Effective Abs Exercises - Part I

                

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Do the following ab workouts properly, observing proper posture and movement in your exercises in order to receive the best results. Do these ab workouts in three sets of twenty repetitions. Alternate these exercises in between sets to achieve maximum results. It is better if you employ the help of a licensed physical fitness trainer before doing the following exercises in order to do away with any possible injury you may acquire in the process.

Weighted Curls with Medicine Ball or Weight Plate. Begin this workout by lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat against the floor. Then hold a medicine ball towards your chest. Then push your lower back into the floor with arches flat and hold this position in your ab workouts. Curl your way up just enough so as to lift both of your shoulder off of the floor for a few inches. Hold this position for two counts and then return to the first position in your ab workouts.

Plank. Begin your ab workouts by lying face down on an exercise mat with both your elbows right next to your chest, with your palms facing down. Then slowly push your way up from the floor, raising yourself up on to your toes and elbows while keeping your palms flat in your ab workouts, and your back also flat and angled up from your toes and shoulders.

Hold your abdominal muscles tight, while keeping your spine neutral in position. The next step in your workout would require you to tilt your pelvis, and then contract your abdominals in order to prevent your backside from sticking too much in the air. Hold this position for thirty to sixty seconds, then repeat this process as much as your regimen requires. These ab workouts target your front midsection as well as your biceps and back muscles.

James never thought he would be a personal gym trainer when he once weighed 311 lbs.He is now a total fanatic about muscle-building and crunches his way through his CSI. Now doing freelance teaching to people who require proper healthy diets, he always advocate his motto of "not giving up".

Get to know more about Ab Workouts Here!

Ways to Get Abs for Everyone

                

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Are you so confused by the many ways to get abs that you haven't even started working out? Too much expert advice getting you down?

Some people say diet is most important, some people say cardio. Some people tell you to do crunches, others say don't. Some people tell you to work out at home, others say you should go to the gym.

Who's right?

The good news is that there really is no one right way to get abs. All of those experts are right.

The bad news is that you have to make the choice. Only you can decide where, when, and how to work out.

Don't worry, though. If you know a little bit about yourself, making a choice that's right for you is simple.

There are really only 2 things you need to do to get stellar abs.

1. Follow a healthy diet 2. Commit to a regular fitness routine

There is a vast variety of ways to go about these 2 tasks, though.

Diet Choices:

A healthy diet should be low in fat, high in fruits and vegetables, and based on whole grains. When you're exercising a lot, you also need a higher protein intake.

Before you decide on the diet plan that works for you, you need to answer 2 quick questions.

* What needs to change in your current diet? * Do you eat out a lot?

Compare your current diet to the recommendations for a healthy diet above. How far off are you?

If, like most people, you see too much fat in your diet, you will need to concentrate on reducing your fat intake. Get rid of the "bad fats" first, such as those in fast-food, potato chips, and other fried junk foods. Then slowly cut out other unnecessary fats. Replace butter with vegetable oil in your cooking.

Do you see a lot of processed carbs in your current meals? These are often found in white bread and pasta. Then cut back on these carbohydrates. Try replacing them with whole grain alternatives.

Do you eat a lot of meat or dairy products? These are a big source of fat and cholesterol. Replace them with low fat alternatives. Consider giving some vegetarian substitutes, such as tofu and soy milk, a try.

You don't have to stop eating out to follow your diet, but you may need to make some changes. Fast food hamburgers and french fries will need to go. But, many restaurants offer low fat meal options. Also, you can request that your food is cooked with vegetable oil rather than butter. Get your sauces and dressings served on the side.

Picking a diet plan that will help you achieve your goals is the most important step. When that's done, everything else will be easier.

The next step is to pick exercises that you will enjoy. Yoga, walking, running, and bicycling are all great cardio workouts. Alternate those with the ab targeting exercises of your choice, and you'll have a fully developed fitness plan tailored just for you.

