If there is one thing that is symbolic of being in shape, it is having a well-defined abdominal region. This sought-after look is a powerful motivator for people to get into shape. Advertisers have not overlooked this fact, and abs are used to sell multiple products. But achieving this holy grail is not done through a simple trick. The emergence of your abdominal muscles represents low body fat and good muscle development. And if you don’t have both, you won’t have a sixpack. Therefore, great abs come from hard work and good nutrition. However, most often, it is weight loss that is the most challenging factor. Here are the most important things to work on to get great abs.
- Abs are Part of Your Core: Your entire body depends on the muscles attached to your skeleton at the middle portion of your body or trunk. These muscles are the basis of all your strength and balance. Your abs are the lower front portion of the core. These muscles curl your upper half forward and also tip and twist you side to side. It is difficult to have great abs without strengthening your core. Core strengthening exercises such as Pilates and yoga are a great way to begin building a powerful center.
- You can Only Target Your Abs So Much; Some people only do ab exercises. They buy a device or start an exercise for abs but neglect to do anything else. This strategy never works. There are excellent tools for focusing on your abs, like the AB wheel from Decathlon. But doing only one thing will never give you results you can show.
- Body Fat: More than anything, your abs are a representation of your body fat percentage. For men, abs start showing up when they get down around 12%. Women will need to reduce their percentage to 16-19%. For most of us this level of body fat is not achievable without paying attention to nutrition. You can’t just lose weight on your belly. In fact, for some of us this area is quite stubborn in hanging on to fat. The only way forward is to lose fat all over, through better diet and exercise. And if you want to add muscle mass, keep the protein levels up.
- Exercises: Because abs are what everyone wants, people in the fitness industry commonly promote specific exercises for you to get awesome abs fast. The truth is the abdominals are a straightforward muscle group to target. Abs respond well to resistance exercises using your body weight. If you are well rounded in your approach, you can have results without spending any money at all. Things that work for abs are planking, crunches, pullups, pull-downs, hip bridges, body holds, pedaling (any form), and pushups.
The beauty of abs is that there are like a reward at the end of a lot of work. Very few people have a sixpack because it is so hard to get. So, if you have achieved this level of physical beauty, you should be proud, and to everyone who worked hard to get nice abs, congratulations.