how to get six pack abs - wikihow

8/6/2019 How to Get Six Pack Abs - WikiHow

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Lift weights.

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A statue of Charles Atlas.

How to Get Six Pack Abs

Strengthen your abdominal core muscles and lose your body fat. The concept may sound simple, butputting it into action can be quite challenging. It willtake dedication, time and patience to get a six pack;but in the end, the effort is well worth it. To get six packabs you need to do two things: lose fat and buildmuscle . You get this by dieting and exercising daily.You can have the most toned and muscular abs, but itwill not show if there is a layer of fat over them. Thisarticle will discuss ways in which you can accomplishboth of these goals.

Lose Fat

Do cardio workouts . Important step to get six pack abs: There is no way to target fat lossin any area of your body. You need to lose some of that extra fat over your abs. Even if you workout and get gigantic ab muscles, if there is still a layer of fat over them no one willever get to see them. Cardio workouts are workouts that raise your heart rate for a givenset of time. Some examples would be running , jogging , bike riding , dancing and rowing .

Eat smaller dinners . Large dinners tend to hurt a fat loss process because most peoplearen't very active after dinner. This is the basis for advice along the lines of "don't eatanything within a certain number of hours before going to bed". The claim that your entiredinner is stored as fat isn't entirely true. The process is more complicated than that, but thefact you don't move after dinner is enough to hurt your cause. You can offset this by eatinga larger lunch or snacking healthily before dinner. Fresh fruits or vegetables are excellentchoices for curbing appetite not to mention other health benefits. A handful of nuts mightdo the same. Drink a large glass of water before sitting at the table.

Eat breakfast . Many people skip breakfast because they don't have time for it. The harmof skipping breakfast f rom a weight loss perspective is it makes you eat a huge lunch sinceyour body hasn't had anything in the past 12 (or more) hours. When you eat a huge lunchyou get that after meal drowsiness so now you're both unproductive and inactive. Cerealsdon't take much time to prepare and consume, and most of them are very healthynowadays. If you are extremely pressed for time, consider grabbing a box of breakfast barsor a smoothie and throwing one in your bag when you leave for work or school. Somebreakfast bars out there are also excellent sources of fiber . Even an apple or a yogurt isbetter than nothing. Ideally, your breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day, lunchthe second, and dinner the smallest.

Lift weights . The more muscle your body has, themore calories your body burns, even at rest. Plus,resistance training is important to limit the amount of muscle mass lost whilst reducing your calorie intake. If you only do cardiovascular exercises (running, playingbasketball, football) without weight training then youmay lose the muscle mass, including the muscle inyour abs.

Keep metabolism steady . Eating one small meal every three hours that you are awakewill not speed up your metabolism, rather, it will keep it going. Your metabolism goes andslows with your food intake and eating something small every three hours will keep thatmetabolism burning calories and will help you lose weight . Every meal should include lean

Steps

the how to manual that you can edit



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Drink more water every day.

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Whole grain pasta salad

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Do crunches.

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Decline barbell s it ups(advanced)

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protein, so that your body won't need to break down your muscles for fuel, which wouldshrink your abs as well as slow down your metabolism.

Drink more water e ve ry day . To find out how muchwater you need to drink as a minimum per day, halveyour weight (in pounds) and that is how many ouncesof water you need to drink. So a 150lb person wouldneed to dr ink a minimum of 2.2 liters a day. It soundslike an absurd amount of water, but you get water from the food you eat, and you can drink teas andpure fruit juices to make up some of the quota.

Drinking too much water (several liters, especially while sweating) can dangerouslydilute certain salts and minerals. If you are exercising heavily and sweating a lot, youwill need to replace your salts as well as fluids. Supplement your water dr inking with asports drink or potassium rich fruits such as bananas and apples.

Switch out refined grains for whole grains . In ascientific study, people who ate all whole grains (inaddition to five servings of fruits and vegetables, three

servings of low-fat dairy, and two servings of lean meat,fish, or poultry) lost more belly fat than another groupthat ate the same diet, but with all refined grains. A dietrich in whole grains changes the glucose and insulinresponse in your body, which hastens the melting of fat,and visceral fat, that deep layer of fat, is easier for your body to burn than the subcutaneous fat under your skin(the fat that you can see and grab).

