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

Abs and Exercise

Your abdominal muscles are the same as any other muscles in your body. They work similarly to your biceps, triceps and hamstrings, so why is it that we treat them so differently? Abs cover a large part of your body and a well defined midsection says, "I'm in shape."

Because of the way the body works, most people store a large portion of their body fat in the midsection. If you have a perfect set of abs covered by a layer of fat, no one will be impressed with your hard work. Getting abs is a two step process. Step 1: lower your body fat. Step 2: build up your abs with sit ups and crunches.

To lower your body fat, you need to take the same steps you would if you were looking to lose weight. Exercise-wise you need to engage in some sort of cardio. Cardio can be almost anything you enjoy doing.

If you want to go to the gym you can run on a treadmill, ride a bike, use the elliptical or rowing machine. There are plenty of options to choose from.

If you'd rather save some money and do cardio outside of a gym there is more than enough to keep you busy. Running, biking, walking, swimming, sports and any type of work (yard work, house work...) is good cardio as long as you do it on a regular basis at a high enough intensity. Read more on cardio guidelines.

Once you have your cardio in order, you need to begin targeting your abdominal muscles. If you have a high body fat percentage with a nice set of abdominal muscles, chances are you won't see anything impressive. On the other hand, if you have a low body fat percentage and you never work on your abs, there will be nothing to show off. You want to include your abs in your workout just as you do all your other muscles.

Don't go into the gym everyday with the goal of killing your abs. Remember that to grow or improve their appearance, muscles need time to rest and heal. If you're doing hundreds of crunches or sit ups everyday, you'll never see an improvement. Its like picking at a scab, it can't heal.

If you choose to work on your abs every time you go to the gym, don't go till failure on every set. Do 3-6 sets on a lighter weight and move on to another muscle group. If you only work on your abs once or twice a week then you can do more sets and you can do them till failure. Failure means that the last repetition you do is really the last one you could physically do. Find a weight with which you can perform between 8 and 12 reps.

Abs can't appear overnight. You need to get your exercise as well as your diet in check before you see any progress.

Guide to Getting Nice Abs and Six Packs

Health, Exercise and Dieting - Straighthealth.com

The Most Common Myths about Abs

Myth 1

Abdominal muscle is different from regular muscle.

Your abdominal muscles are just like every other muscle in your body. The abdominal is different only in location and unlike biceps or quads they don’t rest on a bony surface. So you should train them the same way you would train, say, your biceps or your chest. The basic laws of physiology apply to all your muscles, including your abs. This means that you have to do exercises in the correct plane of movement to effectively work the muscle.

Myth 2

You have to train your abs everyday.

The rules of weight training state that you should give your muscles at least, a day of rest to recover and this applies to your abs as well. Instead of working your back everyday, do them every other day or even just three times a week. They need a break just like the rest of your body. The trick is to train them hard.

Myth 3

Doing ab exercises gets rid of abdominal fat.

There is no such thing as spot reduction. People assume that if you have fat deposits on your abdominal, exercising the muscles underlying the fat will make it go away. But they assume wrong. You can’t get rid of the fat over a muscle by repeatedly exercising that body part. The only way to burn fat from your tummy is through prolonged exercise and a healthy, low calorie diet.

Myth 4

High repetitions are required to make gains.

As you’ve read earlier, abs are just like every other muscle in your body. That means, you should train your abs the same way as the rest of your muscle groups. To make strength gains with your abs, you have to overload your muscles.

Myth 5

Anyone can have a flat stomach.

For many people it’s not physiologically possible to achieve a flat stomach. In most of us the abdominal muscles are designed to be somewhat rounded, not flat. Age, genetics, gender all these factors decide the size, shape and appearance of you belly.

Myth 6

If you have a bad back, training the abs will worsen it.

Training your abs will strengthen you back. The opposing muscles in you body always assist each other. So if you have weak ab muscles, the load of the work falls on the back. So strengthen the abs and your back will become stronger as well.

Don’t waste time by falling victim to six main ab myths. Train intelligently in accordance with scientifically based training techniques and get super abs.

Indy Stewart also writes on how to Abdominal Workouts. More info: http://www.bigmusclesbuilding.com/