How quick you develop six-pack abs is largely dependent on your ability to assert self-discipline and stay motivated. Ab crunches alone will not provide you with that ripped six-pack. You also need to get the rest of your body in shape, increase your cardiovascular fitness and re-think your diet. Mental strength is as important as muscular strength.
Diet
Eat foods low in sodium, sugars and saturated fat. Consume a diet with plenty of protein, complex carbs and natural fats. Use LIVESTRONG's MyPlate tool to work out the calories in foods. Reduce your daily intake of calories by at least 500 to start to see fat loss. Break your diet down into five of six small meals and eat every two or three hours.
Lift
Use your weight-lifting routines to help work the abs. Perform compound exercises like the barbell bench press, dead lift, military press and squat. Each workout should consist of three of these big lifts with three sets of five reps on each exercise. As well as the target muscles for each lift being worked, the abs will also receive a workout.
Cardio
Apply an interval training strategy to your cardio session. According to MayoCinic.com, this strategy, also called HIIT, will help burn fat faster than regular cardio. HIIT can be applied to any form of cardio and involves a series of short intervals where you train at maximum intensity, then moderate, then back to maximum. Use HIIT to burn the fat that will otherwise conceal your abs.
Abs Exercises
Use a variety of ab crunch exercises in your workout to ensure that all areas of the rectus abdominis, obliques and serratus are worked. Full Fitness offers an extensive list of such crunches, including standard sit-ups for the upper abs, crunch twists or bicycle kicks for the obliques, and hanging leg-raises for the lower abs.
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