It’s still crazy to me, how many commercials and other advertisements still sell ‘new technological breakthroughs’ in order to help develop ripped abs.  No matter how many times people tell them otherwise that doing endless crunches doesn’t work., they do not seem to ever be convinced and are mired in a place without any good results to show for it. That is, they are motivated to get results, they know they want to be cut with full muscles and a six or eight pack to boot but their strategy or lack there of doesn’t work. Because although the goal is to have defined lower abs or losing the belly pooch, and while part of the strategy has to be to develop the abdominal muscles, it is mainly about trying to remove the fat covering the midsection. A plan which both develops the muscle and melts away the belly fat is what will get the results and here are some ways to get there.

OK, so let’s focus on some ways to stimulate rapid fat loss and develop the abdominal muscles. High intensity or interval training, such as sprints, are one of the most effective workout tools for fat loss.  Interval training does something wonderful for those who want a sexy six pack or flat stomach. First, it is an intense workout that keeps you burning  more calories all day. Second, the result of doing it regularly is that it tends to help reach a lower body fat percentage. Third, helps us maintain and even develop muscle mass. HIIT includes activities such as sprints, circuit training, and other activities essentially take our heart rate higher levels for short periods of time to recover and then return to intense period in cycles. If you want to lose belly fat, throwing a day or two of high intensity cardio into the mix can help dramatically.

It will always be necessary to stimulate the muscles you want to develop, but the main objective must be to reduce your body fat percentage. You workout the abs to develop growth and create definition but the fat loss is what is going to make them visible and looking great. Abdominal development should be apart of a full body workout routine that is treated like any other muscle group. Abs don’t have to be worked everyday. In fact, they need time to recover, so 2-3 days per week is plenty to exercise them.  Train  your abs with the iron, cable crunches with a little weight, exercises for obliques such as side bends and fitness exercise balls are very effect tools in your arsenal. You do not have to do hundred reps each set. Start with a base of 2 or 3 sets with no more than 15 repetitions with a focus on technique and really contracting the muscle.

Finally, it is also true that abs are made in the kitchen, so if your diet is garbage, you will never reach the need body fat levels to see your abdominal muscles. You have to gradually pull the calories out while maintaining proper nutrition and still getting your workouts done consistently. An easy rule of thumb to get started is to find out you maintenance calories, which will tell you how many calories you need to eat each day to stay at your current weight, and then subtract 300-500 calories in order to create a deficit. There are maintenance calorie calculators for free online but it does require some experimentation to lock down the right number of calories based on your age, gender, height, weight, and activity levels. I like to give a new calorie level 7-10 days before making adjustments to the total. Remember that slow and steady is often times a much better solution and more sustainable plan for most people then trying to change all of your bad habits overnight.