (during breaks, post-training) is very small in comparison with the burning due to aerobic effort (especially the ones with alternative periods) – in their case, during effort taking more than 20 minutes, the energetic support is exactly the adipose tissue.

The magic formula for burning abdominal fat is a combination of hypo caloric diet and exercise – especially aerobic, but also anaerobic (focused on all the body, not only the abdominal muscles).

Isabel Curini is a fitness trainer and editor at http://www.healthfitnessworld.com. HealthFitnessWorld.com - Health, Fitness, Body Building, Weight Loss, Nutrition - Articles and Resources.

HealthFitnessWorld.com is dedicated to providing high-quality, free advices, tips and resources on health, fitness, body building, supplements, nutrition, weight loss, beauty, massage, acne, medicine, depression, massage.

The Quick and Easy Way to Tone Up Your Abs - Part 1

All About Abs

What You Really Need to Know About Abdominals: Two Key Concepts You Must Meet to Let Out the 6 Pack

Introduction - Understanding the Abdominals

Congratulations!

You are about to learn about a region of the body that almost everybody wants but somehow the secrets escape them. The weight loss industry may be a billion dollar a year market but a close second is all the late night infomercials about abs, 6 packs, 6 second abs and how to get ready for the beach and show off that region.

When it comes to abdominal training there are two basic areas of confusion. First, the myth exists that a 'specific' region exists like the 'lower abdominals.' Many people will claim their upper ab region is developing just fine but the lower abs are not responding to training. They are looking for a magic lower ab exercise that will target that region. If you do a search for any muscular images of the abdominals, it's clear that the rectus abdominus (a long winded name for the abs) is just a single muscle running from the sternum to the pelvis. These 'lower abdominals' simply don't exist.

The reason the lower region seems to be less responsive to training is that it is a natural fat storage area! Simply put, your entire ab region is probably responding to overall training but the lower region is simply not showing because it is covered up by a layer of fat. That area just happens to be the place that fat is the last to go. Very simply, the lower abdominal area is benefiting from your crunches and reverse crunches. The problem is, you just can't see it!

TEST: If you don't believe this then try this simple test: lie down on the floor in a typical crunch position. Place one hand on your lower abdominal area and the other on your upper abdominal area. Now perform a slowing crunching movement. You will feel both areas contract simultaneously as you curl up.

The second area of confusion revolves around exercise selection. Almost everybody still continues to perform hanging leg raises, knee-ups or similar exercises in an attempt to target the 'lower abs.' While these exercises do affect the abdominal area, they are not the best selection.

It's easy to clear up this exercise selection confusion if you understand the differences between the hip-flexion and trunk-flexion. A muscle called the psoas and related muscles (this is located deep against the spine) are responsible for hip-flexion while your abdominals are responsible for trunk-flexion.

Hip Flexion: Occurs when your lift your knee (or knees) towards your chest. For example, when you do a hanging knee-up, you will feel a burning sensation in the lower abdominal region (this alone convinces most people it's working that area). What is actually happening is the psoas is being stressed. You'll never be lean enough to see this muscle! Of course the abdominals are involved in this exercise for stabilization but it's not the primary muscle and so it's not the most effective. Other concerns revolve around the psoas being overworked that can lead to back problems.

Trunk Flexion: Occurs when you perform an exercise where the pelvis and sternum approach each other during the movement. At this point, you are in a state of maximal trunk flexion. Going any further and you'll engage the psoas muscle and you will be using hip-flexion (like in a full sit-up). When you train your abdominals you need to flex (or contact) your trunk.

FACT: For effective abdominal training, stick with trunk flexion movements (crunches and reverse crunches).

This series will focus on trunk flexion exercises so that tension is directly on the abdominals as that is the primary muscle we want to work. [Other muscles involved in stabilization will be involved but will not be the primary focus.]

That's all! The abdominals are just a muscle like everything else. There's nothing special about them that makes them any harder to obtain or develop then any other muscle group. Still, there are thousands of messages on community forums and fitness gurus everywhere get hundreds of messages a day regarding this. Not to mention the countless ab technology products that appear in stores every year promising a faster, easier way to get ripped abs. The purpose of this report is to tell you exactly step-by- step what you need to do to get ripped abdominals.

The Myths of Ripped Abdominals: - Countless crunches - Working them out every day - Strange machines or dangerous exercises - Fad diets - Fat burner pills - Marathon cardio sessions - Targeting lower and upper regions

The Secret of Ripped Abdominals: - Low percentage of body fat - Having the muscle to show

Did I just blow the end of the story for you? Hopefully not.

Key Concept #1: You Must Have a Low Percentage of Body Fat For starters, if you have a layer of body fat covering the region, you will never be able to show the abs. For men, this is the LAST place the fat will disappear from which makes it the hardest body part to show.

You "get abs" from reducing your body fat and you reduce body fat mostly through diet and cardio..

And yet, somehow this concept escapes people. In order for the abs to show proudly, you must have a low percentage of body fat! There's really not a whole lot more to it.

Men: 10% or lower Women: 15% or lower

Why is that so difficult for most people?

Simple. In order to get your body fat that low you must be absolutely focused on your diet and fat burning metabolism. 99% of people (including myself) are not as perfect on the diet as to burn off our natural body fat stores. So in order to get rid of that last layer, you must burn off the last remaining body fat stores. And to do that you must have great nutrition habits (above and beyond just being active).

Key Concept #2: You Must Have Abs to Show

First off...

If you are 110 lbs and just skin and bones and 3% body fat but no muscle really, then it's not a surprise why your abs aren't popping out every time you take off your shirt. There are a few people I've run across that are well below the 10% body fat limit and yet they are puzzled when their abdominals don't show. That's almost as easy as 1+1. You MUST have abs to show!

You can have a low body fat percentage but if you don't have anything to show, you'll just see a flat stomach (which is good) but no definition and certain no 'packs.' There are also individuals who have 15% body fat but their abs are so developed they can show off a 4-pack. While they don't have that low of a body fat percentage to classify as 'ripped' they do have great development and certainly the muscle is there. Just think what it might look like on them if they were to be 10% or lower?!

That's where ab exercises come into play. Performing key abdominal exercises is a key to developing the trunk region to the fullest. Many people are looking for the illusive lower ab exercise or performing exercises they believe to target a certain region but are really working the wrong muscle. Having abs is as simple as doing the right core exercises. That will be part of the 6 months of ab training at the end of this series.

Now that you understand some key concepts in order to get the abs to show, let's figure out how to eliminate that annoying layer of fat around them.

Stay tuned for Part 2 that will discuss why nutrition is 90% or More of Your Success.

If you can't wait, the Beginner's Guide to Abdominal Training is just one bonus book in the Beginner's Guide to Fitness and Bodybuilding http://www.beginning-bodybuilding.com

The Truth About Six Pack Abs

The majority of abs and weight loss books are such a waste of time. They come with the same information as other hundred books, it is really hard to find something that is worth spending money. I only read one of those books when someone I trust recommends it, and even there, I read them skeptically.

A couple of months ago, a friend invited me to read The Truth About Six Pack Abs, and I let it rest on my hard drive for two weeks. The I finally decided to give it a try, and I can't wait to share with you my conclusions. It's the best abs books I've read in a long time, probably the best of all times!

This really surprised me. After reading the sales page, I though it was "another abs book" with a long sales page and that (I don't really like long sales letters). But then I found out that he kept emphasizing what I consider important points, such as the myths, and the importance of the whole. That's what drew me to finally buy it after the recommendation.

This book is 100% useful information on how to train your abs. Besides the usual exercises, author Mike Geary also discusses important aspects of getting the six pack abs: diet and meal plans, along with strength training (which doesn't mean weight lifting)

Mike is a professional personal training with years of experience, that's why you get quality info. I also like that he stays in touch with customers, he even gives you his email and has newsletter with extra tips. To me that's very valuable because you know he's not in for a quick buck, like most of other book's authors.