Even though there are many ways to get abs, the only ones you should worry about are the ones that work for you, because if you aren't happy with your fitness plan, you won't achieve the results you want.

Six Pack Abs Guide. Your guide to avoiding the morass of hype, scams and quick-fix scheme so that you can finally expose the sexy six-pack abs that everyone loves!

How to Burn the Fat and Expose your Abs

                

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Getting ripped or even just a slightly defined six-pack isn't in any way easy. It takes a lot of work, and I don't just mean sit ups. There is a lot more work that has to be done in order to get those body builder abs.

It is a major miss-conception that doing x amount of sit-ups will give you a nice symmetrical bundle of bumps on your stomach. If you did just do sit ups you would more likely have strong abdominal muscles hidden under a single large flabby bump on your stomach and that is not a muscle I'm talking about. You could have the strongest abdominal muscles in the world and if there was fat on them then it still wouldn't show.

To carve out those abs like a Greek sculpture you must first carve the fat away from your belly so that those glorious bumps can surface and expose themselves like a dolphin breaking the water. However, losing weight is not easy and it is more difficult depending on your body type. For example if you have a body type that gains weight easily (endomorph) then you will have more trouble burning the fat than someone who loses weight easily (ectomorph). However, despite the body type differences the methods are still the same.

To burn that fat away you have to do cardio exercises. By this I mean you have to do exercises such as running, swimming and cycling. Lifting weights and doing sit-ups won't help you lose weight at all. They are muscle-building exercises. It's as simple as that. You have to either run, swim, cycle or do other cardio exercises to burn the fat. Once you have lost the fat maybe then you can think about building your abs up to Grand Canyon size.

Unfortunately the above methods of losing weight are more difficult than they sound. Cardio exercises aren't easy and it does take a lot of work. However don't let this put you off because, despite it's difficulty it’s still the best way to lose weight.

Some people might be thinking, "No that’s to hard I'll just stick to the low calorie diet to lose weight." If you are thinking this then be careful because you are walking into a trap. Diets are not easy either and they can have some bad after effects. Chances are that with a low calorie diet you will totally wreck your metabolism making you so much more susceptible to gaining weight after you have lost it. Not to mention that starving yourself to lose weight isn't exactly fun either.

I'm not saying go on, "blood, sweat and tears," runs everyday when you come home from work. You can easily just go for a light jog or a run, if you're more confident, to pick up bread and milk for tomorrow’s breakfast. In general just try to be more active and less passive, sitting in the same chair watching TV everyday. You can let your abs show through the fat with just a little bit of self-control and determination.

Truth' Lies & Weight Loss is my blog where I focus on many weight loss and muscle gain issues. It is regularly updated with new blogs

http://absdietgetfit.blogspot.com

Check out Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle to see were I got my inspiration for writing weight loss and muscle gain articles

How to Get Killer Abs Made Easy

                

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There is no magic secret that will make how to get killer abs easy. There are, however, some very simple steps that you can follow that will lead you to the abs you've always wanted, with less work than you may imagine.

You don't need a complicated fitness plan, a personal trainer, or $1,000 worth of exercise equipment to do it. You just need to remember 3 things.

1. Healthy Diet
2. Core Strengthening
3. Ab Targeting

Healthy Diet:

Body fat percentage is important. If you don't have a low body fat percentage, it doesn't matter how toned your abs are because no one will be able to see them. They'll be hidden by a layer of tummy fat.

All of your muscles are covered by a layer of fat. People whose muscles look toned and cut have a thin layer of fat. If your layer of stomach fat is thick, no one can see the abs you've worked so hard to get.

To sport killer abs, your body fat percentage should be in the high single digits for men and the low teens for women.

By following a healthy, low fat, balanced diet, you will thin out that layer of fat so that you can see your abdominal muscles.

