How To Get 6 Pack Abs Without Doing Situps

As a London Personal Trainer I often get asked how to develop a strong core and 6 pack stomach muscles. It seems that so many people are still practicing old exercises and cranking out hundreds of sit ups on a daily basis in the hope of reducing stomach fat and developing their 6 pack abs.

Doing regular sit ups or crunches will not only give you back problems but doesn't really help in developing your core and revealing your stomach muscles. Our core / stomach muscles are more complex than you may think and need to be worked in three different planes of motion for optimal results. Doing regular sit ups and crunches is both unnatural and only addresses one plane of movement, and it's not very good at doing that.

As well as taking the core / stomach muscles through 3 different planes of movement the body fat covering the abdominals must also be addressed. Forget the old wives tale about spot reducing fat, this simply isn't the case, hundreds of sit ups won't burn stomach fat - fat naturally comes off in layers from all over the body. The only way to reduce stomach fat is with a good total body exercise programme and by eating a healthy diet.

Remember that we all have stomach muscles waiting to be seen under our belly fat but in order to increase their size and make them more visible they need to be trained like any other body part. So, a combination of the correct abdominal / core exercises, a healthy diet and a good all over body routine will bring your 6 pack abs out for all to see.

I have found the following 6 exercises to be the best for stabalising your core and reducing potential back pain whilst bringing your abdominals / obliques to the surface.

1. The Side Plank - keep your hips inline, belly button in and maintain this position for as long as possible. Start with 30 secs and increase up to 2 minutes over time. Breathe!

2. The Front Plank - keep your body in a straight line, belly button in and arms at 90 degrees. Start with 30 secs and increase up to 2 minutes over time. Breathe!

3. The Bird Dog - keep your back flat, belly button pulled in, thumb up and out at 45 degrees. Opposite leg goes straight back. Start with 6 reps on each side and work up to 3 sets of 12.

4. The Front Mountain Climber - in a press up position with you back flat and belly button pulled in bring your knee straight up to your chest. Breathe out as you do so and contract your abdominals as if you were being punched in the stomach. Take leg back and repeat. Start with 6 on each side and work up to 3 sets of 12.

5. The Outside Mountain Climber - as above but drop your hips slightly and bring your knee to the outside of your elbow. Squeeze the side of your stomach, your obliques, together as if being folded in half sideways.

6. The Inside Mountain Climber - as with the above mountain climber but bring your knee across and squeeze the side of your stomach muscles (obliques).

Perform all these exercises 3 times a week along with your regular workout for the ultimate strong core and the highly elusive six pack stomach muscles.

Good luck and enjoy your new abs!!

Greg is a health and fitness professional based in Hampstead, North London. He achieves fantastic results for his clients by using his in depth knowledge and the most up to date techniques. http://www.gbpersonaltraining.com

Foods For Sexy, Flat & Firm Six Pack Abs

Eating the right foods will play a key roll in achieving the six pack abs. Everybody loves them and everybody wants them but it is hard to get and maintain. It can be done with a lot of work so if you are up to the challenge than it is time to get started.

The food that you eat will determine if you progress fast or slowly. The better you eat the faster the results. You will also increase your overall health when you eat better. You need to start with natural foods because they are healthier for you than foods that have been processed. Processed foods can add things that don’t belong in your food and take away the natural ingredients that foods are grown with. Balance your metabolism by eating smaller meals more frequently, say 5 -6 meals each day instead of 3 large meals. This maintains your system and it also keeps your energy up. Don’t forget to drink plenty of water and stick to an ab workout that will help you lose weight and tone up the muscles.

Don’t bother counting calories because in the end calories are not what matters anyway. Choose to eat foods that do not need to be processed or have not been processed before you got it. For example, all your processed meats such as deli ham, turkey, hot dogs, salami, these are not healthy and allow unwanted chemicals to be digested causing you to work harder to rid them from your body. Keep it simple and remember to eat and drink in moderation.

Download your free report today and discover the SHOCKINGLY simple abdominal workouts, exercises and nutritional advice that will shed pounds from your stomach & transform your flabby belly into firm & flat six pack abs. Visit http://www.firmupyourabs.com to download your free copy.

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.