As we’ve discussed in part 1 of this article, in your efforts to reduce tummy fat, you can’t just rely on any old workouts for abs to magically turn your midsection into a jaw dropping six pack.

For part 1 of this article go to Abdominal Workouts – The Truth On How To Achieve Toned Abs!

In Step 2 we’re going to discuss  some hints to help kick start your new training regime.

2. Abs Workout Diet Tips

* Reduce the bad fats content in your meals.

* Trying using a low fat cooking spray instead.
* Get your fats from healthy foods instead. Eg… Nuts, avocado
* Cut right back your fried foods
* Reduce your margarine and butter usage to only a small amount or none at all
* Increase lean protein (to help feed your muscles and support repair and growth)
* Eat fresh salads and veggies
* Towards the end of the day reduce your intake of carbs like potato, rice, pasta, cereals and bread. Still include them in your meals towards the beginning of the day but don’t pig out on them – and consume the brown ones rather than the white ones… oh… and aim for low GI fruit as well.
* Don’t use fatty gravies on your meals or meat
* Don’t use oily salad dressings, go for low oil or no oil with them as well.
* Check the fat, calorie and sodium content on the labels of tins and cans
* Cut the fat off your meat and grill it.
* Eat five to six meals smaller regular meals per day rather than having one or two large meals per day.
* Always have breakfast!
* Use egg whites rather than eggs with yolks. You can actually purchase egg whites in cartons, they can normally be found in the freezer section of your supermarket. Two egg whites = 1 whole egg, if you want to use egg whites in your recipes.
* Have one day off your eating program per week. That doesn’t mean you’ve got the green pass to go to “all you can eat” breakfasts, lunch and dinners all day either. It just means go and treat yourself to a meal or brunch etc. Within reason of course. Keeping with smaller portions.
* If you have trouble keeping up with your protein intake use low-fat, low carbohydrate, high protein drinks and powders. There are some great flavours ranging from vanilla, chocolate, banana, strawberry etc. Purchase a shake that is easy to mix and has quality protein content. You can use these as a morning or afternoon snack.

3.  Cardio Program

To reduce your midsection, and the rest of your body, of that extra body fat, you will need to increase your cardiovascular exercise.

* Vary your cardio times for each session
* Vary the intensity
* Increase the amount of sessions you perform each week – don’t over do it though. Over training eg. cardio twice per day 7 days per week is classified as over training and can deplete your muscle. For a faster metabolism 3-4 times per week is suitable when starting out (beginners). For a slow metabolism, or for those times when you really need to nip that body fat in the bud, 5-6 times per week will give a good kick-start to losing body fat.
* Alternate between your cardio activities to help prevent plateauing. Make a list of 3-4 that you find work the most effectively and swap between them.
* Use cardio machines and activities that include you using your upper and lower body.
* Perform your cardio in the morning, afternoon or evening to encourage your body to burn away at your stored body fats. Some people find that they train more efficiently later in the day (because they’re not morning people or are too rushed in the mornings) this is fine – you’ll need a good 1.5 hours time span, previous to your cardio, from your last meal. Not just for the benefit of burning fat but because you’ll probably feel sick if your exercising on a tummy full of food. Perform your cardio on an empty stomach.
* Don’t perform cardio for any longer than 45 – 50 mins each session maximum!

Workouts For Abs Exercises

1. a. Floor Crunches – Lie flat on your back on the floor, legs bent, feet flat, pushing your lower back into the floor. Clasp your hands behind your neck, keeping your elbows back, in line with your head. Crunch up slightly, raising your head and shoulders, breathing out as you crunch. As you crunch up push your lower back into the floor and squeeze your tummy as tight as possible. Lower your head and shoulders back down to the floor and repeat. You should feel a burning sensation in your upper tummy area and midsection.

or

1. b. Fitball Abdominal Crunch – Lie on a fitball with your hips, lower and middle back all supported. With your feet on the floor, have your knees / legs bent at a right angle (90 degrees). Clasp your hands lightly behind your neck. Raise your shoulders and chest to crunch up lifting your mid back off the ball. (You can also have your arms crossed at your chest, hands resting on opposite shoulders). Keep your lower back and hips on the ball. NOTE: Make sure that when you position your legs at a right angle that your knees stay in line with your ankles.

2. a. Lower Ab Crunches – Lie flat on your back on the floor, legs raised, knees bent and lower legs folded. Push your lower back into the floor. Place your hands by your sides, palms facing the floor. Raise your backside and hips slightly, breathing out at the same time. As you crunch up push your lower back into the floor and squeeze the lower section of your tummy (pelvis region) as tight as possible. Lower your hips and backside back down to the floor and repeat. You should feel a burning sensation in your lower tummy area and upper pelvis.

or

2. b. Fitball Pull-ins – Lie face down on a ball now roll forward so that your feet and shins are on the ball. Place your arms in a push-up position with your hands inline with your shoulders. (It looks a little like an advanced push-up on the fitball) Keeping your back straight pull your knees towards you, rolling the ball forward, (like you’re going to tuck your bent legs under you) – your thighs / knees (depending on your fitness) should be fairly close to your chest. Contract your abs while pulling the ball in towards you then release and roll the ball back out behind you to starting position.

3. a. Side Crunches
Lie flat on your back on the floor, have your knees bent and legs pointed to one side. Your lower body should be pointing to the side but your upper body should remain straight and flat on the floor. Have your hands by the sides of your head and your elbows back. Crunch up slightly pushing your lower back into the floor, raising your head and shoulders, squeezing the side of your waist. Lower your head and shoulders back down to the floor. Repeat the exercise until you have finished your reps. Then change to the other side.

or

3. b. Fitball Oblique Crunch – Lie on a fitball with your hips, lower and middle back all supported. With feet on the floor, have your knees / legs bent at a right angle (90 degrees). Clasp your hands lightly behind your neck – keep your elbows back. Raise your shoulder towards your opposite hip crunching diagonally (contracting your abs) lifting your mid back off the ball. Keep your lower back and hips on the ball. Then lower yourself to starting position. Now swap sides.

Setting Yourself Some Goals

Achieving your goals to reduce tummy fat is possible if you are prepared to make changes to your lifestyle. You will be surprised at the results you receive if you dedicate yourself for a solid 12 – 16 weeks to your workouts for abs program. The hardest part is getting started, but once you are on your way you won’t regret it. Set yourself monthly realistic goals that are possible to reach. Use goal clothing or a tape measure to monitor your changing waistline – and don’t forget about your abs workout diet tips. Re-measure every 4-6 weeks. If possible, use body fat callipers too so that you can keep more accurate tabs on your progress.

Happy abs training!

Yours in fun, health and fitness

© Mandy Gibbons
Virtual Fitness Trainer

Persons who are of good health, suspect of their health or are aware of any conditions, physical deficiencies or diseases should always consult a physician before undertaking any eating or exercise program. Mandy Gibbons, Virtual Fitness Trainer, www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com.au and www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com disclaims any liability or loss in connection with the above program or advice given in this article.

Did you know that the vast majority of people in this day and age have excess abdominal fat? The first thing that most people think of is that their extra abdominal fat is simply ugly, is covering up their abs from being visible, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body.

However, what most people don’t realize is that excess abdominal fat in particular, is not only ugly, but is also a dangerous risk factor to your health. Scientific research has clearly demonstrated that although it is unhealthy in general to have excess body fat throughout your body, it is also particularly dangerous to have excess abdominal fat.

There are two types of fat that you have in your abdominal area. The first type that covers up your abs from being visible is called subcutaneous fat and lies directly beneath the skin and on top of the abdominal muscles.

The second type of fat that you have in your abdominal area is called visceral fat, and that lies deeper in the abdomen beneath your muscle and surrounding your organs. Visceral fat also plays a role in giving certain men that “beer belly” appearance where their abdomen protrudes excessively but at the same time, also feels sort of hard if you push on it.

Both subcutaneous fat and visceral fat in the abdominal area are serious health risk factors, but science has shown that having excessive visceral fat is even more dangerous than subcutaneous fat. Both of them greatly increase the risk your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, various forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

Part of the reason visceral fat is particularly dangerous is that it apparently releases more inflammatory molecules into your body on a consistent basis.

