Effective Abs Exercises - Part II

It is important that you combine the following ab workouts with the others we have previously discussed for more intense results.Alternate exercises which target the front midsection with ab workouts that target the sides.The most common ab workouts revolve around the basic crunches, though variations are made to target nuance areas around the abdomen.

A great thing about the abdominal crunch in exercises is that it focuses the strain all in one small area - that is, the midsection, by controlling contractions.The following ab workouts are designed for a better-rounded abdomen, and also to expose those enviable muscles called the six-pack.

Intense exercises, coupled with an over-all body shaping program, will give proportion to the entire body.Try the following ab workouts to burn that beer belly and reveal that six pack.

Wood chop ab workouts are exercises designed to target your side abdominals.This is a great way for beginners to try out since it involves simple movements while giving great contractions to your abdominals.You begin your exercises by attaching one end of an exercise rubber band to something stationary and sturdy, and then wrap your hand around the other end for increased tension.

Continue your exercises by grasping the end of the rubber band with both hands, and then begin a lunging position, reaching down with the arms.Keep your arms straight the entire time you do your workout, rotate and lift your body sideways while doing a diagonal motion.

Repeat your exercises by returning to starting position and moving to the other side.Trying out this workout tightens your side abdominals if done properly, and preferably regularly.In addition, these ab workouts must not be overdone as it may cause possible irreversible damage to your abdominal muscles.Overdoing your regimen may cause muscle damage and other injuries.

The recommended regimen for your ab workouts would be to perform several exercises, at least three to five at a time, two to three times a week with a day's rest in between ab workouts.The purpose of this is to make sure your abdominals get the most contractions during your regimen while giving them time to relax, thereby reducing muscle tear and other injuries which may be experienced when overdoing ab workouts.

You can start your ab workouts by doing two sets of ten to fifteen repetitions per exercise.As you progress in your exercises, you can move to three sets of twenty repetitions, and so on as you become accustomed to the increasing strain.

Remember, you should not do all of the available exercises in your regimen as there may be strain to your muscles; too much of it results to tissue damage.You can try out these simple exercises and incorporate them in your ab workouts.

In the "Alternating superman" workout, you begin by lying face down on an exercise mat with your arms stretched way above your head, just like superman.You continue your regimen by raising your right arm and left leg about five to six inches off of the floor, or preferably as far as you comfortable can.Hold this position in your exercises for three seconds and then relax your body.Repeat your ab workouts by doing the exact same process with the other arm and leg. In side bend ab workouts, you begin by holding a dumbbell with your hand, then stand with your feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent.Continue your ab workouts by placing your left hand behind your head and slowly bend sideways to your right side while lowering the weights to your knees.Finish your regimen by returning to first position and repeating with the other side.

James never thought he would be a personal gym trainer when he once weighed 311 lbs.He is now a total fanatic about muscle-building and crunches his way through his CSI. Now doing freelance teaching to people who require proper healthy diets, he always advocate his motto of "not giving up".

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Lose Belly Fat - 4 Tips To Get Ripped Abs Without Sit Ups And Crunches

Do you spend hours doing crunches or sit ups and yet, you are not getting ripped or six pack abs? Chances are you've been doing it all wrong!

It's a common mistake in most people who want visible abs to do abdominal exercise only. Sure, you develop abdominal muscle but it's only hidden under a layer of fat. In fact, you may find your ab getting bigger as a result of the increased muscle mass.

If you want visible abs, your focus should be on reducing excess body fat.

Low body fat = ripped abs

You achieve low body fat by burning more calories than you consume.

Here are 4 tips for losing belly fat effectively and permanently.

1. Interval training

Research has shown that interval training is more superior to slow, steady cardio for fat loss. Your metabolism remains elevated post workout, thus resulting in the after burn effect. Effectively, you continue to burn calories even after an interval workout but not after a long, steady cardio workout.

Also, if you don't have long hours to spare in the gym, interval workouts enable you to achieve the most fat loss in the least amount of time. Some examples of interval workouts are wind sprints, hill sprints, swimming sprints and speed rope jumping. You can also do intervals on a treadmill, stationary bicycle, stairclimber, rower and elliptical machines.

2. Nutrition

Proper nutrition is the key to fat loss. No matter how much or hard you train, you'll never get visible abs if you live on crisps, sodas, fast food, cookies and other crap. Don't fall for any of the low carb, low fat, high protein and other fad diets. Instead, eat a healthy and well balanced diet that includes various food groups - carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins and minerals.

Eat 5-6 small meals a day to keep your energy levels stable. Choose wholesome, natural foods, preferably organic, and avoid processed foods. Avoid refined and simple carbs that contain white flour and white sugar. Your main sources of carbohydrates are fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Include a source of high quality, lean protein with every meal. There are several benefits to consuming lean protein. Your body burns more calories from digesting protein than carbs or fats. Protein keeps hunger at bay and gives you a feeling of satiety. It is also necessary for building lean muscle that controls your metabolism and burns calories.

Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and to speed up fat loss.

Consume healthy fats from avocado, flax seed (or flax oil), nuts, seeds, fish (or fish oil), etc. Essential fatty acids help to regulate appetite and burn fat.

3. Resistance training

Resistance training not only sculpts your body but is important for building muscles. Like interval training, it raises your post workout metabolism so your body continues to burn calories even when you are doing nothing.

Aim for low rep resistance training, i.e. 8 reps per exercise, as it has been shown to boost metabolism after the workout.

If your goal is to burn fat, don't isolate your body parts by training certain muscle groups using single-joint movements. Isolation exercises such as leg extension, bicep curl and tricep kickback burn little body fat. Shift your focus from single-joint to multi-joint muscle movements such as squats, lunges, split squats, pushups, chinups, rows, step ups and deadlifts. These are full body movements that work many muscles at one time, burn more calories during each workout and increase your metabolism post workout.

4. Reduce stress

Stress has been associated with belly fat. In stressful situations, your body releases a stress hormone called cortisol. Excess cortisol production leads to build up of belly fat. A fat belly is more than ugly looking. Accumulated fat in the abdomen increases your risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Be aware of your stress level and learn to manage it through yoga, meditation, qi gong, tai chi and other stress reduction techniques. The truth is there's no quick fix for losing belly fat. Forget about ab gadgets, diets or magic pills that promise to give you lean abs. They are nothing but scams.

The good news is that you can attain a set of lean or six pack abs through a healthy diet plan and effective training program that promote fat loss.

If you're interested in taking your fat loss efforts to an entirely new level, grab a free fat loss ebook which details 27 unique methods for boosting your metabolism and losing belly fat

Tired of long boring cardio workouts and seeing no positive results? Discover how to lose body fat and gain muscle with just 3 short workouts a week.

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How To Get Ripped Abs - 11 Tips To Ripped Abs

Everybody seems to want to know how to get ripped abs. I've found that most people believe that getting ripped, protruding abs involves doing hundreds of stomach crunches and situps frequently. They believe that doing so will burn fat off of their stomach area, exposing their abs.

I used to believe this same thing, and it was getting me nowhere. After some research and trial and error experimentation, I discovered the truth about how to get ripped abs.

First off, you will never have visible, six-pack abs if you have a layer of fat covering your abdominal area. To get ripped abs, your primary goal should be fat loss. Even if you have an incredibly strong core of abdominal muscles, if it is covered by fat you will never see them. This idea is key in order to understand how to get ripped abs.

Second, the idea that doing countless stomach crunches to burn fat is a myth. You cannot spot-reduce fat from a single area of your body by targeting it. Body fat is lost evenly across your body when you combine a solid exercise and nutritional program. I make sure I strongly emphasize this idea when telling people how to get ripped abs, because so many believe that stomach fat is lost through abdominal crunches and situps. Not true!

In order to be able to start seeing your abs, you must lose body fat. This is accomplished through strict nutrition and a consistent exercise regimen.

Because everybody is different, no single nutritional program will work for everyone, but in order to get ripped abs keep a few things in mind:

1. Eat every 2-3 hours

2. Eat around 1 gram of lean protein per pound of body weight with every meal. Lean proteins include, but are not limited to: tuna fish, low/nonfat dairy products, chicken breast, whey protein powder, shrimp and other fish, etc.

3. Drink 16-20 ounces or more of water with every meal.

4. If you are sensitive to fat gain, you are most likely carbohydrate-sensitive. This does NOT mean you should remove carbohydrates from your diet, but rather limit them to a lower percentage of daily intake, and eat less of them at later hours of the evening.

5. Eat lots of vegetables.

6. Limited saturated fats and avoid trans fats at all costs.

7. Determine your basal metabolic rate and consume less calories than you burn.

Nutrition is an extremely vital aspect of understanding how to get ripped abs. However, it is not the only aspect. Weight training and cardiovascular exercise also play a big role in getting ripped abs. Here are a few tips:

1. To lose fat efficiently without losing muscle mass, choose high intensity cardio over long duration cardio. This will enable you to shed fat while retaining your ab muscles (and every other muscle for that matter), a huge factor in understanding how to get ripped abs !

2. Perform high intensity cardio at least 3 times per week. If you hit a fat loss plateau, experiment with increasing the duration and/or intensity of your sessions or adding another session.

3. Targeted abdominal exercises should be performed 2-3 times per week at the most. Other compound exercises, such as barbell squats and deadlifts, work the abdominal region as well, so keep this in mind before making the mistake of doing ab crunches every day.

4. There are hundreds of ab exercises. I've found that decline situps and decline crunches work particularly well in developing the abdominal region, especially once you start adding weight. Simple floor crunches are also very effective for the beginner.

Put these ideas into action including a good nutrition and exercise routine and you will see results!

If you would like to know more about how to get ripped abs, including:

- More detailed nutrition info you'll need to get ripped abs
 

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- A FREE ebook about fat loss
 

- How to customize your own routine

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