Six Pack Stomach - Are You After The 6 Pack Abs?

Achieving your sick pack stomach is very possible but it depends on body fat. You need to have low body fat in order to develop the abdominal muscles.If the fat level is high then no matter what you do you will not change the shape of the body. Getting the results depends on metabolism and body type and this is different for everyone. There are, however, some simple steps that you can take to get that defined look.

The importance here is to increase the rate of metabolism - how quickly we digest the food. If you eat smaller amounts more regularly say every three hours or so, then this will increase your metabolic rate which in turn would help you burn the calories. When eating meals it is very important to make sure that you include protein and also low carbs which are slow burning and will make your feel full. The example of these low glycemic carbs are oranges, pears, grapes, diary, oats, sweet potato, and most of the vegetables.

Carbohydrates is very very imortant part of the equation and if you after loss of weight and get muscles then it is advised that you reduce the intake of processed foods such as pasta, white rice and bread, chips and candy. If you want to achieve weight loss then you should include a lot of protein to your diet.

Here are some tips for exercises - bench crunches, hanging leg rises, pull-down crunches. Remember that when you are doing the crunches, crunch up as high as possible and only come down few inches. Note that you will need to keep the tension to the muscle and do not rest the abs doing the exercises.

Make a plan on what you want to achieve and if you want to get a six pack stomach then do cardio and abdominal exercises, eat healthy food so you will see a difference very quickly.

I would also very strongly recommend you read the following material where you are also offered a Free Report

How To Get A Six Pack - The Truth To Ripped Abs & Flat Stomachs

There is a incredible amount of advice out there on how to get those abs that your looking for - well in most cases i would not really say that 80% of the info pass as sound advise, so please be careful what you do or don't take in from people.

I highly recommend when finding a new fact that could possibly have a impact on your training that you go of and validate that "opinion" by a few other professionals. If that opinion seems to be shared by the top authority's in the field THEN id implement that strategy into my overall training plan.

One thing that I'm sick to death of hearing about the ultimate abs machine or exercise - I am heavily against all ab machine & pills as the results will either not occur or will dishearten you as you will relapse into your old fat self if you don't get the right education to begin with. So really people get yourself educated.

Its hard for me to teach you about the entire process of how to get those abs your after in just one article, so what ill do is break down what it is that you need to go of and study to get yourself that abs that your after.

4 Things

- Interval Training
- Resistance Training
- Metabolism boosting foods
- Metabolism blocker foods

If you get yourself a general overview of these 4 topics you will be well on your way to the abs that you want or simply to give yourself that flat stomach your after. The above methods will also help with your over all health and loss of fat all over your body.

Want To Get Rid Of Your Stomach fat and reveal those Abs fast ?

Go to http://www.truthaboutabprograms.com

OR how to get a six pack

Here you will find Ab diets, killer ab workouts and all round top notch advice for getting abs fast.

Get Six Pack Abs With an Abs Workout

Developing Six Pack abs is easier that you think. The best news is that weights are not needed. Imagine that.

Six Pack Abs can easily be developed with a combination of Interval training, targeted exercises as well as supportive exercise.

Interval Training

Interval Training is an integral part of an Abs workout. This is because it is the quickest way to remove the layer of excess fat the covers the abdominal muscles.

This exercise involves quick bursts of hard action followed by rest periods.

Run as hard and fast as you can for 20 to 30 seconds, and then walk at a quick pace for 3 minutes. Repeat this 5 times in a session.

Do this routine at least three times a week.

This exercise works because it dramatically increases the body's metabolism. This in turn increases the rate at which the body burns fat and fuel.

Targeted exercise

The best targeted exercise for developing Six Pack Abs are leg lifts.

Lay on your back with your hands behind your head. Using your abdominal muscles only, lift your legs up to approximately 60 degrees from the floor and hold them up there for 10 seconds (or longer of you can). Then let them down slowly without touching the floor.

Start with 3 times 10 reps increasing this to 3 times 30 reps. Avoid doing this exercise every day. Rather do it every second day. You muscles need a resting period to recover and to build up.

Supportive Exercise

Do three times 10 reps of Chin Ups or Pull Ups. You are probably asking yourself how this exercise helps develop Abs. Your abdominal muscle supports other muscles during workout.

Please understand that a well designed exercise program is the best way to develop six pack abs without the risk of injury. This also ensures that you get maximum results in the shortest time frame possible.

