Flatten Your ABS - How to Get A 6 Pack

                

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

 

With all the "ab rollers", "torso tracks" and the countless other ways advertised to get your stomach six-pack flat, it's no wonder people are completely confused. Recently, we had a chance to ask a producer of one of those infomercials how they get away with such blatant lies---promising you the same taunt tummy as that professional model on TV if you do "such and such" exercise for just 8 minutes a day. Well, this producer told use that the truth lies in the fine print. Every product purchased includes instructions that read something like this: "Do this exercise along with a proper diet."; well you get the idea. You can do the ab cruncher until you turn purple, but the simple fact is that unless you address the real problem it won't make a bit of difference. You'll just end up with an awesome set of abs that you'll never see.

The real problem is that layer of body fat that's covering the six-pack you already have. We all have a six-pack! It's called the rectus abdominus, and if you can stand upright, you have one. The reason some people have a well-defined stomach and others don't has very little to do with how many stomach exercises (or what kind) they do. It is completely a function of how much body fat they carry. Is it important to do your abdominal work? Yes! The ab training you do will help strengthen, raise and define the abdominal wall. That's a great thing! But there's a three-step process to getting a well define stomach:

Burn More Calories Than You Eat Ask any dietician, physician, exercise physiologist, trainer or any other person you think to be an authority on weight loss this simple question, "If I eat a balanced diet and burn more calories than I consume will I lose weight?" They have to answer, "Yes." The body must maintain a state of homeostasis (an equal balance). If the body needs energy that's not supplied by your food intake it will draw that energy from stored fat. They may wrap their answer up in some low-carbohydrate, high protein package, but all the latest diets on the market today, in the end, are calorie deficit diets.

Exercise Aerobically The most effective way to get to your stored body fat as a source of energy during exercise is to do aerobic training. Your aerobic training rate will be anywhere between 60-75% (if you're a beginner) 70-85% (if you're in shape) of your maximum heart rate (220 - your age). When your heart rate is at this constant pace, your body is using two sources of energy: glycogen (converted and stored carbohydrates) and fat. In no other form of exercise will you find this happening at such high rates.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is ending their aerobic training early so they have time to do their abs. The longer you stay in your aerobic zone, the more your glycogen levels continue to decrease. This increases the percentage of energy used from stored fat. Remember: the last twenty minutes of your hourly aerobic workout are your most efficient.

You can do your ab work anywhere. We can hardly think of a place where you can't drop and do some crunches. You may look silly but you get our drift. However, there isn't a Stairmaster, recumbent bike or your favorite treadmill everywhere. If you are truly serious about getting a great looking stomach, spend those extra minutes burning your stored fat aerobically.

Build More Muscle If a 150-pound woman converts 10% of her body fat to muscle, she will burn about 300 extra calories per day. It's a physiological fact! This is a great metabolism boost.

The down side to this is, building muscle is not an easy task and is also a very inefficient way to try to lose body fat on its own. It is also important to realize that you can't spot train those extra inches away from your problem area(s). Doing crunches for your abs, squats or lunges for your thighs and butt or triceps extensions for the backs of your arms will only build a great muscle underneath the layer of body fat.

That being said, when you have the first two steps of this process down, then put your attention on your abdominal work

If you thought this information was helpful, and would like to know more about 6 packs and having flat ABS, visit http://howtogeta6packnow.blogspot.com

Ripped Abs

                

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

 

With all the attention given to diet and cardio for fat loss and developing six-pack abs, it surprises many people to learn that one of the most effective ways to shrink and harden to midsection and develop ripped abdominals is weight training. If you don’t believe us just go into any gym and check out who has the best abdominal development. The best midsections usually belong to those who perform at least three to four weight-training workouts each week. Sure you’ll see a few portly bellies on guys who do nothing but bench press, but for the most part it’s the bodybuilders – especially competitive bodybuilders who have mastered the art of fat loss and developed chiseled six-pack abs.

So what is it about weight training that results in washboard abs? Let’s take a closer look.

During the workout:

When people think of burning calories during a workout they usually think about cardio. And while it’s true that an average cardio workout will burn 600-800 calories in an hour, weight training is not far behind. A typical weight training workout involving a couple of the larger muscle groups will burn anywhere from 400 to 500 calories. At an average of 3500 calories to the pound you can see how just seven such workouts will maximize your fat loss potential. All things being equal, you could easily lose 30 to 40 pounds of fat a year just by weight training. But weight training does more than burn calories during your workout; it also keeps your fat-burning furnace revved up after you leave the gym. If ripped abdominals are your goal read on.

