Workouts To Stay In Shape & Get Abs For Men

Being in excellent physical shape and having well-defined abs is a common goal for many men. If you already exercise regularly, you can improve your fitness and get your abs to show with close monitoring of your diet, increasing the intensity or amount of aerobic exercise and regular strength training using exercises targeting the entire body.

Diet

Controlling your calorie intake and eliminating processed foods and beverages high in sodium, sugar and saturated fat is the key to burning body fat and getting your abs to appear. Consume five to seven small meals daily consisting of lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, complex carbohydrates and healthy monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats. Use your hands to determine the appropriate portion size. The palm of your hand is a serving of protein; one cupped hand is complex carbohydrates; two cupped hands are a serving of fruits or vegetables; and a serving of healthy fats is either a handful of nuts, or 1 to 2 tbsp. of oil or nut butter, according to Tosca Reno, author of The Eat-Clean Diet Stripped.

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise is necessary for burning fat and improving your fitness level. The minimum recommendation is 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise such as brisk walking, five days a week, or 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise such as running or sprinting three days a week. Increasing the duration or intensity level of aerobic exercise is necessary for improving aerobic endurance and may be necessary for fat loss to occur. In fact, high-intensity interval aerobic exercise has a greater impact of improving aerobic capacity than moderate-intensity exercise, according to a study published in the European Society of Cardiology in 2004.

Strength Training Workout

Complete four strength training workouts a week using compound exercises targeting multiple muscle groups. Complete each exercise for three to four sets of six to 10 repetitions, resting 1 to 2 minutes between each set. On day one perform full barbell squats, straight leg deadlifts, leg presses and lunges. On day two perform bench presses, pullups, military presses, triceps dips and barbell curls. On day three perform deadlifts, front squats, bench stepups and reverse barbell lunges. On day four perform incline dumbbell presses, chinups, close-grip bench presses, Arnold presses and dumbbell curls.

Ab Workouts

Train your abs at the end of three or four of your strength training workouts alternating between the two ab workouts. Complete each exercise, one after the other, without resting between exercises for three sets of 15 reps. Exercises for workout one include leg lifts, reverse crunches and crunches. Rest for 1 minute and repeat two more times. For ab workout two, complete three sets of 12 to 15 reps, resting 30 seconds between sets for decline crunches and hanging knee raises. Finish the workout with two sets of 1 minute plank holds.