Getting 6 pack abs and a ripped body is every guy’s dream. However, not every guy is motivated (or genetically-gifted) enough to work it out and eat right in order to get that perfect pair of rock-hard, washboard abs. The fact that you are sitting reading this is proof that you do not belong to that category, so read on.
If you want to get to know how to get 6 pack abs, you must do your homework. Diving right in to crunches and leg lifts without knowing the proper technique can leave you disillusioned and sore.
Fitness experts also say that the road to the 6 pack is a combination of the right diet and exercise, which means that you might have to cut back on those burgers and fries and incorporate some cardio and weights along with the all-time favorite, the crunch.
Doing cardio will help you shed off the extra pounds, which will help you see your abdominal muscles minus the layer of fat on top. Eating small but frequent meals a day keeps your metabolism stoked so that your body keeps burning calories but is supplied with enough energy to keep you from overeating.
Crunches is not the only answer to having tight abs. Other ways on how to get six pack abs is to do reverse crunch. In this exercise you lie on the floor with knees at a 90 degree angle to, feet a few inches off the floor and legs together. Lift your hips up and towards your rib cage, exhaling as you contract. The reverse crunch is great at working the lower rectus abdominis and transverse muscles.
Another great abs exercise is the bicycle, done by lying supine with your hips and knees bent at 90 degrees. With your hands behind your head and chest curled over the ribs, extend the left leg while bringing the right towards your chest, rotating your left shoulder to the right knee.
For a more effective workout, visit the gym and ask your trainer to help you do the exercises properly, since proper technique is important at targeting specific abs muscles.
It helps to know your anatomy so that you can target the right areas. An important part of your side abs, external obliques are the muscles at the sides of the waist which forms a “V” shape from the ribs down all the way to your navel. You will use them whenever you twist your chair or bend down to pick up your pen on the ground. Strong obliques can help you to pull, life or pusher heavier things.
When you are standing in an upright posture, your obliques are the sole muscle groups that are still exerting force because they have to keep your torso steady to keep gravity from pulling you out of balance.
Your upper abs are stimulated and ripped when you do crunches without any resistance, but when you add resistance to the ab workouts, your lower abs work as much as your upper abs. Reverse crunches work the lower abs more than upper abs, but it involves the use of obliques in that exercise. The point is that when you add sufficient resistance to ab workouts, you will not leave any abdominals muscles out in the exercise.
Diet and nutrition is the most critical aspect of how to get ripped abs. First thing is to change your eating patters a little. Instead of 2-3 big meals each day, you want to eat smaller meals more frequently all through the day.
This will help you burn fat by keeping your body from going into catabolic mode (muscle burning mode)- you see, after four hours or so without food, your body switches into catabolic mode, where you begin to accumulate fat; a holdover from the days of being hunter/gatherers who literally didn’t know where their next meal was coming from. Eating like this will crank your metabolism up.