How To Get Great Abs Part II

This a simple step by step process to gaining and maintaining six pack abs is as follows: strengthen your abdominal muscles and lose body fat. The concept is simple, but putting it into action is not. It will take dedication, willpower, patience and time to get a six pack but in the end, the effort is well worth it. Remember, abs are made mostly in the kitchen! You can have the most toned and defined abs but they won't show through if there's a layer of fat over them.

Follow These Steps:

Build Muscle

Perfom Crunches(with or without mat). Lie down on the floor and cross your arms in front of your chest. (Do not place both hands behind your head. Placing both hands behind your head can cause lower back problems in the long run as it places unnecessary stress on that part of your body from pulling on your head and neck.) Another alternative to crossing your arms in front of your chest is to lightly place your finger tips behind your ears, without pulling on your neck or ears to help raise you off the floor. Draw in your abdomen towards your spine while inhaling through your nose. Now raise your shoulders (upper torso) towards your knees, using strictly your abdominal muscles. It is very important not to lift your entire back off the floor, as this can cause back strain, and the extended movement does not help you develop six pack abs any faster. The most important part of the crunch is the initial flexing of your abs as you lift your shoulders off of the floor. As soon as you begin lifting off the floor exhale through your mouth, ending with a gasp once your shoulders are off the floor. Then pause for a second once you are at the top of the crunch and exhale the last bit of air from your diaphragm while flexing your abs. The proper breathing and flexing make all the difference. Now lower back down slowly and controlled while inhaling through your nose, just until your shoulder blades touch the ground. Do not let your head touch the ground and repeat.

Perform Sit Ups. Lie down on the floor, feet on the floor, knees up and fingers placed behind your ears or hands crossed on your chest. Sit all the way up, lifting your lower back off the floor along with your shoulder blades. Lower yourself down. Repeat. Once this becomes relatively easy for you (i.e. you can do a quite a bit with ease) start adding more challenges. Make the exercise more difficult to achieve. Find an incline bench or do these on an exercise ball. Once you "graduate" from that, do weighted sit ups. Hold a weight on your chest while you do these. As these become easier, hold heavier and heavier weights. You might also try lifting your feet off the ground while doing the sit ups or alternating the leg in the air, like pretending to pedal while sitting up. If your hands are behind your head, bring your left knee up to touch your right elbow and then your right knee to the left elbow.

Perform Leg Lifts. Lie down on the floor, legs straight out, hands at your sides. Lift your legs straight up (not bending your knees at all) until they're at a ninety degree angle (or close). Lower your legs and repeat without letting your legs touch the floor. If you want a great challenge there is equipment at most gyms that will allow you to raise yourself up using your arms as support and dangle your legs. You can perform leg lifts there too. If you're using this piece of equipment, you can make it easier by just raising your knees to your chest. It's more difficult to raise your legs to a horizontal position with your legs straight. This helps firm up the lower abdomen. If you're truly a monster, try doing leg lifts with a medicine ball hanging from your feet. Or hang from a pull up bar and raise your legs in front of you all the way up to the bar. Still too easy?...

Perform Jackknife Sit Ups. Lie down flat on the floor. Place your hands on the ground to your sides for balance; you can pick them up as you get used to the movement. Simultaneously raise your knees and torso so that your knees and face meet on an imaginary line extending from your pelvis to the ceiling. You should be able to kiss your knees at the top of the motion. Your legs will naturally fold bringing your feet towards your hips, much like a jackknife. Lie back down (i.e. "spread out") and repeat. Place a weight between your feet when you think you can handle it. What's that? More?

Perform V-ups. Lie down on the floor, legs straight out, hands on the floor but this time extended out over your head. Simultaneously raise legs and torso. Don't bend your knees! What kind of V would it be if you bend your knees? Reach with your hands toward the raised feet. Touch your feet if possible (might require some flexibility). Relax, return to starting position and repeat. Add weight between feet to match your taste.

Static Hold and Side Statics. Get your body into the push-up position. Now place your elbows on the floor, and you whole body flat. This position is known as the static hold position and it trains your core (including your abs) to hold the body in place which is the real purpose of your abs. Hold this position for as long as possible, but you should be aiming to start off with at least 45 seconds, while seasoned ab workers known to achieve over 20 minute static holds. To perform the side static hold roll onto one side of your body and lift into the same position as before, but this time only one arm will be on the ground with the other arm pointed straight up the air and your non-weight bearing leg resting on your bottom leg. Once again, hold this for as long as possible

