If you’re visiting this page, you either have a desire to obtain a leaner stomach or you might even want to achieve a set of ripped, washboard abs. Whether you want to decrease a little fat from your stomach or get absolutely shredded, you will need to include 3 main elements into your abdominal routine. These three things include diet, cardio and ab exercises. Diet and cardio are the most important factors since you could literally do AB exercises everyday for a year and not see your abs. This is simply because you have an extra layer of body fat covering your abdominals and you need to shed this before you can see them.
The way you do this is through taking in fewer calories than you consume. This is called a calorie deficit and its critical for long-term success. There are two ways you can create a calorie deficit, either through eating fewer calories or through burning additional calories through cardio exercise. The best way is to do a little of both.
Your overall daily calorie burning goal should be around 500 calories. This is because it takes a total of 3,500 calories to burn 1 pound of fat. If you burn 500 calories each day, this will equal 3,500 calories per week. The best thing you can do is to eat 250 calories less each day and burn an additional 250 calories with cardio exercise to reach the target goal of 500 calories per day. When you combine diet and cardio, its much easier than dieting too strictly or doing too much cardio. Mix both diet with cardio and it will be much easier to stay on track.
There are 3 main abdominal exercises in this six pack abs workout. These AB exercises include lying medicine ball crunches, elbow to knee oblique crunches and flutter kicks.
Lying Medicine Ball Crunches
Lie flat on your back on a mat with your feet flat on the ground and your knees bent. Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it on your chest. Push the small of your back down to the floor to isolate your AB muscles. Begin to roll your shoulders off the floor. Continue to push down with your lower back. Your shoulders should come up off the floor only about four inches, and your lower back should always remain on the floor. As always, make sure you let your abs do the work in a slow and controlled fashion! You want to focus on doing 20-30 reps per set for a total of 3 sets.
Elbow To Knee Oblique Crunches
Lie on your back and keep your feet flat on the floor. Place your hands behind your head. Curl up and bring your left elbow and shoulder across your body while bringing your right knee in toward your left shoulder at the same time. Reach with your elbow and try to touch your knee. You can either do one side for all your reps, then switch to the other side or alternate sides. You want to focus on doing 20-30 reps per set for a total of 3 sets.
Flutter Kicks
Start by lying flat on your back on a mat with your arms by your sides and your palms down. Extend your legs fully with a slight bend in your knees. Lift your heels about 6 inches off the floor. Make small, rapid up and down scissor style motions with your legs. The key is to focus on having your midsection do the work and to keep your abs constantly contracted throughout the exercise. You want to focus on doing 20-30 reps per set for a total of 3 sets.