Build Muscle

Do crunches . Lie on the floor (with or without a mat)with your arms in front of your chest or with your

hands lightly touching your temples (never behindyour head). Bend your knees. Raise your shoulders(upper torso) towards your knees, using strictly your abdominal muscles. It is very important to not lift your entire back off the floor, as this can cause back strain,and the extended movement does not help youdevelop six pack abs any faster. The most importantpart of the crunch is the initial flexing of your abs asyou lift your shoulders off the floor. As soon as youbegin lifting off the floor exhale through your mouth,ending with a gasp once your shoulders are off the floor. Then pause for a second onceyou are at the top of the crunch and exhale the last bit of air from your diaphragm whileflexing your abs. Now lower back down slowly and controlled while inhaling through your nose, just until your shoulder blades touch the ground. Do not let your head touch theground.

Do sit ups . Lie on the floor, feet on the floor, kneesup and hands crossed on your chest. Have someonehold your feet down, or wedge them underneathsomething heavy. Sit all the way up, lifting your lower back off the floor along with your shoulder blades.Keep your back straight (no hunching). Lower yourself down. Repeat. Once this becomes relatively easy for you (i.e. you can do a quite a bit with ease) startadding more challenges. Find an incline bench. Doweighted sit ups. Hold a weight on your chest whileyou do these. As these become easier, hold heavier and heavier weights.

Train your entire core . To build really great abs it'simportant to first understand what abs do. Their fullname is 'rectus abdominis'. The 'rectus' bit, is Latin for 'straight, proper, upright'. Contrary to popular opinion,the abs' primary job is not to curl you up into a ball,but they work together with the back muscles tomaintain correct posture and stabilize the spine.These muscles are not just for show! So the best

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Train your entire core.

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Do leg lifts.

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Do static holds.

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Use a stability ball.

exercises for abs are ones that force your entire coreto go into overdrive to support your spine. Someexercises that do this are squats and deadlifts . Theseexercises will train your entire core to work together to do what it is designed to do. At thesame time they will also train a lot of other muscles (e.g. glutes and quads).

Do leg lifts . Lie on the floor, legs straight out, handsat your sides. Lift your legs straight up (not bendingyour knees at all) until they're at a 90 degree angle(or close). Lower your legs and repeat without lettingyour legs touch the floor. For more challenge there isequipment at most gyms that will allow you to raiseyourself up using your arms as support and dangleyour legs. If you're using this piece of equipment, youcan make it easier by just raising your knees to your chest. It's more difficult to raise your legs to ahorizontal position with your legs straight. This helpsfirm up the lower abdomen. If you're truly a monster,try doing leg lifts with a medicine ball hanging fromyour feet. Or, hang from a pull up bar and raise your legs in front of you all the way up to the bar.

Do jackknife sit ups . Lie down flat on the floor. Place your hands on the ground to your sides for balance; you can pick them up as you get used to the movement. Simultaneouslyraise your knees and torso so that your knees and face meet on an imaginary lineextending from your pelvis to the ceiling. You should be able to kiss your knees at the topof the motion. Your legs will naturally fold br inging your feet towards your hips, much like a

jackknife. Lie back down (i.e. "spread out") and repeat. Place a weight between your feetwhen you think you can handle it.

Do static holds . Put your body into the push-upposition but with your elbows on the floor, and your whole body flat. This position is known as the statichold position, or the plank, and it trains your core(including your abs) to hold the body in place which isthe real purpose of your abs. Hold this position for aslong as possible. Beginners should be aiming to startoff with at least 45 seconds, while seasoned abworkers are known to achieve over 5 minute staticholds. To perform the side static hold, roll onto oneside of your body and lift into the same position asbefore, but this time only one arm will be on the ground with the other arm pointed straightup the air and your non weight bearing leg resting on your bottom leg. Once again, holdthis for as long as possible.