Some healthy, low fat staple foods are:

* beans
* tofu
* lean meats
* whole grains

Avoid fatty junk foods and "empty" calories. They will only make your fitness goals take longer to achieve. Choose snacks that are high in vitamins and energy and low in fat. Fruits, vegetables, protein bars, and shakes are all good choices.

Core Strengthening:

What's the workout secret of models, athletes, and pop stars? Core strengthening.

Core strengthening workouts work whole groups of muscles together, instead of just concentrating on one muscle at a time. This gives you faster, more permanent results and reduces your risk of injury from strengthening one muscle too fast.

Remember, your body works like a machine. That means each part of it works together with the others. So, it's important to work it out that way, as well.

Great full body workouts include:

* Tai Chi
* Yoga
* Kick boxing
* Martial Arts
* Core Strengthening Plans

Ab Targeting:

If you want great abs, the final step in your workout plan should be ab targeting exercises. If you are following your diet and doing some core strengthening activities, you will get a much greater benefit from targeted abdominal exercises.

Perform about 3 ab targeting exercises per workout session. Start with 5-10 repetitions of each exercise and gradually increase the number of repetitions as your fitness level increases. Don't overdo it, though. Only perform abdominal specific exercises every other day.

Some proven ab targeting exercises are:

1. Crunches
2. Sit Ups
3. Bicycles

See? The answer to how to get killer abs isn't that difficult, after all. Diet, core strengthening, and a few crunches will get you those awesome abs in no time.

Six Pack Abs Guide. Your guide to avoiding the morass of hype, scams and quick-fix scheme so that you can finally expose the sexy six-pack abs that everyone loves!

How to Get Six Pack Abs - The Secret to Six Pack Abs

                

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Figuring out how to get six pack abs can be a tough thing to do.

We are constantly bombarded with infomercials and new "miracle" products that promise to show you how to get six pack abs fast and easy. A lot of the products are either cheap exercise gadgets or some pill that "does the work for you."

Each time we see a magazine in the checkout line, there is a new article about how to get six pack abs.

Can you see why finding good information on how to get six pack abs can be difficult?

In this article, I want to show you the biggest secret to getting lean defined six pack abs.

Ready? Here we go.

How to Get Six Pack Abs Secret: Build the right diet and six pack abs will come.

Thats right, it all comes down to your diet! And when I say diet, I don't some new fad diet. I am talking about the things you eat on a day to day basis.

The reason this is so important is that losing body fat and getting six pack abs as a result cannot be done only by exercise.

If you exercise all the time but do not have a diet that is conducive to losing body fat, you will not notice much of a difference at all.

See, everyone has six pack abs. The problem is, there is a layer of fat covering it up!

If a male wants to get six pack abs, his body fat percentage needs to be below 10%. For a female, it needs to be below about 14%.

The best way to accomplish this is to restrict how many calories you take in! I once heard a great quote (I cannot remember from whom) that said "six pack abs are built in the kitchen, not in the gym".

Now, lets go over some basic guidelines that can help you lose body fat and start to see those sexy six pack abs.

1. Avoid "bad carbs", aka high glycemic carbs.

This is a biggie. If you eat lots of white bread, fast food, soda, high sugar foods, etc., your blood sugar will continuously spike. When this happens, your body releases more and more insulin to store that extra blood sugar as fat. This is not good if you want six pack abs!

2. Eat 4-6 smaller meals per day that consists of quality protein, low glycemic "good" carbs, and healthy fats.

This is also very important in the quest for six pack abs. By eating smaller meals more frequently, your blood sugar will not spike as much, therefore not as much excess blood sugar will be stored as fat.

3. Limit your overall calories.

There are 3,500 calories in 1lb. If you cut back your current diet by 500 calories per day, then over the course of 1 week you will have lost 1 lb!

So as you can see, diet plays a huge role in your quest for how to get six pack abs. Doing core exercises is important, but unless your diet is spot on those abs will stay under a layer of body fat.

For more information on how to get six pack abs, check out the links below.