Back to the book, it starts by giving us a our through our abs section. It is a great starting point to get to know the muscles involved in the exercises and how they all work together. Very basic, yet very useful.

Then he lists the best exercises for the abs, over 20 of 20 stomach exercises designed to give you that six pack of your dreams, all with color pictures and with its steps.

My favorite part of the book was where he listed the best exercises for your abs (over 20 of them) AND he provided clear, color pictures so you can actually see how to do them. These are exercises that you can do both in your gym or at home, and he also explores the best ways to work your abs with a fitness ball.

I recommend this book because it is the perfect way to complement your abs training with 10% reliable professional training info. It practically answers all your questions in a safe way! While I like to keep you up to date with routines and advice, Mike's book provides a perfectly structured and effective guide with all angles covered.

If you're a woman, you too can benefit form this book. As Mike says in the book, all can benefit by strengthening the abs, and this doesn't mean that you'll get big muscles in the stomach. Strength training is not the same as weigh lifting, and you can use the routines in the book to keep your stomach toned and firm.

Get the stomach you want with The Truth About Six Pack Abs

While you are there be sure to join our newsletter for tips and more product reviews

What You Should Know About ABS and Why You Need It

Anti-lock brakes are the most important active safety system available in an automobile today.

The History of ABS Like many things in the auto industry, ABS comes from the aviation industry. The first system available on cars was introduced by Bosch and equipped on the Mercedes-Benz S-Class in 1978. Over the last 2 decades, ABS has marched down market and is now available on virtually every vehicle sold in North America. Each successive generation has become more efficient and quicker to react in emergency situations.

How it works Speed sensors are located at each wheel. When these sensors 'sense' that a tire has stopped moving (the wheel is locked under braking) the sensor sends a message to the controller that in turn regulates the brake pressure to reduce lock-up. It 'pumps' the brakes over a dozen times per second by increasing brake pressure and reducing it, over and over again. Since the wheels are not locked up, a driver can swerve to avoid an obstacle while under hard braking.

Types of Anti-lock Braking Systems There are two system designs, four-wheel ABS and rear-wheel ABS. Rear-wheel systems were offered on pick-ups and some SUV's in the early and mid nineties. They only pumped the rear wheels.

Today it is difficult to find this system. Four-wheel ABS is now the mainstream. But there are two variations of four-wheel ABS. There are four-channel anti-lock braking systems and three-channel.

Both systems have speed sensors at each wheel but a three-channel system pumps the rear brakes at the same speed and the two front wheels pump individually.

A four-channel system pumps all four brakes individually as they may be on different surfaces such as ice, gravel, pavement or grass. A three-channel system is cheaper to produce and is typically offered on less expensive cars. The four-channel system is a better, more precise system, though a three channel system is still far better than no ABS at all.

The misconception ABS is not designed to reduce your vehicles braking distance. In fact depending on the road surface, it can slightly increase your braking distance. ABS is designed to give the driver full control in an emergency situation. Since the wheels won't lock, you have full control of steering so that you can avoid an obstacle. On slippery surfaces, ABS pays dividends as you can now steer away from an obstacle instead of sliding right into it.

Using ABS When ABS is automatically activated in an emergency braking situation it makes a sound and pulses through the brake pedal. This is normal. Do not pump the brakes. This will render the system useless and will cause dramatically increased braking distances. The system will do its job but you have to be confident and get on the brakes as hard as possible. Get on'em, and stay on'em!!

ABS pays for itself time and time again. Think about it. ABS costs about $500. How much does just a small fender bender cost? ABS pays for itself by helping you avoid an accident and it gives you piece of mind when driving on slippery surfaces.

Peter Johnson is the chief writer for all-about-car-selection.com. For more automotive safety information click here

Abs Myths

Myth#1 Abdominal exercises will remove fat in my midsection.
Fact: You need to remove excess fat around your stomach in order to see your abs. The only way your going to do this is with a low-calorie diet and a weight-resistance program while adding cardio exercise. Ab exercises will develop muscles, but they’ll still be under your fat.

Myth#2 It takes hundreds of crunches to get ab muscles in shape.
Fact: Abdominal muscles are like any other muscle, they don’t respond to hundreds of repetitions. When you can easily do 15 reps of any ab exercise, you need to switch exercises or add resistance.

Myth#3 You have to train your abs everyday if you want a six pack.
Fact: Ab muscles can be over-trained just like any other muscle. You need to give your six pack abs enough rest to recuperate. Over-training will result diminished gains and soreness.

Myth#4 Men and women should train their abs differently.
Fact: Men and women all have muscle, which is trained the same way. If a woman wants a sexy midsection, then she’s going to eat correctly, follow a cardio program and train her abs the same way a man would.

Myth#5 If I stop training my abs they’ll turn to fat.
Fact: Muscles don’t turn to fat. If you stay active and watch what you eat you’ll keep your abs even if you stop training. But if you stop exercising and start eating junk, your abs will disappear.

The author is from http://www.get-six-pack-abs.com

Resource about six-pack abdominals. Includes stomach exercises, abs diet, low fat recipes, weight loss tips, fitness models and free e-mail support.

Discover the Secrets of Using An Abdominal Exercise Machine for Sexy, Scuplted Abs

When it comes to fitness and exercise equipment, there are a lot of different options to choose from. This is especially true when talking about an abdominal exercise machine.

After all, the abs are the one thing everyone wants to improve upon. For guys, it's the six-pack, and for women, it's a flat, toned and tight tummy. And most people feel that if they can get a flat stomach, all the other areas of their body will follow.

So we're bombarded with infomercials that focus on the be all end all wonderous inovation of their latest and greatest abdominal exercise machine. If you just get that one machine, then you're all set!

Six pack abs, here we come! Yes, there was a little bit of sarcasm in that last part. After all, if it were that easy, if we just needed the latest, greatest abdominal exercise machine for great abs, we'd all have them by now. Instead, we seem to keep getting fatter. It doesn't really make any sense, does it?

Let me make a few points about ab exercise and getting a flat, lean, six-pack stomach.

Diet, weight training, and cardio play the biggest role in getting a flat stomach, not ab exercises or any one abdominal exercise machine.

Most ab exercise equipment is pure junk.

Most people go about training their abdominal muscles in the wrong way.

With that being said, let's look at what you can do to train your abs the right way, and what type of abdominal exercise machine can help you do it better, faster, and in more comfort.

Let's address point one above. Many ab machine advertisers, especially on infomercials, will lead you to believe that working on their adbominal exercise equipment will lead to weight loss and fat reduction, especially in the region of the abs, ie, getting rid of the bulging belly. This is incorrect on multiple points.

First, working your abs, especially on those '6 minutes to great abs' routines, burns very few calories. Second, you can't spot reduce, which is the outdated idea that you will lose fat directly from the area that you exercise.

In fact, your fat goes on based on your genetics, and this is also the way it comes off, and usually in the reverse order. And the abs is usually the last place fat loss occurs. You'll see it on your hands, face, neck, etc. first, before your stomach.

A quality abdominal exercise machine will strengthen your abdominal muscles, which will lead to a leaner, more toned stomach. But understand this - you won't see that leaner toned stomach, until you remove the fat that is covering up your abs!

Have you seen a relatively flat stomach on someone but it's not firm or toned? This is most likely because they don't work their ab muscles, so their abs aren't developed enough to give a tigher, leaner look to the stomach.

So it's very important to work your abs. But keep in mind the points being made here, that you need an overall fat loss, exercise, and nutrition program to lose the fat covering your abs so people can see the tight sexy stomach you've developed on your abdominal exercise machine.

A great thing about a good ab machine is that it will keep you working your abs. Let's face it, ab training is boring and doing conventional ab exercises like floor crunches, sit ups, leg raises and reverse lying crunches can be very uncomfortable, if not downright painful, and a lot of people develop neck problems. An abdominal exercise machine plays an important role in avoiding these issues.

If you keep this in mind, you'll know what to expect from ab exercise and abdominal machines. This way, you'll keep using it as part of an overall muscle building, fat loss program, instead of letting the machine gather dust because you didn't lose your stomach fat from working your abs six minutes a day.

