Most people automatically think of crunches and sit-ups when they think about making the effort to build perfect abs for (probably) the first time in their lives.
The unpopular truth is, it’s realistically going to require 4 separate but related activities to get the type of abs you see showcased on TV and in movies and magazines; there really aren’t any short cuts, sadly. All 4 activities are necessary and they’re focused on creating the all-important combination – burn fat, build muscle.
Your Diet
The major realization here is, you can spend the rest of your life performing crunches and other similar exercises but if you’re still wearing a fat suit, you’ll never have great abs.
So, one key thing is that your diet has to be one that makes fat loss inevitable. Meaning, first, think about calories — you need to take in less calories than you burn. Second, you need a good balance of protein, carb, and healthy fat. You need the protein to build muscle and also to help muscle recover from exercise; and, protein can help with appetite control. You need carbohydrates for energy, of course. And healthy fat because the right types of fat – not those in a burger or ice cream, I might add – are an essential part of a balanced diet.
Cardio Exercise
So … why cardio-vascular exercise, specifically?. The answer is simple mathematics … because to eliminate 1 lb of fat you need to burn 3500 more calories than you take in, so if you want to get rid of that layer of fat that “hides” your abs, no matter how well developed, cardio is one step along the fastest path.
Strength exercises
Strength training has the biggest impact on the metabolism … meaning, if you perform strength training regularly, you’ll literally put your body in a position where the metabolism speeds up and … you’ve guessed it, your burn fat more quickly. Large muscle exercises – squats, bench presses, lunges, etc – performed regularly will have a bigger impact on metabolism even than cardio and certainly more than small muscle exercises (bicep curls, for example) although it all helps. The faster you burn the fat … the faster you get those six-pack abs you’re working so hard for.
Abs-specific exercises
And finally we come to the exercises that most people start out with in their mind – the crunches, sit-ups and leg lifts.
So, this is the path you need to take for great abs; but the biggest obstacle isn’t actually associated with any of these. The biggest challenge is purely mental, and it’s simply this – are you willing to pay the price?