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We all want to possess killer abs – male or female, young or old. What myths are out there about developing athletic abs and what do you really need to do in order to develop a lean and defined midsection?
Below I have listed the four key ingredients you will need in order to develop a killer midsection and I have listed them in order of importance. You might be surprised to see that ab training is listed last. The four key areas that need to be addressed are:
1. Nutrition
2. Resistance Training
3. Metabolic Training
4. Abdominal Training
Ingredient 1:
The Importance Of Nutrition In Developing Lean Six-Pack Abdominals They say that your abs are made in the kitchen. Well I like to think that the recipe for developing lean abs begins in the kitchen. However, there are other ingredients you will need in order to cook you up a set of lean abs, but let’s focus on the importance of nutrition here.
You cannot get your abdominals to stand out and trim your waistline, unless you address the area of nutrition. The only way to get your abs to stand out is to remove the layer of fat that’s keeping them from being exposed.
You can do all the abdominal training in the world, but it will do nothing to remove the fat that’s covering your abs. You must look carefully at your nutrition, addressing your eating habits and meal planning. Even if you are performing the perfect training program, it won’t matter if you are eating poorly. There is no training program that I know of that is powerful enough to overcome a poor diet.
Ingredient 2:
Resistance Training is of the utmost importance when Developing Lean Six-Pack Abdominals. Remember the primary objective is to get your bodyfat levels low enough to expose your abs. Resistance training will help you enormously in getting your bodyfat levels down to a point where your abs will be able to be seen while helping you to maximise the development of the muscle itself.
The BIG Lifts!
Focus on the BIG lifts and bodyweight exercises. The BIG lifts are exercises such as the barbell of dumbbell bench press, squats, lunges, dead lifts and Olympic lifts. These exercises will do more for your abs than any isolation abdominal exercise or abdominal gadget could ever do.
Unilateral Training!
Unilateral training (single leg or single arm exercises) of ANY description requires the abdominals to perform anti rotation movement and stabilization of the entire body. These actions are the primary function of the abdominals. The idea that abdominals are for trunk flexion is a massive misconception!
Bodyweight Training!
People have developed the notion that bodyweight training is easy and they MUST do weights in order to tax themselves. I beg to differ. Just because you can do 10 half arsed push-ups does NOT mean you can master your Bodyweight!
Bodyweight exercises such as push ups, chin ups, parallel bar dips, inverted body rows, bodyweight squats, single leg squats, jumps, burpees and plank exercise variations all have progressions and they can all create a VERY effective workout that EVERYONE can benefit from. Supporting your body in all these positions not only taxes the abdominals, but it’s functional as well! You should always have the goal of been able to perform these exercises and it’s never too late to learn how to master your own bodyweight. Not only that but once you master these bodyweight exercises you can always start adding additional load in order to further challenge yourself and keep progressing.
Ingredient 3:
The importance of metabolic training in developing lean six-pack abdominals. We just told you that you have to remove the layer of excess fat from your midsection in order to get your abs to show. So how do you do that??? Well you primarily want to be using fat loss training principles and protocols. thats where the problem originates. They DON’T KNOW how to properly train for fat loss.
Way to many people train like endurance athletes when it comes to fat loss. since when did endurance equal fat loss??? Just because endurance athletes are skinny or slightly built does not mean that it is the way to train to get lean and burn bodyfat. Sprinters are much better built and leaner than endurance athletes, and sprinters DO NOT perform endurance training. They train metabolically and to increase work capacity, not endurance. Remember you are training for fat loss, not to increase your endurance or become an endurance athlete.
You need to HIT the fat loss accelerator and you do that by performing HIT (High Intensity Training). This means you should be doing full body resistance training routines, various bodyweight or weight training based circuit training protocols, and interval training protocols.
All these training methods have a metabolic component to them. They not only attack the muscle, which is metabolically active, but these training methods also create EPOC. EPOC or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption is your friend. I like to refer to this as ABE (After Burn Effect). ABE is your fat loss friend. Performing metabolic type work will not only allow you to burn a load of calories whilst you train, but due to the elevation in your metabolism post exercise, you will continue to burn more calories post exercise. This is why we say you need to think outside the workout. You must not only be concerned with what impact the training you do has on your body and metabolism during training, but also what impact your training has on your body and metabolism after you complete your session (POST EXERCISE).
Sprint Training!
Sprinting has shown exciting results for both abdominal development AND spot reduction. This is simply an observation that I have made, but I DON’T think it’s in any way a coincidence that SPRINTERS have highly developed and LEAN abs. I very much doubt it’s from the crunches they do before they go to bed every night. . Correct me if I’m wrong but I think it just MIGHT be the sprinting!
So remember to train METABOLICALLY for fat loss, not aerobically. Train like the sprinter, not the endurance athlete.
Ingredient 4:
The Importance Of Abdominal Training In Developing Lean Six-Pack Abdominals. How important do you think ab work actually is in developing a lean set of abs??? Most people tend to give the right answer, but the amount of ab work they tend to do doesn’t line up with what they say. The fact is that you don’t need to do endless amounts of ab work. The priority is getting your bodyfat levels down.
However, everyone seems to love doing ab work. Problem is that most people perform the most ineffective ab exercises possible. Multiple repititions of crunches, oblique work and leg raises. You may need to adjust the way you think about training your abs. Don’t forget that the big lifts and the big movements, such as sprinting, will do more for your abs than any isolated or direct ab exercise.
Here’s are the main problems I see with people and their abdominal training routines:
Too much direct or isolated ab work
Too much ab work, performed too often
Too much emphasis placed on trunk flexion (crunches)
Too many exercises performed in a lying supine position (crunches, oblique crunches, etc)
Too many total repetitions and not enough load/stress placed on the abs
Instead you should focus on performing the following
Perform ‘ab work’ no more than 2 times per week. Perform stability based, anti-rotational and anti hyperextension exercises
Perform exercises that require transfer of energy through the midsection; back muscles and the abs through full body movements. Perform exercises in various positions. Supine, prone, side positions and grounded.
Abdominal Training Tools and Gadgets! There are numerous abdominal training tools and gadgets on the market today. Tools are useful. Gimmicky ab rollers and other gadgets are a waste of money. These gadgets do sell but they do not work and they are most certainly not needed. http://www.athleticbodysystem.com
You can also log on to Bryan’s Blog Here:http://athleticbodysystem.blogspot.comStudent Aid

