Although, as of this writing, we’re currently in the midst of winter, that still does not mean that you can afford to be a little more relaxed and slack with your diet and training, as you will still want to keep yourself in fairly decent condition so that when the weather does begin to warm up and you can wear less clothing, you don’t need to cover up out of shame and embarrassment. When most people think of their ideal physiques, one of the first parts of the body that they tend to focus on is the ABS. A set of lean, ripped, and defined six pack ABS are something that virtually all men, and indeed most women, fantasize about possessing, yet sadly lack the willpower, the discipline, and indeed the knowledge itself, to get a six pack that would make a Greek God envious of. In regards to the fastest way to get ABS, everybody has their own unique theory of what should, and should not be done in order to build up the abs, yet sadly, most of these theories and training protocols are simply nonsense, and just do not work at all. Building up your ABS is like building up any other part of your body, except for the fact that you need to focus on your body fat percentages even more closely, as being out by as little as 1% too much, can severely hamper your progress. If you’re looking to really get ripped and get yourself into the greatest shape of your entire life, here we’ll be taking a look at the fastest way to get ABS by providing a few handy tips handed down by those in the know. So, without any more hesitation, here’s a look at a few tips based upon the fastest way to get ABS.
Cardio
When it comes to the abdominal muscles, obviously one of the most important things to consider is your body fat percentages, as, simply put, if your percentages of body fat are too high, your ABS won’t be visible as they will be hidden under a layer of fat. Cardiovascular exercise is one of the most beneficial forms of exercise in regards to fat loss, so if you’re really serious about stripping away that fat and showing off the ABS hidden underneath, you will really need to step up your cardio game and take things to the next level. The great thing about cardio is that there is so much variety for you to choose from, so the chances of you grow bored and losing interest is darn-near impossible. When people hear the word ‘cardio’ they often picture themselves hunched over on a treadmill or elliptical machine in the gym, sweating, panting for breath, and being close to passing out through sheer exhaustion. In reality, however, cardio could be something as simple as taking an early morning stroll around the block with your dog, or going for a pleasant bike ride through the countryside. If you’re a fan of cardio in the gym, then that’s great, but don’t think that that is your only option. As long as you’re doing the cardio, the fat will be burnt off, making your ABS become more and more visible.
Don’t over-train the abs
Remember, the abdominal muscles are still muscles, and so they need to be trained and built up just like any other muscle would. However, the main mistake that inexperienced individuals tend to make when it comes to their ABS, is to over-train them and simply try to do too much in one go. Some people believe that you need to perform 1000 stomach crunches a day in order to build up the ABS, when in reality, training them just twice per week is more than adequate enough. Instead of 1000 stomach crunches per day, select two exercises per AB workout, perform 4 – 6 working sets, and aim for rep ranges between 30 and 40 reps per set. If you try doing too many exercises in one go, your ABS will become over-trained and they simply won’t respond, and not only that, they’ll struggle to recover as well, so you’ll actually lose progress instead of making it.
Increase vitamin C consumption
Vitamin C is one of the healthiest and most beneficial vitamins in the entire world, that is found in a number of fresh fruits and vegetables, along with supplements. People tend to think of vitamin C as an immune system booster, and whilst it is indeed true that vitamin C greatly enhances and improves the immune system – helping to protect you against illness and disease, vitamin C can also play a key role in fat metabolism as well. You see, studies have found that individuals who consume around 500 – 1000mg of vitamin C per day, have the ability to burn as much as 39% more body fat than those who consume less of the vitamin. This is all down to the fact that vitamin C has the ability to help the body to utilize body fat as a primary energy source. Experts found that low levels of vitamin C in the body can actually impede the body’s natural ability to burn fat and convert it into energy. So, the next time you shy away from your fresh fruits and veggies, you may want to think twice.
Be consistent with your training
Remember, training ABS is just like training any other part of your body, so consistency is most definitely the key. For example, if you were trying to increase the size of your biceps, you wouldn’t just go ahead and train the biceps whenever you felt like it, training them three times one week, taking a few weeks off, and then training them again, due to the fact that they would simply not grow or make progress. In order for you to grow them, you would train them once or twice per week, every week, no exceptions! The same goes for your ABS, they are still muscles and need to be built up and trained like any other body part. As you gradually get your body fat percentages down, your ABS will become more and more visible so in order for them to really be impressed when your body fat percentages drop low enough, you’ll need to ensure that you’ve trained them enough and built them up enough. Put simply, don’t neglect your ABS and don’t skip AB workouts.
Vary your exercises
When we think of exercises that work the ABS, we almost certainly think of stomach crunches and sit-ups, and whilst those exercises are indeed very beneficial, there are so, so many other exercises that are just as impressive and enjoyable that will absolutely destroy your ABS (in a good way). Just a few examples that spring to mind are: hanging leg raises, woodcutters, medicine ball crunches, horizontal leg raises, Spiderman crunches, mountain climbers, and lying leg lifts.
Eat clean
Training your ABS and doing cardio is all well and good, but if your diet sucks and you’re consuming too many calories and too many unhealthy fatsand additives, you simply are not going to lose enough fat for the ABS to become visible. For this reason, you need to diet and you need to lose fat, so knock the junk food on the head. Forget pizzas, burgers, fries, donuts, cakes, pies, beer, and other delicious and unhealthy treats, and instead base your diet on whole and nutritious foods, all washed down with plenty of fresh water, preferably mineral water. You need to be in a slight calorie deficit so that you lose fat, whilst still ensuring that you get plenty of natural goodness and energy inside of your body, so as well as eating healthily, make sure you space your meals out every few hours in order to keep your metabolism firing on all cylinders.
