The majority of people typically think of exercises (mostly crunches and sit-ups) when they are considering going for that perfect set of abs … possibly for the first time in their life.
The unpopular truth is, it’s going to take 4 combined elements to get the type of results you see showcased on TV and in the movies; there aren’t any short cuts, unfortunately. All the activities are necessary and they’re aimed at the crucial combination – burn fat, build muscle.
Your Diet
The major realization here is, you can spend the rest of your life working out with crunches but if you’re still wearing a fat suit, you’ll never have ripped abs.
So your diet has to be one that supports fat loss. Meaning, first, think about calories — you need to take in less calories than you burn. Second, you need a good balance of protein, carb, and healthy fat. You need the protein to build muscle and also to help muscle recover from exercise; and, protein can help you to control your appetite. You need carbs for energy. And healthy fat because some forma of fat – not those in a burger or ice cream, I might add – are an essential part of a balanced diet.
Cardio Exercise
Why cardio exercises, specifically? Because 3500 calories = 1 lb of fat, so if you want to eliminate the layer of fat that hides the abs, cardio helps to burn the calories, and therefore burn the fat.
Strength exercises
People are often surprised to learn that strength training has the biggest impact on the metabolism … meaning, if you perform this type of training regularly, you’ll literally put your body in a position where the metabolism speeds up and … you’ve guessed it, your burn fat more quickly. Large muscle exercises – squats, bench presses, lunges, etc – performed regularly will have a bigger impact on metabolism even than cardio and certainly more than small muscle exercises (bicep curls, for example) although it all helps. The faster you burn the fat … the faster you get those great abs you’re working so hard for.
Abs-specific exercises
And only now do we come to the exercises that most people have in mind from the outset – crunches, sit-ups, and leg-lifts in all their variety.
So, this is the path you need to take for great abs; but the biggest obstacle isn’t actually associated with any of these. The biggest challenge is purely mental, and it’s this – are you willing to pay the price?