Want to Reprint this Article on How to Get Six Pack Abs?

Reprinting is welcome as long as the content, links, author bio, and resource box are all included and remain completely unchanged.

If you are serious about wanting to get killer abs, go to How to Get Six Pack Abs for some killer information.

Tom Gifford is a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) through the American Council on Exercise and also holds a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology (Exercise Science). Tom specializes in effective fat loss training for people who have tried all the fad diets and exercise gimmicks.

Tom is the founder of http://www.TheFatLossZone.com, which is an excellent resource about how to safely and effectively lose fat permanently.

How To Get 6-Pack Flat Abs

                

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Okay, let's get right to it! Here are some exercises for getting a 6-pack:

Abdominal Exercise:

 

• Lie on the floor with your arms across your chest or your hands clasped behind your head.
• Keep your feet on the floor or raise them.
• Tighten your abs and slowly curl your shoulders up off the floor one inch.
• Curl your shoulders up toward your knees until your shoulder blades come up one to two inches off the floor.
• Hold this position for one to four seconds before slowly returning to the starting position.

 

Leg Raise:

 

• Grasp the back of chair to support your body.
• Hang your body straight down.
• Keep your knees slightly bent throughout the entire movement.
• Raise your legs until they are just past parallel to the floor, lower and repeat. Do not swing your body. NOTE: For those who are unable to perform this exercise with straight legs, try bending your knees and tucking them into the waist at each repetition. Remember to try and point your toes downward. After a few weeks, you will be able to do this exercise with straight legs.
• Keep the movement fluent, slow, and controlled.

 

Knee Raise:

 

• Lie back on the floor. Keep your legs straight and back flat.
• Raise your legs, bending at the knees as they raise and slowly lower your legs back down to the straight leg position.
• Keep the movement fluent, slow, and controlled.

 

Sit Ups:

 

• Lie back on the floor. Hook your feet under a desk or other heavy object to secure your body. Keep your knees slightly bent. You can either place your hands behind your head or crossed in front of your body.
• Slowly curl your body upwards to your knees and slowly descend back down.
• Keep the movement fluent, slow, and controlled.

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You must always remember that if you have excess fat, you can exercise all day long and you will never see that 6-pack under 4 inches of flab. A 6-pack set of abs can only be seen on a body that has a BMI of 16% or less, so be sure to rely on a diet of low calories, low fat foods. Always consult with your health care practitioner when starting any new diet or exercise routine. He/she may want to do a few tests to rule out any underlying health issues.

If you are taking your diet program seriously, make sure to check out the top weightloss site fitness calculators at http://www.the-weightloss-guide.com right away

Importance of Warming Up Muscles to Get Sexy Flat Stomach and 6 Pack Abs

                

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To get that flat tummy and 6 pack abs you are pursuing, you will need to implement
proper warm up and muscle stretching.

Important: Please consult your doctor before doing any fitness routine, especially
if you have heart, high blood pressure, lung conditions etc.

A gradual warm up is very important before any exercise routine. We should not
confuse warm up with stretching.

The difference between warming up and stretching?

Warm up - increases your heart rate and it brings blood to and increases your
tissue temperature. When your tissues are warmed up, you can then do stretching.
It will be more effectively and safely.

Stretching - Helps to loosen the joints and helps with flexibility and strength.
It is important to warm up and then stretch before exercising and can help prevent
injuries. It will also reduce muscle soreness.

Safety Tips

* It is import to always make sure that your body is properly warmed up before
you participate with any exercise or strenuous activity.

* If you encounter any discomfort or pain rather consult a medical practitioner.

* It is a good idea to stretch at the end of your warm-up and after you are finished
exercising, to help prevent stiff and sore muscles.

* Avoid stretching of cold muscle(s), since it can lead to injuries.

* Proper posture is always good to have. A awkward back angle or position can cause
discomfort.

* Drink water to avoid dehydration.