Gregg Gillies is the founder of http://www.buildleanmuscle.com. His articles have appeared in Ironman Magazine. He has written two books and is a regular contributor to Body Talk Magazine. He publishes a free fitness newsletter available at his site that includes lots of weight training tips, fat loss, nutrition and exercise program information to help you build your best body as quickly as possible. check it out at Build Muscle and Lose Fat and see how you can get a customized nutrition plan at http://www.mynutritionjournal.com

Discover How to Use Abdominal Equipment the Right Way for Sculpting Tight, Sexy Abs

Stop wasting your money on useless informercial abdominal products. Learn how to effectively work your abs with the right ab equipment so you can finally develop a flat sexy waist with abs you can be proud to show off.

What ab equipment you need depends on how you go about training your abs. If you train your abs with the most people get ab exercise - lots of sets and reps - then you don't need much in the way of ab equipment. Performing sets of the basic floor crunch and reverse floor crunch are all you realy need. If these ab exercises are uncomfortable for you, then you may need some basic equipment just for comfort reasons.

Now, if you decide to train your abs properly, you'll most likely need some quality ab equipment. What do I mean by training your abs properly? Your abdominals are a muscle group, just like any other muscle group.

Let's take a look at some common misconceptions with regard to ab exercise and then we'll mention some ab equipment that actually works for you.

Is there anything out there in the fitness world suffering from more misinformation that how to get abs?

The number of ab machines constantly coming to market is mind boggling. Especially considering that they aren't needed and won't give you the results that you want.

Let's set the record straight on ab training right now and give you the real information you need so you can say no to the next infomercial ab machine and yes to actual abs.

• Training your abs consistently will eventually give you the flat stomach or six-pack that you want.

  No. It's not gonna happen if your abs are covered by a layer of body fat and doing endless sets of ab exercises is not the way to rid yourself of that excess body fat.

• Train your abs everyday for best results.

  Again, no. Your abs are a muscle, just like your chest, lats, arms and so on. You should train your abs just like these other muscles, with progressive resistance and high intensity - then allow them to rest and recover. Never train your abs more than 3 days a week.

• You need to do hundreds or reps and feel the burn to get great abs.

  Yep, again the answer is no. The abs a muscle just like I mentioned above. To get six pack abs you need to strip off the fat, but you also need to build the abs to get them to really pop out.

  If the muscle isn't developed, you'll just have a flat stomach but no abs. The name of the game is progressive resistance for sets of 8 - 20 reps, just like your other muscles.

• Train the abs with lots of sets and high reps to burn off stomach fat.

You guessed it. This is also false. Spot reduction just isn't going to happen as much as we'd all like it to. You can't burn fat on your stomach by doing endless crunches.

In order to do the proper ab exercise and develop a flat, toned, tight midsection, you need to follow these rules. And that means working your abs with progressive resistance weight training, just like your other muscles.

You need to put together a proper weight lifting program, nutrition plan, and cardio in order to rid your stomach of that stubborn layer of fat and bring yout your abs

Gregg Gillies is the founder of http://www.buildleanmuscle.com/. His articles have appeared in Ironman Magazine. He has written two books and is a regular contributor to Body Talk Magazine. He publishes a free fitness newsletter available at his site that includes lots of weight training tips, fat loss, nutrition and exercise program information to help you build your best body as quickly as possible. check it out at Build Muscle and Lose Fat. and see how you can get a customized nutrition plan at http://www.mynutritionjournal.com/.

Lose Your Belly Fat And Show Off Your Six Pack Abs

Have you noticed that most people will never fail to include abdominal muscle exercises in their routines and yet somehow or other, they can never own that coveted 6 pack abs?

Have you been religiously doing your abdominal muscle exercises? Is your abs showing to your satisfaction? No? Why? Do you know that your abdominal muscle is one of the easiest muscles to build but yet why is it that most people have difficulty in developing that 6 pack abs?

Here is the truth. Those of you who are working out your abs regularly do probably own that much sought after six pack. Yes, you do. The only trouble is that your belly fat is covering them. Your abs will not show up well if you have a body fat ratio of more than 12%. The more fat you burn off, the more defined your abs will be. You will own that rippling washboard abs when your body fat is 10% or less. So if you have fat on your belly, forget about abdominal exercises and burn off the fats first.

There is another reason why people put in so much effort to develop their abdominal muscle and yet their abs are not showing although they have low body fat. Again, there is a simple explanation. They are doing the wrong exercises and working out in bad form.

Let’s take for example the most common abs exercises, the sit up and the leg raisers. Everybody seem to be doing these two exercises not knowing that these exercises really don’t do much for their abs. Don’t believe me? Ok…try this. When you do your sit up or leg raisers, place your palms on your hip on the area connecting to your thigh and perform the exercises. Tell me what did you feel? Ahhh….you are getting it. Those muscles there are doing most of the work. Those are your hip flexor muscles. Since your hip flexors are doing most of the work, how can you develop your abs effectively?

So you say, from now on I will do crunches instead. Well, I have another surprise for you.

Most people perform their crunches wrongly too. Think about it. Why is the exercise called “crunch”? It is because you must squeeze your abs so are that you are crunching them. In order to squeeze your abs hard, you have to curl up like a prawn and breath out all the air in your lungs at the top position and then squeeeeeeeze the muscles so hard that you feel a burn. That will take a few seconds to crunch out all the air before you lower to the beginning position again. You can’t do this effectively if you just go up, down, up down, up down rhythmetically. So, if you have been doing hundreds of crunches everyday with minimal result, now you know why. In fact, it is almost impossible for the average guy to do tens of properly performed crunches and not to say hundreds of them. The same squeezing principle applies to other abs exercises.

Ok….now that you know why your abs are not showing up well, so get on with burning your fats and perform your workout in correct form. You will then see your 6 pack abdominal muscle in no time.

Chris Chew is a personal trainer of actors, pageant winners, models and other celebs.

He is the author of Burn Fat Build Muscles Fast! and runs a fitness school in Singapore Personal Trainers

How To Get Six Pack Abs

Whether you want to get six pack abs, or just looking to lose a bit of extra luggage you're carrying around the mid-section, there are 3 "key" areas you need to focus on to get six pack abs.

Strong abs not only help strengthen your lower back, but also improve upon your posture. Most lower back injuries occur, believe it or not, due to weak abs. Focus on these three areas and over time, you will see improved results.

Key # 1- Proper cardiovascular work

You can have the greatest, most muscular set of six pack abs in the world, but if they're blanketed by a layer of body fat, who cares. In order to rid yourself of the extra body fat around your midsection, you need to incorporate effective cardio sessions into your fitness plan.

You cannot spot-reduce the midsection by doing extra ab exercises like crunches or sit-ups. You first must burn off the body fat through proper cardio to properly define the area. Abdominal training by itself will not do much. Cardio needs to be intense enough to do the trick.

Three to four sessions a week, 20 minutes at a time, of intense jogging, running, the Stairmaster, the elliptical, jumping rope, or biking should be enough to get the process in gear. Swimming, hiking, and taking aerobics classes are beneficial as well.

Nothing beats jogging or running. It is the most intense, efficient, and effective method of burning calories. If running outside hurts your joints, try running inside on a treadmill or outside on a dirt path. It definitely is easier on the body.

Again, you NEED three to four intense cardio sessions a week, at least 20 minutes a session, to help create a calorie deficit and help rid the body of the fat that covers and lessens your chances of getting six pack abs.

Key # 2- Proper Nutrition

Do not sabotage your results in the gym by giving yourself a passport to pig out. Ridding the body of fat once and for all is accomplished by proper nutrition more so than incorporating cardio. At the end of the day, if you have consumed more calories than you have expended, you add body fat. So you need to burn more calories than you consume.

Nutrition is important because you can reduce the amount of calories you take in, therefore greatly having an effect on the amount which you have to expend through cardio. Eat five to six small, well-balanced meals spaced apart about every three to four hours. Try to keep something healthy on hand.

