Stomach Exercises With Ab Workout Routine To Get A Six Pack

All men dream of having a perfect six pack, if asked some would tell you they weren’t bothered but deep down they all want a body like an underwear model.

For some it’s having something to show off on the beach on holiday, for others it’s just one part of their body building regime.
Either way getting a six pack involves discipline and a certain amount of time depending on your current weight and fitness levels.

So you want to know how to get a 6 pack and you want to know how to do it in the quickest possible time ? YES … Read on.

The following article is divided into four sections. Each section will highlight and explain a different area of developing a 6 pack in super quick time.

If you follow each section correctly and you have already been working out you should be able to get a six pack with in weeks, if you are new to working out and have a lot of belly fat I’m sorry to say it will take longer, however you should first take a look at the Lower belly fat article  then start with this six pack plan once the belly fat is gone.

Stomach exercises are not the only aspect of getting the perfect mid section and for most people this will not be an overnight transformation but following this guide will get you the perfect six pack to make your friends very envious and the attention on the beach.

3 Step Guide To A Six Pack

Step 1 – Planning

The muscles that form a six pack are called the abdominal muscles, often referred to as the ‘abs’. As a group the abdominals, along with your lower back muscles and pelvis, help control what is called your ‘core stability’. Core stability is key to the majority of body movements and is therefore vital in terms of your daily routine, not to mention your exercise routine.

It is essential that you take your abdominal training seriously and make it as safe as possible. It is one thing wanting to get a six pack fast but it is another seriously injuring yourself in the process. When planning your abdominal exercise plan it is important to look at your core stability as well as your abdominals.

Neglecting your lower back muscles and solely concentrating on your abdominals could result in a muscle imbalance, meaning your abdominals are stronger than your back. This could cause great pain and back complications, particularly if you do weighted sit ups. Unless designed appropriately an abdominal exercise plan could put unnecessary strain on your back.

To help prevent the occurrence of back issues it is important to include core stability exercises in your six pack workout regime, this will help strengthen your back muscles, helping them support your body’s core.

There is a wide range on core stability exercise but the two listed below are the easiest and can be conducted anywhere, at home, at work or in the gym. Although they seem pointless and seem to have little impact, you won’t realise the value of core stability exercises until you stop doing them.

Simple Core Stability Exercises

1. The Bridge – lie on your back on a flat surface with your hands down your side. Shuffle your feet towards your back, this should raise your lower back. Hold when knee is at a 90⁰ angle. Tense the muscles in your bum, forcing your hips upwards, keep your shoulders on the floor.

2. The Plank Exercise / Straight Hold – lie on your front on a flat surface, adopting the press up position. Drop down to your elbows with your hands flat on the surface in front. Move your feet shoulder with apart and tense your abdominal muscles. Keep a straight formation throughout your body.

The table below outlines a basic eight week core stability programme. Highlighting when to do the exercises, how many to do and how many times a week they should be done. Be careful not to spend too much time on core stability, it is only a small part of your abdominal training.

The Bridge Exercise Video

The Plank Exercise Video

Basic Core Stability Programme

Planning Your Programme

Two Week Regime Example

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Step 2 – Diet and Nutrition

Some believe that stacking your plate full of protein is the best way to build your muscles and develop a six pack fast.

Although protein does aid muscle growth and recovery it does your body no harm introducing other nutrients into your diet, especially if you are looking to get a six pack. It isn’t so much excluding carbohydrates and fats, its eating them at the right time of the day.

It is often said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and for those wanting a six pack this notion couldn’t be truer.
Lean protein should be included into your breakfast, egg’s are the ideal solution but can get a little boring if you keep preparing the same dish every day, to help you keep egg’s interesting print off or save this hub: Different way’s to cook egg’s the hub shows you how to cook a wide range of egg’s for breakfast.

The earlier you have your breakfast the better, stack it full of carbohydrates, this is your energy for the day.

Don’t forget though, breakfast isn’t just about food, you need to drink too to keep your body hydrated. Tea and coffee are fine but water is best, you should be looking at drinking around four litres of water a day so start as you mean to go on.

Now your next meal should not be your lunch. It is vital that your body doesn’t go more than three hours without fuel. Typical snacks include, nuts, seeds and dried fruit, these are very healthy and full of the types of nutrients your body requires.

Your next meal should be lunch, preferably early in the afternoon and post training. This meal should include protein rich foods but at the same time be very simple. Chicken is great for lunch especially with a mixture of vegetables.

Late afternoon you should try and have another high protein meal, at this point a snack such as a protein bar is okay. Mixing this with something such as a banana is perfect.