Many women think that if they want to lose fat rapidly that they must resort to dangerous diet drugs. Not only is this dangerous, but there are much safer ways to achieve rapid fat loss.

We’ve all been there…we have a special occasion/event that we want to look our best.

It will take some serious dedication with hard training and a solid fat loss nutrition program. What you don’t want to do is go on a liquid fast…yes you will lose weight quickly but most of it will be muscle and not fat. Keeping your muscle at all costs. Muscle is your key to having a faster metabolism so that you can produce rapid fat loss.

Here are some of the keys to rapid fat loss:

1- Eliminate processed carbohydrates.

Think white flour and product like white bread and crackers. There is no room in your fat loss program for these.

2- Reduce the amount of starchy carbohydrates.

An example would be potatoes and brown rice. You don’t have to eliminate them completely, just cut back.

3- Increase your protein intake.

Eating lean proteins like chicken and fish help your metabolism to burn more fat, while preserving lean muscle.

4-Increase you water intake.

This helps with rapid fat loss and keeps things moving. Not enough water can actually make you retain water.

5- Increase your cardio (aerobic activity).

Depending on how much you are doing now you can either increase the duration or the frequency. For example if you are doing 30 minutes go up to 45-60 minutes per session. If you are doing cardio 3x a week then increase it to 5-7 sessions per week. Rapid fat loss will occur when you increase cardio because it helps the body to burn more calories and as a result more fat.

*Make sure you do your cardio with intensity!

6-Taking EFA’s (essential fatty acids) like fish oil or flax seed oil is crucial for rapid fat loss.

