The Abs Question – Don’t Disregard The Basics

OK – So you’ve decided that you want to get yourself a set of “ripped abs”. All well and good but don’t set off down the wrong path from day one.

Here’s the key – Getting ripped abs is about training right, not  training hard (although hard work won’t do you any harm).

Ripped abs are as much about making sure that you’re free of abdominal fat as they are of actually building the muscle in that part of your body.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the key to burning fat is to eat and exercise properly. Eating properly implies consuming a low fat diet that is rich in fiber.  Proper exercise implies engaging your body in a workout that will work burn away excess fat.

Here’s my top tip for beginners – Don’t just exercise your abdominal region to try and burn away ab fat.  This technique is called spot reducing and it has been proven to be ineffective. You should  try instead compound exercise that will train various muscle groups in the body. Your body will lose fat only in the order in which it was accumulated. You may find that you lose fat off you face before it comes off your abs. Don’t sweat it. Just keep doing the work and eventually the muscle definition will show up on your stomach.

Also don’t go overborad on the cardio. Many young body builders believe this is the easiest way to get trim abs. Unfortunately, this is a misconception. In fact, too much exercising on the treadmill and cross-trainers can result in a loss of muscle mass which in  turn can lower your metabolism. Or to put it more simply, the rate at which your body burns fat is slowed down, which means it will take longer to get the look that you’re after.

I don’t have a great deal more to say on the matter other than that. Of course you’re going to to need to do all your stomach crunches, but if that’s all you’re doing, then you’ll never get the shredded look that most body builders are after. However, if you combine your crucnhes with the appropriate amount of cardio, then brother – you are on the way.

Happy Muscle Building,

Matt