If you care about the quality of your life and your loved ones, reducing your abdominal fat should be one of your TOP priorities! There’s just no way around it. Besides, a side-effect of finally getting rid of all of that excessive ugly abdominal fat is that your stomach will flatten out, and if you lose enough stomach fat, you will be able to visibly see those sexy six pack abs that everyone wants.

So what gets rid of extra abdominal fat? Is there actually a REAL solution beyond all of the gimmicks and hype that you see in ads and on commercials for “miracle” fat loss products?

The first thing you must understand is that there is absolutely NO quick fix solution. There are no pills or supplements of any sort that will help you lose your abdominal fat faster. Also, none of the gimmicky ab rockers, rollers, or ab belts will help get rid of abdominal fat either. You can’t spot reduce your stomach fat by using any of these worthless contraptions. It simply doesn’t work that way.

The ONLY solution to consistently lose your abdominal fat and keep it off for good is to combine a sound nutritious diet full of unprocessed natural foods with a properly designed strategic exercise program that stimulates the necessary hormonal and metabolic response within your body. Both your food intake as well as your training program are important if you are to get this right.

I’ve actually even seen a particular study that divided thousands of participants into a diet-only group and an exercise/diet group. While both groups in this study made good progress, the diet-only group lost significantly LESS abdominal fat than the diet & exercise combined group.

Now the important thing to realize is that just any old exercise program will not necessarily do the trick. The majority of people that attempt getting into a good exercise routine are NOT working out effectively enough to really stimulate the loss of stubborn abdominal fat. I see this everyday at the gym.

Most people will do your typical boring ineffective cardio routines, throw in a little outdated body-part style weight training, and pump away with some crunches and side bends, and think that they are doing something useful for reducing their abdominal fat. Then they become frustrated after weeks or months of no results and wonder where they went wrong.

Well, the good news is that I’ve spent over a decade researching this topic, analyzing the science, and applying it “in the trenches” with myself as well as thousands of my clients from all over the world to see what works to really stimulate abdominal fat loss.

The entire solution… all of the nutritional strategies, as well as training sequences, exercise combinations, and more have all been compiled in my Truth About Six Pack Abs Program.

Keep in mind that the point of this whole program is NOT abdominal exercises (that is only a very small portion of it). The main point of this program is showing you the absolute most effective strategies for losing your stubborn abdominal fat, so you can get rid of that dangerous health risk, as well as get a flatter more defined midsection.

If you follow the guidelines, you WILL lose your belly fat that has been plaguing you for years. This is not guesswork… it is a proven system that works time and time again for all of my clients on every corner of the globe that actually apply the information I teach. If you apply it, the results will come. It’s really that simple.

The only reason most people fail in their fitness goals is that they have good intentions at first to adopt a new lifestyle, yet after a few weeks or months, they abandon their good intentions and slip right back into their old bad habits that gave them the excess body fat in the first place.

I want to help you succeed in finally getting rid of that extra abdominal fat that is not only UGLY, but also DANGEROUS.

Don’t waste another day allowing that nasty abdominal fat to kill your confidence as well as contribute to your risk for MAJOR diseases.

By Mike Geary
Michael Geary (CPT) is a recognized International Fitness Expert, contributing writer for Muscle & Fitness Magazine, and author of the internationally-selling book, The Truth about Six-Pack Abs .

Do you struggle to lose belly fat? I bet you’re thinking that you’ve tried every technique in the world to try to lose your stubborn belly fat, but it just never seems to budge… right? I’m sure you see TONS of commercials and ads making all kinds of miracle claims that you can lose your belly fat overnight with their magic pill or wildly-hyped snake-oil supplement. How about all of the bogus infomercial gadgets out there claiming you can reduce your belly fat in a matter of days just by strapping some worthless “ab-belt” around your waist, or sizzle away the stomach fat by using their patented “ab-roller-rocker” do-hicky.

Come on now! I hope you’ve been insulted by all of these fraudulent marketers and the gimmicks and scams that they are pushing down your throat by trying to get you to believe that a belly-fat reduction miracle is possible overnight.

So let’s get past all of the scams and gimmicks and get right down to the hard science and reality behind what techniques and strategies really do help you to lose your stubborn belly fat and keep it off for life!

1) The first important principle we’ll discuss is how you structure your workouts. In order to stimulate fat-loss from your stomach, you need to stop wasting so much of your time doing all kinds of abdominal exercises and hundreds of reps of crunches, leg lifts, and torso twists in the hopes of “spot-reducing” your belly and love handles.

I’m sure you know by now if you’ve read any reputable fitness publications over the last decade that spot-reduction DOES NOT occur. It’s a myth that just won’t seem to go away. The truth is, you don’t lose belly fat by doing exercises that target the stomach area. Unfortunately, even though most people by now do understand this (or at least they should), they still spend WAY too much of their training time trying to target the stomach with tons of abs exercises.

Now don’t get me wrong, a certain amount of abdominals exercises are great and they do help to strengthen your core and help you maintain a healthy back. But the fact is that direct abs exercises should only be a small portion of your workout routines. The majority of your time should be spent focusing on multi-joint exercises that work the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, chest, and back.

Now that is one of the REAL secrets for ridding yourself of that sloppy belly fat for good. Focusing on big multi-joint exercises for the largest portions of your body greatly increases your metabolic rate both during the workout, and for 24-48 hours after the workout. In addition, this also stimulates an increase in fat-burning hormones within your body. You simply don’t get this type of metabolic and hormonal response by wasting most of your time with “abs-pumping” exercises.

Want to lose belly fat… Well, get your butt under a barbell and do some squats, do some deadlifts, some lunges, step-ups, some back and chest work. It doesn’t matter per se if it’s barbells, dumbbells, or even bodyweight exercises… the focus needs to be on big multi-joint exercises at a high intensity. That means no 5-minute rest periods between sets while you flap your gums with half of the people at the gym. Losing your belly fat for good requires some focus and intensity in your workouts! Anybody who tells you that you can do it while sitting on your couch watching TV with some “ab-belt” strapped to you, or doing only 2-minutes of crunching with your “ab-rocker-roller” is flat out lying to you!

2) The second important principle to rid yourself of that flabby belly revolves around your nutrition. The first thing you need to realize is that “diets” only work against your body in your effort to lose the stomach fat. You see, if you follow any of these fad diets like low-carb, or low-fat, or the grapefruit diet, the soup diet, or anything else that restricts 1 or more of the macro-nutrients (protein, carbs, and fat), most of the time you will actually lose lean muscle and lower your metabolic rate. This only makes you fatter in the long run, when you start to eat normal again!

I could go into all kinds of details, but essentially you are messing up processes related to your hormonal balance in your body, the muscle glycogen process, insulin, blood sugar, etc., and this stops your fat loss dead in its tracks!

It’s important to stop falling for the fad diet gimmicks, and understand that as humans, we are meant to eat a balanced diet full of a diverse array of foods from healthy natural sources of carbohydrates, proteins, AND fats. This gives your body all of the macro-nutrients as well as all of the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and enzymes that your body needs to run as a well-oiled fat-burning machine!

I could go on and on with dozens more strategies for losing your belly fat fast, the natural way, but this article can only be so long, so see below to download a free report detailing some of my best fat-loss strategies for helping you to flatten that belly and uncover those hidden abdominals of yours.

By Mike Geary
Michael Geary (CPT) is a recognized International Fitness Expert, contributing writer for Muscle & Fitness Magazine, and author of the internationally-selling book, The Truth about Six-Pack Abs .

I had the pleasure of being interviewed recently by a fitness professional from NYC, Geovanni Derice, of 4evertoned.com. The interview is below and I think you’re going to like it…I reveal some of the hardest hitting strategies for getting rid of body fat to uncover those six pack abs that everyone wants.

“GD: Welcome Mike Geary to 4everToned’s Fitness Journal. For those who do not know you, please tell us a few things about yourself.

