5 Tips to Developing Great Abs

5 Tips to Developing Great Abs

Are you in pursuit of a much sought after six pack? Do you want to know how to get great abs? Regardless of your sex or age, a six pack is something that many of us aspire to, but few ever achieve.

One of the major problems we all face lies with our modern diet filled with foods that are high in saturated fats and sugars - which tends to cover our perfectly sculpted bodies in a layer of fat. You might not know that, but underneath all the excess weight lies your perfect body - and great abs. So, what do you need to do then to get in shape and have those great abs that you desire? Here are five essential tips for how to get great abs.

1. Diet

What are you putting into your body on a daily basis? Are the foods you eat helping you loose weight or is it adding weight to your body? Excess food tends to accumulate around the abdominal area, which of course, makes your six pack even harder to obtain. By cutting out these fatty foods you will at least stop adding more to it and this will allow your body to use the excess stored fat. Remember that to have great abs you have to get rid of the fat first.

2. Metabolism

Metabolism is nothing but the process through which your body burns calories and turns food into energy. The higher your metabolism the more calories you burn. Exercise is probably the most effective way to increase metabolism, but there are some simple dietary changes that can greatly increase your metabolism and help you burn fat even when you are not exercising. To raise your metabolism, eat more often, but eat smaller amounts at a time and eat only high energy 'natural' foods like fruits and vegetables.

3. Cardio Exercise

If there is one thing that is an extremely important step in how to get great abs, then it the need for cardiovascular exercise. Exercise like swimming, running and cycling will help you shed the extra pounds and since your abdominal muscles are very active during these exercises it will help tone your abdominal muscles. A 45 minute cardio training routine at least 5 days a week will do the trick and in as little as 4 weeks you will start seeing visible results in your abs.

4. Target Exercise

A common misconception amongst most people is that to develop great abs you have to do sit-ups. It's true, but not entirely since cardio training is a vital part of overall weight loss. What targeted exercises like sit-up and crunches do, it to specifically target the abdominal muscles. When you build and work these muscles it increases the muscle activity which raises metabolism and increases weight loss in that target area. The best way to do these target exercises is to combine it with your cardio workout as your muscles will be more active and supple.

5. Posture

It's vitally important to stretch regularly, especially after exercise. By stretching your abdominal area for at least 15 minutes after exercise you improve blood circulation in the muscles and the flexibility of the abdominal muscles. Great abs are not just about having a six pack, but it's about having a well toned upper body. Apart from stretching you have to pay attention to your body posture. Your abs play an important part in keeping your body upright. Most people tend to slouch over when walking which actually relaxes the abdominal muscles. An upright body posture where your abs are extended, will keep your abs active even while walking or sitting.

These five tips for how to get great abs is not about picking one or two. What will do the trick however is a combination of all of them. There are no quick fixes and the sense of pride in doing the hard work is what will give you the real 'feel good' factor. You can have great abs. Just do the hard work and you WILL reap the rewards.

4 Easy Steps To Get Ripped Six Pack

Easy Steps To Get Great Abs

For many years I spent time doing crunches. I was told that an ab workout was complete by simply doing crunches and chances are you have heard this advice as well. Despite what you may have heard you are about to learn more about getting ripped six pack abs and burn fat the best way.

Every time you look in the mirror and see less than awesome abs you figure you are doing something wrong. Maybe you think that you are not working out hard enough. Maybe you think that you are not targeting your abs the right way and that is why your stomach muscles do not look tight and ripped.

You Can Not Spot Reduce Your Abs

Even though you have been led to believe that the right number of crunches or sit ups will get you better abs this will not work. In order to get a flat stomach you can not do a long series of ab exercises in hopes that they will start looking better.

Imagine yourself trying to get skinnier arms, or you just want to burn fat on your upper arms. No matter how many biceps curls you do the fat will not decrease because fat can not be spot reduced. The same technique applies to ab exercises. Doing sit ups will not burn fat.

You Already Have Abs Beneath The Fat

Although you may think I am joking around or you find it hard to believe but you definitely have six pack abs. Everyone has six pack abs the problem is they are not always visible. Most people assume that some quick exercises will bring out definition when the truth is a layer of fat is what is coming in between abdominal muscle definition and sexy abs.

The Steps To Get Abs To Show

If fat is the primary reason for abs not showing then naturally what you need to do is burn fat around your midsection. If you are serious about losing the fat here are the steps to burn it off.

