Six Pack Abs - These 3 Mistakes Will Ruin Your Success

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sounds overly simplistic doesn't it?

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

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

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

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

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

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

What Is The Best Diet To Get Six Pack Abs?

Are you yearning to have the best diet to get six pack abs? Well, it is considered smart and stylish to get six pack abs. No doubt, it's healthy as well. But this would mean that you need to follow a strict 'abs' diet so that you can actually become as toned as you want to be.

Following abs diet is a great idea for ensuring that you have a stronger, healthier and toned body. After all, the whole world would admire your flat tummy as it is considered to be one of the sexiest things about the body.

You should take care to not get pains relating to the back and or any kind of injuries. People don't realize the importance of an abs diet so this article focuses on helping you understand that no amount of exercise would be sufficient for you to get your six pack abs unless this is complemented by your adherence to a proper abs diet. There is no doubt that you can't continue with so much excess fat being stored in your body.

Oatmeals:
If your choice of carbohydrates to start your day must help you lose calories, oatmeal is your perfect meal. This complex carbohydrate source can do wonders to help you burn fat. No wonder, a host of bodybuilders as well as fitness professionals choose oatmeals when they are entering into competitions. Oatmeal provides everything in tokens that are extremely balanced. For example, half a cup of oatmeal would have 5 grams of protein, 3 grams of fats, and 27 grams of carbs.

Now you understand why oatmeal is always recommend as a perfectly healthy choice for those who want to lose weight. Yams (or sweet potatoes): These are the next best choice for consuming starchy carbohydrates that are natural, healthy and low in calories but ensures high nutrients as well. It keeps you feeling fuller for longer time because digestion becomes slower.

Whole Wheat and Whole Grain Products:
As whole wheat and whole grain eatables are an important part of good diets, it would be a good thing to ensure that your choice of breads and grains are 100% whole grain and whole wheat. If you have been consuming mainly white bread, this is one of the worst things to bring into your body. When your goal is to lose weight and burn calories, it is best to use only 100% whole grain and whole wheat.

Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables would also do wonders so start your abs diet right now! To learn more on how to lose abdominal fat select one of the links below. You will also get a Free Bonus ebook - "Training & Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body".

Finally The Right Way To Lose Belly Fat - starting today! You can also learn how to get Six Pack Abs. Do You Know The Hidden Dangers of Your Excess Abdominal Fat?

Why The Male Abs And Female Abs "Six Pack" Quest May Prove Difficult For Some

Male abs and female abs require the same building blocks when starting an abdominal workout routine. What is the best workout for male abs? What about for female abs? The truth is, the exercises are the same.

When talking muscle building, there are differences between male vs. female. Those differences are hormones and genetics. Hormones allow a man to build bigger muscles, heavier bones and in most cases, greater height. But when we talk about abdominal exercises, the anatomy between the two sexes is the same.

The four basic ab muscles are the Rectus Abdominus, Internal Obliques, External Obliques and the Transversus Abdominus. Both men and women possess these groups of muscles and so ab exercises will be the same for both sexes.

You've seen your share of fitness magazines. On the cover you'll see a photo of a young, hot body with amazing "six pack" abs and you might wonder to yourself, how do they get those fabulous male abs, or those sculpted female abs?

There are answers, but the quest may prove difficult. Here are the basic rules for "six pack" abs:

• Genetics – be born a man. Men are genetically able to develop big muscle and they typically have a lower body fat % then a woman

• Diet – make it lean and healthy

• Abdominal Exercises – Do them properly, with good form and choose the ones that target all the abdominal groups.

• LOSE THE FAT

Having a low body fat % will allow you to see what is underneath that extra layer of fat tissue and best way to lose fat is to burn more calories than you take in. Create a fitness plan that gives you a good cardiovascular workout, mix in a good strength training routine, and stick to a lean and healthy diet.

For both men and women, functionality of the abdominal muscles is of great importance especially as we age. Start a Pilates routine to maintain balance, bone health and to remain standing tall as you age.

ACE, the American Council on Exercise, recently came out with a study showing the 6 most effective abdominal exercises. Guess what? Pilates has it covered. Each of those 6 exercises for abs has a sister exercise in the Pilates method of exercise.

It’s the smaller postural and supportive muscles that get over looked when the focus is on how a body looks rather than how a body works. Bodybuilders work hard on the big superficial muscle groups and they typically have weak smaller muscle groups, which may lead to an imbalance in strength.

Pilates ab exercises work on those smaller, more functional muscles as well as the bigger superficially placed muscles. Pilates will help men achieve well-defined male abs.

There are no differences between a male abs workout and female abs workout. Both need to be balanced workouts consisting of well-rounded exercises that are executed properly.

So remember the facts for achieving "six pack" male abs or "six pack" female abs. You may never get on the cover of a fitness magazine, but with the help of a qualified Pilates instructor you may get your abdominals into killer shape.

Susannah Marchese is a certified Pilates instructor, and the senior contributing writer to the popular and informative web site http://www.everything-about-pilates.com/maleabs-femalebs.html

Susannah Marchese - http://www.everything-about-pilates.com

Learn the Truth About Weight Loss and Getting Great Abs

Debunking The Ab Myth

Ab training has been done to death but it's time to take another look. Why? Because people are still training their abs wrong so all that ab training information must not be doing the job.

1 - No Spot Reducing - Endless crunches will not melt away the fat from your midsection. It just doesn't work that way. And despite the "burn" of high rep ab exercises, you barely burn any calories while doing those endless crunches.

Your fat burning time is best spent elsewhere on more effective training. You also don't work the ab muscle intensely enough to develop it.

So endless high rep crunches fail on both counts - poor muscle building and poor fat burning. Two thumbs down as the cliche goes.

2 - The Abs are a Muscle and should be trained as such. You don't need high reps and lots of sets to work your abs. This just leads to overtraining.

Now, abs are a more endurance oriented muscle so slightly higher reps may be more effective. However, you should keep the reps at 20 or lower and work on increasing the resistance.

Yes, you should be increasing the weights on ab exercises, just like your other exercises. The stronger your abs, the better they will look when the fat is stripped away.

Ever see a really thin guy with a flat stomach but no abs? The abs haven't been trained and aren't developed enough to stand out even when the fat is stripped away.

3 - Don't train the abs - What the heck do I mean by this? Well, your abs get a lot of indirect work from other exercises so you really won't need more than a couple of hard sets of weighted crunches to work your abs.

Your abs are a factor in exercises such as squats, deadlifts, seated or standing presses, dumbbell pullovers, pulldowns, etc. Don't believe me?

Next time you work out, do a few hard sets of standing stiff armed pulldowns on the lat machine and tell me your abs aren't sore the next day. I did them yesterday and my abs are more sore than my back today.

If you want to develop a flat stomach with your abs visible, you need to treat your abs like a muscle and train that way. And you need to strip away the fat with a proper training and nutrition program designed around total fat loss, not trying to spot reduce through endless crunches.

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.

1 - 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.

2 - 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.

3 - 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.

4 - 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.

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

Gregg Gillies is a speaker, consultant, fat loss expert, trainer and author. He teaches fitness via his articles, books and courses at his web site http://www.buildleanmuscle.com . He is the author of two books: Complete information on his books, along with lots of free articles are available at his site. And while there, don't forget to sign up for his free newsletter, "Fit Physique".