Carving out your midsection to reveal a svelte six pack takes determination and sacrifices. The anatomical name for the muscle that displays a six pack is the rectus abdominis. Your goal is to shed the layer of fat that covers this muscle and make it more pronounced. This takes more than just ab exercises. You have to look at your body as a whole and also make dietary adjustments.
Step 1
Change your diet to focus on nutrient-dense foods. Eliminate the burgers, fries, pizza, wings, doughnuts, pastries, chips and any other foods that are low in fiber and high in empty calories. Fill up on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, lean meats, fish, nuts, seeds and low-fat dairy products.
Step 2
Cut back on your liquid calorie intake. Excess liquid calories cause weight gain just like excess food calories. Stop drinking soft drinks, lemonade, sweet teas, slushies, processed fruit juices, milk shakes and alcohol. Drink water instead as it helps fill you up, keeps you hydrated and flushes toxins from your system. According to the Institute of Medicine, women should get about 2.7 liters a day and men should get about 3.7 liters.
Step 3
Eat more frequently during the day. Have a balanced meal as soon as you get up and continue to eat balanced meals every two to three hours throughout the course of the day. Combine protein and complex carbs in each meal. A whole wheat wrap with a chicken breast, lettuce, sprouts and tomato is a meal example. Eating frequent meals will keep your metabolism elevated and your hunger under control. Women should consume 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day and men should target 1,500 to 1,800 calories a day, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Step 4
Perform interval training to burn the fat on your stomach. The more vigorously you exercise, the more calories you'll burn, according to the Mayo Clinic's website. Interval training is a vigorous type of cardio that involves alternating back and forth between high and low intensity. Choose any form of cardio that you enjoy, such as running, biking, swimming, elliptical training, stair climbing or rowing. Start with a light five-minute warm-up, do interval training for 30 minutes, and then finish with a light five-minute cool-down. Do your interval training three days a week on alternating days.
Step 5
Lift weights to build muscle mass. Building muscle will increase your resting metabolism and you will burn more fat throughout your whole body. Do compound exercises, which work more than one muscle at a time such as chest presses, shoulder presses, bent-over rows, dips, squats and deadlifts. Aim for 10 to 12 reps, do three to four sets and work out on three alternating days of your cardio.
Step 6
Execute ab exercises that target your lower abs, upper abs and obliques. Hanging leg raises, reverse crunches, crunch twists, bicycle crunches and sit-ups on an exercise ball are examples. Use added resistance such as medicine balls, dumbbells and ankle weights to increase the muscle fiber recruitment. Do 15 to 20 reps, three to four sets and work your abs right after your cardio sessions.
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