Before I show you a great abdominal workout you can do at home, I've got 4 fat loss tips you need to know:
Fat Loss Tip # 1: Focus on Complete Abdominal Development
Train your lower abs. Many individuals trying to lose fat and reveal their six pack abs do not even have any muscle on their abs, especially on their lower abs. We're told to do lots of crunches and situps that we develop our upper abs and completely miss our lower abs.
Even reverse crunches or leg raises are not enough. What you really need is to focus on complete abdominal development. Stick to movements such as stability ball jackknives, side planks, and regular planks for complete abdominal development.
And do not forget your obliques! These are the muscles that run along the sides of your abs. The Cross-Body Mountain climber is a great movement to target this hard-train spot. Combine these movements with interval training and good diet, and you'll be that much closer to seeing your abdominals.
Fat Loss Tip # 2: Replace with Healthier Calories
If you have stubborn fat on your lower abs, then you want to increase your intake of fruits, veggies, and nuts. I do not believe in lowering your calories too low with fat loss. Instead, replace your calories with healthier alternatives. And you can not go wrong with fruits and veggies!
Fat Loss Tip # 3: Learn to Maintain Your Fat Loss
Weight loss is the easy part. Maintain that weight loss is the tough part. You do not need to hit your abs hard every single day of the week. You'll burn yourself out. But after you reach your goal, make sure to maintain some decent level of exercise.
For example, if you were performing 3 interval cardio sessions during your fat loss phase, you can cut down to 1-2 sessions. This will allow you to relax a bit with your diet and training will still holding on to the weight loss and definition you worked so hard for.
Fat Loss Tip # 4: You STILL have Stubborn Fat
If the fat you're trying to lose is super stubborn, then it's time to bring in the heavy artillery. Double up on the interval training, and thrown in as many circuits as possible. For example, if you were doing 3 days of interval training and 3 days of strength training, then you can increase to 4 days of interval training, 2 days of circuit training, and 2 days of strength training for 2-3 weeks.
However a schedule of this intensity will not be sustainable for the long term. This is just to blast off that last bit of fat that you have. And … you're going to be REALLY hungry ALL THE TIME during these 2-3 weeks.
Here's how you would schedule your workouts on a 5-day cycle:
- Day One: Strength + Interval Training
- Day Two: Circuit + Interval Training
- Day Three: Strength Training
- Day Four: Interval Training
- Day Five: Circuit + Interval Training
Your Abdominal Workout
Here's a great abdominal workout you can incorporate to help reveal your six pack abs:
1A) Stability Ball JackKnives 3×10
1B) Elevated Pushups 3×10
2A) One-arm Row 3×10
2B) One-arm Swing 3×10
3A) Plank 3×30 Seconds
3B) Medicine Ball Plank 3×10
With this workout, you are performing each pair of exercises back to back with no rest in between. Rest 60 seconds after each pairing. After 3 sets of each exercise, move onto the next pair. For example, for the first pair, perform 10 Jackknives, then move straight to pushups for 10 reps.