How To Get Great Abs recommends That You Also Train Your Oblique Muscles. It's not as important to work on your oblique muscles at first, but eventually you'll want to start working these too. These are the muscles to either side of your stomach. There are many ways to do this and anything that includes twisting your torso against a resistance counts. Use the twisting machines at gyms and you can twist while you do sit-ups, you can do side bends, you can twist side to side with a medicine ball in hand, etc. Be aware though, that many beginners tend to have weak obliques compared to their abs (it simply isn't used as much in daily life) so go easy on the sides at first.
1. Other exercises: Since it is, literally, the center of your body there are many other tricks you can use to train your abs, and some of the other movements will more or less involve your abs. Including every abdominal exercise in existence would make this article painfully long and new methods are being developed constantly. Now that you have the right mindset about your washboard mid-section, get creative! Find new ways to crunch, bend and twist in your daily life. Some possibilities include:

Use a stability ball. Perform your crunches on the ball to introduce instability to your workout, which will improve your balance too. There are also lots of core exercises that can be done with a stability ball.You can also use a small bubble use for physical therapy.

1. Duck and twist during your daily routine. Reach with your left hand to things on your right and vice versa. If you feel like turning around to face something, see if you can do it with keeping your hips in place and twisting at the waist (warning: awkward when talking to other people, use only against inanimate objects). While walking or standing, pretend that something is coming toward you and you have to duck to get out of the way. Do this as often as you are comfortable or at times when it won't look weird. You can bend forward from the hips or, if you're really into it, bend at the knees too and really "sink" out of the way.

2. Perfrom the Scientific Best Abs Exercise Researchers at the San Diego State University, discovered that there are certain abs exercises that triggers most muscular activity. The winner was the "bicycle maneuver":
A. Lie down on the floor; make sure your lower back is pressed on the ground.
B. Take your hands behind your ears. Then bring up your knees at a 45 degree angle.
C. Start doing a bicycle pedalling motion. Touch your elbow with the opposite knee (right elbow with left knee and so on, alternating)
D. Breathe relaxed and evenly throughout the whole exercise.

How To Get Great Abs Diet Tips

1. Keep Metabolism Steady. Eating one small meal (such as a potato, a salad, etc.) every three hours that you are awake will not speed up your metabolism, rather, it will keep it going. Your metabolism goes and slows with your food intake and eating something small every three hours will keep that metabolism burning calories and will help you lose weight.

2. Eat Smaller Dinners. Cut down on the size of your dinner. If you're hungry, snack on fruits or other healthy, low calorie snacks. Large dinners tend to hurt a fat loss process because most people aren't very active after dinner. This is the basis for advice along the lines of "don't eat anything within X hours before going to bed". The claim that your entire dinner is stored as fat isn't entirely true (the process is more complicated than that) but the fact you don't move after dinner is enough to hurt your cause. You can offset this by eating a larger lunch or snacking healthily before dinner. Fresh fruits or vegetables are excellent choices for curbing appetite not to mention other health benefits. A handful of nuts might do the same. Drink a large glass of water before sitting at the table.

3. Eat More Fiber. Most people don't get enough fiber. The recommended amount is actually not that much if you eat a healthy diet. "Fiber foods" include whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and nuts and seeds. Other options are fiber supplements.

4. Eat Breakfast. Many people skip breakfast because they don't have time for it. Keep this in mind: You don't have time to skip breakfast, it's simply too valuable to skip. The fact that skipping breakfast messes up your concentration and other mental functions is beyond the scope of this article. The harm of skipping breakfast from a weight loss perspective is it makes you eat a huge lunch since your body hasn't had anything in the past 12 (or more) hours. When you eat a huge lunch you get that after meal drowsiness so now you're both unproductive and inactive. Cereals don't take much time to prepare and consume, and most of them are very healthy nowadays. If you are extremely pressed for time, consider grabbing a box of breakfast bars or a smoothie and throwing one in your bag when you leave for work or school. Some breakfast bars out there are also excellent sources of fiber. Eat Smaller Meals More Frequently. This helps raise your metabolism too. It's not easy to do though since it's a relatively big change to most people's routines. But it doesn't have to be a full blown meal, simply eat often but less. A jar of nuts in the office will do just fine, grab a handful when you feel like it. Most fruits can last for a couple days without refrigeration, and if you have a refrigerator at the office, make use of it.

Drink More Water Everyday. Many places suggest 8 cups (2 L) of water a day. It sounds like an absurd amount of water, but actually, you can drink tea without sugar to make up some of the quota. In fact tea, especially green tea, rev up your "metabolism" (actually cause a temporary increase in calories burned).For fat loss purposes, it is important to remind yourself that thirst is a much weaker stimuli than hunger. If you consistently feel hungry after meals, don't immediately think that you need to eat more. You may simply be thirsty!Needless to say there are many benefits of water. 69% of your body is made of it!

