Ways For Guys To Get Six-pack Abs

If you are a guy who would like six-pack abs, you are neither the first nor alone. Developing a ripped, washboard abdomen is a common fitness goal among men. Reaching that goal requires determination and discipline as you stick to a combination of diet and exercise for long enough to build muscle and lose fat.

Spot Reduction

The first thing to understand about developing a six-pack is that most of your work won't actually involve your abs. The muscle structure of your abdomen already forms a six-pack, you just can't see it underneath your natural layer of belly fat. Your main task in revealing that six-pack will be to remove that layer. Contrary to enduring fitness myth, focusing exercise on your belly won't accelerate your fat loss there. You will burn fat from your body as a whole, including the fat over your budding six-pack.

Diet

Observing a weight-loss diet is essential to burning the fat that obscures your abdominal muscles. Health counselor Maya Paul recommends aiming to lose 1 or 2 lbs. per week if you want to maintain the diet long enough to see strong results. This means cutting 250 to 500 calories out of your daily diet. Start by cutting out high-calorie, low-value foods like soda pop, refined carbohydrates and fast-food meals. Replace them with lean proteins, vegetables and refined grains.

Cardio Exercise

The other half of your weight-loss efforts will involve an aggressive program of cardiovascular exercise to burn another 250 to 500 calories per day. Combined with your diet plan, this works out to 3,500 to 7,000 calories per week, or 1 to 2 lbs. worth of calories. For best results, rotate between two or three kinds of cardio exercise, such as cycling, running or high-impact aerobics.

Core Workout

While you're peeling off fat from the outside of your belly, you will also need to work out those muscles beneath the fat. This means one or two five- to 10-minute core workouts each day, with a day off once per week. Core exercises work the stomach, obliques and lower back --- all of the muscles that contribute to defined abs. Performing these workouts as you lose weight mean that the belly fat, once shed, will reveal tight, defined stomach muscles.