After the workout:

It’s called afterburn and it’s probably the biggest advantage weight training has over cardio when it comes to fat loss and developing six-pack abs. With cardio as soon as you stop training, your metabolism returns to its baseline level. But weight training elevates your metabolism and keeps it elevated after you leave the gym – by some estimates for up to 24 hours! Just think about it, you can be burning body fat even when sitting down watching TV.

Growth hormone release:

Growth Hormone or HGH is one of the most powerful hormones in the human body, and among it’s functions are building muscle and burning body fat. One of the explanations for the loss of muscle mass and gain in body fat that usually accompanies old age is a decline in HGH. This is why HGH replacement therapy is becoming so popular as it can reverse these effects. So what does all this have to do with weight training? Well it just so happens that short, intense, weight training workouts are one of the best ways to naturally stimulate HGH release. Not only are you getting the direct and indirect fat-burning effects of weight training (calories burned during the workout and from the afterburn), but you’ll get additional fat burning and fat loss from all the extra HGH floating around in your blood stream.

Muscle metabolically active:

Although this ties in closely to the topic of afterburn, it deserves special mention here. Fat is basically dead tissue that sits there and waits to be burned. Muscle on the other hand can be considered a fat-burning machine and actually requires calories to keep it “alive”. The more muscle you have the more calories you’ll use maintaining it. And you can do all the cardio you want but only weight training can build new muscle tissue and ultimately lead to ripped abdominals.

Hopefully by now you are beginning to see how weight training can maximize your fat loss potential. If you want eye-catching, six-pack abs, then you must start weight training now. There are way too many routines to discuss here. For that you’ll need to check out our Abdominal Training Routines page. By consistently following one or more of these workouts you’ll have a midsection of envy.

Bob Howard expert on bodybuilding and steroids. Are you looking for more of his Ripped Abs articles? abs-information.com

Get Six Pack Abs Without Crunches or Sit-Ups

                

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

 

In order to get six pack abs without crunches or sit-ups, start by throwing away the "out of date" exercise manuals and get ready to find a new and improved method of effectively and safely achieving those rock hard 6-pack abs you have been dreaming of;

Most "old school" trainers will tell you that hundreds of sit-ups and crunches performed on a daily basis are the only way to achieve rock hard 6-pack abs.

The problem with this approach is that it does nothing more than cause fatigue to your abdominal muscles and therefore hindering their over all development. This type of workout also puts quite a lot of unnecessary strain on your lower back.

In order to achieve maximum results for your abs, a combination of three factors should be implemented into your abs workout routine;

The first factor is a healthy low fat eating lifestyle. By maintaining a healthy, low fat eating lifestyle, you are effectively speeding up the process of achieving rock hard six pack abs.

Interval training and compound exercises are the second factor that should be implemented into your abs workout routine. This type of training has been shown to burn fat fast without the risk of burning muscle too. It is also shown to burn away fat long after you have left the gym.

The third factor is abs strength building exercises. These exercises will ensure that you don't only have fat free, great looking abs, but that they are also able to support your overall body, as well as help to prevent unnecessary injuries too.

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

Does Spot Reduction Work for Abs or Doesn’t?

                

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

 

Burning fat from the abdomen through exercises specially destined to the abdominal muscles was, is and will always be one of the most resistant myths.

Almost all the people with a big belly take up, with a lot of determination, sit-ups, crunches, side-bends, twists, etc., hoping that every new series or set of exercises, every session of repeating them, will help them get rid of the 'ring' of adipose tissue around their waist, also called 'the ring of death'.

Besides the fact that it is probably the most anesthetic 'deposit' of adipose tissue, abdominal fat involves many risks for the health of the person which possesses it (related to diabetes, high blood pressure, cardio-vascular diseases, cancer, impotence, etc.).

We must keep in mind, once and for all, that when we refer to the melting of the subcutaneous adipose tissue, there is no spot reduction. No matter how much we strive to locate effort in the areas we are focused on, we will only fortify the muscles under the fat, but the reduction of the fat itself will be insignificant. The explanation is simple and is connected to the energetic support of the anaerobic effort, which uses, for the exercises, muscular and hepatic glycogen, and not fat acids from the adipose tissue. For getting to the deposits of fat, what we need is cardio training (running, biking, fast walking, swimming, etc.).This type of exercises must be maintained for a long time (45-60 minutes) and they must be intense (60-70% from the maximum of heart rhythm).