Original article at: http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Six-Pack-Abs

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How To Get Great Abs Without Doing Sit Ups

Most of us look for ways to tone up our abdominal area. However, a lot of us can't or don't want to do basic sit ups, for many reasons. Here are a few alternative exercises that are very effective in tightening the abdominal area and getting you in shape.

STEPS:

1. Use your furniture around the house. Simply sit up straight on an ottoman and hook your toes underneath a chair in your living room. Lie straight back across the ottoman. Then, slowly bring yourself back up to a sitting position. Do as many repetitions as you think you can.

2. Lie flat on your back on your bed . Lie back, place your arms to your sides, and lift your legs (keeping both legs together) in a pointing straight up position. Then slowly bring them down. When your legs are about 2-3 inches from the bed, hold them there for 1-2 minutes. Then lower the legs and relax. Do as many reps as you can. Note: If you have problems sleeping, it is not recommended to use your bed for activities other than sleep. See How to Fall Asleep for details.
Use your and legs and do scissor cuts. Keeping your legs and arms in the same position on the bed, lift your legs and cross one over the other. Just work at your own pace and do what you feel you can.

3. Think multitask and how to get great abs. While cleaning up the kitchen or doing chores, try to remember to tighten your stomach muscles and then let them relax. This tip works great for your rear-end, as well. Add a little bending and stretching into your daily activities whenever you can.

4. Have fun climbing stairs. This can be great for your stomach, as well as other parts of your body. If you'd like, you could buy or have someone make a step-master for you.
Plan on eating a high-fiber diet, with healthy and moderate amounts of food. This will help to keep your body in good condition, and make it receptive to workouts. A small amount of apple cider vinegar added to a cup of prune juice may be good to try.

5. Do exercises as often as you can. Use a bike or exercise bike regularly--it will help to tighten your abdominal area and improve your overall health.
Make sure to stand up while doing the sit up motion. Be sure to keep your back straight and maintain your posture. Alternate your angle of attack to work different muscles, even going so far as to do the sit up backwards.

TIPS ON HOW TO GET GREAT ABS

- Stay faithful to whatever route you do.

- Any exercise routine is better than none at all.

Some of the exercises listed above are easier on a person's back than the traditional sit-up.
Owning an exercise bike can help you to exercise even when the weather is not nice outside.
Be sure to keep a record of your exercise activity. It's highly recommended that you use a calendar with large spaces to write in. Keep it hanging in the room where you have your exercise equipment or where you exercise. When recording exercise activities, use abbreviations, such as "EB" for exercise bike.

Keep all your calendars. This way, you can look back, from year to year, to see how long that you stuck with it. Hopefully, you will be amazed with yourself and very pleased.
If you have a problem doing sit-ups and you start to feel serious pain after exercising, do some crunches instead. (a crunch is not as effective as a situp though)

WARNINGS:

- Start out your exercise program slowly. You'll enjoy exercising more if you don't drive yourself into the ground.

- Make sure your goals are realistic for yourself, don’t try to look like a certain celebrity or supermodel.

Original article at: http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Around-Doing-Basic-Sit-Ups

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How To Get Great Abs

When you take off your shirt the first thing someone will see is your Abs whether you like it or not.. Having great abs is not only one of the sexiest things to have, but is arguably the most sought after things that will most definitely get you noticed on any beach or swimming pool.Sadly, a fat gut isn’t very appealing when summer is near: you look down at your belly with disgust, thinking: ”there’s gone have to be a lot of work out if I want to look good”. The truth is, abs are really tricky muscles to develop, especially if you want to do it fast. But don’t lose heart. Here are some ideas on how to get great abs relatively fast, but be warned - it’s not going to happen overnight and it probably won’t involve some magic pill or potion that is advertised on late night TV. And, if think that there is no need to make such an effort only for the sake of your looks, notice that there are better reasons to work your middle than looking great in clingy clothes. Strong abdominal muscles are the key to better posture, a graceful stride and a healthy back.

Shaping up the abdominal muscles is quite difficult and along with our modern diets high in saturated fat and sugar developing 6-pack abs presents quite a challenge. No wonder we value it so much – it really is hard work. Depending on your current situation, you can develop a perfect set of 6-pack abs in aproximately as 9 weeks. Most people already have a 6-pack, the only problem is that it is covered in a layer of fat.
How to get great abs will help fulfill your plan.

You want an exercise routine that involves a variety of moves, which will help prevent boredom and challenge your body. The most important part of ab training is variation and form. Without proper form you can do 1000’s of reps and still get nowhere. As for variation, you should switch up your exercises every two weeks.