MG: Thanks for having me, Geo. Well, to go back a little, I have been heavily involved in fitness and sports for about 15 years now, ever since I was a teenager. Being involved in sports in high school got me interested in strength training and conditioning. At that point, once I started feeling more energetic, getting stronger, and looking better, I was instantly hooked for life. I’m 30 now and still addicted to the way living a healthy and fit lifestyle makes me feel energetic, confident, strong, and youthful on a daily basis. I decided earlier in my 20’s that I wanted to make the commitment to help other people experience the excitement of being fit and getting in the best shape of their lives, especially since we’ve reached an epidemic of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, depression, etc.

That’s why I became a fitness professional. It just gives me so much satisfaction to help others, who have struggled for years to get in good shape, and show them that it can be done, and it can be fun in the process. I’ve expanded over the years from just reaching local individuals with personal training, into being able to help people all over the globe achieve their fitness goals with the reach of the internet. I only hope that my passion for fitness inspires people to take action and improve how they look and feel for life.

GD: Now Mike, there’s so many things out there as to what works and what does not work…if you had to pick 3 things that work time and time again to get flat abs, what would they be?

MG: The first and most important thing to get control of in order to get flat abs is cleaning up your diet. Exercise is important, but your diet is king when it comes to losing body fat so that you can see your abs. There’s so much confusion these days about what a healthy diet that promotes fat loss really is…after all, we are bombarded by conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy and what is not, and you have all of these gimmicky diet books about low carb, low fat, high protein, vegetarian, fasting, atkins, south beach, liquid diets, and hundreds more. There’s so much conflicting info, that the average consumer doesn’t even know where to start when it comes to eating for fat loss.

The second thing that works time and time again, is to focus on the intensity of your workouts and focus on working the body as a whole in order to get the best metabolic response to lose that stubborn body fat. In order to really get lean, the workouts should have a high intensity, with short rest periods, working the largest muscle groups of the body, instead of trying to isolate specific small muscles like the biceps, triceps, or calves.

For the third thing, let’s talk about actually training the abs specifically. When it comes to training the abs, if you want real results, I always recommend forgetting about the crunches and situps for the most part. They are ok for someone that is really deconditioned, but most people that already have some training under their belt need a much better stimulus for their abs than crunches. Crunches are one of the abs exercises that actually provide the least amount of resistance, and remember that resistance is what develops and tones the muscles. I provide a ton of great abs exercises in my book, but one of THE highest resistance exercises for the abs, is hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym doing them). The key to doing these and actually working the hell out of your abs is to curl your pelvis up as you raise your legs. Almost nobody ever does this right. To be honest, the majority of people cannot do this at first, but I provide some strategies in my book as to how to progress to doing these correctly.

GD: What are people doing wrong when it comes to developing the coveted “6 pack abs”?

MG: Well Geo, I know this sounds funny to most people, but the MAIN thing that people are doing wrong to get those 6 pack abs is…are you ready for this? They spend entirely too much time focusing on training their abs! Sounds crazy, but it’s true. Remember, having a visible six pack of abs is all about getting down to a low body fat percentage. In order to do that, your workouts must focus on stimulating a fat burning hormonal environment in your body, and increasing your metabolic rate. That just does not happen when you focus too much time training a small muscle group like the abs. Instead, you must use the majority of your time focusing on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest. That’s what stimulates your metabolism and the fat burning hormones that will get you truly lean and sporting a sixxer!

GD: Which exercises are the top exercises that people need to do if they are to get maximum defintion with their midsection?

MG: When it comes to developing the abs themselves, I again refer to any kinds of hanging abs exercises, as well as some good floor exercises like lying leg thrusts (all described and illustrated in my book). However, maximum definition in the midsection comes from losing bodyfat, and the most effective exercises featured in my program for that goal are various forms of swings and snatches (unique dumbbell or kettlebell exercises that almost nobody ever does in normal gyms), squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, clean & presses, mountain climbers, sprinting, and other full body exercises and calisthenics. If you want great looking abs, focus on those instead of focusing so much on training the abs directly!

GD: When it comes to diet Mike, people really have tried millions of ways to get one thing…and that is fat loss. What recommendations have you used to successfully help your clients lose fat and keep it off?

MG: I have included a fully comprehensive discussion of this topic in my book, which accounts for almost half of the book, but I’ll try to make some nice simple generalizations to get people started on the right path immediately. The most important thing is that your diet is as natural and unprocessed as possible. It almost always comes back to the overprocessing of food that makes it unhealthy, and makes it totally wreck your metabolism and hormone balance in your body. For example, why eat refined grains, when you can eat whole grains. Why eat refined sugar, when you can get natural sources of sugar from a high nutrient whole food like fruit. Why eat highly processed, refined, and hydrogenated vegetable oils (these are THE worst thing in the modern diet), when you can eat natural sources of healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, coconut milk, organically raised meat, and so forth. The point is to not fall for some gimmick like low carbs, low fat, high protein, or any other combination that has you focusing on one macronutrient vs. another. Your body needs all macronutrients to thrive and obtain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Trying to cut an entire food group out just works against what your body needs. I get into much more detail on this vitally important topic towards losing body fat for life in my book.

GD: Thank you very much Mike for sharing with us all of this great information. For more info on Mike Geary and his internationally popular Truth about Six Pack Abs book, please be sure to visit his site below. Remember that 6-7 weeks from now, summer will be here, and if you wait until then, I’m afraid to tell you, but it will be too late!”

By Mike Geary
Michael Geary (CPT) is a recognized International Fitness Expert, contributing writer for Muscle & Fitness Magazine, and author of the internationally-selling book, The Truth about Six-Pack Abs .

When it comes to abdominal training you have three different theories that people feel will give you the best results.

Which Group Is Right?

On one hand, you have the group that usually has a high body fat percentage, eats a poor diet, and believes that high rep abdominal training will magically melt the fat off of their midsection.

The second group will diet very strict and feel that since they can see their abs, they don’t have to train them at all, and also rationalize not training them due to the fact that they get trained indirectly from performing compound exercises.

The third group will be on and off with their diet and train their abs hard and heavy on a regular basis. This group feels that by training them hard they will make the abs grow, causing them to be visible through their abdominal fat.

None Are Right!

For maximum results I do not believe that any one of the three groups is correct in their belief.

My personal feeling regarding abdominal training is to use resistance exercise to develop the muscle, and then diet real strictly to strip the body fat from the body in order to make the abdominal muscles visible.

If you apply one of these methods but not the other (such as: dieting and not training your abs, or training your abs really hard, but not staying strict on your diet), you will not achieve maximum results for your efforts.

To develop your abdominal muscles to their full potential you must follow a strict high protein, moderate carbohydrate, moderate fat diet, in order for your body fat to be at a low enough level to make your abs visible.

Diet is approximately 80% of the equation in bodybuilding, and if your diet is not on point, you will not receive the results that you are after.

Well, enough talk about the diet (since I have covered that in numerous articles already) – it’s time to discuss abdominal training.

Abdominal Training

When training your midsection, I feel that you should either start with lower abdominal exercises where the legs come towards the chest (leg raises, knee-ins), and then finish with upper abdominal exercises where the chest comes towards the hips and oblique muscles (sit ups, crunches, machines, side crunches).

The abdominal exercises for your lower abs are usually harder, which is why I believe that you are better off putting those exercises first in your workout.

Another way to use this approach is to alternate between a lower abdominal exercise and an upper abdominal exercise, and then finish up with your oblique muscles.

Now that I have this out of the way, let’s discuss the best exercises to maximally develop your abdominal muscles.

Hanging Leg Raises

I believe that hanging leg raises for your lower abdominal muscles are like doing squats for legs and bench press for chest. This exercise is the hardest exercise for the abs, but it will also give you the best results. The hardest part of this exercise is to contract your legs up with your abdominal muscles, and to not let the rest of your body become involved in the exercise, causing your body to start swinging.

This will take some practice as well as concentration. I would also recommend that you use wrist wraps with this exercise so that you don’t have to worry about your hands slipping off the bar.

For sets and reps on this exercise I recommend starting off with two to three sets, while aiming to get 10-15 reps on each set.

If you can do more reps per set, I wouldn’t recommend going over 20 reps, and if you can I would advise that you try putting a very light dumbbell in between your feet to ad some resistance to the exercise. This would allow you to keep your reps in the 15-20 range.

