Female Abs - Six Pack Abs For The Ladies

Not many years ago, if you said to someone that you wanted a six pack they would have told you to go to the liquor store. Today it seems that wanting to improve and tone ones body is very high on our list of priorities. Looking to achieve a rock like chiselled stomach is not just for men either, more and more women are looking upon the six pack as a sign of extreme fitness. Geri Halliwell is probably one of the more noticeable example of sexy abs lately, she didn't get like this over night though.

There will be men out there that will start pulling their hair out at my next comment, but it's true. Women are more likely to succeed at gaining sexy abs than men are to get ripped! Women can put a picture in their mind of what they want to achieve and keep going until they achieve it. Men on the other hand, well we get a picture in our mind and it probably lasts until the next pizza or wild party. Men will achieve their goals; it just takes a little longer.

Whether you are male or female, achieving sexy abs can not be done without a controlled diet. There are many diets for weight loss which are very good, but you are looking for a fat burning diet which will also provide the nutrition which enables you to exercise. There is no point trying to simply cut down on the amount you eat whilst training, you will simply collapse from exhaustion because you do not have the correct vitamins and supplements.

Ant training regiment must only be undertaken when you understand what it is you want and what it takes to achieve it.

If you want to get six pack abs, think positively, set aside time to exercise and make sure that you warm up properly.

You may not always see the results within the first couple of weeks, after a month to six weeks you will start to see improvements, if you stick to the proper training.

Above all, if you are exercising at home, train safely and follow a good guide. Eat sensibly and drink plenty of water to keep hydrated.

For more information on how to get a great six pack click - Six Pack Abs

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

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.