Striving for that perfectly chiseled six-pack you see on
magazines? Besides some friendly lighting, airbrushing and
photo-shopping, there are some things you need to know about revealing your abs
that can help you achieve that beach body you’ve always wanted.
Everyone Has Six-Pack Muscles
They’re just hidden – under fat – which means that to truly begin revealing your six-pack, you need to cut body fat. This is the unfortunate reality of this article because cutting body fat is a slow process. Deep down I’m sure you knew this was true though, so you can expect to start seeing your abs when you’re at a healthy body fat percentage.
You Cannot Spot Burn Fat
End of story. You can’t only lose fat in your stomach area while remaining chubby elsewhere. It can’t be done. Don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise.
Crunches Won’t Reveal Your Abs
Abdominal crunches have got to be the most over-hyped exercise around. Our core is made up of a combination of very small muscles that help to keep us upright and allow us to rotate our torsos. They are a complex network that stretch from the front of your abs (the six-pack area), around to your obliques and even into your back. Crunches will only work a very small percentage of these muscles, so any muscle definition you gain from sit-ups is likely to be minimal. Also, because your ab muscles are so small, working them in isolation will burn only a negligible number of calories, which will not help to remove that layer of fat between your abs and your skin.
Focus on Big Muscles and Cardio
If you ever need some extra motivation to stay on the cardio machine for those last 5 minutes or to do your final set of squats, think of it as an indirect ab workout. We all know that cardiovascular exercise is important to weight loss, and working large muscles, such as your quads and glutes, burns far more calories per repetition than working your much smaller abdominal muscles (in fact, squats burn more calories per rep than any other exercise).
The Best Ab Exercises
The most effective ab exercises involve more of your core than just the front part. Stabilization exercises, such as planks, engage both the front and back areas of your core. Try doing them on your sides with your elbow on the ground to engage your obliques. Also, exercises that focus on trunk rotation will engage the front, sides and even back of your core.
Sit Up Straight
Even if you were to somehow do an hour of ab work every single day, your abs are still resting for the other 23 hours of the day. One of the most basic functions of your abs is to keep you upright, so make them do their job! If you’re working your abs basically whenever you’re awake by sitting up straight, you’ll be a lot more pleased with the results in a lot less time.
Everyone Has Six-Pack Muscles
They’re just hidden – under fat – which means that to truly begin revealing your six-pack, you need to cut body fat. This is the unfortunate reality of this article because cutting body fat is a slow process. Deep down I’m sure you knew this was true though, so you can expect to start seeing your abs when you’re at a healthy body fat percentage.
You Cannot Spot Burn Fat
End of story. You can’t only lose fat in your stomach area while remaining chubby elsewhere. It can’t be done. Don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise.
Crunches Won’t Reveal Your Abs
Abdominal crunches have got to be the most over-hyped exercise around. Our core is made up of a combination of very small muscles that help to keep us upright and allow us to rotate our torsos. They are a complex network that stretch from the front of your abs (the six-pack area), around to your obliques and even into your back. Crunches will only work a very small percentage of these muscles, so any muscle definition you gain from sit-ups is likely to be minimal. Also, because your ab muscles are so small, working them in isolation will burn only a negligible number of calories, which will not help to remove that layer of fat between your abs and your skin.
Focus on Big Muscles and Cardio
If you ever need some extra motivation to stay on the cardio machine for those last 5 minutes or to do your final set of squats, think of it as an indirect ab workout. We all know that cardiovascular exercise is important to weight loss, and working large muscles, such as your quads and glutes, burns far more calories per repetition than working your much smaller abdominal muscles (in fact, squats burn more calories per rep than any other exercise).
The Best Ab Exercises
The most effective ab exercises involve more of your core than just the front part. Stabilization exercises, such as planks, engage both the front and back areas of your core. Try doing them on your sides with your elbow on the ground to engage your obliques. Also, exercises that focus on trunk rotation will engage the front, sides and even back of your core.
Sit Up Straight
Even if you were to somehow do an hour of ab work every single day, your abs are still resting for the other 23 hours of the day. One of the most basic functions of your abs is to keep you upright, so make them do their job! If you’re working your abs basically whenever you’re awake by sitting up straight, you’ll be a lot more pleased with the results in a lot less time.
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