It is very important to remember that all ab exercises are not the same. In fact, there are some exercises that work your belly better than others. Don’t worry, if you read on you’ll find the description of the best exercises for your abs. I promise that if you try these gut-busting moves three days a week–together with a challenging cardio program to burn fat–you’ll see results in about a month. And, if you want to get that tummy in shape even faster, try five sessions per week and see the results for yourself.

Decline Weighted Sit-Ups

Did you know that Decline Weighted Sit-Ups are one of the best ways to develop the line that runs down the center of your abs?If you follow this regiment you will tear your abs to pieces (when done correctly). To do them, adjust a situp bench to where it is on about a 30 degree incline. Hold a bar (start out with an unweighted bar, or a wooden pole - something that only weighs about 1-2 lbs) behind your neck and, keeping your back straight, very slowly lower yourself to where your back is just off the bench.Next slowly come back up to where your body is parallel with the floor. The idea is to go really slow. The slower you lower yourself, the more it is going to work your abs. You should feel a deep tightness when doing this, not like the average crunch burn. Do about 10-20 reps, or to failure.

Bicycle Maneuver

Lie flat on your back on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground. Place your hands beside your head, bring your knees up to about a 45-degree angle and slowly go through a bicycle pedal motion. Lift your upper body and twist so that you touch your left elbow to your right knee, then your right elbow to your left knee as you alternate straightening your legs.

Leg Lift

Here is my next favorite exercise: leg lifts. Again, these aren’t your conventional leg lifts, where you are doing everything fast and not getting any results.Lie on a declined sit up bench with your legs toward the floor (yeah, its hard to describe, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about). At a moderate speed, bring your legs and butt up and off the bench.Slowly lower your legs keeping your toes pointed. Try not to let your butt touch the bench at all (this will be the most difficult part, but when done right will give you the greatest ab pump).

Reverse Crunch

For this exercise you want to lie flat on the floor again with your lower back pressed to the ground. Place your hands beside your head, or extend them out flat to your sides–whatever feels most comfortable. Lift your legs in the air, and cross your feet at the ankles–keeping your knees slightly bent. Lift your torso toward your knees, pressing your lower back to the floor as you contract your abdominal muscles. Your hips will slightly rotate, and your legs will reach toward the ceiling with each contraction.

Captain’s Chair or Roman Chair

Get a tight grip the handholds, and press your lower back against the back pad. Start by holding your body up and allowing your legs to dangle. Slowly lift your knees toward your chest, then straighten back down.

Crunch on Exercise Ball

Take a position and sit on the ball with your feet flat on the floor. Let the ball roll back slowly. Lie back on the ball until your thighs and torso are parallel to the floor. Place your hands behind your head, or cross your arms over your chest, and slightly tuck your chin in toward your chest. Contract your abs, and lift your torso 45 degrees. For better balance, spread your feet wide apart.
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You need to perform one set of 15 repetitions for each of these exercises three times a week, you’ll be well on your way to the tight, toned abs you’ve secretly–or not so secretly–desired. Just don’t spend more than 15 minutes at a time working your stomach; you’ll get tired and wind up resting too long between sets. Long rests give your muscles time to relax, defeating the purpose of exercising them in the first place.

Tips for a sure success and how to get great abs:

Make sure to do a hard contraction.When doing these exercises, make sure you squeeze your abs at the contraction points. This will help to ensure a long- lasting tightness.
Follow a routine everyday you exercise. Make sure you do abdominal work at least three’ times a week. Work it in every time you exercise, not just when you have time left over at the end of your workout.
Make sure you do a variety of exercises. While the five moves described here rank at the top of the American Council of Exercises list, doing any abdominal work is effective.

Don’t forget to burn the fat. Aim for 40 minutes of cardiovascular exercise at least three rimes per week. This is a crucial part to the ab equation, because if you don’t burn the fat, you won’t see the new muscles you’re working so hard to build.

You always want to increase the effort. To keep seeing results, boost the intensity of your workout as soon as the exercises start feeling easier. To do this, try resting less between moves or adding a few more repetitions.

Always eat healthy. A healthy diet plays a big role in toning your abs, so stick to a low-fat regimen that includes lean protein, fresh fruits and veggies and whole grains. Go easy on the bulge-building fatty and sugary foods, as well as the breadbasket at your favorite restaurant.
You want to remember it all day long. Try to contract your belly regularly as you perform your everyday duties. It’ll provide faster results.

Source for article:http://www.menintouch.com/blog/how-to-really-get-rock-hard-6-pack-abs/

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