1. Eat fewer calories: I won't ask you to count calories because it really is annoying to do so. If you want to count calories this is fine but you can simply eat less than what you are eating now if you want to see a decrease in caloric intake. Look at your portions in your meal and decrease them or eliminate one item that is considered unhealthy.
2. Eat less fat or sugar: eating fat and sugar is unavoidable. Every other item of food you eat will be heavy with either one of these substances. The important thing to keep in mind is that high amounts of these unhealthy items are probably contributing to your high fat percentage. Look at what you are eating or drinking; is it soda, chips, junk food, high fat foods that are holding you back? Eliminate them altogether or greatly reduce them and you will see improvements.
3. Perform interval type cardio: if you hate doing cardio believe me, you are not alone. Nobody likes to do cardio but it is a great way to burn off those extra calories. However, doing long steady state cardio sessions like running for an hour on a treadmill or on the track is not the ideal way of doing this. If you want to make your cardio more effective do intervals for 15 to 30 minutes and you will burn more calories not just during a workout but even after your workout is done.
4. Do some form of strength training: when someone mentions the words strength and training they picture bodybuilders. Although this is one way of doing strength training, weights is not the only way. Any exercise that puts the muscle under constant tension is strength training. You can do bodyweight exercises, kettle bells, resistance bands or machines. Any of these types of exercises will help you burn more calories and will boost your metabolism.

The only way you will see your abs show is by burning excess fat, especially around the midsection. Put these tips in to practice and you will see that your midsection will begin to show definition. Remember that ab workouts are only a small part of achieving ripped six pack abs.

Muscle Workout Routines - What You Need To Know...

Chest Muscle Workout Routine

Muscle building should be viewed as a marathon, instead of a sprint. The painful truth about gaining muscles is this, you will hardly notice any sort of results even after weeks have gone by training in the gym! If you truly want to be successful in building muscles, you will need determination as well as commitment to stay to your planned muscle workout routines.

Developing a muscle building workout routines can be difficult especially with so many different muscle building tips. Here are some simple and effective ways to help you with developing a muscles workout routines and diet plan.

Muscle Building Diet

It's a known fact to many professional trainers and world fitness experts that in order to increase your muscle mass; you'll need to have a solid stream of proteins in your diet. The most common and accessible proteins source would be red meat, but if your diet only compromises meat, your organs are bound to have complication in the future. Do consider other source of proteins aside from meat, cheese, milk, nuts, fish, eggs are all excellent source of proteins and they contain different form of nutrition such as amino acids, fatty acids, healthy fats.

Using Free Weights in Your Muscles Workout Routine

While it is difficult to get used to the idea and balance initially, free weights offers you the flexibility as well as a wider range of choices for increasing your muscle mass at different part of your body. They are also inexpensive and can be done at home with little space required as compared to a strength training machine. When done right, it will match the form of an exercise performed through strength training machine.

Remember to Train Safely

Most people do not have the discipline to warm up and warm down before and after their workout sessions, and this leave them extremely prone to injuries. You will want to observe this rule as it puts your body in a more optimum and effective state when you start working out, as well as sending a signal for your body to rest when you're done. Another important tip when in the gym is to make sure you do not overstretch your body with weights that you're not ready to lift. It's common to try to outdo your previous lifting session, but keep your feet on the ground and do not get carried away lifting weights that you're not ready.

Advance Training with Alternatives

Once you're starting to complete your workout routines consistently, you might be ready for more advance and intensive training. Access your strengths and check your overall status to make sure that when you're trying a more advance alternatives, you're ready for it. A good way to tell is to make sure that you do not stress your muscles too much to the point that you compromise safety and your form!

Check Your Progress

The only way to tell if your current muscles workout routine are really bringing you closer to your muscle gaining goals is to cross check it with either your trainer or your gym buddy. Write down your progress for every gym session and observe whether your intensity of training has increased and whether you're actually gaining any muscles mass or not. Improvise and improve when necessary and also find out what strengths and weaknesses that you can further improve on.

Be sure that you're ready for the long haul ahead as previously mentioned. Bodybuilding is not a sprint, it is the slow and consistent workout sessions coupled with the right attitude and knowledge that gets you the perfect body you dreamed of.

Top 10 Protein Foods For Six Pack Abs

Protein is highly essential for any diet plan, or anyone who wants to gain muscle, whether in their abdominals area or in their biceps.

Protein, which provides four calories of energy per gram, is the building block of muscle and amino acids are the building blocks of protein.

There are vital amino acids, which are ones that you MUST get from the diet because your body cannot produce them, and there are non-essential amino acids that your body already has enough of.

Protein helps support lean muscle tissue, aids in the production of hormones and enzymes and supports immune function. Exercising individuals have higher daily protein requirements than inactive individuals, since exercise increases the body's need for protein.

Since protein is necessary to build muscle, it can actually help speed up metabolism, because it takes energy to maintain lean muscle at rest. This allows individuals to lose more fat in the areas they don't want fat.

So now that you know how vital protein is, what are the top 10 recommended proteins?:

Casein- This is a milk protein that seems to have a timed-release effect and a high glutamine content, which can enhance exercises recovery and boost immune function. Casein is clinically proven to increase lean muscle mass and strength, and is considered to be one of the best nighttime proteins.

