1 Create a Calorie Deficit
Despite all the diet voodoo you read and hear about, losing fat comes down to one tried and true simple fact. You need to burn more calories than you take in. That is how you get rid of fat sitting on your belly and covering up the abs that are living under there.
So how do we create calorie deficits?
- Cardio AND Weights!
There are basically two schools of thought in the fitness world regarding cardio for fat loss. There are the high intensity cardio folks and the steady state cardio folks. High intensity cardio will get you a faster burn quicker, but it is a lot harder. Steady state cardio will take you longer to burn the same calories, but it is more sustainable. So mix it up and do some high and steady state cardio. Remember that all that matters is the calories you burn.
Just hitting cardio will do nice things for your body. It will lean you up, but it better be combined with weights.
- Diet
Body fat is the key The real results of your six pack will start to show when your body fat percentage gets down to about 15%.
2. Stop Doing Thousands Of Crunches
Compound, multi-joint and total body movements will promote more total fat loss and promote a much bigger muscle building response than crunches and sit-ups ever will.
Personally, I think that it is completely pointless to waste an hour of your time doing hundreds of useless crunches and sit-ups when that hour could be spent doing exercises that are more productive.
Just like any muscle group, once you remove the fat, you want the muscles to pop. By using weight during abdominal exercises, you will increase muscle and improve its appearance.
3. Control the Movement
Don't swing up and down echt movement. Control the movement! At the end of each movement, pause for a second, just to reduce any momentum that was built up from swinging up and down. So again, really engage the AB muscles to do the work.
4. Drink Water
Drinking water helps you to stave off hunger as well as helps with water retention.
In general, you should try to drink between half an ounce and an ounce of water for each pound you weigh, every day.” For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, that would be 75 to 150 ounces of water a day.
Most of the time we seem hungry it is because we are thirsty, so stay hydrated and you will eat less.
5. Eat Enough Protein
Out of all the macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fat) lean protein has the highest thermogenic effect on the body.
That makes it the most valuable macronutrient of all because your body burns a ton of calories breaking it down.
This is one of the main reasons why professional athletes and competitive bodybuilders eat a diet that is high in lean protein. This goes for women also, not just men.
As we are all humans with basically the same DNA and tissues, we all need protein in order to survive and also to burn body fat!
6. Stop Eating Refined Sugar and Processed Foods
You can do all the core workouts you want, but if you regularly eat sweet foods or drinks, you won’t have the abs to show for all your hard work. Sugar will quickly add a layer of belly fat over your stomach..
Same goes for processed foods that are high in calories, fat, sodium, and sugar, but low in nutritional value. Focus on filling up on whole foods instead, with an emphasis on protein and fibre.
There is no secret, mystical fast track way to make your abs pop. So put in the work, create caloric deficits, exercise regularly with weights and cardio, eat clean and healthy, stay hydrated and skip all the magical promises that are out there. If you do all this, you can get your six-pack showing ifast and you can keep it for as long as you continue to put in the work!
Mike Yuen
