When most people think of their dream body, well-defined six pack abs are almost always at the top of the wish-list. Without a doubt, the best way to achieve a six pack is to work with a personal trainer to identify body types, take into account metabolism, and coordinate a diet into a custom workout designed to melt away fat and develop a killer six pack.
Killer Abs Rely on the Right Diet and Exercises
If you are trying to sculpt killer abs, you need to get on the right diet and do the right exercise routine. Various fitness goals require specific exercises and diets. If you are a 25 year-old man trying to add muscle, your diet and fitness program will be night and day compared to a 40 year-old man seeking a six pack. The following map to killer six pack abs is a general guideline for the average person. For a customized routine that will help you reach your six pack abs goal faster, contact a local personal trainer and ask for a consultation.
Exercise 1: Sit Ups Build Strong Abs
Lie down on a mat with your feet flat on the floor, knees up, and cross your arms over your chest. You will need to have someone hold your feet down, or you can get a sit up bar that can be easily mounted to the bottom of a door. The key is to keep your back and stomach tight when doing the sit ups. Start with 3 sets of 25, and as this becomes easier increase the repetitions.
Exercise 2: Bruce Lee’s Dragon Flag
Known as Bruce Lee’s go-to exercise for developing core strength and killer abs, the Dragon Flag (certain versions of it are known as Dragon Flies) is an exercise for people with above average fitness and free from any injuries. If you have never tried the dragon flag, it is recommended you do the exercise for the first time under the care of a fitness trainer, as injuring yourself doing these incorrectly is common for the inexperienced.
Lie on a flat bench or a declined plane grabbing its edge behind your head with both hands. You will want to form tension in your arms, traps, lats, legs and core while lifting your body off the surface. Swing your feet up so that you are nearly vertical and keep your body straight with a tight core.Lower your feet very slowly lowering them just above the bench, lift your legs back up, and complete a rep.
Exercise 3: Leg Lifts, Easy, Medium or Hard
You will need to lie on the mat with your hands at your side and your legs straight out. Without bending your knees, lift your legs upwards and lower them without touching the ground. To give the workout a medium-level challenge you can always raise your legs horizontally while keeping them stretched out and straight. If you want to go full beast mode, try dangling weight from your feet or hang from a pull up bar raising your legs all the way up in front of your face while keeping them perfectly straight.
Exercise 4: Plank Your Way to a Six Pack
Get on your elbows into the push-up position on the floor keeping your body flat. You will want to lower your body enough that it is not arching, and so it remains perfectly level. Hold the pose for 60 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, and repeat. If your fitness level is good try shooting for a five minute hold, and if you can’t make it to the five minute point create this hold-time as your goal.
Diet Tip 1: Breakfast Builds Six Pack Abs
Most people who skip breakfast do so because they think it is a good way to diet, or they don’t think they have the time. In reality, skipping breakfast can halter weight loss for two main reasons: (1) it keeps your metabolism sluggish and (2) you get more hungry later in the day. Having a healthy breakfast will raise your resting metabolism by as much as 10 percent and minimize mid-day cravings. A breakfast of lean protein such as Greek yoghurt with blueberries and flax seed, or leftover salmon in an egg white omelet with spinach is ideal.
Diet Tip 2: Don’t Eat After 7PM
When you eat late at night your body is more likely to store the food as fat because your metabolism isn’t as active when you sleep (though it is always running). If you must eat something after 7PM, avoid starches and sugar (this includes fruit). A hand-full of nuts, or a few spears of steamed asparagus accompanied with a large glass of water can satisfy more appetites and give you that full feeling.
Diet Tip 3: Eat Small Frequent Meals Throughout the Day
In order to keep your metabolism up so you can burn more fat and get those six pack abs, it is ideal to eat a small meal every three hours. Your calorie goal will be based on your current weight and BMI, but sticking around 300 calories per meal is pretty standard. For breakfast you could have a hard-boiled egg and a piece of whole grain toast, a snack of almonds and berries, followed by four ounces of skinless boiled chicken breast and some broccoli florets for lunch, hummus and celery for another snack, and a fish filet with some kale for dinner.
Diet Tip 4: Ditch Refined Grains
White bread won’t build abs, but switching to whole grains will help you trim down and develop a healthy body to sculpt the Hollywood body of your dreams. A well-balanced diet that replaced refined grains with whole grains impacts the insulin and glucose response within your body that regulates fat burning.
Killer Six Pack Abs Come Out When You Eat and Train Right!
Anyone can get six pack abs if they are disciplined enough to stick to a proper fitness routine and follow the right diet. By conducting some solid research and going through potential trial and error work, you can likely determine your best routine. By working with a personal trainer you can get faster, safer results.
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