If you would like to know which abs exercise program we highly recommend, click here

How To Get Great 6 Pack Abs

At one point in time, every last one of us passionately wanted a chiseled rock-hard mid-section. We all want to know how to get great 6 pack abs. Well here is one of the best kept secrets. It is the most coveted body part, the symbol of sexuality. In study after study researchers and health specialist alike have found that decreasing fat in your abdomen, and waist to hip ratio is the single most significant step that you can take to stay healthy for life, and age gracefully. Most of us have given up on the idea because our quest has for naught. We have been flooded with miss-information from fad diets, fat burner supplements, to exercise gadgets, promoting six week transformations with dramatic before and after photo’s, etc. The key to that coveted six pack is not one thing, it is four things.

Bringing your body-fat level down by:

1.) Following a precise nutrition plan that has the right amount of protein combined together with the right amount and the right type of carbohydrates spaced strategically through-out the day, and around weight training and cardio sessions.
2.) An intelligent cardiovascular program
3.) An optimistic athletic mid-set
4.) Building up the muscles of the mid-section, and building up all other muscle groups

In this article let’s focus on #4.

The secret weapon for developing the musculature of the abdominal wall is a little known exercise called the ab vacuum. It targets you inner most abdominal muscle, the transverse abdominis (TVA for short). Most people don’t even know they have one let alone how to activate it. The TVA is like a corset, it is your own internal weight belt, holding your internal organs in place. It is the foundation for the rest of the abdominal muscles, the internal and external obliques, and the rectus abdominis. If you have done crunches and leg-lifts until you are blue in the face and are still unhappy with your mid-section, this information could take your quest for that fit chiseled mid-section to the next level.

There are other benefits to strengthening your TVA.

• It is the only exercise that has the ability to actually make your waist-line smaller.

• By working and strengthening the TVA you are actually giving your spine more support, so the risk of a vertebrae or a disc slipping out of place is less. Did you notice that the old leather weight belts are not used anymore? That’s because we learned to tighten up our own internal weight belt on exercises verses using an external weight belt that shut off the need to activate the TVA which lead to injuries.

• Better sex. When you strengthen your TVA with the ab vacuum exercise you will be using your diaphragm and you will also strengthen your lower pelvic floor muscles (ala a kegel squeeze). To perform a kegel exercise, squeeze your pelvic floor muscles, as if you’re trying to stop the flow of urine mid-stream. Stronger pelvic floor muscles help women achieve orgasms and help men achieve and maintain erections. It also makes the orgasms more pleasurable. As soon as I tell my clients this, you can always be assured of overtraining of the TVA.

• You can work the other abdominal muscles more effectively. You can’t shoot a cannon out of a canoe. You can’t have strong walls on your building if your foundation is weak. When you strengthen up the foundation of your mid-section you will be able to perform your other abdominal exercises with more focused intensity. You will be able to feel the difference in weeks.

• Athleticism- The TVA is the deepest abdominal muscle group there is. It is truly the core the core. An athlete can have excellent cardiovascular condition and have strong leg and back muscles, but if his core muscles aren’t in optimal condition, this creates a weak link in the bodies muscle chain that affects all his movements. All movements and reactions start at the core. If core muscles don’t do their job to stabilize and move the torso, then arm and leg muscles will overcompensate, trying to do a job for which they are ill-equipped.

To get in tune with and activate your TVA simply place your hands around the sides of your body at your pelvis. Flatten your stomach by gently pulling in your gut, or pulling your belly away from your waist band. You can feel the TVA at work as it reduces the diameter of your torso in that area. This simple exercise also demonstrates the involvement of the abs in respiration, particularly exhalation.

I have put on an incredibly unique twist to this exercise. The combination of two little known exercises takes the effectiveness of this core exercise to the next level. Basically, I have combined an ab vacuum with a kegele squeeze. Most women know what a kegel squeeze is. In child birth it gets the lower pelvic floor muscles stronger which aid in the pushing for child birth. For men, when trying to perform a kegel squeeze, think about stopping the flow of urine mid-stream while pulling your belly-button back toward your spine (as you exhale about ½ of your lung capacity). Also try to think about squeezing your sphincter muscles or like you have a quarter between your butt cheeks and you don’t want it too fall out.

Now lets perform the exercise

To begin, lie on your back with your knees bent at a 90, feet flat on the floor and the small of your back pushed flat into the floor. Take in a very slow long breathe and start to slowly exhale ¾ of your air while you are pulling your belly button down toward your spine (I like to put my index finger on my belly-button and feel it raise as I take the long breathe in and then feel it start downward as I exhale ¾ of my lung capacity). While at the same time pushing your lower back into the floor and drive you chin down toward your chest slightly. Once you have ¾ of your air out hold your breathe and suck in through your throat with your breathe being held for5-10 seconds. As you are holding your breath and sucking in, think about pulling your innards up and under your rib-cage. It is called the ab vacuum for a reason, it is a little hard to come out of it and resume your normal breathing. But you will, and once you do relax and take a couple breathes and repeat. Starting out do 1 set of 6-9 repetitions, 2-3 times per week.