Decline Crunches

Decline crunches are the second best mass builder for the abdominal muscles.
Similar to the hanging leg raise being the hardest exercise for the lower abs, this exercise, when performed at a steep decline is the hardest exercise for the upper abs. When performing this exercise you want to keep your lower back really tight and keep your chest up through out each rep.

As far as hand positioning goes I like to keep them across my chest if you are not holding a weight plate. Breathing technique is also very important with abdominal training to get a maximal contraction on each rep.

On the negative portion of the rep you should be taking a deep breath, and then exhaling at the contraction while squeezing your abs.

For this exercise the sets and reps should be similar to the hanging leg raise. However, with decline crunches I feel the reps should stay in the 15-25 range for two to three sets.

What I like to do with this exercise is perform the first set with no weight for 25 reps. On the second set I will hold a 25lbs plate and perform 20 reps.

For the last set I will go up to a 45lb plate and do 15 reps, then drop the 45lb plate and grab the 25lb plate and do another 15 reps, then do another 15 reps with my own bodyweight.

Cross Bench Knee-Ins

This is somewhat of a difficult exercise to describe on paper but I will do my best. For cross bench knee-ins (seated flat bench leg pull-ins) you position your body across a bench and place your hands with an underhand on either side of the bench. Your butt should be positioned at the far edge of the pad, almost like your going to slip off and keep your legs out in front of you.

You then want to balance your body with your hands and your legs while keeping your abs tight. Now what you want to do is perform a knee-in in the position you are in.

In the contracted position you want to bring your chest towards your knees and squeeze your abs for a hard contraction. This exercise will target the lower abdominal region as well as the upper abdominal region.

I feel that this exercise should only be used with bodyweight, keeping your reps in the 15-20 range for 2-3 sets.

If you are really strong with this exercise you could place a light dumbbell in between your feet to add some resistance, but I would still try to keep your reps up in the 15-20 range.

Kneeling Rope Pulley Crunches

Another great exercise that targets the upper abdominal region is rope pulley crunches (cable crunches) with added resistance. This exercise is pretty easy to explain, you basically just kneel in front of a cable station while holding the ropes over your head.

One key point is to make sure your knees are in the right position in front of the cable stack or you will not feel the exercise correctly.

When you’re set correctly in front of the stack, you then pull down on the ropes while contracting your abs. At the end of the rep the ropes should be pulled down on either side of your head, then slowly let the rope come back up to stretch your abs before performing another rep.

For sets and reps I feel that three sets of 15-20 reps should be sufficient on this exercise.

Start your first set with a lighter weight and work up to heavier weights through out the set. If you want you could even perform a triple drop set on this exercise going from a heavier weight to lighter weights, but I do not feel it is necessary if you already performed a triple drop set on the decline crunch.

Cable Side Bends

The last exercise in this workout are cable side bends for the oblique and intercostals muscles.
For this exercise you want to have a handle attachment on the cable, with a moderate weight on the stack. You then want to grab the handle and take a few steps away from the cable stack so that there is tension on the cable.

Using the handle on the cable you want to pull down and squeeze your side to contract you oblique muscles. After you perform one set for one side of your body turn around and perform another set for your other side right after.

I do not feel that a lot of oblique work is necessary but this is one exercise that I find valuable to add to your workouts. For this exercise 2-3 sets of 20-25 reps should be more than enough to finish off this abdominal blast.

Conclusion

This workout that I’ve outlined is a pretty detailed and intense abdominal workout. However if your diet is not on point you can do this workout for years and still not see one visible abdominal muscle.

I suggest performing this workout twice per week, and coupled with an effective fat loss diet you should see your abs poking through in no time.

You have to remember though, everyone has their abs; they’re usually just covered with a thick layer of fat. So get to work!

Courtesy: Bodybuilding.com

Crazy, ripped, hard abs. That’s the key to showing an awesome body. If you think that all training is about is making sure your chest is big enough to make your shirt hang out past your stomach then you’re missing the boat. Chiseled abs is awesome abs.

How do you get ripped abs?

It’s about diet, cardio and hard ab routines. I’ll give you the low down on how to burn in some washboard abs with this killer ab routine and save the diet ramble for another time.

First of all if your not training abs, start. That would be beginner ab routine phase one! Three sets of crunches for 20 reps a set. If that’s not a problem then superset each set of crunches with a set of hip roles, followed by a brief 30 second rest to let the burn fizzle a bit.

For hip roles you lie on the ground pushing down with your hands and raise your pelvis off the floor so the tail bone comes right up and squeeze the abs!

Last step in the beginner ab routine is to add in some bridges or “planks” as some “guru’s” of fitness have coined them. This is basically a pushup position but you don’t rest on your hands, you rest on your forearms and just hold it for 30-60 seconds. Don’t let your lower back sag! Keep a slightly inverted c posture like your trying to pull your hips toward your chin.

So here is the ab routine once you are working all exercises together.

Beginner ab routine phase 1:
Crunch x20
Hip roll x20
Bridge for 30-60 seconds
Rest and repeat for 3 circuits or just keep rotating through!

Alright enough of the easy stuff, we’re here for some serious abs, killer abs.

Onto Ab Routine 2: The ab killer! I love pet names.

This ab routine will all be done on the decline bench.

The first ab exercise? Decline hip roll/leg raise. Beauty!

Step 1: Put your head where your feet should be

Step 2: grab the bench or the footholds; whichever is more comfortable (not that it will matter in a few minutes)!

Step 3: Stretch out and do a straight-legged leg raises.

Step 4: once at the top of the leg raise turn it into a hip roll so that you point your feet at the ceiling. Hold for a three count and go back down!

Second ab routine exercise:
Incline sit-ups:
Step 1: put your feet in the foot holds (you’ve turned around!)
Step 2: Lower yourself until you’re about a foot short of lying fully back
Step 3: Come back up if you’re still with me!

Third ab routine exercise:
Incline Russian twists (even sounds evil doesn’t it?)

Step 1: don’t move out of the sit up position. Just grab a medicine ball or a 10- pound weight.

Step 2: straighten fully your arms right to your front and lower yourself to the bottom position of the incline sit up and hold it.

Step 3: Rotate to the right 90 degrees with your arms straight and then back to the left at 90 degrees. That’s one rep. You don’t come out of the bottom at all! Fun huh?

Here it is ab routine layout:
Leg raise/hip roll x20
Incline sit-ups x20
Russian twists x20 or 40 if you count both sides!

No rest between ab exercises, and only 30-60 seconds rest after completing the tri-set.

Third Ab Routine:
And the grand daddy hardest ab routine ever? For mortals anyway? Because I remember something about homer Simpson and a cannon ball, but I think you need to have access to the applesauce bar for that ab routine to work!

Well let’s call it the “commando cardio ab annihilation” workout. I have to have a fancy name on it or you wouldn’t be interested! It involves a pre-stretch, a contraction and a dynamic stabilization (I just made that up, but you get the idea) exercise. Here are the ab routine exercises.

1. Smith machine, Swiss ball hip rolls
2. Partner resisted Swiss ball crunches
3. Swiss ball rollouts
4. Profuse sweating and clutching of the stomach.

Ab routine exercise 1: Smith machine, Swiss ball hip rolls:

1.Set the bar low in the smith machine, just below the top of the Swiss ball.

2. Sit on the ball and roll out so that you have to reach back and grab the bar as you lie on the ball. You should be about 2-3 feet away, stabilizing your self by holding the bar and flexing everything!

3. Using only your abs, stretch your pelvis down as low as it will go and then do a hip roll. Legs straight is the hardest.

Ab routine exercise 2: Partner resisted Swiss ball crunches.

1. It’s a normal Swiss ball ab crunch but your arms are crossed across your chest and your “friend” pushes down on your shoulders to apply resistance. That’s it,..ahem.

Ab routine exercise 3: Swiss ball rollouts.

1. Kneel on a pad with legs crossed ball in front of you not on the pad.

2. Your hands are on the ball so it now looks like your praying?

3. Roll the ball out until your straight as a board with your head between your arms and pull it back in.

4. Profuse sweating and clutching of the stomach. This should come naturally.

In an ab routine all together?