If not, when you become real hungry, you will opt for something that isn?t as good for you. When you become overly hungry, all rational thinking goes out the window. But it is important to get something in you. Not eating on time or at all is almost as bad as eating too much.

Keep protein intake high (approximately 50% of daily calories), carbs moderate (40%), and fats minimal (10%). Muscle fiber is made of tightly-wound protein molecules that is damaged during a workout, so you need more protein than the sedentary person to help that muscle tissue repair.

Carbohydrates have an important role in the body, but do not base your meals on them. Try to avoid simple sugars like cane sugar, honey, fruit juices, syrups, and even a lot of fruit.

Drink at least a gallon of clean water each day as well. It will help in nutrient absorption and digestion and will help flush toxins from the body.

Bottom line, make sure you are supplying your body with well-balanced, healthy food every three to four hours. To ensure you are creating a calorie deficit, you should find out your daily caloric requirements that you need just to maintain your current bodyweight.

Since you are looking to reduce your current body weight by getting rid of some fat, you want to speed up creating a calorie deficit. One way is how we talked about above, doing cardio.

The other is by reducing the amount of calories you consume by 150-200 calories per day off your daily calorie maintanence amount.

For example, if you require, at your age, weight, activity levels, etc...2000 calories just to maintain your current weight, start reducing that number to 1800 to 1850 for a couple weeks.

If after a couple weeks you still do not see results, lower that number again by 150-200. Now you would be at 1600 to 1650 calories.

Again, the key to getting six pack abs is ridding your body of the fat covering the abs.

The only way to do this is by creating a calorie deficit so that your body burns calories for needed fuel. When you burn stored calories, you're burning body fat. The way to properly do this is a combo of increased, intense cardio and a gradual reduction of calories.

Key # 3- Weight training the abdominals

Here is where most people go wrong in their attempt to develop their abs. I often ask those I train, "Would you train your biceps with sets of 50 reps with no weight"? Of course, they say no. "How about your chest, 50 reps with no weight?" Another no. I then ask, "Then why would you do that with your abs"?

Here's an important key. If you want proper ab development, you need to add resistance (weight) to your ab exercises. Abs are muscles just like biceps, triceps, pecs, glutes, whatever. You need resistance to properly strengthen and build them. The same goes for abdominals.

Here are some effective ab exercises to incorporate for proper ab stimulation.

Weighted crunches. Grab a dumbbell, either hold it in front of your face, or let it lie on your upper chest, under your chin, and perform regular crunches. You are now using your abs more to work against the leverage the dumbbell has created. Stick with a heavy enough weight where you can handle 10-15 reps, but no more. Remember, you need to create enough resistance where your abs are forced to work.

Cable Rope crunches--grab the tricep rope, kneel on your knees, and bend downwards, forcefully contracting your abs on the way down. It's basically a crunch, only, you are on your knees. But the contraction is the same. Don't swing with the hips, you are not using the abs very much if you do. Just a slight, 30 degree contraction until you feel the abs contract, hold for a couple seconds, then back up.

Weighted leg raises-- Lie flat on your back, with your hands tucked under your butt. Wrap your feet around a small dumbbell, and perform leg raises. Start with your feet about 6 inches from the ground, then raise them about 12-16 inches from the ground and then back down slowly. These can be done on the end of a bench as well.

Seated ab machine-- once again, do not swing all the way down, just far enough (30 degrees) to fully contract the abs, hold for a couple seconds, then back up. This is very similar to Cable rope crunches.

Stability Ball Crunches-- working on the stability ball will incorporate balance into your abdominal work. They are effective at strengthening your core region, which is your abs and lower back.

You lie down on a stability ball like you are going to perform a crunch. Position yourself on the ball so your lower back is resting on it. Keep your feet close together on the floor making your body less stable (helps incorporate more balance on your part) and place your hands behind your head or folded on your chest. Crunch your upper body towards your knees, exhaling as you contract your abs. Under muscular control, lower yourself back to the original position keeping full tension on the abs.

Regardless of what exercise you do, the key is to add weight/resistance. If not, you will never increase the amount of lean muscle tissue in the area. You only need to train your abs twice a week for maximum results. Once again, treat them like any other muscle group (which means you wouldn't train them more often). Combine this weight training with proper diet and intense cardio and that elusive six-pack is yours to be had!

Personal trainer and natural bodybuilder Shawn Lebrun shows you, step by step, how to build more muscle and lose more fat in less time. Click here now to learn how.

3 Steps To Great Abs!

Myth: You need to work your abs everyday.

Truth: The best way to develop abdominal strength and tone is to work your abs to exhaustion. You need to allow your abdominal muscles to recover..this equates to 24-48 hours of rest time between workouts. Increase the intensity of your workouts gradually. If you overdo it, not only will you be excessively sore (a little soreness is a good thing, it signifies that you have worked the muscle enough for it to repair itself and become stronger in the process), but you may discourage yourself because you will need more rest time than normal and it will be harder to do your ab exercises.

Myth: The more situps you do, the better.

Truth: Doing hundreds of situps will not help you lose abdominal fat! Situps actually do little to increase strength because they focus on edurance and are inefficient; it is hard to overload the abdominal muscles doing situps. Thus, you will be wasting your time. Crunches (yes, crunches) are the best way to overload the abs and work the entire midsection, whether you do them on the floor or on a Swiss Ball (my personal favorite!). There are many variations of crunches, and each targets different parts of the abdominal muscles. While doing crunches, it is imperative that you focus on proper technique and gradually increasing resistance. Using this method, you can fatigue your abdominal muscles using fewer reps.

Myth: Situps are the key to getting "cut" ab muscles.

Truth: If you have layers of abdominal fat covering your abs, situps, or any other exercise, for that matter, won't do you much good. For a strong, cut midsection, keep in mind these tips:

1. Train your abs with resistance. If you are a beginner, try crunches without resistance first. As you get stronger, then move to more challenging moves or crunches using a Swiss Ball.

2. You need consistent cardiovascular exercise (helps to burn fat faster, performed at 80% of your maximum heart rate).

3. Cut the fat in your diet to shed body fat and create definition. This is the only way your abs will show through! Remember, great abs are made in the kitchen!

Learn the essential keys to building a strong core from the experts! To sculpt your abs now, visit our Abdominal Exercise website.

Marie Borges is a motivational writer, author and healthcare consultant. She specializes in educating and motivating clients on good nutrition, healthy eating and exercise to improve overall health and happiness. To change your body for the better, receive free tips, recipes, articles and more, visit:http://www.burn-your-fat.com

Abdominal Training - ''Abs''

You can work your abs until hell freezes over, but if you still have a layer of fat, or in some cases even a beer belly, you will never be able to see the muscle. So, from a visual sense you must use proper diet & nutrition to actually be able to see your abs, and that is an entirely different article and beyond the scope of this one.

We all have abs, the technical name is Rectus Abdominis. It’s basically the “core” of your body and you could not really function without this muscle. Did I say muscle as in a single muscle? That’s right the Rectus Abdominis is a single muscle (see diagram) that attaches from along the rib cage down to the pelvis bone. However, there are two other muscle groups that complete the abdominals: the Transverse Abdominus, and the External and Internal Obliques, but these two muscles are not the visible portions of the abs that make up the “six pack” that we all desire. The Transverse Abdominus acts as a natural weight belt, keeping your insides in; and the Internal and External Obliques work to rotate the torso, and stabilize the abdomen essential for trunk stability.

Since the Rectus Abdominis is a single muscle it is physiologically impossible to work different parts of the abs. You often hear people say things like “I need to work my lower abs cause they’re lacking”, well they can try as hard as they want but when you train your abs you train the entire muscle. This does not mean you should not incorporate a wide variety of abdominal exercises (crunches, leg raises, trunk rotation, etc.) into your ab training, I just wanted to make the point that you are not going build or develop any one part of your “six pack” with different exercises. Now, remember that the lower area of the abs is a common problem in regards to excess fat storage for most people, especially males. So often the problem is not the abs per se, but extra body fat in that area that is covering the lower portion of the abs, again this requires dietary alterations not specific exercises.

