Saturday, December 19, 2009

How To Get Abs



Focusing on how to get abs is definitely one of the most coveted and sought after goals of most people. The truth is that it's not that difficult to get abs - especially since they're actually already there, but just covered by a layer of fat and water. The secret to getting abs is working off the fat that surrounds your abs - and this requires a combination of the right balanced fat burning diet, the right weight training routines and the best abdominal training program you can find. It also will require some dedication and patience. It's important to remember to keep going if you don't see results. You will see results, eventually, and they will surprise you. If you give up, you certainly won't see any results at all!

Diet? Just What Kind of a Diet?

The minute we see the word 'diet' we tend to groan and give up already. The fact is, though, that working off the fat that's hiding our abdominal muscles must come with a proper diet. Professional bodybuilders and fitness trainers tend to go so far as to say that 80% of our physique is due to diet, rather than a lack of exercise. Of course, exercise is important (and fun, too) but diet is even more important.

For abdominal training, the kind of diet you need to go on is actually not so bad at all. It really consists of 40% carbs (such as oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes), 40% proteins (such as chicken, tuna, lean red meats and turkey) and 20% good fats (from mono-unsaturated or poly-unsaturated sources, such as virgin olive oil.) As you can see, this is actually quite a normal diet, and nothing too complex or life changing. During your extensive work out period (in the beginning) it's also a good idea to avoid fruit and dairy, due to the fact that these foods can often slow down fat loss.

Typically, if you're a guy, you start seeing your abs when you have just below a 10% ratio of body fat. If you're a woman, it's usually below 13% body fat. This doesn't mean you won't see significant results sooner.

Abs Exercises?

Yes, and they're generally quite fun. There's a whole range of exercises that you can use, and the important thing to remember about abdominal exercises is that your abs are designed for function, not for being built up. This means that ab exercises ought to be functional - such as crunches, or leg lifts, sit-ups etc. Your abs are there to allow your body to move and bend forwards, sidewards and backwards. By understanding how your abs work, you are able to find effective training methods.

Also, because of the way your abs work, doing the same exercise over and over does not tend to be as effective as you would hope. Your abs strengthen and become 'immune' as it were to that exercise. It's important to keep your abdominal training varied, with different exercises and methods. There are also certain exercises that will work better for you and not for others. This is because your abs are strong in certain ways and weak in others, while someone else has a different set of abs with their own weaknesses and strengths. Cardio training is also highly important when you look at the subject of how to get abs, and it should not be overlooked.

Mark Bennet is a fitness enthusiast always looking for the easier and quicker ways to get fit and look your best. Mark has some of the best strategies for real people to get and keep great abs at http://www.RealEasyAbs.com

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Friday, August 28, 2009

6 Idiot Proof Ways To Great Abs Quick



There are many ways to achieve great abs quick in a short time. A lot of us will try many methods before finding the best method to achieve the dream abs that we want. I have here six points you must take note before embarking on the journey to achieve the abs that you want.

First, remember that all of us have to burn calories to lose fat. No matter how we train them, the abs will not become visible unless we lose the fats around them. Many people focused too much on training their muscles and neglect to lose the calorie, which is why they fail to achieve their dream abs even though they train very hard everyday.

Second, proper nutrition is important when we are trying to burn calories. When we are trying to lose weight, we should always try to keep to a low calorie diet. While keeping our intake of calories low is important, it is also important to burn off the existing fats in our body. That is why exercise is also important. Proper diet with the proper exercise will generate the results that we want to get.

Third, it is very helpful to get a Swiss ball to help us with our calorie burning exercise. The Swiss ball will help us train different muscles through a full range of motion. Most of the abs exercises are designed with a Swiss ball in mind.

Fourth, we should do many different types of exercise to keep our calories burn constant. Different exercises also help us train different parts of our body. For example, jogging and cycling helps us to train our leg power while swimming will actually help us train all parts of our body. If our body is too used to one exercise, we will soon stop burning calories as the body is too used to it.

Fifth, do not use supplements to help you burn calories. Although supplements containing Ephedra can help us burn more calories while we work, it can cause heart rhythm problems and even lead to stroke in some people. Besides all these side effects, our appetite and weight will also come back when we stop taking Ephera.

Last, genetics is an important factor in determining whether we are fat or slim. Some people are born fat, while some will not get fat no matter how much they eat. That is why we say that the world is unfair. Follow some of the idiot proof ways and get to those great abs quick.

For you are seriously trying to slim your waistline, stop piling on the fats, get discipline, enforce determination and get your own personal health magazine washboard abs at http://www.trainthoseabs.info

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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Lose Your Belly Fat And Show Off Your Six Pack Abs



Have you noticed that most people will never fail to include abdominal muscle exercises in their routines and yet somehow or other, they can never own that coveted 6 pack abs?

Have you been religiously doing your abdominal muscle exercises? Is your abs showing to your satisfaction? No? Why? Do you know that your abdominal muscle is one of the easiest muscles to build but yet why is it that most people have difficulty in developing that 6 pack abs?

Here is the truth. Those of you who are working out your abs regularly do probably own that much sought after six pack. Yes, you do. The only trouble is that your belly fat is covering them. Your abs will not show up well if you have a body fat ratio of more than 12%. The more fat you burn off, the more defined your abs will be. You will own that rippling washboard abs when your body fat is 10% or less. So if you have fat on your belly, forget about abdominal exercises and burn off the fats first.

There is another reason why people put in so much effort to develop their abdominal muscle and yet their abs are not showing although they have low body fat. Again, there is a simple explanation. They are doing the wrong exercises and working out in bad form.

Let’s take for example the most common abs exercises, the sit up and the leg raisers. Everybody seem to be doing these two exercises not knowing that these exercises really don’t do much for their abs. Don’t believe me? Ok…try this. When you do your sit up or leg raisers, place your palms on your hip on the area connecting to your thigh and perform the exercises. Tell me what did you feel? Ahhh….you are getting it. Those muscles there are doing most of the work. Those are your hip flexor muscles. Since your hip flexors are doing most of the work, how can you develop your abs effectively?

So you say, from now on I will do crunches instead. Well, I have another surprise for you.

Most people perform their crunches wrongly too. Think about it. Why is the exercise called “crunch”? It is because you must squeeze your abs so are that you are crunching them. In order to squeeze your abs hard, you have to curl up like a prawn and breath out all the air in your lungs at the top position and then squeeeeeeeze the muscles so hard that you feel a burn. That will take a few seconds to crunch out all the air before you lower to the beginning position again. You can’t do this effectively if you just go up, down, up down, up down rhythmetically. So, if you have been doing hundreds of crunches everyday with minimal result, now you know why. In fact, it is almost impossible for the average guy to do tens of properly performed crunches and not to say hundreds of them. The same squeezing principle applies to other abs exercises.

Ok….now that you know why your abs are not showing up well, so get on with burning your fats and perform your workout in correct form. You will then see your 6 pack abdominal muscle in no time.

Chris Chew is a personal trainer of actors, pageant winners, models and other celebs.

He is the author of Burn Fat Build Muscles Fast! and runs a fitness school in Singapore Personal Trainers

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