Getting Ripped 6 Pack Abs by Training Smarter, Not Harder
Yes, “smarter, not harder” is a bit of a cliché now, but the truth is it works—as long as you’re actually working smarter, and not just wasting money on the latest gizmo that tells you you’re working smarter. If you want 6 pack abs, there are several mistakes you’re probably making—and several key things you might not be doing—in your quest for physical perfection.
Let us enlighten you, and probably lighten your workout, as well.
Do Crunches Get You a Six Pack?
No! Crunches are not the answer to 6 pack abs. Crunches train your stomach muscles to pull in and force your spine to contract, which can make your core much stronger on the front side than the back. This can hurt your posture, and actually hurt your chances of showing off a ripped midsection. The best core exercises enhance your posture by strengthening the muscles that keep you upright—and as a bonus, they train all the muscles along the sides of your 6 pack, as well. Scientific analyses of how exercises work have shown that push-ups are actually better for your core than crunches and situps! Look into ab exercises like the plank, and exercises that challenge your balance in order to really target the areas you want.
I Do Ab Exercises Every Day—Why Don’t I See Results?
You might very well have the most stunning abs ever—but they don’t serve you very well at the beach if they’re hidden under 20 lbs (or more) of flab! Weight reduction is key to showing off amazing abs—which means your diet probably needs to change. A lot of foods cause weight gain in the belly area, including beer, and anything salty or loaded with “bad” or empty carbs. Even if you eat clean, you’ll need to do more than just spend a few minutes a day cranking out ab exercises before work. You’ll need to fit in a little cardio, to sweat off some pounds. Which leads us too…
I Run, I Eat Clean, I do Plank Every Day—Where are My Abs?!
When you hear “cardio” do you think “run”? That might be your big mistake. Although running is good cardio exercise, and can produce weight loss, you might be having a hard time sticking to your routine if you try to include cardio, all around strength training and conditioning, plus a good ab workout in every day. A good full-body strength training will elevate your heart rate and burn calories as well as a run—and keep your metabolism running higher for 1-2 days afterwards. The extra muscle you build during resistance training (you don’t build muscle, and may even burn it during a run) will also help you raise your BMR (basal metabolic rate) to keep your burning fat instead of muscle, and reveal your six pack faster. So if you’re busy (who isn’t nowadays?) and can’t fit in 2 hour workouts every day, stick to resistance training and core work to get at those abs.
The Summary On How To Get Lean Abdominals
If you’re trying for a 6 pack that will knock the ladies off their feet (or a well-defined stomach that looks great in a bikini, if you happen to be a lady) you can stick to an all-over, total body resistance training every other day that includes some ab-specific moves. If you combine this with a good diet, you should start seeing results much sooner that if you spend an hour on the treadmill followed by 200 crunches!
girls shouldn’t have 6 packs. it’s not attractive. a nice fit stomach is ok, but lay off the abs exercises before you get to the “man” look, ladies!
I’ve also read somewhere that crunches do not really make a difference in one’s abs. If that is the case, then I am doing it wrong all the while. I though hundreds of crunches at a time will help me achieve the stone-rock hard abs that I’ve been working out for. Now that I know I’m doing it worng, I’ll probably resort to a different fitness regimen to make it work for me.
Thank you for answering the q: “I Do Ab Exercises Every Day—Why Don’t I See Results?” It’s the same thing that bothers me for long. I can’t wait to see results in my stomach. I’ve sweat consistently to work hard on that but I can’t seem to see anything changed. I probably need to tone down my weight a bit more to make my ab exercises serving me well enough. I can’t wait to make a splash on the beach!
Diet, diet, diet. I need that to make my ab workouts actually working out for me. Hai, I can’t wait. I just hope that my sister will also pack all her junks and put them as far away from me. I dnt need empty carbs right now, right?