Milk Protein Isolate- This contains both whey and casein and is a good source for these two proteins.

Soy Protein Isolate- This vegetarian protein source has been shown to enhance thyroid hormone output, which can increase metabolic rate to support fat loss. There are certain isoflavones in soy that have numerous health benefits, including lowering cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

Whey Protein- This highly absorbable protein provides the highest concentration of the branched chain amino acids, which play a HUGE role in the muscle building process and weight loss process, and even supports the immune function. Hydrolyzed whey protein has some of the benefits of whey, while providing highly absorbable peptides that can have muscle building effects.

Chicken Breast- This is a relatively low-fat, high-quality protein source. It contains numerous doses of different branched amino acids and has a good potassium-to-sodium ratio for improving the balance of water in your system.

Sirloin Steak- A lean protein source with an excellent potassium-to-sodium ration, it provides heme iron and good amounts of the amino acids that support energy and lean body mass.

Egg Albumin- This traditional protein source boasts great amino acids, and cooked egg whites are the highest source of egg albumin protein.

Tuna- This is a very lean protein source that provides an excellent amount of branched chain amino acids. Canned versions make it easy to use and help with portion control.

Orange Roughy Fish- Another lean protein source with an outstanding potassium-to-sodium ratio. Orange Roughy is a good source of the amino acids that promote lean body mass and muscle building, along with weight loss.

Salmon- Yet another lean protein source, that is most famous for the amount of amino acids found in its source. Strong source of protein that provides muscle building and supports energy.

Bodyweight Chest & Back Workout

A really neat video muscle building with bodyweight chest and back workouts

Ways To Build Muscle Definition

All of us want to look good and a essential element of this appearance is a muscular and well toned body. Some of us fail to realize that building muscle definition is not that tough, it just requires some effort. All you have to do is figure out the proper work outs to stimulate the cardiovascular system in addition to proper diet and a sufficient amount of rest. Not only will this enhance the look of your muscles but will also provide you with a great deal of energy and self-confidence. As with any method of training, you ought to be knowledgeable about what you should do and what you shouldn't do but, once you have determined a good routine, the results will surely follow.

The first requisite of improving muscle definition is to train often and effectively. Without physical activity, muscle tissues do not get a workout and there's no chance of improving muscle definition. If you wish to build this tone quickly, the only way to do so is to go to the gym habitually and do some weight training. Weights increase your overall muscle definition quickly and also have the advantage of being able to focus on certain regions of the body. Furthermore, you will need to frequently participate in activities such as jogging, speed walking, cycling or playing a sport such as basketball.

The method of exercise in which you follow is essential and, if your time is restricted, you must try and work out two groups of muscles at the same time. You should also try and alternate these different muscle groups on a normal basis so that each group gets a good workout. If you are using the gym, remember that heavy weights are only essential if you are building muscle mass. If you just want to tone your muscles, then lifting lighter weights at an increased frequency will be most advantageous.

The importance of proper rest and diet can't be over exaggerated. Concentrate on your protein intake and decrease the fats that you consume by eating more white meat or lean meat. Supplement your protein intake with healthy protein drinks particularly after working out. Be sure to drink lots of water and unsweetened juices. Also remember to get plenty of rest as the body needs to recover or else you will feel continuously tired.

Bruce Lee's Abs Workout - The Six Pack Secret

What training methods did Bruce Lee use?

Most people agree that Bruce Lee's abs are the most striking part of his highly developed body. In fact, Lee strongly believed that the abdominal muscles were one of the most important muscles for a martial artist:

"My strength comes from the abdomen. Its the center of gravity and the source of real power" (Bruce Lee, The Art of Expressing the Human Body).

In addition to his huge collection of books on martial arts and bodybuilding, Lee also had a special folder with countless articles on different ab workouts. He tried countless exercises and finally chose 3 major exercises that he would perform daily:

1) Twists (bar/ stick required)
2) Sit-Ups (abdominal board required)
3) Leg Raises

Here's the description of the first exercises called "The Twist":

Starting position: Stand upright, feet shoulder-width apart. With a light bar or a stick across the back of your shoulders, bend forward and try to touch the right end of the bar to your left foot. Straighten up and repeat the movement - now touching the left end of the bar to your right foot. Lee did at least 50 repetitions.

"The proper way of doing sit-ups isn't just to go up and down, but to curl yourself up; to curl your back up, like rolling up a roll of paper" - Bruce Lee.

As you can see, Bruce Lee's abs workout isn't that complicated, it's the daily repetition combined with a proper diet (see the amount of calories you take to you during the day; try to keep starches, sweets and fat to a minimum: no donuts, cakes, candies, soda) that gets you the results.

P.S. Long cardio sessions are by far not the best way to reduce your body fat percentage! Weight training (only 2 sessions a week) and interval training (high intensity work for short periods of time) are far more effective - this has been confirmed in several studies.