Because of tradition, abdominal exercises are often executed in long sets of 50, 100, or even 200 repetitions. Friends even turn it into a contest:
– “I did 4 sets of 200!”
– “Really? I did 6 of 300.”

Who would get the best results from their abdominal exercises in this scenario? No one. Here’s why.

Long sets of abdominal exercises are not optimal if you want six pack abs. It’s basic physiology: muscles grow better on heavy, medium-repetition (about 8-12) sets. Would you train your chest using 4 sets of 200 repetitions? I thought so. Abdominal muscles are no different, and they need to grow if you want them to show.

But let’s say you can do 12 crunches. Do you stop there (since sets of 8-12 work best)? Of course not. You need to make the crunches harder by increasing the weight you lift every repetition. But how? By positioning your arms differently. Following are 3 arm positions you can use with all abdominal exercises to make them harder and more effective at building six pack abs.

1. Arms along your sides. Can’t get any easier.

2. Arms crossed across your chest. Intermediate difficulty.

3. Hands behind your head.

4. Arms overhead. Can’t get any harder
without adding external weights.

5. Arms crossed across your chest, with some external resistance (a plate or a heavy book, for example).

So, keeping with the crunch example, once you hit 12 repetitions with your arms along your sides, start your next set with your arms crossed across your chest.

Again, once you can do 12 repetitions with your arms crossed across your chest, start your next abdominal exercise set with your arms overhead.

Once your can do 12 repetitions with your arms overhead, you’ll want to use some form of external weight (dumbbell, plate, dictionary, etc.). You can hold it across your chest (some people feel more comfortable that way) or at arm’s length, overhead. The same principle also applies to all abdominal exercises: when you hit 12 repetitions, increase the difficulty by changing your arm’s position.

Next time you’re about to start a set of 200 crunches, try crossing your arms across your chest. See how many repetitions you can perform this way, and how the burn in your abdominals feel. Then drop me a line at my website below.

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When you think about exercises for abs, you’re probably associating them with these two words: sit ups. I’m actually not surprised because sit ups are one of the most, if not the most, common forms of abdominal exercises out there. I wouldn’t be taken aback if my grandmother knew what they were.

Nevertheless, you need to recognize that there are other more effective ways to get abs than just sit ups. You need to mix them up, add some variety, and do them regularly for you to get fast results.

For a thriving overall fitness plan, combine abdominal exercises with a healthy diet plan and a full body workout. If you work hard at keeping these three elements alive in your daily routine, you simply can’t go wrong.

Recent studies show that ball crunches, full body crunches, weighted sit ups, and bicycles are the 4 best exercises for a no nonsense six pack abs. I’ll tell you why:

1. Bicycles. Not only does it involve your obliques, upper abdominals, and lower abdominals, but it also develops your legs, lower back, and arms. For this exercise, you need to lie on the floor and touch your fingers to your ears. Bend at the knees and mimic a cycling movement in the air using your legs. As your right knee comes in, lift and twist so that your left elbow touches it. Simply do the same on the other side.

2. Weighted Sit Ups. These exercises for abs add resistance to your workout, giving your abs a little oomph to work with. It’s basically a sit up with an added twist and increased difficulty. All you need for this exercise are light to moderately heavy weight simulators, like a pair of 1 lb. dumbbells or a hardbound book, which you will need to hold over your chest with your hands. Proceed by lifting your torso upward, holding it there for a few seconds, and coming back down, just like with regular sit ups.

3. Full Body Crunches. As the name implies, these exercises work your arms, back, and legs, just like bicycles. To begin, simply lie down, place your hands across your chest, and bend at the knees. Lift your torso up the floor and pull in both knees at the same time. Lie back down and start again.

4. Ball Crunches. Compared to regular floor crunches, ball crunches promote balance and work your core in its entirety. It’s very simple yet challenging, and I guess that’s the beauty of it. To start off, sit on an exercise ball. Lie back slowly until your upper body and thighs are parallel to the ground. Start doing regular crunches – you’ll instantly feel the added tension since you’re performing them on an unstable surface. With the ball, you get padded support for your back and a taste of variety.