Smith machine/Swiss ball hip rolls x20

Partner resisted Swiss ball crunches x20

Swiss ball rolloutsx20

Rest 30-60 seconds after each tri-set circuit or continue right through if you’re a freak of nature or slightly “touched”. I’ve never gotten 20 on all ab exercises on all three sets in a continuous circuit, let me know if you do!

I’ll have to buckle down!

By Raymond Burton

Ray Burton is a personal trainer in Calgary Alberta . He has trained for Golds Gym, World Health Club and the Canadian Military. Now running his own personal training company “Buildingbodies Personal Training” and promoting his book “Fat To Fit” , Ray enjoys helping people live better lives through his fitness tips newsletter

With this article, I want to show you why you might be struggling to lose that stubborn stomach fat that is covering up your abs. These are the main reasons most people just can not seem to get those six pack abs that everyone desires. If you haven’t already seen me around online somewhere, I’m the creator of one of the most popular abdominals and fat loss programs on the internet.

So in this article I want to highlight for you the main points and strategies that I use to make this program one of the most effective programs in existance for fully developing your abdominals as well as getting rid of that stubborn stomach fat that is covering them up.

Pay attention, because once you get this stuff right and start using these techniques regularly, you’ll be showing off your ripped abs in no time flat, whether it’s at the beach, at the pool, in the bedroom, wherever… Just think how great it’s going to feel when people are complimenting you on your washboard stomach!

Alright, here’s what make’s The Truth about Six Pack Abs different:

1. The main focus of this program is NOT abs exercises… And, better yet, this program consistently get’s better results by NOT focusing on abs exercises!

I know that sounds counterintuitive, but the fact of the matter is that abs exercises are ok, and you do need to do a certain amount of them to develop the abdominals as best as possible. But to be honest, most people that are trying to get better looking abdominals waste WAY too much time training the abs directly. What you really need to focus on is burning off the extra fat that is covering them up.

Let’s get this straight right now… Abs exercises do NOT burn fat away from your abs! This can only be accomplished through a much more effective full body training routine that maximizes both your metabolic response and your hormonal response to your workouts. This is the main focus of my Truth about Six Pack Abs Program.

Now don’t get me wrong. It wouldn’t be an abs program if I didn’t show you the most effective exercises for developing your abdominals. I also give you detailed instructions and photos on how to do them right. But like I said, the main focus of this program is the secret method that I use to compile the full body training routines and maximize your fat burning effect.

This is the main reason that this program will be much more effective for you than any other abs programs you’ve ever tried before. You’ve got my word on that.

2. This program uses none of your typical boring monotonous cardio routines.

In fact, you don’t have to do any typical cardio if you don’t want to! I actually recommend against it.

Seriously, almost every program out there tells you that you must do endless cardio exercise regularly to lose the body fat that is covering your abs. Most of them tell you to do 30-60 minutes of cardio exercise 3-4 days/week in addition to your strength training routines.

The truth is that this is not only unnecessary, but it can actually be counterproductive if you’re really trying to get as lean as possible, as quick as possible. I go into this in much more detail in the book, but basically this all comes back to the aspects of your metabolic rate, how much lean muscle you have, the hormonal response in your body from the exercise, and the residual calorie burn in the hours and days following your workouts. And normal boring cardio routines are all wrong when it comes to maximizing these effects!

Now you’re probably thinking that since I’m against typical boring cardio routines, then that must simply mean I’m a proponent of interval training. Yes, as a matter of fact, I believe interval training is MUCH better than typical cardio.

However, I also use a special exercise combination and sequencing in my Truth about Six Pack Abs Program that gets even more powerful fat loss and muscle defining results than interval training. And that’s saying something, because interval training kicks butt! You’ll find out how this system works inside the program.

Want proof that you don’t need typical long-duration steady-pace cardio?

Well, first of all, I actually took a course recently that was devoted to scientific research into why steady-pace cardio exercise is actually not that effective at strengthening the heart. The focus of the research basically boiled down to the fact that the heart needs to be trained in a wide variety of ranges to actually be truly strengthened and ready for all the various stresses that life throws at it. Not only that, but steady-pace cardio was also proven in the research studies to be far less effective in the long term at reducing body fat stores.

To give you a real life example… Personally, I haven’t done what most people would label “cardio” in probably well over 5 years, and I’m actually leaner now and have a lower bodyfat % now than years ago when I did cardio regularly. Not only that, but my heart is in the best condition ever, as I now consistently have the resting heart rate of an elite athlete at about 50 bpm (remember that lower is better). My resting heart rate used to be in the mid to upper 60’s years ago when I used to do typical cardio and strength training routines like most people do.

This improvement in both body fat % and reduced resting heart rate is the direct result of the unique training methods I used in developing the programs in The Truth about Six Pack Abs.

3. This program does NOT revolve around having to use supplements or “fat-loss” pills.

Trust me when I say that for the most part, about 95% of supplements are a complete waste of your hard earned money. I’ve been approached by supplement companies in the past looking for me to promote their products for them, and offering me a lot of money to do so. Well, you know what I do? I tell them to shove it! Seriously, I won’t promote something to my readers that I don’t honestly believe in.

The fact is, I’ve learned over the years through my own experience, as well as hundreds of my clients and friends experiences with supplements, that they are really just selling you the dream that their pill or powder will be some “magical” solution to your struggle with getting that lean ripped body that you’ve been wanting for years. In reality, most supplements do nothing at all to help you improve your body.

Don’t get me wrong… I’m not totally bashing supplement companies, but like I said, about 95% of the products they promote are worthless, and won’t create any noticeable changes in your body. I will admit that there can be a place for meal replacements for people that can’t find the time to prepare or pack all of their real food meals. I also admit that I do think a high quality, fast digesting protein like whey protein can be useful to mix into your post-workout smoothies.

But the fact is that real food is always better for you than processed supplements (as long as you pick the right “real foods”). Anybody that tells you otherwise has either been brainwashed by all of the propaganda and super-hyped up ads that the supplement companies have spread throughout every magazine on the planet, or they have financial ties to selling supplements in some way themselves.

I have dedicated myself to not being lured into the lucrative world of selling supplements. Even though I could make a lot more money selling supplements than by selling my abs program, it’s just plain against my morals to rip people off like that.

Frankly, it amazes me that most people are more willing to spend $30, $40, even $50 or more on a bottle of pills or powder than to spend $30 on a comprehensive training and nutrition guide like this Truth about Six Pack Abs program, which will set them up for life on training programs and dietary secrets that will keep them lean and ripped for life. The only thing that bottle of pills or powder is going to do is give you expensive urine! You make the choice.

4. This program does not revolve around using any fancy “ab machines” or “ab gadgets”.

In case you were suckered into buying any of these worthless ab belts, loungers, rockers, or any other worthless ab gadget or machine, I have bad news… You were ripped off!

The truth is that most of these machines and gadgets are not the best way to develop the abdominal muscles. Sure, some of them may help a tiny bit with strengthening the abdominals, but they are far less effective than some of the best floor, hanging, and standing abs exercises.

Also, more importantly, virtually all of these abs machines, belts, and gadgets do absolutely nothing to burn fat off of the abdominal area!

Again, losing the fat that’s covering up your abs can only be accomplished with a smart nutritional program, and a well designed progressional training program that increases your metabolism and stimulates your fat-burning hormones in your body. Achieving this is simple once you understand the secrets I reveal in the Truth about Six Pack Abs program.

5. This program does not include some sort of fad diet or gimmicky diet trend.

None of that here. I promise you won’t be given any more crap about needing to eat “low-carb” or “low-fat”, or low or high anything, for that matter. The nutritional secrets I reveal in this program go against all of the authors and companies out there that are trying to lure you in with another one of their gimmicks.

The fact is that they need to come up with some sort of different “angle”, so that their diet program appears unique and gives the media something to talk about. That’s why there’s always some gimmick, like low-fat, or low-carb, or high protein, or the “colors diet”, the “low glycemic index diet”, the fasting diet, the cabbage diet, and so on.