How to warm up:

Gradually increasing your heart rate, body temperature and breathing rate. When
your body is warmed up you will begin to feel warm and start to sweat. Start the
warm up lightly and gradually increase the intensity.

Your joints also need to be warmed up. Try jumps, knee lifts, squats, trunk rotations,
bending, arm circles and side steps.

Warm up for approximately 10 min.

How to stretch:

* A stretch should be done after a warm up, because the muscles will still be
cold.

* Focus on the muscles that you will be using.

Stretch for approximately 5 min.

After you have done a proper warm up and stretching routine you can now start
training the muscles you want to focus on. In our case it will be the abdominal
muscles.

As we can see that proper warm up and stretching are important, to get a sexy
flat stomach and six pack abs.

Lawrence Carelse, author of fitness articles.

Owner of http://www.6pack.co.za

Using Liposuction to Get a Sexy, Flat Tummy or 6 Pack Abs

                

>>  Be Sure That You Will Never Get Six Pack Abs Unless You Know These Strategies <<

 

Liposuction and weight loss

--------------------------------------

Often times as humans we tend to lose patience with a lot of things. Losing weight
or getting a six pack abs is no exception. We want to lose weight now. There are
a wide variety of alternative ways of losing weight or sculpting a perfect body,
quickly. Liposuction is one of them. I'm not endorsing liposuction in any way.

If you're considering liposuction to get a 6 pack abs, then this article will
give you a basic understanding of the process of the surgery. When it can aid, how
it is done and how you might look and feel after the surgery. It is important to
note that 6Pack.co.za is not promoting liposuction. Proper nutrition, cardio exercise
is the way to go.

What is liposuction?

Liposuction is a process that can used to sculpt the body by removing surplus
fat from targeted areas. Sculpting can be done one a lot of areas including the
abdomen, thighs, buttocks etc.

Liposuction is also known as lipoplasty or suction lipectomy.

As technology advances a lot of new techniques are being used, including ultrasound
assisted lipoplasty, super wet technique, and the tumescent technique. There are
some of the new tools that can assist many plastic surgeons to help patients achieve
their goals quicker.

It is important to note that no type of liposuction is a substitute for proper
old fashioned dieting and exercise. However it can be a useful tool that can be
used to remove stubborn areas of fat that does not react to traditional weight loss
methods or exercises.

If you are seriously considering doing liposuction, then do the following:

· Consult a medical doctor and plastic surgeon to see if you qualify to become
a candidate.

· Do some research by reading up on liposuction and also the alternative techniques.

· Speak to people that have gone through it.

· Weigh up the pro’s and the con’s of the surgery

For who is Liposuction?

People who have realistic expectations of what the surgery can do for them. They
should be physically fit, mentally stable and realistic in their expectations. The
candidate should also have a normal weight and elastic skin. The surgery carries
a great risk for potential candidates with medical problems. People with poor blood
circulation, diabetes, and heart or lung disease should not do the surgery. They
have to consult with the medical experts.

The process: A basic explanation.

1. The doctor must consult with potential candidate and evaluate if the person
is medically and mentally fit for a surgery.

2. If medical check is successful then the plastic surgeon can help you decide
on which option or technique to take. Here the candidate can ask lots of questions.

3. Preparation and guidelines are given by surgeon. What to eat and drink, smoking
etc.

4. Venue is given where surgery is going to take place.

5. Surgeon chooses anesthesia to be used. Depending on the volume of fat to be
removed.

6. The surgery time will vary depending on the amount of fat to be removed.

7. The surgeon inserts a tube through small incisions in the skin. At the other
end of the tube is a vacuum pressure unit that suctions off the fat.

8. After surgery a compression garment is given. This helps to reduce swelling
and after a couple of weeks there should be positive results.