Train your oblique muscles . It's not as important to work on your oblique muscles atfirst, but eventually you'll want to start working these too. These are the muscles to either side of your stomach. There are multiple ways to do this and anything that includes twistingyour torso against a resistance counts. There are twisting machines at gyms, you can twistwhile you do sit-ups , you can do side bends, you can twist side to side with a medicine ballin hand, etc. Be aware though, that many beginners tend to have weak obliques comparedto their abs (it simply isn't used as much in daily life) so go easy on the sides at first.

Do bicycle crunches. Lift your feet off the ground while doing the crunches byalternating each leg in the air. Bring your left knee up toward your right shoulder andthen your right knee toward your left shoulder.

Find new ways to crunch, be nd and twist in your daily life . Some possibilities include:

Use a stability ball. Do your crunches on the ballto introduce instability to your workout, which willimprove your balance too. There are also lots of core exercises that can be done with a stabilityball. You can also use a small bubble used for physical therapy.



Duck and twist during your daily routine. Reach with your left hand to things on your right and vice versa. If you feel like turning around to face something, see if you cando it with keeping your hips in place and twisting at the waist. (This is awkward whentalking to other people, use only against inanimate objects.) While walking or standing, pretend that something is coming toward you and you have to duck to getout of the way. Do this as often as you are comfortable or at times when it won't lookweird. You can bend forward from the hips or, if you're really into it, bend at theknees too and really "sink" out of the way.

Add complex core-movements to your workout. That will boost your over all bodyconstitution tremendously. For example, combine push-ups with rows. Go into a push-up position on two dumbbells. Now don't do a push-up, but instead star t to rowalternating dumbbells. See how much power you need only to hold balance?

Combine exercises! Be creative. Tension is your friend.

Get those washboard abs you've always dreamt of withthese tips and your determination.

Be sure to exercise your back muscles just as much as your abdominal muscles or you mightdevelop poor posture.

Supplements can be usefu l, but they are just what they advertise themselves to be;

supplements. There is no magic pill to make you lose weight with no work. Ther e are somesupplements out there that can help you lose weight by increasing your metabolism or byhelping you curb your appetite, but you still have to work. Most tend to be "snake oil" and willnot really give you any results while costing you great deals of money. And remember, even if they DO help, all supplements still require the consumer to watch their diet and increase their exercise. A simple multivitamin or mineral pill is likely all that most people will need.

Opinions on weight loss and muscle training routines are like noses - everyone has one butthey're all different. In the end, you should find something you enjoy and that you will stick for life. Over time, you can modify it until you get the results that are right for you.

Make sure you give yourself adequate amount of rest (8 hrs for adults, and 8-10 hrs for kidsand teenagers). When exercising you actually break down the muscle and if you give then theproper time to heal (and eat the proper foods) they will grow back stronger than before.

It's a genetic fact that for some people there will always be just a little more fat over the musclelayers than we'd like. That's the way nature is and forcing your body to lose more than that

can be a very dangerous effort.Many people's abdominal muscles are offset, which can give the illusion of a 5 pack, 4 pack,or even 3 pack depending upon your genetics, the thickness of your abs, and your presentlevel of body fat.

It may help to use a record-keeper or plan book for your exercise program. Exercise journalsare fantastic for this purpose because as you enter daily information in the journal, you'reputting together a complete record that can be referred back to in the future.

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If you feel you need to, ease into the changes in your lifestyle. Start eating breakfast. If youhave difficulty with this, start with a couple glasses of water or a large cup of coffee right whenyou wake up. It'll go down easy and prepare your stomach to get back to work. Cut the amountof dinners little by little. For the exercises, start slow and increase pace and/or repetitions asyou are comfortable. Attempting lifestyle changes in a drastic, sudden manner can backfire.Do what you can but don't sell yourself short.

Make a photo diary of your body but don't take pictures too often (once a month is fine). Don'tstudy your pictures intensely since you might not get motivated if you don't see a difference. If you are consistent in your diet and exercise, you should see changes monthly. Keep in mindthat you won't see changes in the mirror everyday since they will be very small improvements.