Instead, I wanted to give you the truth about what it really takes to eat a nutritious diet that not only will have you burning off that stubborn belly fat, but will also have you feeling full of energy every single day. If you don’t already feel energetic and alive every single day, then you are missing out, because it is an awesome feeling!

The great thing is that once you start eating balanced and healthy all the time, you virtually eliminate cravings altogether. Personally, I used to crave sweets constantly before I adopted the nutritious diet that I currently eat. Now, I can honestly say I can’t remember the last craving I had. It had to be more than 5 years ago… no joke!

Not only that, but I actually enjoy everything I eat way more than I used to years ago when I ate a lot of junk. Does that mean that I never eat burgers, or pizza, or beer? Of course not… We all have a social life. In fact, there are actually very healthy ways and variations to preparing healthier burgers and healthier pizza that I occasionally use.

I hope this article has given you some insight as to where you may be going wrong with your exercise and nutrition plans in striving for those elusive abs. See below for more info on losing stubborn stomach fat and developing ripped six pack abs.

By Mike Geary
Michael Geary (CPT) is a recognized International Fitness Expert, contributing writer for Muscle & Fitness Magazine, and author of the internationally-selling book, The Truth about Six-Pack Abs .

Do you want to reveal a killer 6-pack stomach without melting away your muscle mass? Here are a few ideas to help take your condition to the next level!

After my recent article on effective deltoid training, I was hit with a ton of feedback. Not only was I quizzed on other aspects of general mass building, but I was also asked if these same techniques would work if your goal was to whip yourself into phenomenal shape. I can most definitely say “yes”.

Getting lean is the easy part, but keeping the hard earned muscle when focusing on fat loss can sometimes be a little tricky. For some trainers, it’s like a doubled edged sword. They’ll lose the fat, but also lose a substantial amount of muscle in the process.

Quite frankly, there is no reason why you should lose an ounce of muscle when training to get into shape. It’s too damn hard to build in the first place to be going around and burning it up for no reason.

Remember, it’s not just about losing weight. It’s about losing the excess fat and accentuating your already existing muscle mass to showcase your best ever physique.

So what I want to share with you are some of my ideas for getting into shape. Granted these are the same tactics that I use to get into tip-top shape for the stage, but you can use these same principles to suit your own goal – be that for the stage, a ‘12 week Transformation’ Challenge, or for a more generalized goal such as looking good for the beach.

Weight Training For Fat Loss

When we are on the ‘mission for mass’ we have no problems in regards to effective weight training. Hit the weights hard, challenge yourself to lift heavier at every single session coupled with a ‘never say die’ attitude, and you are well on your way.

We in fact thrive in the challenge of putting weight on the bar and mass onto our physiques. But what happens when our focus turns to fat burning is that the majority of trainers simply forget about every training tactic that has ever been beneficial.

Entering into the fat loss phase, priorities change. It’s no longer about mass, it’s now about that ‘6-pack’. But the problem for most trainers seems to be in the way they attack their goals. It’s all about increasing the reps, decreasing the overload and chasing the burn right? Wrong!

Every time you step into the gym for a weight-training session, you should have one single goal in mind and that is to stimulate maximum muscle growth. It doesn’t matter if you are 6 months from your end date or 6 weeks, it’s all about gaining mass and strength. That’s what weight training is all about, building muscle!

The best way to hit the weights is always the same – heavy load, low reps and limited volume. Focus on the basic overload training principles, both when you are trying to gain mass and when you are aiming to lose excessive body fat.

So what happens when you reduce the overload by reducing the weights and increasing the reps? You are taking away the very ‘need’ for your increased muscle mass in the first place. The reason you are carrying the additional muscle on your frame that you built in the off-season is because it is needed to survive your brutal training sessions.

If you take away the reason, you can take away the muscle. So to keep your mass, you need to continue training hard and pushing yourself at every session.

Additionally, muscle is a metabolically active tissue so the more muscle you have, the more calories your body needs during each day just to function. This alone can aid in fat burning and is just another benefit to hitting the weights hard!

Eating For Fat Loss

Aside from heavy training, nutrition can be seen as another one of those secret weapons for ultimate fat burning. Just like eating to get big, you also need to follow a detailed nutrition plan when you are dieting down and my number one rule is to eat!

Too many people believe that skipping meals and changing their entire outlook to nutrition will lead to accelerated weight loss, but if you start skipping meals and fail to provide your body with the fuel it needs to power through your workouts, you’ll end up losing a lot of muscle for your trouble.

Eating for fat loss isn’t just about cutting calories. It’s about supporting your training and nutritional requirements with smart choices and creating the ideal calorie balance (relationship between calories in versus calories out) to get the job done.

With food choices, remember you still need to take care of your training requirements and overall health first and foremost.

This means you should focus on quality proteins, functional carbohydrates (high GI varieties around training and low GI varieties throughout the rest of the day) and essential fats.

When its time to cut calories, first focus on the meals outside the 3-hour post-workout window and then delete a balance of calories from meals as required.

Whenever one of my clients wants to focus on fat loss, the first thing I have them do is ‘increase’ their meal frequency.

Over the course of a day they will still be getting in the same number of total calories or sometimes even a little more, it’s just an increase in meal frequency.

I often get quizzed on the reasoning behind this and it is pretty simple. Every time something passes your lips (be that solid food or even just a shake), your body needs to do its thing and process that food.

The more often you take in calories (as a meal), the more efficient your body can become in processing those nutrients and this may also speed up the body’s ability to use stored body fat as energy.

I have no physiological proof that this is the case, just real world feedback. I have found that when I greatly increase the number of daily meals I have but keep the calories roughly the same; I get leaner with no increase in activity.

The leanest I have ever been for competition was in 2003 and I was eating 14 meals per day (and that is not a mis-print).

Cardiovascular Training For Fat Loss

Just like weight training, cardio exercise is surrounded by those age-old myths that people just don’t want to let go of.

You know the style, 30-60 minute sessions on an empty stomach first thing in the morning and stay in the fat burning zone.

But remember, cardio isn’t just about losing weight. It’s about burning calories to enhance fat loss, and as such there is a better way.

An effective cardio session should be tackled in exactly the same way that an effective weight training session is – with intensity.

The traditional view with cardio is to keep the energy output under control so you burn a great percentage of body fat (compared to carbohydrates) during the session and your assumption would be 100% correct.

But that’s not what effective cardio is all about. Effective cardio is all about utilizing energy and encouraging your system to run at a higher level.

Have you ever heard of the term ’sugar burner’ when used to describe high intensity cardio?

No, well what it basically means is that due to the athletes high output they are mainly burning carbohydrates as the primary energy source to power through the session. Is that a bad thing? No way!

Remember, effective cardio training for fat loss is all about utilizing energy because the simple fact is, energy balance will always determine whether you gain, lose, or maintain weight.

Energy balance is the proportion of calories you take in versus the calories you burn up through exercise and metabolic functions. You lose fat only when you are in a negative energy balance.

How Does High Intensity Cardio Work?

Well for one let’s not forget that we are on a calorie controlled diet and you know exactly what you are eating each day. You don’t need to know every exact figure, but your nutritional choices and sizes need to be pretty consistent from day to day so you can make adjustments when needed.

Run with me for a minute and I’ll give you a better understanding of effective cardio training.

You perform a high intensity session and burn X amount of calories (more then if you performed a lower intensity, higher volume session) and then your system will continue to run more efficiently for several hours which will help burn an additional amount of calories.

Does This Affect My Overall Calorie Balance?

This will help you burn a greater percentage of calories, and the more calories you utilize during the day the quicker your body will tap into stored energy levels (that’s your body-fat) to fill the void.
And that, my friends, is why high intensity cardio works so well. It lets you burn those stored calories quicker and the quicker you utilize them, the quicker you will reach your goal.

What Type Of Cardiovascular Exercise Can I Do?