9. Surgeon might suggest for patient to walk around to reduce swelling and prevent
blood cloths from forming.

10. Strenuous activities should be cut out.

11. Patient should go for regular follow up visits to the doctor to monitor and
also to check the progression.

12. The new you. There should be a visible difference.

It is important to note that nothing in life is guaranteed and there are lots
of risks involved. Results will vary from person to person. If a person’s expectations
are realistic, they will be very pleased with the outcome of the surgery. Person
might feel better in clothes and more confident about self. The flat stomach might
be visible.

Healthy diet and proper regular exercise should be in place, to maintain the
new shape. This is one of the most important steps after a surgery.

Lawrence Carelse, author of fitness articles. Owner of
http://www.6pack.co.za

Abs Are Made in the Kitchen

                

>>  Be Sure That You Will Never Get Six Pack Abs Unless You Know These Strategies <<

 

Abs are made in the kitchen. That's a popular phrase going around the fitness
world these days.

Well, it sounds nice, but it really isn't true (unless you have some really weird
home gym set-up).

The truth is, your abs are still made in the gym from the exercises you do. But
your abs certainly can be defined by what you do in the kitchen in terms of nutrition.

After all, you can do all the ab-building exercises you want, but if you aren't
eating for fat loss, then you are never going to see your abs.

So is your nutrition good enough to get the job done?

If not, what's your excuse? Not enough time, right? Or on the go too much, and
your options are a greasy cheeseburger or a slice of pizza?

Well let me tell you, nutrition planning is one of the keys to fat loss. If you
don't plan ahead, don't expect to burst through any fat loss plateaus any time soon.

And that's why today, Sunday, is the answer to the problem. Because today, assuming
you work a M-F job, you have the time to plan your meals, go to the grocery store,
and prepare your meal plan for the week.

And don't tell me this is too much work. You can easily accomplish this in 2
hours. One hour to get to the grocery store and back, and the other hour to prepare
your meat and vegetables for the rest of the week. For more information on how to
prepare your weekly nutrition, and for a copy of my shopping list, click here.

Abs can be yours if you are consistent.

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes
for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen
magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured
multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines and all over the Internet,
and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle,
and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information
on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow
cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit
http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

How to Develop Sexy Six Pack Abs

                

>>  Be Sure That You Will Never Get Six Pack Abs Unless You Know These Strategies <<

 

If you've ever wanted to have a set of six pack abs, then this will be the most important article you'll ever read.

Developing your abdominal muscles takes work and determination but the funny thing is, once you've got them, they're pretty much there to stay.

The trick to getting started is to be committed for 90 days. Once you've gone past the first three months the rest is a breeze!

Plus, once you have developed and toned those muscles once, you hardly have to do any work at all to maintain them.

As far as what exercises you need to do, you'll want to pick 7 highly effective exercises (like the ab bicycle and the reverse crunch.) Perform between 10 and 25 repetitions for each set or exercises. Repeat those 7 exercises three times for a total of 21 sets in all.

Once you've done that workout, wait at least a full day before doing it again. You need to give your abdominal muscles some time to rest and repair themselves to develop and grow.

Now surprisingly enough, you can fully work your abs in about 15 minutes a day. So developing a great set of abs doesn't really have to be all that time consuming.

The real secret to developing a stunning set of six pack abs is not only about abdominal exercises, it has much more to do with what you do outside of your abdominal exercise routine.

This may not be surprising to you, but you need to reduce your body fat percentage if you want to see those ripples. But don't worry, burning fat can be extremely simple if you take the right steps.

The other part of the formula is to take up cardiovascular exercises (like riding a bike, swimming, jogging or even skipping rope) for about half an hour at a time to increase your metabolism and to process food faster in your body. Once you can digest your food quicker, it's easier for your body to begin using stored fat as energy.

The other thing that's also extremely important is what you put into your body to fuel it. Having healthy eating habits that fuel your body with the right type of nutrients will make a huge difference in your fat burning efforts.

I highly recommend seeing a nutritionist or a dietitian for their recommendations.

