So How Can I Really Get Ripped Abs?

                

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

 

Next to the ‘bi’s’ and ‘tri’s’ in the arms, the next region that almost every body in the gym may seemingly be obsessed with may be the core…the abs as they are more commonly addressed.

Well, one can’t blame them.

Every guy knows that the cut and sculpted arms and chiseled abdominal muscles are some of the things the ladies are so attracted to and heck, with Janet Jackson or Beyonce showing off their chiseled mid-sections, should it be a surprise that even teenage GIRLS are asking: How can I get my abs ‘ripped’ like that?!

Well, male or female if this sounds like you, then I offer you the following tips.

According to what I personally use, what most boxers implement and what most trainers recommend for their clients, the following exercises are the top picks for toning the abs:

1. Bicycle maneuver.

To do this exercise, you lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground. Put your hands beside your head. Bring your knees up to about a 45-degree angle and slowly go through a bicycle pedal motion. Touch your left elbow to your right knee, then your right elbow to your left knee. Breathe evenly throughout the exercise.

2. The Ab-Wheel (My favorite)

-Start with a hand on each grip and kneel down with both knees together on the floor.

-Lock your arms and hold the wheel at your knees on the floor.

-Slowly roll the wheel out and away from your knees and continue going forward until your hands are beyond your head.

-Do not touch the floor; your body should be 3-6 inches above the floor. Return to the starting position by pulling in with your abdominal muscles and arching your back.

-Keep your arms straight and use your core muscles to return to the starting position again. Breathe in at the start and exhale on the way down. 7-10 repetitions equal one set AND one hell of a workout!

3. Crunches:

* Lie down flat on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the floor.

* Hold your hands wherever you feel comfortable (on your chest or beside your head - just be sure you don't pull on your head).

* The typical crunch is taught by instructing you to simply roll your upper torso forward. This is fine to start with.

* To increase the effectiveness of the crunch movement, push your chest and head up towards the ceiling pushing your lower back flat onto the floor.

* Your anatomy will automatically cause you to follow a crunching pattern.

* Trying to crunch up towards the ceiling will increase the tension on the abs.

* Hold at the top of the movement for a second and squeeze hard.

* Do not lift up into a sit-up as this works the hip flexors and can strain your back.

4. Gorilla Chin-Up/Crunch

This compound exercise works the abdominals, as well as the biceps and Lats. Start by hanging from a chinning bar with your knees bent at a 90 degree angle and your hands about 12 inches apart. You should use an underhand S grip to hang from the bar.

Pull yourself up with your arms and crunch your knees up at the same time. You should finish the chin and crunch at the same time. When fully contracted, your nose should be at the bar and your knees pulled up to your chest. Slowly reverse the movement and return to the starting position.

If you notice, these exercises above work not just ONE part of the body, but a variety of muscle groups at the same time, thus making them super-productive and less time consuming to get a whole body work out.

Now, other factors that do come to mind for toning the abs include:

* exercising all areas of your abs,

* breathing through the exercise while executing it properly,

* adding aerobics to your workout program,

* and implementing a properly balanced diet program.

So, there you have it folks, the tips to get your own chiseled abs (and might I add, toned arms and strengthened upper body at that…)

Just be careful not to be too much of a show-off come summertime…(Hey, I may be at the beach too and I’m up for the challenge of an ‘ab-dance off’!

Foras Aje is an independent researcher and co-founder of BodyHealthSoul LLC. Stop by His Abdominal Exercises Blog today for more information on how can I get a six pack?

Rock Hard Abs!Do You Have What it Takes?

                

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

 

If your abs look good, your whole body looks good. Having Big arms and chest is one thing but having rock hard defined abs is so another.

Everyone knows that nothing turns heads like a defined full set of abs. And hey, chicks love em. What more needs to be said.

Contrary to popular belief, the abs or Rectus Abdominis is really only one muscle. It stretches from the top of your pelvis up to your ribcage. The "six-pack" as it is called is merely sections of this one muscle.

Dispelling the Ab Myths:

The action of any muscle is simply to contract. And as you can't contract half your bicep or quad, it makes sense that you cannot contract half your abs as well. Therefore the myths about "upper ab" and "lower ab" training are total nonsense. I'm not discounting those training methods but the simple fact is that if you can't see your lower abs, it just means you've got fat covering them, not that you need to work them harder.

Say goodbye to hanging knee-raises, straight-leg raises, and any other type of leg raises for building your abs. They simply don't work. The primary role of your abs is to stabilize your body. When you raise your leg for example, your hip flexors pull on your spine and arch it forward/downward. Your abs stabilize this action by resisting and essentially keeping your back from breaking. Take note that this is the static action of the abs. It doesn't build or strengthen. Leg raising exercises only feel like they are effectively working your abs because of the repeated strain and exhaustion of your muscle producing catabolic, lactic acid build up. Search for "lactic acid" at http://www.muscle-body.com for more information.

