Before I mention these different ab exercises, there are a few things that should be clear. This workout should only be part of your complete training program. It's important to keep your focus on larger muscle groups since your abdominals are auxiliary muscles. Second, this workout should not be done more than 3 times a week. Also, it there should be at least 2 days between each time you workout your abs, they tend to recover quicker than other muscle groups. Each exercise should be done in a slow steady motion, you shouldn't rush. Finally, you should do 3 sets and 15-25 reps of each exercise.
1) Upper Abs
-Decline Bench Sit-Up: To do this exercise, lay yourself down on a decline bench. Start out with your back flat on the bench. Slightly come up a few inches off of the bench so that the tension stays in your upper abs. Bring your back down to the bench and repeat.
2) Mid Abs
-Ins and Outs: You can do this exercise on the floor or on a flat bench. While sitting, lift your legs up so that your only support is your hands and bottom. Make sure your hand are behind your back. Now push your legs in and out with your knees bending as you do this.
3) Lower Abs
-Leg Lifts: If you're doing this workout at home this exercise can be done on the floor but is usually done on the lateral lift machine at the gym. If at the gym, simply stand on the machine with your back straight on the cushion. Your only support is your elbows on the elbow cushion. Now slowly lift your legs up as high as you can and bring them down in a steady motion. These are simpler on the floor and are also effective. If at home, lie down flat on your back with your hands on the floor. Keep your body steady as you lift only your legs straight up to a 90 degree angle and bring them down slowly right before they touch the floor.
1. Minimize carbohydrates as much as you can. Get used to reading nutritional fact labels and keep track of how much carbs you take in per day. Try to keep that number below 40 grams. Carbohydrates higher your insulin level in the body which triggers the fat stores to store fat.
2. Eat more protein. Whether it's chicken, beef, fish, or a protein shake, you need to be getting in at least 1 gram of protein for every pound you weigh. For example, if you weigh 190 lbs., then you should be taking in 190 grams of protein per day. Note that this is only for those looking to increase their muscle mass. Even if your goal is fat loss, you should be increasing your protein intake because it will keep you full for longer. Also, a gram of protein contains 3.5 calories compared to 5 calories per one gram of carbs and 10 calories per gram of fats.
3. If your eating less than 40 grams of carbohydrates per day, do not be afraid of eating fats. Remember that as long as your not eating that much carbohydrates, your body won't store the fat you take in because it uses it as an energy source. Instead, you'll be burning the fat you already have stored in your body.
4. Keep a record of your workouts and take note of weights, sets, and reps. This is important so you can track your results and increase your strength the right way. Don't go into the gym guessing how much weight you used last time or what speed you ran on the treadmill and for how long. Take note of everything and gradually work your way up. You'll see results faster.
5. Change your workout every 3 weeks. If you keep doing the same workout routine for a muscle group, your muscles will get accustomed to them and growth will be slow. This is where muscle confusion comes in. After 3 weeks when you start doing new exercises, your muscles won't be used to them and they'll need time to be. Muscle growth will be much faster this way. After the second cycle of new exercises, switch back to your original routine and so on. So you have 2 separate routines. Do one for 3 weeks, start the second one after, then the first one again, and so on.
6. Don't focus on 2 or 3 muscle groups, you need to workout your whole body. There is no such thing as spot training (training one muscle group and expecting it to develop). You must train all of your muscle groups so that more hormones can be secreted by your body encouraging growth and anabolism. You'll be surprised that you will have faster muscle growth by working out your whole body. Never think about skipping leg day. That's a common mistake. People skip leg day because they don't care if they have defined legs or not but in reality testosterone is secreted by your body more on leg day than any other workout day by a lot. The same goes for abs. Running on the treadmill and doing a bunch of ab workouts won't get you abs. You need to workout every muscle in your body and you'll burn fat and gain muscle a lot faster.
7. This continues from the last step in a way. Focus on larger muscles groups, not smaller ones. Keep the smaller ones for later. There is practically no fat burn in your body when you train 1 muscle in the gym all the time. Legs, Chest, and Back are what you should primarily focus on. These are large muscle groups. Your biceps are actually a small muscle when it comes to these, same goes for triceps and shoulders. These are known as auxiliary and you should workout these muscles within the week for maximum gains.
8. Your most calorie-filled meals of the day should be breakfast and your post-workout meal. You'll burn fat faster when you eat a bigger breakfast and you'll be less prone to eat unhealthy foods throughout the day. As for your meal after you workout, you should be eating 30-40 grams of protein. It's important to fuel your body and get as much nourishment to your muscles so that they can recover faster.
9. Don't train the same muscle group twice every 3 days. Even though you may not feel sore, your muscles are still recovering. After 3 days, they should be recovered so that you can train that muscle group again. Training the same muscle group more than once in less than 3 days will deplete your recovery process and the muscle will breakdown even more. By the time you recover, you will have made little or no gains. Give your muscles time. It may sound like a slow process but it's worth it. 20 grams of protein every 2-3 hours will increase the recovery period and your metabolic rate.
10. Women can drink soy milk or almond milk as a substitute to dairy milk. It contains far less carbohydrates and is said to have a better taste. You can add sugar free syrup for a low carb chocolate milk. Men shouldn't drink soy milk because it increases the estrogen level in the body which slows down the release of testosterone.
Fat loss, muscle supplementation, energy gains, boosted metabolism, and more; these are all overlooked benefits of water. I say this because surveys show that over 85% of people in the United States don't meet their daily water intake needs. People don't realize that the cheapest and easiest to get drink is what could get them in better health almost instantly. Outside of fat loss and muscle gain, water has tons of health benefits which promote a better well being. Let's start with fat loss. The main reason water aids in fat loss is simply because it substitutes higher calorie drinks like juice or soda. If you make the simple choice to drink water instead of a can of Pepsi (which contains 150 calories and 41 grams of carbohydrates that are all sugars) for three meals of the day, then you are cutting out 450 calories and 128 grams of carbohydrates, way more than the limit I discussed in the last post. What if you substituted water for all your sweetened drinks? You would easily cut out close to 1,000 calories per day without even knowing it. It's crazy how you think that one little drink here and there won't harm but at the end of the day, all the calories and carbohydrates add up. It's all about making better choices. The next reason water aids in fat loss is because it increases your body's metabolic rate. It does this by regulating the temperature of the water to that of your body temperature and this process increases metabolism. It is also increases when you drink your food down with water. Drinking enough water in your day will also boost your energy. Dehydration tends to keep you in a tired mood so drinking enough water helps your heart pump blood more effectively causing you to be more alert. In turn, it also helps the blood transport oxygen and other essential nutrients to your cells. Water is known as "Natures Own Beauty Cream", when you are dehydrated, wrinkles and fine lines in your skin are deeper. Drinking enough water will hydrate the skin cells and give you a younger complexion. It also gets rid of impurities and improves circulation to your face making your tone glow. Overall, you and your body are happier with water. It suppresses headaches, reduces stress, and keeps you focused. Water truly is an overlooked beverage and it should be a main part of your diet today. According to Mayo Clinic, the recommended amount of water for men is roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) a day and 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) a day for women. I hope this article made a clear enough point of how important water really is and you will definitely find it easier to meet your fitness goals with the proper amount of water in your diet.