Bananas are a great source of complex carbohydrates and are ideal for this particular time of day, however a small portion of carbohydrate at this time of the day should be your last, it’s protein from here on in.

Finally, a high protein early evening meal is a the perfect way to end your daily food intake, stocking up for the next day and also support for your muscles as you rest overnight. Fish is a great source of protein but be careful how you cook it, you don’t want to take away its goodness by frying it.

Grilling is a good cooking method, it helps drain the fat. Add protein rich vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and potatoes. If you chose potatoes then do not remove the skin, it is the skin that contains the most protein.

As well as eating correctly and taking on board a lot of fluid, the use of supplements can also help you get a six pack fast. There are a lot of household brands which produce supplements in the form of a powder, when added with water or milk the power is transferred into a protein shake.

These shakes are supposed to be used to increase your body’s protein intake both before and after exercise. It is recommended that one shake is consumed between 45 minutes and an hour before exercise with another consumed immediately after exercise.

The protein from the shakes works the same as the protein from the meats and fish. Its helps your muscles repair. When you exercise using weights you crack the ‘z lines’ in your muscles, once cracked these ‘z lines’ need to be repaired.

With the help of protein the muscles repair and increase in size. Without the addition of protein shakes and a protein rich diet the muscles would still repair but the size increase would be limited.

The table below shows a typical daily diet plan for abdominal training. It outlines the types of food you should be looking to include in your diet, the period of each day during which food should be consumed and when to take protein shakes.

Example Daily Diet Plan

Buying Food Items

Go Raw Sprouted Pumpkin Seeds, 1 Pound Bags (Pack of 2)

Raw pumpkin seeds are good to prevent hunger pangs, I fill a small jar and take them to work, each bag lasts me 5 weeks.

 

 

Spicy World Cashews Whole, 2-Pound Pouches (Pack of 2)

I find after eating cashew nuts the taste becomes a little bland and leaves your mouth dry, I’ve been eating the spicy world brand for over two years now and this solves the problem, each bag lasts me over 8 weeks.      

 

 

Eden Foods Organic Wild Berry Mix 4 oz. (Pack of 15) ( Value Bulk Multi-pack)

I think I have tried and tested every bag of berry’s on the market, the eden organic range are my personal choice, each pack lasts a week or two depending on my mood.

 

 

 

KIND Nuts & Spices, Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt, 12-Count Bars

I change my protein bars every order, the Kind range are what I ordered last time and I was very impressed, the box lasts a week to a week and a half I normally order 5 boxes in one order.

 

Step 3 – Exercises

Take your time will all of these stomach exercises, perform them slowly and preferably in front of the mirror. Look at your technique, are you working the muscles you should be?

When at the peak point of the exercise i.e. when your muscles are working at hardest tense your stomach muscles, do this every time, it will help with the strength and tone of the muscle.

If you rush the stomach exercises or any exercise then your body isn’t required to work as hard, the movement will be triggered by momentum rather than the working muscles.

Relaxing after each repetition and relaxing as your body moves back towards the floor asks more of your abdominal muscles when you go to do the next repetition, moving back and forth in a rocking motion will do more harm than good.

Sideways Sit Ups – lie on your back on a flat surface. Raise one of your legs two feet off the floor, keeping it straight. Bend and raise your other leg, resting your foot against the knee of the fully raised leg. Put both hands on the side of your head. Lift your upper body so the inside of your elbow makes contact with your know. Alternate sides creating a pedalling motion. You can also alternate the formation of your legs between sets.

Abdominal Leg Raises – lie flat on your back with your legs crossed at the knees. Raise your legs vertically; keeping them as straight as possible, your body should now resemble an L shape. Put your hands on the side of your head and slowly lift your shoulder blades off the floor, lifting your upper body towards your thighs. Once your upper body is as close to your thighs as possible suck in your belly button toward your core.Slowly lie back down and repeat.

Arm Abdominal Curls – lie on your back with your arms above your head, one hand on top of the other. Bring your arms close together so they are touching your ears. Move your feet towards your bum until your upper and lower leg create a 90° angle at the knee joint. Use your stomach to lift your shoulder blades off the floor, slowly rising, keeping your arms straight. Lower back down towards the floor and repeat.

Crossed Leg Crunch – lie on your back with your hands down by your side. Cross your feet at your ankles and bring your knees into your chest so your lower legs lift off the floor and into the air. Use your stomach to raise your shoulder blades off the floor and bring your chest towards your thighs. Lower back down towards the floor and repeat.

