Secret Formula to Shredded ABS
Having shredded abs is almost every girl’s and guy’s dream. Most of us think that great abs means strong “rectus abdominals”. That muscle group is the closest to the mid line of your body. They are also the most visible group of them all. Unfortunately, there is more if it comes to having good core muscles.
Great core is also obloquies and transverse abdominals. I have nearly 15 years of experience working in fitness field and I have heard many different theories and have seen many great abs strategies. You know what? It doesn’t matter how fancy or complex exercise is, if it is not hitting hard enough even after months of work there will be no sign of ripped abs.
Great abs formula:
- Lower your body fat percentage to 20% for girls and around 10% for guys.
Here is sad true. If you will not get your body fat percentage down, no matter how long you are crunching, twisting, your abs will remain hidden underneath that fat layer.
- Start by watching the food you eat. Is your diet right or should you pay closer attention to how much fat or extra carbs you eat?
- Reduce amount of calories you eat. If you are average built person, who wants to lose some weight, reduce your daily carbs intake by 50 grams a day. If after few weeks nothing has changed, reduce it by another 50 grams a day.
For a woman who weighs 130 pound daily calorie intake to maintain weight should be around 1700 calories.
If you stick to your calorie intake, you will NOT put weight on. To reduce it, eat food that has 100 calories less each day for one week and see if anything has changed.
- Say “yes” to right type of cardio
I have mixed opinion about cardio type of workouts these days. Just last week I have been approached by a girl who wanted to lose some weight. So far, she was focusing on cardio exercising on machines like treadmills, cross trainers and rowing machines, with minimum result in her weight loss results. Problem here is not the amount and variety but exercise type.
If you want to lose weight by doing cardio, ditch cardio machines and do more intense but shorter workouts.
Yes, it is true. Running for hours on a treadmill will not give you results you desire and those will not come quickly. Think more about circuit based cardio training or, interval training cardio workout. Keep it short: 30 minutes maximum but intense.
The after burn mode will stay on for another 48 hours from the time you finish your workout.
2. Do the right core workout
Your abs routine has to be diversified. You should remember to hit rectus abdominals, obloquies and transverse abdominals in your training session. With so many exercises out there, choice may look hard or even impossible. How to choose the right then? Stick to the basics, and keep it simple.
- Pick 6 to 7 exercises
- Mix body weight exercises with weight exercises
- Perform your body weight exercises (just your body weight) until you can move anymore
- Pick weights heavy enough so you are able only to perform 8-10 repetitions of your weight based abs exercises
- Do them 3 times a week
Choice is massive and will depend on your physical level and motivation. Here is what I do at the moment as part of my workout;
- Cable crunch – heavy enough to perform only 8- 10 repetitions
- Bicycle – until you can do anymore
- Captain’s chair leg rise. I am holding weights using my feet to give it a little bit of better result.
- Flat bench lying leg raise. Doing it on the floor is ok too.
- Hanging leg raise – with extra weight hold by my feet
I am performing them 3 times a week at the end of my weight training sessions.
All these 5 exercises form one abs circuit.
I rest after the circuit for 2-3minutes to give my muscles time to recover.
After that another circuit.
Repeat 5 more times
Think of weight exercises. If you don’t have time, it is ok. You don’t need much.
Perform only compound weightlifting exercises like; squads, deadlift, military press.
Perform them with heavy weights and you will be surprised how quickly your abs will start to grow.
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