Simple Three Step Plan for Getting Six Pack Abs

4:46 AM Weight Loss Trainer 0 Comments

One reason not many people sport a six pack is they over-complicate the process. A flat stomach isn't about how many crunches you do, or how many hours you spend on the treadmill. In fact, you can skip the crunches, and if you want, even the treadmill. Here is a simple, three step plan for that toned stomach. After you know the plan, keep reading to discover the major pitfalls to avoid if you want to be successful.

Here is the three step plan:

strength train
perform intense, interval-style cardio
eat right

That's it. Simple, right? Nobody said it was easy, just simple. In fact, it's not easy to get lean enough to show off your ab muscles. It takes a lot of sweat, effort, and commitment. But it is simple.

So where do men and women go wrong in their journey? How come so few reach this elusive goal?
Here are the most common deterrents on the road to a ripped stomach.

Strength Train

A lot of readers will interpret that to mean "do a lot of crunches and other ab exercises." This is a huge waste of your time and energy. Ab exercises are good for strengthening the midsection and have a place in a well-rounded exercise program. However, regarding the goal of showing off your washboard abs, you can skip the crunches. Instead, you need to be doing a full-body workout at least two times per week that includes compound strength exercises for each of the major muscles. These exercises include squats, rows, and presses. If having a flat stomach were as simple as doing 1000 crunches per day, almost everyone would already have a six pack.

Perform Intense, Interval-style Cardio

Low intensity, long duration cardio is great if you are training for a marathon. But if you want to get lean enough to show off your abs, you should be doing interval-style cardio, up to five times per week. This is where you alternate a low intensity activity with a high intensity activity for about 20-30 minutes. The length of the intervals can vary, but 60 seconds low/30 seconds high is common. For example, you could sprint for 30 seconds, then jog for 60 seconds. Other exercises and activities that can be used for intervals are burpees, jump roping, hill sprints, and plyometric exercises just to mention a few. If you can continue for more than 20-30 minutes, your intervals aren't intense enough!

Eat Right

This section could be a book by itself, but one of the most common mistakes is being too strict. At the beginning of a program, you are excited and motivated to do everything right. So you cut out all processed sugar, fried foods, alcohol, and sweets. The problem is you deprive yourself too much and within a week, you are craving these foods like crazy. So one day you give in and have a couple cookies and the guilt about kills you. You figure there is no way you can ever do this so you drop the entire program. A much better plan is to allow yourself one cheat meal per week. At this meal you can enjoy your favorite foods with no guilt. This will satisfy your cravings and it will not hamper your progress.

That's it. Follow these three simple steps and you too can sport a washboard stomach on the beach. But start early because this process takes time. How much time is dependent on how lean you are when you start, but for a person of average body fat, you still need at least three months.
Not easy. But simple.