Pay close attention, because once you get this stuff right and start using these techniques regularly, you'll be showcasing your ripped abs at every chance you get, whether it's at the beach, at the pool, in the bedroom, wherever... Just visualize how great your going to look when people are complimenting you on your washboard stomach!
1. Your main focus should NOT be abs exercises... And, better yet, you'll consistently get better results by NOT focusing on abs exercises!
I know that sounds counterintuitive, but the fact of the matter is that abs exercises are great, and you do need to do a certain amount of them to develop the abs as best as possible. But to be honest, most people that want to get better looking abdominals waste WAYYY too much time training the abs directly. What you really need to focus on is burning off the extra fat that is covering them up.
Let's reiterate... Abs exercises do NOT burn fat away from your abs! This can only be done through a much more effective full body training routine that maximizes both your metabolic response and your hormonal response to your workouts.
Now don't get me wrong. You can't get the abs you want if you don't do the most effective exercises for developing your abdominals.
2. Stop doing the typical boring monotonous cardio routines.
In fact, you don't have to do any typical cardio if you don't want to! I actually recommend against it.
Most exercise programs out there tell you to do 30-60 minutes of cardio exercise 3-4 days/week in addition to your strength training routines.
This is not only unnecessary, but it can actually be counterproductive if you're really trying to get as lean as possible, as quick as possible. Basically this all comes back to the aspects of your metabolic rate, how much lean muscle you have, the hormonal response in your body from the exercise, and the residual calorie burn in the hours and days following your workouts. And regular boring cardio routines are all wrong when it comes to maximizing these effects!
I strongly believe that interval training is MUCH better than typical cardio.
Interval training works by you going hard for 30 seconds, then resting for 60 seconds and then repeat. To keep seeing results from that, you would play the rest and work intervals as well as what exercise you use. The cool part is it only take about 15 minutes‐that’s a fraction of traditional cardio.
On top of that your body will be burning extra calories 38 hours after the workout. That means if you workout on a Monday morning, Tuesday night you are burning extra calories because of that workout.Not only that, but steady-pace cardio was also proven in the research studies to be far less effective in the long term at reducing body fat stores.
3. You should NOT focus on having to use supplements or "fat-loss" pills.
Trust me when I say that for the most part, about 95% of supplements are a complete waste of your hard earned money.
Don't get me wrong... I'm not totally bashing supplement companies, but like I said, about 95% of the products they promote are useless, and won't create any noticeable changes in your body. I will admit that there can be a place for meal replacements for people that can't find the time to prepare or pack all of their real food meals. I also admit that I do think a high quality, fast digesting protein like whey protein can be useful to mix into your post-workout shake. (Prograde is the brand that I recommend for meal replacements and protein shakes. Their product quality is superb... I'm a witness)
But the fact is that real food is always and always will be better for you than processed supplements. Anybody that tells you otherwise has either been brainwashed by all of the propaganda and super-hyped up ads that the supplement companies have spread throughout every magazine on the planet, or they're getting paid for selling supplements in some way themselves.
The only thing that bottle of pills or powder is going to do is give you expensive urine! You make the choice.
4. Fancy "ab machines" or "ab gadgets" are a no-no.
In case you were suckered into buying any of those worthless ab belts, loungers, rockers, or any other worthless ab gadget or machine, I have some bad news... You got ripped off!
The truth is that most of these machines and gadgets are not the best way to develop the abdominal muscles. Yeah, some of them may help a tiny bit with strengthening the abdominals, but they are far less effective than some of the best floor, hanging, and standing abs exercises.
And more importantly, about all of these abs machines, belts, and gadgets do absolutely nothing to burn fat off of the abdominal area!
Again, losing your belly fat can only be accomplished with a thorough nutritional program, and a well designed progressional training program that increases your metabolism and stimulates your fat-burning hormones in your body, like leptin. Achieving this is simple.
5. Fad diets or gimmicky diet trends are a waste of time and energy.
All of that crap about needing to eat "low-carb" or "low-fat", or low or high anything, for that matter, are basically used for trying to lure you in with another one of "their" gimmicks.
The fact is that they need to come up with some sort of different "angle", so that their diet program appears unique and gives the media something to talk about. That's why there's always some gimmick, like low-fat, or low-carb, or high protein, or the "colors diet", the "low glycemic index diet", the fasting diet, the cabbage diet, and so on.
Eating a nutritious diet should not only have you burning off that stubborn belly fat, but should also have you feeling full of energy every single day. If you don't already feel energetic and alive every single day, then you are missing out, because it is an awesome feeling!
The secret is that once you start eating balanced and healthy all the time, you virtually eliminate cravings altogether. Personally, I used to crave sweets constantly. My mom used to call me a sugar ant.
I actually enjoy everything I eat way more than I used to when I ate a lot of junk. Does that mean that you can never eat burgers, or pizza, or beer, or sweets? Of course not... We all have a social life.
I hope this post has given you some insight as to where you may be going wrong with your exercise and nutrition plans in striving for those elusive abs.
Cheers, Rickey☮ Doubts, questions, queries, suggestions? Post a comment |
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