Sideways Sit Up’s

Abdominal Leg Raises 

Arm Abdominal Curl

Crossed Leg Crunch

Basic Exercise Plan

The table above briefly shows how incorporating the four abdominal exercises into a basic three day cycle can help you get a six pack. As the days increase in this three day plan so does the intensity, with the number of sets increasing.

Remember it is advisable that you train four days a week, by using a three day you can ensure that your body does not come accustomed to the exercises, each will be different.

Another way of adding variety is to change the order of the exercises, start with the crossed leg crunch some days rather than the sideways sit up. When your training programme becomes boring you are less likely to complete it.

Remember to consume plenty of water as you train. Although you may not feel as dehydrated as you would if you had been doing cardio vascular exercise it is still important to re fuel. Drinking water as you work out is a great way to consume the four litres of water a day you are expected to drink.

The plan above is is all you need, however for more of a challenge add weights to the exercises. For example try the crossed leg crunch with a four pound weight in your hand. The more weight your abdominals have to lift the harder they are made to work, perfect for muscle development. Increase the weight as you increase the number of sets if you really want to push your body to the maximum.

Do not forget to include the core stability exercises in your plan. These involve multiple sets and should be done twice a week. The best way to include these is to do them every other session, so one session you do the core stability session, the next day you don’t.

Add Weights To The Exercise

Reebok Thumblock Wrist Weight (4-Pound Set) or Two 2lb. weights
Dumbbell weights are not ideal for these exercises, I would recommend using the wrist weights. Wrist weights are easy to strap on to your arms. You can increase the weight by simply adding more sets. Gives you the freedom to concentrate on the exercise. It’s safe – I can’t emphasize this enough, I once dropped a dumbbell on my foot, this prevented me from training for 3 weeks.

I’ve been using the Reebok thumblock for two years, they still look new and I use all 4 at least twice a week, I paid $40 for each one when they where first released so in my opinion $13.98 is more than good value.

Myths

1. Training your abdominals reduces body fat – unfortunately this myth is very inaccurate. Body fat and body muscle are two totally different things. Training your abdominals will help add strength to your core and tone the muscle group.

The more toned your abdominals are the more prominent they will be but in regards to body fat, cardio vascular exercise is best. Regardless of where the fat is on your body the only way to help burn it is by partaking in vigorous cardio vascular activity such as running or cycling.

2. Our abdominal muscles are different to other muscles – some think because your abdominals are different in appearance, they work different and therefore can be treated differently, and this is not true.

Your abdominals need the same amount of rest days in order to recover, they work the same as other muscles in terms of their z lines crack before they repair and grown in size. Despite looking different to other muscles your abdominals are exactly the same.

3. Sit-ups are the only way to train your abdominals – section three outlines a range of abdominal exercises and all of these are very effective. Particular exercises work particular parts of your abdomen.

Muscles such as the obliques in the waist compliment a great six pack and some of the exercises in the plan will work these muscles as well as the abdominals. In order to develop the ultimate six pack it is best to include all of these exercises in your regime. Some parts of your abdomen and the surrounding areas will develop faster than others; this is because more than one of the exercises in the plan works this particular area.

4. You have to do hundreds of repetitions to work your abdominals correctly – treat your abdominals like all other muscles. Would you do one hundred bicep curls? Probably not. Instead of looking at repetitions and sets look at form and resistance. Bad technique can be the downfall of many a gym trainer.

You can do as many repetitions as you like but if you are not doing them properly then they will have limited effect. Perform the exercises slowly and try and hold where possible. This is a far better way of training, plus you can analyse your technique better.

5. Training every day helps you get a six pack quicker – this is not true. You wouldn’t train your biceps of your quadriceps every day so do not treat your abdominals any different. Just because they don’t have a direct effect on your daily routine it doesn’t mean you can abuse them.

Your abdominals are important to your body’s core and should only be trained at most four times a week. Remember it is important to leave rest days between stomach exercises and it’s important to do core stability exercises.

My Current Running Shoes

ASICS Men’s GEL-Kayano 18 Running Shoe 
I’ve been using the Asics Ge-Kayno trainers for the past 4 weeks and they are more than impressive. Comfort and grip are always my priority when buying a new pair of shoes and these are the most comfortable I have ever owned, if you are looking to buy a new pair of shoes for training and running I would highly recommend the Asics range. Take a look at the reviews from other users who have purchased the Gel-Kayano recently.

Top 50 Crossfit Shorts

Check out the biggest crossfit shorts comparison guide in the world, no joke we have tried and tested over 600 pairs of shorts to find the top 50 in the world right now.

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Check it out to find the ideal pair of shorts for your workout.

 

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