Once you've got the fat out of the way and have effectively learned how to keep it off, your abs will show through and you'll have that washboard look in no time.

Unfortunately, doing abdominal exercises alone doesn't help much to burn fat, but combining an ab workout with a cardio routine and a healthy eating plan will definitely lead to a strong sexy set of six pack abs that'll make anyone drool.

Jake Berlin is the creator of "The Killer Ab Workout System" -- a simple system designed to help anyone develop a stunning set of abs and flatten their stomach in record time. If you want to learn how to get a flat stomach, Jake can help.

The Truth About Six Pack Abs

                

>>  Be Sure That You Will Never Get Six Pack Abs Unless You Know These Strategies <<

 

Obtaining six pack abs is a great accomplishment for anyone. However, there are a few factors you need to be aware of before you make rock hard abs your next fitness goal. It will take hard work but you can achieve six pack abs by knowing what you are up against.

No Such Thing As Spot Reduction
First off, you cannot spot reduce your ab area. That means doing hundreds of crunches and ab work every day will not make your six pack show any faster. If you currently have a layer of fat in your mid-section, that fat is hiding your abs. Your primary focus will be on burning fat to lower your body fat percentage. Once you have burned off the fat, all of your hard work will be ready for display.

Women Have It Harder
Unfortunately, if you are a woman, six pack abs will be somewhat harder for you to achieve. This is because women naturally store more fat than men for the purpose of bearing and nourishing babies. This means you will have to work harder at lowering your body fat percentage. Lowering your body fat percentage should be done with caution as well. A significant decrease in a woman's body fat can lead to amenorrhea (lack of menstruation.) It occurs very often in female athletes.

More Ab Work Isn't Necessarily Better
Most people tend to forget that abdominal muscles are just like any other muscle in your body. Overworking them will not create your six pack any faster. Your ab muscles will need the proper recovery time just like any other muscle group you would strength train. Muscles repair themselves and grow larger during recovery time. When you are exercising your abs, just remember to take it slow and focus on isolating each area: upper abs, lower abs, and obliques. Give your abs a break between workouts.

By realizing the hard work involved with obtaining six pack abs, you are better equipped to meet the challenge. With proper nutrition and guidance, you are well on your way to the abs of your dreams.

Find out what you can do to get six pack abs fast without the use of drugs, supplements, and without wrecking your metabolism. Visit "Can You Get Six Pack Abs Fast?"

Eartha Haines is a blogger and fitness enthusiast. She writes for her own personal fitness blog at http://www.tryingfitness.com.

Abdominal Training - ''Abs''

                

>>  Be Sure That You Will Never Get Six Pack Abs Unless You Know These Strategies <<

 

You can work your abs until hell freezes over, but if you still have a layer of fat, or in some cases even a beer belly, you will never be able to see the muscle. So, from a visual sense you must use proper diet & nutrition to actually be able to see your abs, and that is an entirely different article and beyond the scope of this one.

We all have abs, the technical name is Rectus Abdominis. It’s basically the “core” of your body and you could not really function without this muscle. Did I say muscle as in a single muscle? That’s right the Rectus Abdominis is a single muscle (see diagram) that attaches from along the rib cage down to the pelvis bone. However, there are two other muscle groups that complete the abdominals: the Transverse Abdominus, and the External and Internal Obliques, but these two muscles are not the visible portions of the abs that make up the “six pack” that we all desire. The Transverse Abdominus acts as a natural weight belt, keeping your insides in; and the Internal and External Obliques work to rotate the torso, and stabilize the abdomen essential for trunk stability.

Since the Rectus Abdominis is a single muscle it is physiologically impossible to work different parts of the abs. You often hear people say things like “I need to work my lower abs cause they’re lacking”, well they can try as hard as they want but when you train your abs you train the entire muscle. This does not mean you should not incorporate a wide variety of abdominal exercises (crunches, leg raises, trunk rotation, etc.) into your ab training, I just wanted to make the point that you are not going build or develop any one part of your “six pack” with different exercises. Now, remember that the lower area of the abs is a common problem in regards to excess fat storage for most people, especially males. So often the problem is not the abs per se, but extra body fat in that area that is covering the lower portion of the abs, again this requires dietary alterations not specific exercises.