By including these in your training plan , you can now get nice abs in a month and say goodbye to excess belly fat.

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You will need to work on your belly fat as it not only looks unattractive but is even unhealthy. It may be that you have tried anything and everything to lose belly fat but so far nothing has worked for you. But this need not be a problem for you. There are a number of ways that can likely help lose belly fat; but first let us consider a few of the reasons that can may end you up with belly fat.

Regular intake of fatty foods, frequent alcohol consumption, feeling stressed out and depressed are a few reasons that can make you experience belly fat. Taking fad diets, doing countless crunches every day or ab-machines that claim to get you rock-hard abs will never melt off your body’s mid-section.

There are some methods which can help melt off the fat thereby reducing your belly size. While a direct solution can take off the fat from your belly and prevent it from coming back, you need to remember that the results can’t be attained overnight. It may take a few weeks or even more if you want a complete solution on losing belly fat and increase your health as well as self-esteem.

Consume natural foods which are derived from earth. Taking small balanced meals with an interval of 3 hours will get a steady boost to your metabolic rate.

Water plays an important role in getting rid of the toxin contents and fat from your body. So, having lots of water regularly can help you out.

With cardio, you can reduce the belly size. Doing 20-30 minutes of high intensity interval training for three to five times a day can burn the fat on the midsection of your body.

Abdominal exercises and various crunches can aid you in losing belly fat and building strong abs when performed four times a week.

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You’re probably thinking, “How do I build my abdominals?”

Asking yourself this question is surely the first real step to having a six pack. That means you desire MORE out of life. It also means you are conscious of your body and that living an unhealthy lifestyle isn’t acceptable any longer.

Don’t be discouraged even before you’ve started though. There are much more difficult things out there than getting your abs in tiptop shape. Armed with the right tools, it will start to feel like a piece of cake.

How do you get six pack abs exactly? I feel that the most obvious question is, “Where should one START?”

I must admit, I didn’t have any idea what to do when I started to build my abdominals. The first few weeks were definitely challenging only because I was completely clueless. Looking back, it would’ve been a whole lot easier for me from the beginning had I followed these 3 easy steps:

1. Re-evaluate your eating habits;

2. Burn excess body fat; and

3. Stick to an ab fitness routine.

Diet

The first thing you need to do is to look at your diet.

Go through the food items in your fridge, think back on what you usually order when you dine out, and review your grocery lists. These are a few things you can do to implement this step.

A healthy diet did help build my abdominals, and I suggest that you start there. Your diet can have a huge impact on your body’s performance and appearance. Cut down on unnecessary fats, starches, and simple sugars so you can start to build YOUR abdominals.

Word of advice: before spending a ridiculous amount of money on complicated training machines and too-good-to-be-true diet pills, work on your diet first. You’ll be surprised how much time and cash you can save just by doing that.

Burn Fat

Burning excess body fat is the next sensible step to this process. Excess – the term itself says it all. With excess body fat in the way, it’s even more difficult to build muscle.

For me to build my abdominals, I also relied on full body workouts. Holistic exercises help burn more fat because they involve more than one group of muscles. At the same time, these exercises also aim to improve your health.

High-intensity full body exercises will give you the best fat burning outcome during and AFTER your workout. The best part is that you will reap the benefits of these exercises even hours after your workout.

Targeted Abdominal Exercises

Combined with full body workouts, regular implementation of targeted abdominal exercises will definitely get your ab muscles toned and ripped in no time. This was the third step I took to build my abdominals.

High-resistance ab exercises such as weighted sit ups and hanging leg raises build muscles fast and safe. After doing regular crunches and sit ups, it would be best if you tried exercises that will challenge you more. Remember, the higher the resistance, the faster you’re going to get ripped abs.

Following these 3 no nonsense 6 pack abs steps made it easier for me to build my abdominals, and it will do the same for you. With a healthy diet, full body workouts, and high-intensity abdominal training, there’s no stopping you now.

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