Getting a six-pack involves a multitude of disciplines, not simply doing hundreds or thousands of ab crunches. To have the success you want in this area, you will need to tailor the rest of your exercise routine, clean up your diet and plan your food intake. Attaining a six-pack can be a full-time lifestyle and one that could take a lot of personal willpower and determination depending on your current habits.
Your Diet
Rid foods high in saturated fats, sugars and sodium from your daily plate. Stock up on lean meats, fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grain foods. The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention state that you will need to reduce your current daily calorie count by 500 to 1,000 to start losing 1 or 2 lbs. a week. Be sure to drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration, which can make you look more bloated.
Circuit Training
Circuit training is a workout you can employ to both tone your muscles and work the cardiovascular system. The IDEA Health & Fitness Association notes that a regular circuit training course consists of approximately 12 work stations. You could make each station a different abdominal exercise. Perform one set on each station before moving quickly on to the next with little or no rest.
Interval Training
Hyper-intensity interval training is a strategy you can apply to your regular cardio session to make it a more effective fat-burner. HIIT involves breaking your cardio into stages of varying work rate. For a beginner, the pattern will often be something like 30 seconds maximum intensity, 1 minute at 70 percent intensity and then back to maximum again. Constantly shocking the body with intense bursts helps burn off fat more effectively, notes MayoClinic.com
Total Abs
Focus your session on the most effective abs exercises, as reported by ACE Fitness. An exercise like the bicycle kick is so effective as it works the entire length of the central abdominal as well as the obliques simultaneously. Combine this with stability ball sit-ups, captain's chair crunches and vertical leg crunches and you will give your abs a short but intense and effective workout.
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