The world is pretty much your oyster here. You can do any type of cardio-vascular exercise, as long as it gets the heart rate up and you can deliver the required rate of intensity.
Here are just a sample of the things you could use to melt the excess fat away to reveal a rock hard mid-section:

Outside:

Hill sprints
Interval training
Swimming
Mountain biking
Power walking with the dog

In the Gym:

Treadmill
Stepper
Rower
Elliptical trainer
Stair climber

Some are the traditional varieties and some I bet you never thought of. Again, remember intensity is the common denominator here and not necessarily the type of exercise employed.

Conclusion

Obtaining your ideal physique really isn’t that complicated, but requires some hard work on a consistent basis. It’s just a matter of manipulating the basic principles to suit your lifestyle and your individual goals, and then going for it!

Summer is just around the corner so what better time to put it to the test and display some devastating condition!

Does This Affect My Overall Calorie Balance?

This will help you burn a greater percentage of calories, and the more calories you utilize during the day the quicker your body will tap into stored energy levels (that’s your body-fat) to fill the void.
And that, my friends, is why high intensity cardio works so well. It lets you burn those stored calories quicker and the quicker you utilize them, the quicker you will reach your goal.

What Type Of Cardiovascular Exercise Can I Do?

The world is pretty much your oyster here. You can do any type of cardio-vascular exercise, as long as it gets the heart rate up and you can deliver the required rate of intensity.
Here are just a sample of the things you could use to melt the excess fat away to reveal a rock hard mid-section:

Outside:

Hill sprints
Interval training
Swimming
Mountain biking
Power walking with the dog

In the Gym:

Treadmill
Stepper
Rower
Elliptical trainer
Stair climber

Some are the traditional varieties and some I bet you never thought of. Again, remember intensity is the common denominator here and not necessarily the type of exercise employed.

Conclusion

Obtaining your ideal physique really isn’t that complicated, but requires some hard work on a consistent basis. It’s just a matter of manipulating the basic principles to suit your lifestyle and your individual goals, and then going for it!

Summer is just around the corner so what better time to put it to the test and display some devastating condition!

By: Josh Dickinson
Courtesy: Bodybuilding.com

How many infomercials have you seen where an “expert” says, “For the low-low price of $49.99 our product will help you get rid of your gut and develop the best set of abs on the planet!” In the ads, fitness models show the six pack attained by using Product X. Research shows “spot reduction” is impossible.

To have giant ravioli type abs, body fat levels must be reduced, so don’t rely on the AB-roller, AB-maker, or AB-shaper to give you the chiseled look you desire. There are four primary ingredients for developing great-looking abs: cardiovascular exercise 3-4 times per week, effective ab exercises, eating foods low in fats, and the right set of genes.

The central function of the abdominal region is to provide a strong foundation on which both the upper and lower body moves. Let’s briefly look at ab anatomy.

Ab Anatomy

There are four muscle groups that make up the abdominal area:

1. The Rectus Abdominis (RA) – The “RA” runs the length of the ab area from the pubic bone to the chest and pulls the torso toward the hips and the hips toward the torso. It’s responsible for tilting the pelvis, which may affect the curvature of the lower back. Strengthening the “RA” will enhance performance in sports requiring jumping, running, and lifting objects. The “RA” when fully developed will provide you with the “six pack.”

2. The External Oblique (EO) – The “EO” runs diagonally to the rectus abdominis and aids in the twisting of the trunk. The left external oblique is activated when twisting to the right, and the right “EO” is activated when twisting to the left. Strengthening this area will improve performance in sports where trunk rotation is important such as golf, tennis, and baseball.

3. The Internal Oblique (IO) - The “IO” lies underneath the external oblique and runs in a diagonally opposite direction. The “IO” muscle aids the trunk in twisting in the same direction as the side they are on. Strengthening this muscle will improve your performance in sports where you rotate the trunk, such as skiing, canoeing, soccer.

4. The Transverse Abdominis (TA) – The “TA” runs horizontally across the abdominal wall and along the midsection underneath the external and internal obliques. The “TA” pulls the abdominal wall inward, forcing expiration. Strengthening the “TA” will enhance performance in sports with short-term power activities such as karate, shot put, and football.

Effective Ab Exercises

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) recently sponsored a study (2) to find the most effective and least effective ab exercises. The study conducted by Dr. Peter Francis from the Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University, compared 13 of the most common abdominal exercises and ranked them from most to least effective. The study consisted of 30 healthy women and men, ages 20-45, ranging from occasional to daily exercisers. They were put through a series of exercises, including the traditional crunch, modified crunches, partial body-weight exercises and exercises using both home and gym exercise equipment. Muscle activity was monitored during each exercise using electromyography equipment.

Each of the 13 exercises were ranked for muscle stimulation in the rectus abdominus (long, flat muscle extending the length of the front of the abdomen) and the obliques (long, flat muscles extending along the sides of the abdomen at an angle). Overall, the top three abdominal exercises were bicycle maneuver, captain’s chair and crunch on exercise ball.

For best results, Dr. Francis recommends choosing several of the top-rated exercises and doing a five-minute exercise session daily. If one exercise is uncomfortable, try others until you come up with a variety that meet your needs. This will help train maintain muscle balance and prevent boredom (2).

According to the San Diego State University/ACE Abdominal Study (2) the following are some of the most effective ab exercises:

The Exercises

Bicycle maneuver – Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground. Put your hands beside your head. Bring knees up to about 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. Keep even relaxed breathing throughout.
Captain’s chair – Stabilize your upper body by gripping the handholds and lightly pressing your lower back against the back pad. The starting position begins with you holding your body up and legs dangling below. Now slowly lift your knees in toward your chest. The motion should be controlled and deliberate as you bring the knees up and return them back to the starting position.

Crunches on exercise ball – Sit on the ball with your feet flat on the floor. Let the ball roll back slowly. Now lie back on the ball until your thighs and torso are parallel with the floor. Place hands behind your head (or cross your arms over your chest) and slightly tuck your chin in toward your chest. Contract your abdominals raising your torso to no more than 45 degrees. For better balance, spread your feet wider apart.

Vertical leg crunch – Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground. Put your hands behind your head for support. Extend your legs straight up in the air, crossed at the ankles with a slight bend in the knee. Contract your abdominal muscles by lifting your torso toward your knees. Make sure to keep your chin off your chest with each contraction. Exhale as you contract upward; inhale as you return to the starting position.

Reverse crunch – Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground. Put your hands beside your head or extend them out flat to your sides-whatever feels most comfortable. Crossing your feet at the ankles, lift your feet off the ground to the point where your knees create a 90-degree angle. Once in this position, press your lower back on the floor as you contract your abdominal muscles. Your hips will slightly rotate and your legs will reach towards the ceiling with each contraction. Exhale as you contract; inhale as you return to the starting position.

Traditional crunch – Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor in front of you. Lie on an exercise mat rather than hard floor to prevent back strain. Position your feet hip distance apart. Place your hands behind your head so that your thumbs are tucked behind your ears. Hold elbows slightly out to the sides and keep chin pointing upward. Curl up and forward lifting your head neck and shoulder blades off the floor. Make sure you’re not pulling your head forward with your hands.

Keep a fists distance between your chin and chest to be sure to target your abs and not strain your neck. Pause at the top of the movement and tighten your abs. Slowly lower your head, neck & shoulder blades as you inhale and return to starting position. Remember to keep knees bent and back straight throughout entire exercise.
In gyms all around the world, millions of people are spending hours upon hours working on their abs however, due to genetic characteristics, women may find it much more difficult to develop the sleek and shapely ab muscles they desire.

Ab Region: A Problem Area For Women?

A woman’s pelvis consists of four bones (paired innominate bones, coccyx, and the sacrum) held together by ligaments. The size and shape of these bones have a tremendous impact on how a woman looks physically. The pelvic shape is classified by the “Caldwell-Moloy” system.

There are four “pure” pelvic shapes in this system:

Android (A)
Gynecoid (B)
Anthropoid (C)
Platypelloid (D) shaped pelvis.
The pelvis of any person may have some features of the opposite sex. A and C are most common in males, B and A in white females, B and C in black females, while D is uncommon in both sexes (3).

The android pelvis (sometimes called a “true male pelvis”) is found in about 20% of American women. Women who happen to have such a pelvis tend to have “flat rear ends.” Many of the “waif women” prominently seen in the industry modeling have this type of pelvis. Women with this shape of pelvis have virtually no real difficulty in achieving a flat stomach because their pelvises are similar to the average man.

