I have been away for a few days, I’ve been spending some days at the beach, the weather is hot, summer is on its way, and i just love the beach, the football euro championship also started and so far so good, Portugal won the first two matches and the quality of the tournament is being good.
Anyway being at the beach made me want to write about six pack abs, i wish lots of people could have a nice six pack to show, but that’s not the case. Most people still keep doing all things wrong when it comes to abdominal training. At the gym or at the park i still see most people doing hundreds of crunches and leg raises, hoping to burn belly fat with that. At the gym i see another thing that i think it’s even worse, i see trainees doing those exercises with weights and that’s a very very bad idea.
I’ll start telling you why it’s a bad idea, because using weights will make your abs grow, and that will make you look bloated, your belly will be big and thick, and you don’t want that, what you want is a thin waist and defined abs.
Doing hundreds of reps will also do you no good, high reps don’t give muscles any definition, and it won’t burn fat, so stop waisting your time for nothing. First of all to have defined abs you need to be under 10% of body fat, and to do that you need to eat right and to do your cardio.
This post won’t be about nutrition, but eating right means, no saturated fats and a low carb diet. If you need to lose a lot of fat, make it a low caloric diet too. Drink a lot of water, at least 2 L per day, eat lots of veggies, make veggies the center of your diet, also eat good protein and healthy fats, the best source that combines both is fish.
Now the abdominal training, i only do two exercises and i believe it’s all anyone needs. The first one is the plank, you get in the push ups position, but instead of supporting your body with your hands, you do it with your forearms, keep your body tight and try to hold the position at least for 30 seconds if your a beginner. Try to add more time everyday, and to do more sets.
Vacuum stomach is an exercise that works the inner muscles of the abdominal wall, and those muscles when strong help you to reach your goal of a thin waist. In this exercise you pull your stomach in like if you wanted to gather your stomach with your back,try to keep your abs tight. Try to hold it for 30 seconds, like with the planks try to add seconds and sets everyday. You’ll feel tempted to hold your breath, but you can breath and should 🙂
Both exercises are isometrics and they’ll make your abs toned and defined, but to get them visible don’t forget, you need to burn that belly fat, and for that, the most important is what you eat, how you eat, and cardio.
Good luck, be patient and persistent, you’ll get there.