So, you may say “how come I feel it more in my lower abs when I do hanging leg raises?” Well, this is another myth that we call the “I feel it syndrome”, which basically states that because you feel something working in a specific area it will make that area grow more. From a muscle physiology standpoint this is not possible. It’s possible that because of the angle more stress is being applied to a certain area of the muscle, which is often a result of that part of the muscle being stretched more, causing micro trauma in that specific area. However, this means absolutely nothing in regards to muscle growth and development. Do not confuse this with muscle groups that contain separate heads and tendon attachments, in those cases it is possible to stress individual heads to certain degrees, an example would be the deltoids. As far as our abs are concerned it is a single muscle and therefore it will grow as a whole. Think about it this way, if you could stimulate one area of a muscle and make it grow that would imply that you could actually change the shape of a muscle, which we know scientifically, that is not possible.

There are many exercises that can be used for the abs, the easiest and most common is a crunch, which essentially is bringing your hips and rib cage together, no more than just a flex of the mid-section. Do not confuse a crunch with a traditional sit-up; in a crunch you do not lift your lower back off the floor or bench. If you’re a beginner and are training abs for the first time I would recommend that you begin with a simple crunch on a flat surface, and some standing trunk rotation without any weight. Until you build up your abdominal muscles and flexibility do not try any advanced ab exercises such as weighted or incline crunches, or even sit-ups. Doing a sit-up has less of an effect on your abs, and more of an effect on your Iliopsoas or more commonly called the hip flexors. In fact, this is the muscle group that people often mistake for their lower abs because it’s a synergist muscle that helps stabilize the mid-section when working your abs. This is not to say that these synergist muscles are not important and do not need training, I am just pointing out that most likely that is why you think that you “feel it” in your lower abs.

Why is ab training necessary? Weak abs can contribute to lower back problems; the abdominal muscles help to improve the Erector Spinae by improving the mechanical positioning of the pelvis when it’s tilted forward. Also, if the abs are weak the lliopsoas can pull on spine during hip flexor activities causing injury. Weak abs can also be the cause of chronic low back pain, and can be responsible for hyperlordosis. So, no matter what your goals are, general fitness, bodybuilding or even power lifting it’s extremely important to have strong abdominals not just for aesthetic purposes, but functional and injury prevention reasons.

People often ask how often should you work your abs. Well, remember that the abdominals are a muscle and they require recovery just like any other muscle, although they do recover relatively quickly compared to other muscles due to their inherent fiber type. If you’re training your abs from an injury prevention perspective then you could train them 3-4 days per week using light loads, e.g. non-weighted crunches, performing 3-4 sets. However, if your goal is to develop your abs either for bodybuilding or sport performance, then you should only train them 2-3 days per week using more advanced techniques, e.g. weighted incline crunches performing 6-8 sets. As far as when to train the abs, it really does not matter; you could train them at the beginning of your workout if you’re prioritizing them. However if you plan to fatigue them it may be a better idea to work them last. Since the abs play a major role in stabilization it could hinder performance in compound lifts such as squats. An even better idea if feasible for you would be to train them on a day where you work smaller body parts and no compound lifts that involve the entire body.

Following you will find several links to animated pictures of some beginning and advanced abdominal training exercises from www.exrx.net. These are only a few of many exercises that can be used in your abdominal training.

Robert DiMaggio is first and foremost the founder and editor of IronMagazine.com LLC, an online bodybuilding and fitness magazine that has been dedicated to helping people achieve their bodybuilding and fitness goals. IronMagazine.com has been online since 2001 publishing new articles, content and a newsletter every month, along with a growing online community IronMagazine Forums.

Slimming the Waist: Article 1 of 3 - The Abs Routine

Let's face it...there's a million different abdominal exercises and routines out there, and each one promises to have the right stuff to give you a six-pack, get you toned, remove those love handles, and fulfill any other elaborate plans you may have for your midsection. With so many choices, it can be difficult to decide which is best, or perhaps more importantly, which achieves your goals with the least amount of effort.

To simplify things a bit, I'm going to break abdominal training down into 3 basic categories: smart training, effective cardio, and proper nutrition. By the time you finish reading this series of three articles, you'll be equipped with 1) a quick and easy way to design your own abdominal routine using a simple set of rules (this article); 2) an explanation of how to incorporate both long and slow fat-burning cardio and quick and fast metabolism-boosting cardio into your program and 3) five simple nutritional rules to make your body a fat-burning machine.

Time to go to ab school. Since this isn't anatomy class, I won't waste your time naming the muscles and giving you strange Latin terms like "rectus". We'll go straight into the good stuff - how to design your own waist-slimming routine. This type of routine works best when you're able to devote an entire workout to core training alone. Your ab exercises should fall into a five basic categories:

WARM-UP:

The start of your routine needs to get the ab muscles "firing" in conjunction with the rest of your body. Basically, this means your warm-up exercise or exercises need to use the full body and center around a waist hinging action, such as:

Body Weight Squats: start in standing position, then "sit down" until your thighs are parallel to the floor, keeping your center of gravity back behind you.

Lunge with Overhead Push: lunge forward holding a weight, and as you stand out of the lunge, press the weight overhead.

Inchworm Crawl: with open space in front of you, start in a fully extended push-up position, walk the feet towards the hands as close as possible, then walk the hands away from the feet.

Complete 1 set of 10-20 reps for each of these exercises, then move on to...

STABILITY:

Stability exercises should be body weight only exercises that fatigue the abs with a high amount of reps and a low amount of resistance. These would include crunches, flutter kicks, reverse crunches, twists and anything else that doesn't require a weight or apparatus to accomplish. Choose 2 or 3 of these exercises, complete 15-20 reps for each, and after you've got a "burn" feeling in the abs, progress to the third section...

STABILITY WITH RESISTANCE:

Now that you've completed the stability exercises, you're going to add a weight, like a plate, dumbbell, medicine ball, or just plain gravity. Exercise examples would be an incline bench crunch, a weighted crunch, a weighted straight leg crunch or a medicine ball twist crunch (i.e. Russian Twists). Since your resistance is going up, your rep count will go down. Complete 10-15 reps for these exercises, and do them at a slower pace than the stability exercises...now your abs should be wide awake.

DYNAMIC CORE:

The difficulty of the exercises, in terms of movement complexity, is going to be the greatest with your dynamic core exercises. These should be done in a standing position, and should include a twisting, flexing, or rotating component that forces you to work against resistance. Examples of dynamic core exercises include:

Cable torso twists: hold a shoulder level handle attached to a cable apparatus at arm's length, and pull the cable across your body using the torso, not the shoulders.

Woodchoppers: begin with a medicine ball held over head, then "chop" down, bending at the knees and back, so that the ball endsbetween your feet. These can also be performed diagonally.

Around the World: holding a weight in your hands with the arms straight, draw giant circles with a weight or medicine ball, bending and extending at the knees and back as you drop from the high point to the low point of the circle.

Your heart rate will be the highest during this part of the workout and your reps should be low: 8-10 for each exercise is fine. Finally, for the last part of your routine...

UNBALANCED:

Here is the trickiest part of your routine. You need to find an exercise that throws you off balance. Here's one example: get into the pushup position and twist toward the ceiling with one arm only, opening your body in one direction. Then reverse and twist in the other direction, keeping both legs planted. Another example is a crawl crunch, where you assume a crawl position, extend both arm and leg on the same side, then crunch your elbow and knee together. As little as 5-10 repetitions will be more than enough for each exercise in the unbalance phase.

That's it! Put them all together and you will have a complete routine for your entire midsection. You're one step closer to slimming the waist. Many of the abdominal routines I design for online clients are based on these same principles. By signing up for personal training at WWW.PACIFICFIT.NET, you have access to multiple core workouts, complete with exercise picture and video galleries, as well as constant exercise and routine updates, and frequent evaluations to track your progress. In the next article of this series, I'll be telling you the fastest way to burn fat and lose weight with cardio. Until then, train smart!