What Really Works:

What does strengthen your abs is what strengthens any other muscle in your body. Contraction! In this case - Decreasing the distance between your rib cage and your pelvis.

So we come back to the good old sit-up. But there are a few things to keep in mind.

Firstly, forget about the cool all-the-way-up sit-ups you see in the movies. Your abs are fully contracted when your shoulders are about 5 to 6 inches off the ground. So don't bother trying to impress or outperform someone by touching your elbows to your knees. It does nothing for you. Crunches as they are sometimes called are the way to go.

Secondly, don't wedge your feet under something to help you get up. You don't need to do this if you are doing crunches properly anyway. Your legs should be at 90 degrees to each other and your knees at 45 degrees to your waist. If you need to, use something to press your heels back against to stabilize yourself. This way you will use your hamstrings instead of your hip flexors which will keep the focus on your abs.

Thirdly, keep your hands lightly held against the side of your head or crossed on your chest. Don't clasp them together behind your head or neck. If you do you will be tempted to pull with your hands to get the last few reps out, which will put unnecessary strain on this fragile part of the spine.

Alternative:

Another good exercise for abs is kneeling crunches. You will need special equipment to perform this exercise. This is where you kneel and contract your abs so that your upper body arches forward/downward. You hold a rope attached to a pulley with weights for extra resistance. Most gyms will have a rope attachment to the triceps pull down to perform this exercise. The idea is to lock your arms against your upper body so that you pull down only with your abs and not your arms.

Ab Training Devices:

In 2 words - Forget it.

You don't need them. Most of them do nothing for you. Building muscle is hard and it hurts. Most of these devices are designed to take the pressure off your body making the exercise seem easy and con you into thinking you are really targeting your muscles. Don't believe the hype. Ab training is definitely hard work but definitely worth it's reward.

The Secret:

The difficulty in obtaining great abs is not so much building the muscle. It's cutting enough fat from your body for them to show. You probably know by now that spot-reduction of fat simply doesn't work here. In order to show those abs you need overall fat loss. Check out http://www.muscle-guide.com for more info.

You can find more great Muscle Building information at http://www.muscle-guide.com

Why You Do Not have Killer Abs or that 6 Pack Abdominal Muscle

                

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

 

Ask any woman what is the most attractive part of a male body and most of the time, they will tell you it's the six pack abs, meaning that your abdominal muscle showing up with beautiful definition. Your abs is considered by many as a sexy muscle and is a symbol of a fit and healthy man. Women are instinctively drawn towards a man brimming with health and fitness because it is a primitive indication that the man is strong enough to protect her and her brood. A rippling six pack abs is one such indication. So is it any wonder that in every gym, you will see men of all ages doing crunches, leg raisers and sit ups religiously in the hope of obtaining the much coveted killer abs? Unfortunately, most men will never get to see their abdominal muscle in its glorious splendor. Why? The following fitness tip will show you why.

You may not like what I am going to give to you straight in the face here. But I will give it to you anyway. So here it goes. Listen up carefully. You may do a zillion crunches a day, then another another million leg raisers , but as long as there is a layer of fat covering your tummy, you will never see your abs because it is covered by the blubber of fat. In fact, your waistline will become bigger because you are adding muscles underneath those fats! So instead of having a slim waistline and showing off your abs, you will have a bigger waistline and thicker love handles. Now get this straight. There is no such thing as spot reduction! Once the fats are off, your abs will show. That I promise you. It is just that simple to display your abs. Lose fats! That's all.

Late night TV commercials or magazines has been telling you that you can have well defined abs by using this gadget or that electronic gizmo. Do you really believe that it is that simple? If it is so, then everyone will have that six pack abs in no time, won't they? Then why isn't that so? Because it just doesn't work that way.

To lose fat effectively and permanently for your abdominal muscles to show, you must include a mildly deficit calorie restriction diet, frequent cardio workouts and strength training with weights to build muscle so as to raise your metabolism in order to lose weight and burn fat naturally. Your weight loss goals will not be achieved effectively or permanently if any one of these three elements is done wrongly or not even incorporated in your slimming program. I repeat the three elements again :-

A mildly caloric deficit diet - A mildly caloric deficit diet to help you lose weight.

Frequent cardio workouts - Frequent cardio workout to exercise your heart and lungs and burn fat at the same time.

Weight Lifting to build muscles - Build muscles to burn fat permanently as muscles use up more calories from your food for energy. Lifting weights will also give you a well toned body and help your abs to show.

Forget about any fad diets or popping slimming pills . These may work initially but in the long run, they are bound to fail.

Now supposing that you are successful in your lose weight lose fat program and have very little fat covering your torso but yet you do not have well defined abs....what happened? You are doing your exercises wrongly or in poor form. More about exercise techniques and form in future articles.

More articles by Chris Chew at

www.sgfitnessonline.com

Chris Chew is an American Muscle And Fitness Institute's Master Trainer based in Singapore. Many of his clients are public figures including actors, international pageant winners, models and muscicians.

You can check out his website at http://www.sgfitnessonline.com