You can do the ab vacuum anywhere, and need no equipment. It’s a great way to wake up, or to end your day. It will take lots of practice and each week you will be able to feel the muscles working more and more. Once you get good at the technique you will be able to feel a ½ circle burning sensation in the pubic area. Don’t be alarmed, just feel good about mastering one of the most unique and effective abdominal exercises out there. Please don’t give up on this exercise, once you master it you will be able to reverse gravity, and start to put back in place what years of inactivity and bad posture has started to let hang over your belt line.

To view pictures, stats, and testimonials of well over 80 clients that graduated from Darin's "FATLOSS LIFESTYLE" program go to: Testimonials

Make it a great day, Make it a great week, Make it a great Life!! Your friend in fitness, Darin L. Steen at: Fat Loss

How To Get Eye Candy Abs

If you could sculpt one body part to perfection for next summer, what would it be? Let me guess - six pack abs! It's what we all want , eye candy abs. I don't know anybody who does not want to shrink their waistline, lose body fat, eliminate lowe'r back pain and develop a jaw-dropping set of rock-hard six-pack abs. Building eye-popping abdominals is not the hardest thing to achieve in the world but it's definitely not the easiest either.

Before you can start learning how to get eye candy abs and discover the truth about what it really takes to build a beach-worthy abdominal section, you must first expose the lies, myths and rumors. Before we talk about how to get six-pack abs, the right way, we must re-program your hard drive and empty the trash can of garbage you have been fed.

Because of all this hyped-up and misguided information - even among so-called 'fitness experts' - you should be skeptical of all abdominal training equimpment and programs. Let's first eliminate the top four ways not to get a six-pack:

Learning how to get a six-pack does not require expensive workout equipment promoted through obnoxious infomercials. You can't flick on the TV anymore without seeing two new abdominal exercise machines being promoted at once. There are so many of them that if you get suckered into these 'ab workout' gimmicks, you will be broke quicker than Ben Johnson sprints the 100 meter dash! And get this: Of the $520 million dollars a year spent on exercise equipment, abdominal machines get a $208 million dollar piece of the pie!

Learning how to get a six-pack does not require thousands or even hundreds of crunches a day. So much for the Brittany Spears ab workout! Crunches are decent but totally overused and associated with more being better. Crunches are a very general exercise, and general exercises get general results. Excessive floor crunches shorten the abdominal wall, pull your head forward and emphasize poor posture. They also involve a very low level of stimulation which neglects adequate muscle-fiber recruitment.

Learning how to get a six-pack does not involve starvation diets. Starvation diets starve the muscle when you should be feeding the muscle instead. Guess what happens when you starve your body? Your metabolism shuts down out of survival and causes your body to store fat. Your body must get energy from somewhere, so guess what gets sacrificed? That's right, your precious muscle which is, in fact, responsible for maintaining a high metabolism. Starve your muscle - great logic!

Learning how to get a six-pack does not require fat-burning pills. What did the last weight loss pill you bought do for you? The same thing the next one is going to do - nothing! Except give you a thinner wallet but not a thinner waist line. The entire concept of taking pills to 'burn fat' is built on a sandy foundation and misleading because diet pills only treat the symptoms and not the root cause. Without focusing on the root problems of a flabby mid-section, like poor nutrition, a crazy lifestyle and improper training, you will just end up where you started - farther away from having a six-pack for summer instead of closer.

Just Because You're Skinny Does Not Mean You Will Have A Six-Pack

The volume of interest I receive from skinny guys who wish to build their mid-sections is more than enough evidence to disprove the false reality of "I should be able to 'see' my abs if I have low body fat." I'm sure you know of a friend who is completely scrawny, yet, without a shirt on he, has zero abdominal definition! To me that would be salt on an open wound.

Abdominals Are A Muscle, Too!

You want your arms to be bigger, your shoulders to be broader and your chest to be fuller, correct? And what is the solution to making these muscle groups increase in size? High intensity weight training, overload, consistency and a healthy surplus of calories. Starting to sound familiar?

The same goes for your abdominals. Your abdominals are a muscle group that requires the same formula and attention and are not any different from other muscle groups. For some reason many consider abdominals to be a 'special' body part that requires a different set of rules and a completely different formula for training. Abdominals were not given a 'secret code' to crack. To get thick, dense abs - the ones that 'pop' out - you must train them with intensity and overload. Here are some practical tips you can apply to your program so that you can be the 'man' or 'gal' at your gym with a ripped and muscular six-pack. Then I will provide a sample program!