Ben Greenfield

M.S. PE, NSCA-CPT, CSCS

elite@pacificfit.net

Ben Greenfield holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Sport Science and Exercise Physiology, and is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a Personal Trainer and Strength and Conditioning Coach (NSCA-CPT & CSCS). For over 5 years, Ben Greenfield has coached and trained professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes, and helped hundreds of individuals achieve their personal fitness goals. Ben's expertise is now available for corporate wellness programs, triathletes, and individuals as http://www.pacificfit.net

Better ABS

Ten steps to rock hard abdominals.

Step One
Go to the gym. This is a very important step because if you don't leave your house, chances are you won't make it to the gym. This article is for gym rats that want the six pack. I will talk about home training in another article. So, just get out and join a good gym.

Step two
Start drinking more water. This is a very valuable nutrient that I think most people forget about. At least 8 glass a day and thet will be fine.

Step Three
Make a ab workout with variety. You know that it is the spice of life. It's also the spice of your abs. Make sure you use at lease 6 different exercises for your ab routine. If you don't think you can do that, try 3 different exercises and make them intense, holding the last rep for at least 10 seconds.

Step Four
Man those carbs are killing you. Ok, im not gonna tell you to go out and diet hard but I will tell you to leave the carbs in the evening alone. Try to have a cut off point. You know how much weight you need to lose in order to show your abs. So, if you need to lose 20-30 pounds cut the carbs real early, like 12:00 pm. If you need to lose 5-10 pounds, try cutting your carbs around 3pm. If you really wanna get ripped, try this bodybuilding technique. You can take a day off from carbs. One day on and one day off. This works for many bodybuilders.

Step Five
If you want to have great looking abs you should strive for great flexibility. Stretching adds great symetry to your body. So if you are flexible it will make your waistline appear to be smaller. A tight waste tends to look bulky and thats not nice to look at.

Step Six
If you don't see the results from holding your reps use resistance. You can use a medicine ball with a weight vest. Just get that burn you desire.

Step Seven
Train your abs for feel. In other words if your abs arent burning you aren't doing anything. Make all your workouts feel intense. Thats the only way you will reach your fitness goals.

Step Eight
Get your cardio on. Make sure you do at least 1 hour of cardio every session with at least 4 sessions a week. Make sure your workout is versatile. You will never stick to a boring workout. Try to have at least 4-6 different cardio exercises.

Step Nine
Use a journal. Try to keep track of your progress somehow. Wether its in a journal or just jot them down on a piece of paper. Keeping track of your progress is the best way to reach any goal. It has to be written in order for it to be real.

Step Ten
Have a spiritual escape. Have something that you do everyday that relaxes you such as draw, read, bubble bath with candles, prayer, meditation, collect things, surf the net. What ever really relaxes you, do it at the end of everyday. It will make a difference in your attitude knowing that you have something to really releave your stress when you get home.

With these steps you should be on your way to great abs and good health.

Thank you,

Antoine king is a well known personal trainer from the New York area. He is emerging as a super talent. Very enthusiastic and a hard worker. He has over ten years of fitness experience and he worked for the New York sports club.

Why You Do Not have Killer Abs or that 6 Pack Abdominal Muscle

Ask any woman what is the most attractive part of a male body and most of the time, they will tell you it's the six pack abs, meaning that your abdominal muscle showing up with beautiful definition. Your abs is considered by many as a sexy muscle and is a symbol of a fit and healthy man. Women are instinctively drawn towards a man brimming with health and fitness because it is a primitive indication that the man is strong enough to protect her and her brood. A rippling six pack abs is one such indication. So is it any wonder that in every gym, you will see men of all ages doing crunches, leg raisers and sit ups religiously in the hope of obtaining the much coveted killer abs? Unfortunately, most men will never get to see their abdominal muscle in its glorious splendor. Why? The following fitness tip will show you why.

You may not like what I am going to give to you straight in the face here. But I will give it to you anyway. So here it goes. Listen up carefully. You may do a zillion crunches a day, then another another million leg raisers , but as long as there is a layer of fat covering your tummy, you will never see your abs because it is covered by the blubber of fat. In fact, your waistline will become bigger because you are adding muscles underneath those fats! So instead of having a slim waistline and showing off your abs, you will have a bigger waistline and thicker love handles. Now get this straight. There is no such thing as spot reduction! Once the fats are off, your abs will show. That I promise you. It is just that simple to display your abs. Lose fats! That's all.

Late night TV commercials or magazines has been telling you that you can have well defined abs by using this gadget or that electronic gizmo. Do you really believe that it is that simple? If it is so, then everyone will have that six pack abs in no time, won't they? Then why isn't that so? Because it just doesn't work that way.

To lose fat effectively and permanently for your abdominal muscles to show, you must include a mildly deficit calorie restriction diet, frequent cardio workouts and strength training with weights to build muscle so as to raise your metabolism in order to lose weight and burn fat naturally. Your weight loss goals will not be achieved effectively or permanently if any one of these three elements is done wrongly or not even incorporated in your slimming program. I repeat the three elements again :-

A mildly caloric deficit diet - A mildly caloric deficit diet to help you lose weight.

Frequent cardio workouts - Frequent cardio workout to exercise your heart and lungs and burn fat at the same time.

Weight Lifting to build muscles - Build muscles to burn fat permanently as muscles use up more calories from your food for energy. Lifting weights will also give you a well toned body and help your abs to show.

Forget about any fad diets or popping slimming pills . These may work initially but in the long run, they are bound to fail.

Now supposing that you are successful in your lose weight lose fat program and have very little fat covering your torso but yet you do not have well defined abs....what happened? You are doing your exercises wrongly or in poor form. More about exercise techniques and form in future articles.

More articles by Chris Chew at

www.sgfitnessonline.com

Chris Chew is an American Muscle And Fitness Institute's Master Trainer based in Singapore. Many of his clients are public figures including actors, international pageant winners, models and muscicians.

You can check out his website at http://www.sgfitnessonline.com/

Abs: How to Get a Sexy Six Pack?

There are many factors responsible for abdominal fat like processed food, refined sugar, lack of exercise etc.

But the following two invisible factors are mainly responsible for abdominal fat deposits.

1)STRESS
2)ALCOHOL

1)STRESS:

Stress has become part of daily life. Job pressure, financial insecurity, problems in personal relations, traffic & pollution all take a heavy toll of our mental well being.

All the above factors combined with continuous negative thinking and not living in the present moment lead to a pressure-cooker environment of the mind

All of us lead a life either in the past or in the future.Your mind either thinks about the past or fantasizes and worries about the past. Nobody lives in the present moment living every moment and enjoying it as it is!

This constant oscillation of the mind from past to present and present to past like a pendulum takes a heavy toll of your mind and body.Stress builds up and ageing becomes accelerated.The efficiency of the body’s various fat burning organs becomes very low.

Stress is the main cause of stored toxins in the body. These toxins impair the normal functioning of the various fat burning and excretory organs like thyroid gland, lever, kidney etc.

This results in the body not being able to cope up with even normal pressures exerted at various levels due to heavy work or faulty diet and the net result is obesity and weight gain.

Accumulated stress and anxiety from daily stress full modern living releases a hormone known as cortisole.

Research indicates that Cortisole is the hormone responsible for preferential deposition of fat in the abdominal area.

So if you want a sexy six pack, getting rid of stress is very important.

There are thousands of books on relieving stress and positive thinking. But no book has the exact answer for the varied stressful states of mind.

Your breath has a vital connection with your mind. By concentrating on your breath you can control your wandering mind and bring it to the present moment.

Various breathing techniques, Yogasanas and Pranayamas have the power to expel toxins and stress out of your mind and body and make you more and more centered.

My e-book "Proven weightloss secrets revealed" shows various ways to easily overcome stress and to burn abdominal fat without working for hours in a gym.

2)ALCOHOL:

Alcohol consumption leads to abdominal fat.

