With a good abdominal workout, you can achieve six pack abs, and look amazing.
Take a moment to picture yourself jogging on the sand, everyone gazing enviously at your rippling abs. Truth be told, with the right abdominal workout, you can manifest that picture and truly enjoy the benefits of having well defined abdominal muscles, not to mention a stunning physique.
First, however, you must understand that there is no effortless method to build a washboard stomach, period!
But, with a solid abdominal workout, you will see the results you desire, and reap the health benefits.
We are bombarded by infomercials trying to entice us to invest in the next "best lightening quick way to super six pack abs". For the most part, these products are useless, and can even hurt you rather then help. Some of these products do provide results, but after the excitement wears off, it's off to it's resting place under the bed, or gathering dust in the closet.
Without a solid abdominal workout program, these products all have limitations. Most of them can only help you perform a certain number of movements, leading you to buy the next machine and so on. Before you know it, you're swamped in machines, and have seen marginal results at best. There are even tanning products equipped with six pack stencils that enable you to "stencil" on a set of abs. Wow!
A good abdominal workout should not have you doing thousands of reps of sit up's, that would help you build stamina, rather than the well defined abdominal muscles you want. Doing leg raises while keeping your legs straight puts a huge amount of strain on your lower back, greatly increasing the chance of injury. No proper abdominal workout should increase your risk of hurting yourself. It's sensible to avoid these exercises.
One of the best exercises that should be included in any sensible abdominal workout are crunches. Lay flat on your back, and elevate your feet on a bench. Keeping your lower back flat, contract your stomach muscles, and curl your body forward towards your knees, squeeze your abs at the top of the exercise for a count of two. Crunches will get you great results with a relatively small range of motion. You can effectively target your obliques by adding a twist to the motion. On your way up, twist your left shoulder towards your right knee, and do the opposite on the next rep.
Crunches are a great part of any abdominal workout, and there are many different ways to do them. The thing to remember is to keep your lower back flat, and avoid straining your neck muscles by doing too many reps. You will achieve best results by doing 10-15 reps. Do each set of reps at a slow steady pace to muscle failure. Remember to contract your abs, and squeeze to a two count at the top of the crunch. The first set of reps warm your muscles up. It's the last rep or two that really rip your muscles and produce the results. fight through the burn!
Another topic a good abdominal workout should touch on is a proper diet, and even lifestyle change if needed. If you have a thick layer of fat covering your abs, you can do thousands of crunches, and never see the well defined six pack you worked so hard develop. You have to lose those extra pounds of fat to see any type of result.
An abdominal workout that doesn't address the fact that you need to eat a healthy diet, and burn more calories than you're consuming is an incomplete abdominal workout guide. Calorie counting isn't much fun, at least for me. I eat a low carb, high protein diet which includes plenty of fiber. You can see my progress on my "About Me" page, and I drink lots of water. Did you know that if you don't drink enough water, your body will store water for future use, giving you that bloated look?
Keep your soda, and processed foods to a minimum at best. I even avoid the low and no calorie products.
Why fill my body with the chemicals in artificial sweeteners? I believe any abdominal workout worth implementing should address these points as well.
I'm guilty of a sweet tooth as probably a lot of you are. I enjoy the occasional chocolate bar or scoop of butter pecan ice cream here and there, but all in moderation. It's better for me to indulge my sweet tooth in moderation, rather than total denial and obsessing about sugar and over indulging myself in a moment of weakness. I eat fresh fruit when I feel a craving.
A quality abdominal workout should advise and help you track your progress. Begin slowly and work your way up. Advance gradually with experience. You have to start somewhere, but the main thing is to start.
Enjoy your workout and you'll find that it's easier to perform, and to stay consistent.
Here's to that six pack you've always desired. Oh, and remember to consult a physician before undertaking any exercise and diet routine. Be safe.
This article is provided for informational purposes only.
Take a moment to picture yourself jogging on the sand, everyone gazing enviously at your rippling abs. Truth be told, with the right abdominal workout, you can manifest that picture and truly enjoy the benefits of having well defined abdominal muscles, not to mention a stunning physique.
First, however, you must understand that there is no effortless method to build a washboard stomach, period!
But, with a solid abdominal workout, you will see the results you desire, and reap the health benefits.
We are bombarded by infomercials trying to entice us to invest in the next "best lightening quick way to super six pack abs". For the most part, these products are useless, and can even hurt you rather then help. Some of these products do provide results, but after the excitement wears off, it's off to it's resting place under the bed, or gathering dust in the closet.
Without a solid abdominal workout program, these products all have limitations. Most of them can only help you perform a certain number of movements, leading you to buy the next machine and so on. Before you know it, you're swamped in machines, and have seen marginal results at best. There are even tanning products equipped with six pack stencils that enable you to "stencil" on a set of abs. Wow!
A good abdominal workout should not have you doing thousands of reps of sit up's, that would help you build stamina, rather than the well defined abdominal muscles you want. Doing leg raises while keeping your legs straight puts a huge amount of strain on your lower back, greatly increasing the chance of injury. No proper abdominal workout should increase your risk of hurting yourself. It's sensible to avoid these exercises.
One of the best exercises that should be included in any sensible abdominal workout are crunches. Lay flat on your back, and elevate your feet on a bench. Keeping your lower back flat, contract your stomach muscles, and curl your body forward towards your knees, squeeze your abs at the top of the exercise for a count of two. Crunches will get you great results with a relatively small range of motion. You can effectively target your obliques by adding a twist to the motion. On your way up, twist your left shoulder towards your right knee, and do the opposite on the next rep.
Crunches are a great part of any abdominal workout, and there are many different ways to do them. The thing to remember is to keep your lower back flat, and avoid straining your neck muscles by doing too many reps. You will achieve best results by doing 10-15 reps. Do each set of reps at a slow steady pace to muscle failure. Remember to contract your abs, and squeeze to a two count at the top of the crunch. The first set of reps warm your muscles up. It's the last rep or two that really rip your muscles and produce the results. fight through the burn!
Another topic a good abdominal workout should touch on is a proper diet, and even lifestyle change if needed. If you have a thick layer of fat covering your abs, you can do thousands of crunches, and never see the well defined six pack you worked so hard develop. You have to lose those extra pounds of fat to see any type of result.
An abdominal workout that doesn't address the fact that you need to eat a healthy diet, and burn more calories than you're consuming is an incomplete abdominal workout guide. Calorie counting isn't much fun, at least for me. I eat a low carb, high protein diet which includes plenty of fiber. You can see my progress on my "About Me" page, and I drink lots of water. Did you know that if you don't drink enough water, your body will store water for future use, giving you that bloated look?
Keep your soda, and processed foods to a minimum at best. I even avoid the low and no calorie products.
Why fill my body with the chemicals in artificial sweeteners? I believe any abdominal workout worth implementing should address these points as well.
I'm guilty of a sweet tooth as probably a lot of you are. I enjoy the occasional chocolate bar or scoop of butter pecan ice cream here and there, but all in moderation. It's better for me to indulge my sweet tooth in moderation, rather than total denial and obsessing about sugar and over indulging myself in a moment of weakness. I eat fresh fruit when I feel a craving.
A quality abdominal workout should advise and help you track your progress. Begin slowly and work your way up. Advance gradually with experience. You have to start somewhere, but the main thing is to start.
Enjoy your workout and you'll find that it's easier to perform, and to stay consistent.
Here's to that six pack you've always desired. Oh, and remember to consult a physician before undertaking any exercise and diet routine. Be safe.
This article is provided for informational purposes only.