An alternative is cardio training with periods when intensity varies, although the total volume is not smaller than in the case of uniformly cardio training.

A very important role in burning fat is held by the diet. It is said that the most effective of training can be sabotaged in the kitchen.

The nutritionists say that a diet which maintains caloric deficit, but keeps a balanced proportion of the basic principles (proteins, lipids, blood sugar), with a slight increase of the protein part, will always have as a consequence losing weight. Physical exercises like sit-ups, crunches, etc., without other exercises meant to involve bigger groups of muscles (thighs, chest, back) and to fortify the abdominal muscles, do not increase very much the basic metabolic rate.

As a consequence, indirect burning of calories (during breaks, post-training) is very small in comparison with the burning due to aerobic effort (especially the ones with alternative periods) – in their case, during effort taking more than 20 minutes, the energetic support is exactly the adipose tissue.

The magic formula for burning abdominal fat is a combination of hypo caloric diet and exercise – especially aerobic, but also anaerobic (focused on all the body, not only the abdominal muscles).

Isabel Curini is a fitness trainer and editor at http://www.healthfitnessworld.com. HealthFitnessWorld.com - Health, Fitness, Body Building, Weight Loss, Nutrition - Articles and Resources.

HealthFitnessWorld.com is dedicated to providing high-quality, free advices, tips and resources on health, fitness, body building, supplements, nutrition, weight loss, beauty, massage, acne, medicine, depression, massage.

This article may be reprinted or published without the author's consent as long as the "About" and "weblinks" are kept intact and active.

Six-Pack Abs Require A Combination Of Diet And Exercise

                

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

 

Many of us would love to have the six-pack abs. Everywhere you look there are commercials or ads promising these wonderful abs, but what really works? There are many of these ads that say taking a supplement can give you the envious abs you've always wanted. Whether or not these supplement is still yet to be decided. One thing that we do know for sure is that hard work will get you the results you want.

Not all the supplements that are available to you are safe. Who knows what they are putting in these supplements that will give you these great abs. There have been reports of serious side effects resulting from taking these supplements. The good news is there is another way to get these great abs without having to take supplements and risking your health. With a little hard work, exercise and a healthy diet you can achieve great looking abs all on your own.

First thing you will need to do is get some sort of journal to keep record of your exercise and diet program. You can choose whatever kind of journal you think will work best for you. If you want to use a little notebook that you can take with you to help you stay on top of your record keeping that is just fine. If you have a personal digital assistant you can invest in a program that will help you keep your records. Whichever way you decide will work better for you is what you need to do.

The purpose of the journal is to keep track of your progress, and help find any areas that may need more attention. Information you will need to put in your journal will be what day it is, your weight, what exercise you are doing or did on that day, and your food intake. You will also want to make sure you record the time of each of these events to make tracking progress easier.

You will also want to take your measurements weekly or biweekly depending on how dramatic of results you like to see and record these also. How often you weigh yourself is up to you as an individual, it all depends once again on how dramatic you want the results to be. Just remember that if you do it every day it may make you more aware of your goals and make you try harder to reach them. Whichever way you decide to go, just make sure you are weighing yourself at the same time of day each time.

When you track this information it will make you more aware of what you need to work harder on the next day or week. If you have a record of what you did you can look and see if maybe you skipped a day of exercise, or didn't eat very healthy. You want to make sure you are burning more calories than you are taking in. If you keep track of your how much food you ate and when you ate it, it will be easier to see when you need to watch more carefully. Maybe you are overeating everyday at the same time of day, if so your journal will help you see this so you can fix it.

When keeping track of your exercise you will want to write down what type of exercise you did, when you did it, and how long you did it. Keep in mind that just doing sit-ups will not guarantee that six-pack you dream of. You need to make sure you get rid of the fat so that you can see the great abs you are looking for.

To maximize your results you will probably want to do aerobic exercise or cardiovascular exercise to burn fat and calories, strength training to create more muscle, and abdominal exercises. Strength training is important because muscle burns more calories than fat, and will help power your aerobic exercises. Walking, swimming or training along with an aerobic exercise tape are all great ways to get you aerobic workout in. For abdominal work you can do regular sit-ups, or try something like Pilates. Pilates incorporates strength training for your abs and uses twisting movements to get better results.

Just remember that you should exercise four to five times a week, and keep an honest an accurate journal to maximize your results. You also need to realize that you will not get your dream abs overnight; it takes hard work and time.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as Herbal Supplements at http://www.online-pharmacy-plus.com