So, you may say “how come I feel it more in my lower abs when I do hanging leg raises?” Well, this is another myth that we call the “I feel it syndrome”, which basically states that because you feel something working in a specific area it will make that area grow more. From a muscle physiology standpoint this is not possible. It’s possible that because of the angle more stress is being applied to a certain area of the muscle, which is often a result of that part of the muscle being stretched more, causing micro trauma in that specific area. However, this means absolutely nothing in regards to muscle growth and development. Do not confuse this with muscle groups that contain separate heads and tendon attachments, in those cases it is possible to stress individual heads to certain degrees, an example would be the deltoids. As far as our abs are concerned it is a single muscle and therefore it will grow as a whole. Think about it this way, if you could stimulate one area of a muscle and make it grow that would imply that you could actually change the shape of a muscle, which we know scientifically, that is not possible.

There are many exercises that can be used for the abs, the easiest and most common is a crunch, which essentially is bringing your hips and rib cage together, no more than just a flex of the mid-section. Do not confuse a crunch with a traditional sit-up; in a crunch you do not lift your lower back off the floor or bench. If you’re a beginner and are training abs for the first time I would recommend that you begin with a simple crunch on a flat surface, and some standing trunk rotation without any weight. Until you build up your abdominal muscles and flexibility do not try any advanced ab exercises such as weighted or incline crunches, or even sit-ups. Doing a sit-up has less of an effect on your abs, and more of an effect on your Iliopsoas or more commonly called the hip flexors. In fact, this is the muscle group that people often mistake for their lower abs because it’s a synergist muscle that helps stabilize the mid-section when working your abs. This is not to say that these synergist muscles are not important and do not need training, I am just pointing out that most likely that is why you think that you “feel it” in your lower abs.

Why is ab training necessary? Weak abs can contribute to lower back problems; the abdominal muscles help to improve the Erector Spinae by improving the mechanical positioning of the pelvis when it’s tilted forward. Also, if the abs are weak the lliopsoas can pull on spine during hip flexor activities causing injury. Weak abs can also be the cause of chronic low back pain, and can be responsible for hyperlordosis. So, no matter what your goals are, general fitness, bodybuilding or even power lifting it’s extremely important to have strong abdominals not just for aesthetic purposes, but functional and injury prevention reasons.

People often ask how often should you work your abs. Well, remember that the abdominals are a muscle and they require recovery just like any other muscle, although they do recover relatively quickly compared to other muscles due to their inherent fiber type. If you’re training your abs from an injury prevention perspective then you could train them 3-4 days per week using light loads, e.g. non-weighted crunches, performing 3-4 sets. However, if your goal is to develop your abs either for bodybuilding or sport performance, then you should only train them 2-3 days per week using more advanced techniques, e.g. weighted incline crunches performing 6-8 sets. As far as when to train the abs, it really does not matter; you could train them at the beginning of your workout if you’re prioritizing them. However if you plan to fatigue them it may be a better idea to work them last. Since the abs play a major role in stabilization it could hinder performance in compound lifts such as squats. An even better idea if feasible for you would be to train them on a day where you work smaller body parts and no compound lifts that involve the entire body.

Following you will find several links to animated pictures of some beginning and advanced abdominal training exercises from www.exrx.net. These are only a few of many exercises that can be used in your abdominal training.

Robert DiMaggio is first and foremost the founder and editor of IronMagazine.com LLC, an online bodybuilding and fitness magazine that has been dedicated to helping people achieve their bodybuilding and fitness goals. IronMagazine.com has been online since 2001 publishing new articles, content and a newsletter every month, along with a growing online community IronMagazine Forums.