Unless you are watching your weight for another reason, ignore the reading on the scale . Youmay be decreasing your body fat but your weight may stay the same (or even increase) as youbuild muscle . Muscle tissue is denser than fat so it will be heavier than the same volume of fat.Water weight can also vary your readings by a surprisingly large amount.

Keep hydrated . Drink lots of water, and eat healthy . Don't deprive yourself from food, it willonly make you sick.

Try swimming. It is one of the most effective ways of exercising your whole body, especiallyyour abs.

Do not fall for "miracle diets", even ones that sound healthy. Some diets may help you loseweight or gain muscle fast, though specialized diets (focusing on a certain food group or product) are often unpleasant to follow and rarely provide enough nutrients. You can still eatlots of food and lose weight, you just need to avoid exceeding the recommended amount of fatintake per day, as well as get as many nutrients as possible.

Many people do not really know what a complete diet is. There are dozens, if nothundreds, of nutrients that you need, even if you're not following an exercise regimen.Your diet should contain a wealth of leafy greens (i.e Spinach), lean meat (fish, leanbeef/pork), fruits (as a source of carbohydrates and sugars), fiber (i.e oat-based cereal),various other vegetables (such as red/green/orange peppers, mushrooms, garlic, onion,etc, etc), tubers such as potatoes (preferable sweet potatoes, since they contain a larger wealth of nutrients), etc, etc. Your diet should be diverse, not focused on only fruitshakes, or fish, etc. Don't hesitate to get a regular flow of sugar from fruits/vegetables,you should only slightly reduce your intake when trying to lose fat, or else you'll findyourself constantly feeling tired, possibly depressed, etc. The key to dieting is to slightly reduce your intake of calories/carbohydrates/sugars, they are all still essential, if youdeprive yourself of them, the diet will feel like hell, and you may develop health issues.

As with any exercise program, consult your doctor before making major changes in your workout routine, especially if you have medical problems. Increase loads slowly. Being eager isgreat but setting unrealistic goals isn't going to help you in the long run.

Most, if not all of these exercises are not recommended for people with lower back problems.There are many other ways to properly develop six pack abs without putting so much strain onyour back. If in doubt or experiencing lower back pain, talk to a physical therapist for proper ways of performing the routines.

Don't neglect warm-ups or you may find yourself pulling muscles!

For people who have a few extra pounds around the belly and start this from scratch, buildingab muscles may make you look larger in the belly for a period of time since you are putting on

muscle beneath your fat at first. You may want to begin for a significant period of time by doingmore cardiovascular exercises to lose fat all over the body. Doing specific muscle exercises,unfortunately, does not remove fat from that specific area of the body. Additionally, focusingsolely on the abs can produce an imbalance in the body and may cause back problems wherethere were none before or exacerbate any existing problems.

Try to keep a steady eating routine. It will throw your body off if you skip a meal and starveyourself only to stuff your face later. Avoid such situations as much as possible. If you gohungry for an extended period of time your metabolism will slow down. The body, thinking thatno food is available tr ies to make the best of what it has and goes into power-saving mode.Whilst on 'power-saving' mode, the body will supplement its carbohydrates (being burnt for energy) with the proteins in your muscles. What this means is that you are in fact eating backinto that six pack just to t ry and make it show through.

Fiber also acts like a mild laxative. Be careful if you eat a lot of fiber. It can also cause somegas if you're not used to taking in so much fiber. If you increase your fiber dosage by a lot,increase your water intake too. Excessive fiber with little water can r esult in digestive problems.

Be wary of ab machines shown on TV. Many of these are in fact rip offs and you are morelikely to stay motivated if you incorporate an abs workout into a regular gym session. You areless likely to get sick of it.

Warnings



How to Do CrunchesHow to Do Sit UpsHow to Live a Long LifeHow to Eat Healthy for LifeHow to Bench PressHow to Begin RunningHow to Get Wider ShouldersHow to Get Better BicepsHow to Get Better Triceps

http://www.5min.com/ Source of images in this article, shared with permission.

1. ↑ http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/the-truth-about-belly-fat

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