Prioritize By Sequence

If your abs are your worse body part, then why do you keep training them last, at the end of your workout? Which muscles group will receive the highest priority when you train? The ones done at the start of your workout or the ones done at the end of the workout? Of course, the exercises done at the start of the workout while you have the most energy and focus. If abdominals are the muscle group you wish to prioritize, then don't be afraid to disagree with the 'experts' who say "Never train your abdominals first because you'll weaken your core muscles for the rest of your workout...". I completely disagree with this and often reply, "Show me the evidence." The typical response is "Nobody does abdominals first...". That is pure BS. This just supports the notion that many people who work out don't ever question what they hear or do. They want to be spoon-fed answers and follow the trends of others without thinking for themselves. I ALWAYS train abdominals first in a workout if they need the highest attention.

Prioritize By Frequency

What's going to receive better results? A muscle group that is trained one time a week or two times a week (assuming you recovered prior to the second workout commencing)? Of course, the muscle that is trained 2x a week. The more stimulus on a muscle, the more growth. That is why professional athletes are professional athletes. They have conditioned their bodies to such a high amount of stress that they are able to train more frequently.

How often you train your abdominals is based on the inverse relationship of intensity and volume. The harder you train your abs, the more rest they need. The less intense you train your abs, the more frequently you can train them! If your goal is rehab or injury prevention, then you will be able to train them often with more frequent and lower loads. If your goal is to make your abs more muscular and dense, then a higher load and less frequency would be ideal. If your goal is maintenance, then a medium load and frequency would be ideal. Refer to this table:

Purpose

Frequency

Intensity

Volume

Reps

If building a sexy six-pack is on your 'to do' list for 2007, then start training abdominals 2-4x a week. I will teach you in a moment how to split your abdominals up into two different days based on movement.

Your Genetics and Abdominals

Right now some of you can see a perfectly set of staggered abs that are wide and thick and separated by a line down the middle. Some of you have the classic four-pack which is four big abs with a smooth lower section. Some of you have tiny cubicle boxes sitting high on your abdominal wall. Some of you have the picture perfect eight-pack that makes people's jaws drop.

Like every muscle group, all you can do is train them as heavy and hard as possible and hope your genetics take care of the rest. You can't change the shape or alignment or separation of your abs. You can't move them around and place them where you want them. Your genetics will affect to which degree they "pop" out and to which degree they stay smoother or flatter.

The good news is that abdominals are abdominals and when your body fat levels are around 5-7% you are guaranteed to impress people, including yourself, with a set of hot-looking abs. Even though genetics play a huge role in how they look, it's important to know how to train them to make them look their best.

Divide Your Abdominals into Two Separate Workouts for Best Results

To train your abdominals safely and effectively you must know the basic movement patterns of your abs and train them within all sub-categories:

• Truck Flexion (upper abs)
• Hip Flexion (lower abs)
• Rotation (obliques)
• Lateral Flexion (obliques)

The majority of books and articles you have read revolve the bulk of the ab exercises around the trunk flexion that is better known as 'upper ab' exercises. A full sit up is a perfect example of this.

Bill Starr in his 1976 classic 'The Strongest Shall Survive' wrote that the abdominals "...can be strengthened in a wide variety of ways. Sit-ups of all types, leg raises, truck rotation movements all involve the abdominal muscles to a different degree..."

Even though you are training each movement twice per week, you will perform different exercises for each workout.

Perform this workout at least two times a week separated by at least 48 hours rest. You should experience a deep muscle soreness after each one of these workouts. Focus on using a load that causes failure within 8-12 reps and then move to the next exercise. This is a non-stop circuit. Rest 1-2 minutes and repeat until you reach 4 sets total.

Exercise Sets Reps Tempo Rest
Hanging Leg Raises 1-4 8-12 311 -
Rope Crunch 1-4 8-12 311 -
Reverse Crunch 1-4 8-12 311 -
Weighted Ball Crunch 1-4 8-12 311 1-2 minutes

Trunk Rotation and Lateral Flexion

Perform this workout at least two times a week separated by at least 48 hours rest. You should experience a deep muscle soreness after each one of these workouts. Focus on using a load that causes failure within 8-12 reps and then move to the next exercise. This is a non-stop circuit. Rest 1-2 minutes and repeat until you reach 4 sets total.

Exercise Sets Reps Tempo Rest
Side Bends Dumbells Overhead 1-4 8-12 311 -
Oblique Crunch 1-4 8-12 311 -
Side Bends Dumbells Overhead 1-4 8-12 311 -
Lateral Raises on Back
Extension Machine

1-4 8-12 311 1-2 minutes

Conclusion

As said earlier, buiding eye candy abs is not the easiest task in the work but nor is it the hardest. The above abdominal exercises will help you build a deeply separated and evenly placed set of abs in little time. The truth is that if you can't see your abs, then the best exercise for your abs will be better diet.

Nic Roberts
Read More:
http://www.learnhowtobuildmuscle.com