The gynecoid pelvis (sometimes called a “true female pelvis”) is found in about 50% of the women in America. It is the “classic” form that we associate with women and has an anteroposterior diameter just slightly less than the transverse diameter. Lucy Lawless of Xena, Warrior Princess fame has a classic gynecoid pelvis. Women like this tend to be shapely and curvy and are able to have a flat stomach without really dropping body fat levels low enough to cause some female problems (i.e., irregular periods, fertility problems, and disrupt hormonal balance).

The anthropoid pelvis is very long and almost “ovoid” in shape. It is more common in nonwhite females (it makes up about 25% of pelvic type in white women and close to 50% in nonwhite women).

Women who have such a pelvis shape tend to have “larger rear ends” and may carry a lot of adipose tissue/weight in the buttocks as well as in the abdomen. These women can have a flat stomach with some real effort (they may have to drop body fat levels down a bit lower than women with the other two aforementioned pelvis types, but it’s possible.

The platypelloid pelvis is very short (almost like a “flattened gynecoid shape”). Only about 5% of women have a true and pure pelvis of this type. Women having a platypelloid pelvis tend to carry a lot of weight in the lower abdomen. It’s very difficult for these women to have really flat abdomens without getting body fat levels down into the single digits.

What does all this have to do with having a pouch? Since many women are a mixture of pelvic types no matter what they do, they are still going to end up with a little pouch in their abdomen region (1).

Another important factor in developing award winning abs is to carefully monitor your caloric intake. In order to bring out the ab muscles, plan on losing 1-2 pounds per week. Between 6-8 weeks from now, you should have an awesome set of abs on display

“Never forget your abs!” says IFBB Fitness Pro and 1998 NPC Team Universe (Fitness) runner-up, Amy Yanagisawa. “They are your body’s center of power and provide core strength. Strong abs aid balance, help prevent lower back injuries and promote good posture. Consistent abdominal workouts (10-15 min, 4-5x per week) performed correctly are not just for physical well being, but for aesthetics too. Another important tip is to be sure to keep track of your abs exercises in your workout journal so you know which exercises work best for you and produce the best results!”

There are dozens of ab exercises to help you maintain good posture, alleviate lower back pain, and improve your athletic performance. This article has provided you with the tools to develop an intelligent, varied routine that meets your specific training needs and goals. Finally, there is no magic formula that will make your abs appear. Nothing replaces the time and consistent effort you put into your quest for phenomenal abdominals!

Reference

1. www.testosterone.net, Oct 30, ‘98, No. 25
2. www.acefitness.com, American Council on Exercise (ACE), Study Reveals Best and Worst Abdominal Exercises, May 14, 2001
3 www.kumc.edu, Sexual Differences in the Pelvis (pg 337)

Courtesy: Bodybuilding.com

Promising a flatter stomach and smaller waistline, abdominal exercise machines form a big part of the multi-billion dollar home exercise industry. Do any of them work better than the traditional abdominal curl? A group of researchers from California decided to find out [1].

They tested six home abdominal machines: the Ab-ONE, Ab Scissors, Ab Swing, 6 Second Abs, Perfect Ab Roller and the Torso Track.

Forty-six volunteers (20 men and 26 women) took part in the study. After being told how to use each device, they performed one set of 8-10 repetitions for each exercise.

The researchers used electromyography (known simply as EMG) to measure recruitment of the abdominal muscles during each exercise. EMG activity was assessed for five consecutive repetitions in each set. Movement speed was controlled across devices and subjects. The machines with variable resistances were all tested at their highest resistance setting.

Surface electrodes were placed on the skin over the right upper portion of rectus abdominis (the upper abs), the right lower portion of rectus abdominis (lower abs), and the right external oblique muscle.

About Your Ab Muscles

* Rectus abdominis extends down the stomach from your ribs to your hips. When you lie down on your back and lift the shoulders from the floor, rectus abdominis is the muscle that’s doing most of the work. The six-pack look is the result of bands of connective tissue that “cut” into rectus abdominis. The more developed the rectus abdominis muscle, the deeper the grooves.
* The external and internal obliques run down the side of your waist. They actually “help” rectus abdominis during various curling exercises, and are also active during resisted twisting movements.
* Transverse abdominis acts a little like a corset, helping to hold your abdomen flat. You can’t actually see transverse abdominis, as it “hides” away underneath the other abdominal muscles.
* Psoas (the “p” is silent) is a muscle that crosses the spine and hip. The main role of psoas is to flex the hip. Stand up straight and raise one leg. It’s psoas that’s doing most of the work.

And the results?

The numbers in the table below refer to the activity of the upper rectus abdominis (upper RA), lower rectus abdominis (lower RA) and the external oblique (EO) muscles relative to the abdominal curl (also known as the crunch).

NOTE: Although this study measured muscle activity in the upper and lower abs, it’s debatable whether a distinct upper and lower rectus abdominis exists in most people [2].

What do all the numbers mean?

To assess the effectiveness of each device relative to the crunch, EMG values for the upper and lower rectus abdominis and the right external oblique were assigned a value of 100%.

If the value was lower than 100%, the machine was less effective in recruiting that muscle than the crunch. A value higher than 100% means that the machine is more effective than the crunch in recruiting that muscle.

“Contrary to many of the claims accompanying several of the devices tested,” write the researchers, “the Ab Scissor, Ab Swing and 6 Second Abs were significantly less effective than a crunch at eliciting upper and lower rectus abdominis activity.”

Except for two machines showing greater activity in the right external oblique, all the machines showed less EMG activity than the traditional crunch. This suggests that these machines were less effective than the crunch in recruiting these muscles.

The only machine that showed greater EMG activity than the traditional crunch was the Ab-ONE, a banded exercise device with a bar that’s held with an underhand grip, with your palms facing toward your face.

To perform a crunch with the Ab-ONE, you lie on your back on the floor in a position similar to a crunch. Your hips are flexed to a 45-degree angle and your knees are bent.

A pad is placed on your stomach at the level of your navel. You then perform a crunch-type movement while simultaneously pulling down toward the floor with your elbows.

The researchers think that the Ab-ONE was more effective in recruiting the abdominal muscles because of the resistance provided by the elastic bands. The force applied to the abdominals with the pad placed at the level of the navel also resulted in a contraction of the abdominal muscles.

So, is the Ab-ONE worth a try?

Personally, I don’t use or recommend any of these machines. I usually train my abs twice a week using a variety of exercises. In one workout, for example, I might do cable woodchops, hanging leg raises and standing cable crunches. In the next workout, I’ll use a few different exercises, such as barbell rollouts or ball reverse curls (for a sample ab workout, see, “Lift weights and lose fat: How to drop pounds by picking them up, Part II” in the Members-Only Area of my website).

Most people who buy these kinds of products want a smaller waist or a flatter stomach. This will require losing fat. The best way to do this is to combine regular exercise with a diet that contains the right number of calories, adequate amounts of protein, a healthy blend of fats, and carbohydrates with a low energy density.

And what if you want a six-pack?

Rectus abdominis, which is the six-pack muscle, extends down the stomach from your ribs to your hips. When you lie down on your back and lift the shoulders from the floor, rectus abdominis is the muscle that’s doing most of the work.

The six-pack look is the result of bands of connective tissue that “cut” into rectus abdominis. The more developed the rectus abdominis muscle, the deeper the grooves. To see your six-pack, you need a well-developed rectus abdominis combined with low levels of subcutaneous fat (fat stored under the skin).

The Ab-ONE may work rectus abdominis a little harder than a crunch done on the floor without any added resistance. But holding a dumbbell across your chest while doing a crunch will probably have a very similar effect. There are also several ways to make the crunch more effective, such as “bracing” the abdominals rather than pulling them in.

Although it came out top of the list, I’m not convinced that a 25-30% difference in muscle activity during five consecutive unweighted crunches means that the Ab-ONE is worth spending your money on.

By Christian Finn, Men’s Health Columnist & Exercise Scientist
Facts About Fitnes.com