Who hasn't imagined him or herself with a nice, toned abdomen? You know, the Gerard Butler abs that guys want and the Jessica Biel abs that a lot of girls want? Well, achieving that goal is closer than you might think. Here are 5 tips to help you get on your way to reaching 6 pack abs:
1. You Don't Need to Do Thousands of Crunches. Ab exercises will help build your ab muscles, but they won't get rid of your belly fat and show that flat, hard stomach that you have hiding. The trick is to focus on intense training like sprinting and weight lifting and not spend too much time worrying about ab exercises. As you burn calories, your abs will start showing.
2. Try Isometric Exercises Like Planks. Isometric exercises are a great way to tone up a muscle, rather than make it huge. This is great if you're looking to that flat, toned abs look. Planks and side planks are excellent for this.
3. Nutrition, Nutrition, Nutrition. The best workout plan in the world will not make up for a terrible diet. The most important thing in getting those hard, 6 pack abs is to eat a balanced diet of whole wheat bread, vegetables, fruits, some dairy products and lean meat. If you want to lose weight, count your calories and take out 500 calories from your diet per day to lose 1 pound of fat per week. Once you have great nutrition you'll start seeing your abs in no time.
4. Keep Motivated. Try and keep yourself motivated to keep on training and eating right. Some things that might help are listening to good workout music, thinking positive thoughts, and being a part of a community of people who are trying to reach similar goals. Even if your motivation does go down at some point, and that happens to all of us, push yourself to workout anyway. There will be good days and bad days, but in the end you will look back and know it was worth it.
5. Don't Feel Guilty About the Occasional Relapse. Don't feel guilty about binge eating at your best friends wedding or missing an occasional workout. Just don't give up and even after a relapse, get right back into the groove of working out and eating right and soon you'll get to the point where you'll even be able to let yourself go once in awhile while still maintaining your hard-earned 6 pack abs.
What are you waiting for? Go out there and get those abs!
This is a guest post from Rafi Bar-Lev, a former combat medic and the founder of the popular community fitness site, Passionate Fitness. Check it out!
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Thanks for giving me the opportunity to guest post Brandon!
-Rafi