I’ve seen it many times where women will not include these in their diets and as a result the fat loss comes to a halt.
Heather Picken, ISSA/P.C.P.T is a Women’s Over 30 Metabolic Specialist & Motivational Coach. She helps women over 30 all over the world achieve the body and health they desire and is the creator of a breakthrough system that is changing the way women create the body they want, easily (http://www.mybodyisfitnow.com). She is also the author of Fat-Burning Recipes For Women On the Go. Get your FREE Copy of Blast Cellulite Now by going to http://www.feelinglikeamillion.com and you can subscribe to her weekly podcast show Feeling Like A Million, where she shares her top fat-burning secrets, exclusively for women 30+.

You can turn on the television, read a fitness magazine, or search the internet, and you will see that there are numerous ways to lose weight and get fit. All of these programs and routines help you to develop a lean sexy body, lose those extra pounds, and maintain good health. Best of all, these total body workout programs are available on DVD, which in turn, can make our fast paced lifestyle a little easier. It’s very difficult to take time for ourselves with so many activities during the day, and to actually stop by the gym. But most of us can find time to workout at home. All of us have an extra 45 minutes to an hour at home. The gym is the space between the television and the couch. Just switch on your TV and use some good workout DVDs. Gyms and health spas are taking a back seat nowadays. Why? Time is the biggest factor, already mentioned, but there is another factor. When you do get time to stop by the gym, you find yourself lost. What routine should you do? Who’s going to show you the proper form? Or vary your routine to prevent boredom and fitness plateaus? Unless you want to spend extra cash on a personal trainer, a home workout program could be just what you need.
Numerous renown fitness experts have unique ways of keeping workouts interesting with upbeat attitudes and great music, and these experts are making these programs available on DVD. These home based workout routines are growing by leaps and bounds, and are rapidly becoming known as the Next Generation workouts. These total body workout routines will help you burn fat, build muscle, and get that lean sexy body you have always wanted. These routines will set your metabolism on fire, and will trigger your fat burning engines so that you burn an extra 500 calories per day. Most importantly, you will find your metabolism is still burning that stubborn fat even when you are not working out. These new circuit training routines will take your metabolism to all new levels, and you will continually burn fat, even while you sleep. The results will be extreme and best of all; you’ll generally start seeing results within 30 days from the day you begin.
So how do these Next Generation workouts work?
It’s quite simple. These programs are generally divided into three phases to help you build lean sexy muscle with the use of the newest revolutionary circuit training methods. Most home based fitness programs contain numerous workouts to keep the program from getting too boring and stale. The workouts vary as you move through the program and keep you from hitting fitness plateaus. As you move through each phase, you’ll begin to notice big changes in yourself. Slowly but surely, you will see weight disappear. Lean muscle will replace the extra weight you used to have. Your results will continue to improve as each phase of the routine passes. Most popular programs are on average 90 days.
Each program may differ, but a good routine will generally have a structure similar to what follows:
Phase 1: A Burn Phase
The first month is a Burn Phase. In this phase your muscles will be pushed to attain failure in 10-12 reps and will focus on accurate form, which will maintain the effectiveness of the workout. Then the routine changes, you prevent boredom and fitness plateaus as you move to the next phase.
Phase 2: A Push Phase
The second month is the Push Phase. In this phase your muscles will be pushed beyond its comfort zone. The primary focus will be on toning every part of the body one at a time, to strengthen and tone each part. Then guess what? Another change, and another fitness plateau is diverted, as your body continues to push forward to new heights.
Phase 3: A Lean Phase
The last phase is the Lean Phase. During this phase, focus will be placed on every part of the body; the upper, the lower and the core. This phase will be focus on getting you as lean as possible. You have survived the first two months, you have lost weight, you feel great, and you are realizing your fullest potential. This gives you the extra energy to achieve your fitness goals, and have what you have always wanted, to be in great shape and look great. Robert Harden, fitness coach at Extremely-Fit, invites you to visit<a href="http://www.extremely-fit.com” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.extremely-fit.com
for fitness programs like the ones mentioned above. Two very popular programs are the new ChaLEAN Extreme and P90X. You may also feel free to contact Robert via the contact form for fitness advice and questions.<a href="http://www.extremely-fit.com” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.extremely-fit.com