Everyone wants a flat tummy with six-pack abs, but that takes dedication to your fitness. You'll have to eat right, exercise and shed the fat which is currently covering your abs. Then you'll have to tone them until they stick out like a washboard. The simple tips below will help you achieve the look you desire.
The first step is to reduce your body fat in order to allow your abs to show through. For men, that means you must have less than 10% body fat, and women will need less than 13%. Of course, everyone is different, so you may need to go lower or be happy with a higher level of body fat.
You have to exercise your abs efficiently in order to tone them correctly. Just a few sets of a few different exercises is all you need. Skip the sit-ups - they are an ineffective exercise which doesn't offer great results. Do each rep of your core exercises slowly, about 3 seconds up and 3 seconds down. If you want to choose a highly effective exercise, go for crunches as it focuses on the abdominal muscles, ensuring they don't relax.
When it comes to cardio exercises, work in intervals. Complete one minute long exercises between five and nine times with walking in between. If you do this for 20 minutes first thing in the morning, it will provide more calorie burn than an hour of jogging! Why do it first thing? Nothing can get in the way of your work out, so you're more likely to actually do it.
To boost your metabolism, eat a small meal full of protein, vegetables and fruits, every 3 or 4 hours. Include starches, such as oats, brown rice or whole grin pasta, on days when you engage in resistance training. Engage in this training for 60 minutes three times a week for the greatest effects, and then do your interval cardio three times per week as well. Avoid drinking and smoking to enhance your healthy changes. Don't forget to get your eight hours of sleep every night, too!
Setting goals is the best way to motivate yourself. Set short term goals, such as working out today, and longer term goals, such as weight loss or fitness benchmarks. If you set high long-term goals and miss them slightly, you will find you still feel amazed with your accomplishment. If you set reachable short-term goals, you will remain motivated every day.
Use your friends and family to keep you going during the hard times. That said, spend your time with people who are as health conscious as you are. There is nothing worse than visiting a slovenly, unhealthy friend who does nothing but play video games and eat potato chips. You can't fix them, and it could tempt you into making a choice you regret later. If anyone you know attempts to sabotage your success, cut them out of your life immediately.
There - now you are well on your way to looking amazing! Be sure to use all of the tips in this article in order to get the body of your dreams. Dedicate yourself to making changes and you will see those abs appear in no time.