Stanford university school of medicine has reported a link between drinking alcohol and abdominal fat.

Recent findings report that alcohol drinkers have atleast twice the hip-waist ratios as compared to non-alcoholics.

Alcohol also seems to make the body burn less fat and favours fat storage and subsequent weight gain.

The main problem with alcohol drinking is that the stomach walls directly absorb alcohol. Since it never reaches intestine, the intestine doesn’t give "full" signal to the brain. This causes the person to eat more. It has been observed that you tend to eat atleast 400 calories more when you are drunk.

So, to reduce abdominal fat you need to reduce alcohol consumption or atleast reduce fat consumption whenever you drink.

Spot reduction of abdominal fat is very difficult because fat melts evenly throughout the body. As such to reduce abdominal fat you must strive to reduce fat all over the body.

Expelling the toxins out of your system and correcting the body’s fat burning mechanism can achieve this. Detailed explanation of how to do this has been explained in my e-book.

Alcohol also seems to make the body burn less fat and favours fat storage and subsequent weight gain.

Additionally, doing crunches regularly will help you a great deal in overcoming excess abdominal fat.

You can learn more about the various fat burning secrets in my 5day free e-mail ecourse by subscribing at: http://www.eweightlosstips.com/weightlossltr.htm

"Rajesh Shetty.
Expert in weight loss principles of Ayurveda Medical Science and Author of the Best selling book, "Proven weight loss secrets revealed". http://www.eweightlosstips.com/weightlossltr.htm

The How To Guide for Six Pack Abs

So you want six pack abs? The truth is, for most people getting six pack abs is not an easy task because it requires dedication and motivation... but it is possible! Below is a general 2-step guide that, if followed religiously for 3 months, will improve your abs.

Step 1: Nutrition

This is the single most important part of the puzzle, hands down. You can have the most impressive set of abs, but if they're covered with a layer of fat, you won't see them! Break up your day with 5 or 6 mini-meals because this jump starts your metabolism. And stop eating the food that is preventing you from seeing your abs: white bread, pasta, soda, candy, dessert, fast food, hydrogenated oils, sugars and fructose corn syrup.

Instead, eat the foods that will help you reach your six pack goal: oatmeal, olive oil, whole grain breads, fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs, natural peanut butter, chicken, fish, protein, green tea and water. Be realistic - you'll slip here and there, but make a conscious effort to improve your eating habits because getting a six pack will be impossible if you don't.

Step 2: Exercise

You need to concern yourself with 3 different exercises: cardio, weightlifting and ab exercises. And aim to workout 4 times per week.

The cardio you do can be anything: walking, running, biking, swimming...whichever cardio you don't mind doing so you stick with it. The trick is to do the cardio in bursts. For example, if you're running, walk for one minute and then sprint for 15 seconds and repeat 10 times. Perform this type of interval cardio 2 times per week.

Weightlifting is important because 3 pounds of added muscle burns as many calories as a 1 mile jog...and this is while you're just sitting around! Aim for 30-45 minutes, 2 times per week. If you're confused as to what exercises to do for each body part, check out the following website. It features professional bodybuilders, but the information is great and can be used by anyone.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm

The last exercise you need to incorporate into your workout are ab exercises. Aim to work your abs 3 times per week. There are a ton of different ab exercises you can do so try to find 3 or so that you enjoy doing and mix it up. A good database of different ab exercises can be found here:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exername.php?MainMuscle=Abdominals

Tip: mix up your workout routine every 2 weeks to keep your body guessing and improving. Add or take away different weightlifting or ab exercises, or at the very least, vary the weight, reps or form of cardio you do.

Well, there you have it. Follow the above for 3 months, and while results will vary from person to person, you will see an improvement in your abs. And keep in mind that dedication and motivation will go a long way to helping you reach your goal of having six pack abs.

Imagine the feeling you'll get when you look in the mirror and like what you see.

Honestly, this article only scratches the surface on getting six pack abs. If you really want to learn the tried and true techniques for developing a rock-hard midsection, check out The Truth About Six Pack Abs.

Best Flat Tummy Exercises for Great Female Abs

Are there flat tummy exercises that are the best for great female abs? Abs-olutely! To make this list, the female abs exercises must be safe, effective and can be done nearly anywhere. Your abs can be worked out every day. Here are great flat tummy exercises:

1. Tummy Isometric Crunch - exhale, then suck in your stomach as far as you can, hold for about 15 seconds. Relax and breathe. Visualize moving your bellybutton straight toward your back. Holding in your tummy muscles and tensing your abs is a good way of firming and strengthening them. You will also become more aware of how to control your tummy muscles. Repeat several times. This exercise can be done anywhere, anytime.

Note - if you have high blood pressure, do not hold your breath for extended periods of time.

2. Rectus Abdominis Tummy Exercises (doesn't that sound great?):

a. Lie on your back on the floor with bent knees and your feet flat on the floor, knees and feet spread apart the width of your hips.
b. Place your hands gently on the sides of your head for support, spreading your elbows so you cannot see them.
c. With your chin tucked toward your chest, gently curl upward and forward so that your head, neck and shoulder blades lift off the floor and your lower back presses against the floor (if you want, start with your head resting on a pillow which has your head and neck in the correct position to begin).
d. Pause just a moment, then gently return to the starting position.
e. Repeat several times.

Note - do not use your arms to complete the curl. If you can see your elbows, you're cheating. Do not put your feet under anything since this lessens the effectiveness of these types of flat tummy exercises. If this female abs exercise is too difficult for you, do the next one below.

3. Sit-Back Flat Tummy Exercises - if your female abs muscles are weak and you have trouble lifting yourself off the floor in #2 above, here is an alternate flat tummy exercise for you:

a. Start in a sitting position on the floor with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor (secure your feet under a piece of furniture).
b. Cross your arms over your chest and roll your head and shoulders forward toward your chest.
c. Gently and slowly lean back, keeping your head and shoulders tucked. Continue until you begin to feel your stomach muscles contracting.
d. Then try to lean back just a bit more if you can and hold that position until your muscles start shaking. Try to hold this position with your muscles shaking for five seconds, then ease back to the upright sitting position.
e. Repeat in a few seconds.

4. Reducing Chewing Exercises - yes, as in jaw muscles used for excessive chewing as in overeating. Reducing overeating or exercising those jaw muscles less may be necessary to have great female abs. No one can see your great female abs if they are covered with body fat! Having great female abs may require losing some body fat. Losing body fat means:

a. Cardio exercise on a regular basis - getting the heartbeat up with fun whole-body workouts several times a week.
b. Healthy eating habits - eating healthy foods, eliminating sodas/junk food and taking in fewer calories than you burn each day.
c. Besides flat tummy exercises, strength training for the whole body - any muscle tissue you add will burn extra calories 24/7.

Besides looking great, having great female abs is about good health. Visually and physically, the midsection is the center of the body and the foundation of strength. Weak abdominals leave a woman weaker looking and vulnerable to lower back pain. At first, the goal is to build up the basic strength in the female abs area with flat tummy exercises. And remember, always check with your health care provider before starting any exercise program. Start out slowly and gradually build up your strength and repetitions.

For great abs and good health, the ideal is to reduce body fat down to no lower than 15-20% for women. Sometimes, doing flat tummy exercises is the EASY part, losing excess body fat is the TOUGH part. Eat right, exercise right -- it may take time, just don't give up on your dream of having those great female abs.

Olinda Rola is President of InfoSearch Publishing and webmaster of http://www.safemenopausesolutions.com - a website of physician-recommended natural treatments and articles for a variety of health issues. Visit the website for an excellent free Permanent Weight Loss report you can view online right now.

Toning Your Abs - Common Exercising Myths

1. The 'Chew Then Crunch' Myth

Crunches are good exercises for toning the abs and stomach if done properly and combined with a low fat diet. However many people think they can continue to eat what they want and end their day with 100 crunches to "work off" all the bad stuff they put in their body throughout the day.

If you're not lowering your fat intake by watching what you eat, it doesn't matter how many exercises and crunches you perform. Not only will you see zero results, but you may actually see your stomach increase in size!

This is because you're building muscle underneath the existing fat. We all have flat stomachs, it's just that some have layers and layers of fat on top of that muscle we must get rid of first.

You've got to work off that existing fat first by training and toning your abs and stomach area.

I had this problem when I first started exercising. I didn't lower my caloric or fat intake much but I started doing crunches. For three months straight I did my 8-minute ab routine like clockwork. I couldn't understand why I wasn't seeing results. In fact, my stomach started protruding even more.

Well after doing lots of reading I discovered that I was going to also change my diet if I was going to see the results I wanted.

2. The Numbers Myth

Twenty-five good, quality crunches are much better than 250 half-done crunches. Many people just want to get it over with so they lie down and do as many fast crunches as they can while lacking in quality.

The best thing to do is perform 4 sets of 20-25 solid crunches while resting 90 seconds in between each set. That is a much more effective way of training your abs than 250 lackluster crunches in a row.

3. The Spot Toning Myth

This is the one that frustrates me. I have always been very thin and recently started gaining weight in my hips and thigh area. I welcomed the added pounds because it gave me a curvier figure. Unfortunately it also left we with a slightly flabby stomach.

I wanted to keep the hips and thighs but lose the stomach so I started exercising my stomach and abs by doing pilates and crunches.

Well, I didn't see any results. I discovered through reading that you can't just spot tone because if you only focus on one area (ie. your tummy), you won't raise your metabolism enough to burn that extra belly fat. So the key to flattening your stomach area is to increase your body's metabolism so it can effectively get rid of those layers of excess tummy fat.

A total body exercise is the key to slimming your waistline.

4. The Six Pack Myth

Whether you're a man or woman, we'd all love to have that solid six pack to show off when we're at the pool right? Well, what most people don't realize is that solid abs don't start in the gym, they start in the kitchen. If your body contains a lot of fat, your abs won't show no matter how much you exercise.

Your first goal should be to lose that fat, and it starts with your diet. Decrease the amount of fat and calories you consume and increase the amount of protein. Protein is an absolute necessity for ridding fat and building muscle.

5. The Running Myth

Did you know that running does very little when it comes to toning your stomach? This is because it can cause your pelvis to pull forward and arching of your lower back.

Don't get me wrong, running is good for you and can burn a lot of calories, but if you aren't doing any other stomach toning exercises in conjunction with running you'll see little if any results.

Conclusion

Hopefully you've learned that flattening your stomach is not about doing 100 crunches per day. It's about total body fitness and changing your overall diet.

Want to Reprint This Article?

You are welcome to reprint this article as long as the text remains unchanged and you include the "Author Bio" statement below.

Lisa Irby is the author of http://www.flat-stomach-exercises.com, a site that encourages people to understand their bodies before they begin that ab workout.

Perfects Abs - Three Ab Routines To Show Your Six Pack

Crazy, ripped, hard abs. That's the key to showing an awesome body. If you think that all training is about is making sure your chest is big enough to make your shirt hang out past your stomach then you’re missing the boat. Chiseled abs is awesome abs.

How do you get ripped abs?

It's about diet, cardio and hard ab routines. I'll give you the low down on how to burn in some washboard abs with this killer ab routine and save the diet ramble for another time.

First of all if your not training abs, start. That would be beginner ab routine phase one! Three sets of crunches for 20 reps a set. If that's not a problem then superset each set of crunches with a set of hip roles, followed by a brief 30 second rest to let the burn fizzle a bit.

For hip roles you lie on the ground pushing down with your hands and raise your pelvis off the floor so the tail bone comes right up and squeeze the abs!

Last step in the beginner ab routine is to add in some bridges or "planks" as some "guru's" of fitness have coined them. This is basically a pushup position but you don't rest on your hands, you rest on your forearms and just hold it for 30-60 seconds. Don't let your lower back sag! Keep a slightly inverted c posture like your trying to pull your hips toward your chin.

So here is the ab routine once you are working all exercises together.

Beginner ab routine phase 1:
Crunch x20
Hip roll x20
Bridge for 30-60 seconds
Rest and repeat for 3 circuits or just keep rotating through!

Alright enough of the easy stuff, we're here for some serious abs, killer abs.

Onto Ab Routine 2: The ab killer! I love pet names.

This ab routine will all be done on the decline bench.

The first ab exercise? Decline hip roll/leg raise. Beauty!

Step 1: Put your head where your feet should be

Step 2: grab the bench or the footholds; whichever is more comfortable (not that it will matter in a few minutes)!

Step 3: Stretch out and do a straight-legged leg raises.

Step 4: once at the top of the leg raise turn it into a hip roll so that you point your feet at the ceiling. Hold for a three count and go back down!

Second ab routine exercise:
Incline sit-ups:
Step 1: put your feet in the foot holds (you've turned around!)
Step 2: Lower yourself until you're about a foot short of lying fully back
Step 3: Come back up if you’re still with me!

Third ab routine exercise:
Incline Russian twists (even sounds evil doesn't it?)

Step 1: don't move out of the sit up position. Just grab a medicine ball or a 10- pound weight.

Step 2: straighten fully your arms right to your front and lower yourself to the bottom position of the incline sit up and hold it.

Step 3: Rotate to the right 90 degrees with your arms straight and then back to the left at 90 degrees. That's one rep. You don't come out of the bottom at all! Fun huh?

Here it is ab routine layout:
Leg raise/hip roll x20
Incline sit-ups x20
Russian twists x20 or 40 if you count both sides!

No rest between ab exercises, and only 30-60 seconds rest after completing the tri-set.

Third Ab Routine:
And the grand daddy hardest ab routine ever? For mortals anyway? Because I remember something about homer Simpson and a cannon ball, but I think you need to have access to the applesauce bar for that ab routine to work!

Well let’s call it the "commando cardio ab annihilation" workout. I have to have a fancy name on it or you wouldn't be interested! It involves a pre-stretch, a contraction and a dynamic stabilization (I just made that up, but you get the idea) exercise. Here are the ab routine exercises.

1. Smith machine, Swiss ball hip rolls
2. Partner resisted Swiss ball crunches
3. Swiss ball rollouts
4. Profuse sweating and clutching of the stomach.

Ab routine exercise 1: Smith machine, Swiss ball hip rolls:

1.Set the bar low in the smith machine, just below the top of the Swiss ball.

2. Sit on the ball and roll out so that you have to reach back and grab the bar as you lie on the ball. You should be about 2-3 feet away, stabilizing your self by holding the bar and flexing everything!

3. Using only your abs, stretch your pelvis down as low as it will go and then do a hip roll. Legs straight is the hardest.

Ab routine exercise 2: Partner resisted Swiss ball crunches.

1. It’s a normal Swiss ball ab crunch but your arms are crossed across your chest and your "friend" pushes down on your shoulders to apply resistance. That's it,..ahem.

Ab routine exercise 3: Swiss ball rollouts.

1. Kneel on a pad with legs crossed ball in front of you not on the pad.

2. Your hands are on the ball so it now looks like your praying?

3. Roll the ball out until your straight as a board with your head between your arms and pull it back in.

4. Profuse sweating and clutching of the stomach. This should come naturally.

In an ab routine all together?

Smith machine/Swiss ball hip rolls x20

Partner resisted Swiss ball crunches x20

Swiss ball rolloutsx20

Rest 30-60 seconds after each tri-set circuit or continue right through if you're a freak of nature or slightly "touched". I've never gotten 20 on all ab exercises on all three sets in a continuous circuit, let me know if you do!

I'll have to buckle down!

Ray Burton is a motivational speaker, an ISSA-certified personal trainer, philanthropist, and author of the best selling weight loss book, "Fat To Fit - The Journey” Ray has written hundreds of articles and been featured in Rising Women, The Calgary Sun, and www.Crosstrainer.ca

For info on Ray's book, visit the home page at: http://www.FatToFitBook.com. To get Ray’s FREE weight loss tips newsletter visit his weight loss website.