Everyone man and their dog is training their abs, but only 1% of people ACTUALLY see results and sexy abs.
Why?
The other 99% of people are making two HUGE mistakes:
Mistake #1: Nutrition is terrible. Australians consume 40% of their daily calories from beverages.
Crappy drinks… Booze… Soda… = BAD news!
Mistake #2: Going about abdominal training the wrong way.
You see, most people are doing hundreds, if not thousands of reps of the same ab exercises like crunches and sit ups. These exercises are great for muscular endurance but won’t help you in the strength department.
Just like other muscles in your body, you need to focus on building strong abdominals.
Crunches and sit ups do NOT build muscle strength.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting awesome, sexy abs in record time.
Step 1: Get Your Nutrition in Check
There are two rules for getting flat, sexy abs:
1. Get your fat loss nutrition in check
2. Always follow rule number one
It doesn’t matter what extraordinary training program you follow, if you nutrition sucks you’ll never get abs.
The thing is, this is NOT the answer most people want to hear. But it’s the cold hard truth. The secret to getting a flat stomach starts with your meals.
You want to keep it simple, with whole, unprocessed foods.
(a) Cut out sugars: simple, processed ones.
This should not be read as “eliminate ALL fruit”. As long as you don’t go overboard, eating fruits in moderate quantities at the right time can help you accelerate your results.
The #1 sneaky sugar lies in protein bars.
(b) Focus on eating lean protein, green vegetables and/or good fats at every meal and avoid any processed junk.
Simple, right?
Follow these two simple fat loss nutrition guidelines and you’ll be on the right track.
Step 2: Total Body Strength Training
Spot training your abs can help to get definition, once you’ve melted the extra belly flubba. But you want to choose exercises that indirectly target your core.
You see, doing these complex moves that require the use of multiple muscle groups will crank your metabolism, boost the afterburn effect and burn more calories.
For example, my favorite “core” exercises include the Kettlebell swing, TRX mountain climbers and overhead squat.
Step 3: Metabolic Conditioning
You already know long slow cardio is a waste of time… Blah blah blah.
But instead, you need to do total body conditioning circuits to elicit the “right” metabolic effect.
And don’t think these workouts need to be long, either. You need 20 minutes tops. Otherwise you will lessen the intensity of the entire workout and it becomes more like a steady state cardio workout, which is exactly what we’re trying to avoid.
So go hard in every round!
Step 4: Progressions
Ab training is not about trying to break the world record for planking.
Quit doing the same exercise for more reps (like crunches or sit ups), and instead progress the exercise and challenge yourself. That way, you spend less time training and strengthen your core at the same time.
Step 5: Challenge Yourself
Density training is the best method to challenge yourself. And if you’re short on time, it’s the most effective way to get in your conditioning.
The goal of density training is to get as much work done as you can in a certain period of time. (For example, 10, 15 or 20 minutes). Your mission is to do as many rounds as possible.
It’s HARD. That’s why it’s called a challenge 😉
Step 6: Get More Sleep
You probably already know this… But still, it’s the #1 overlooked factor.
Lack of sleep completely throws your body for a loop <= Seriously!
Increased stress hormones, increased appetite, and your fat-burning comes to a screeching halt. No wonder you can’t lose weight when you have uncontrollable sugar cravings and you eat everything.
It’s all round bad news for your waistline.
Focus on getting at least 7-8 hours of quality sleep every night.
First, you need to get into the habit of going to bed and getting up at the same time everyday. And then start going to bed 10-15 minutes early each night until you reach 8 hours.
Here’s a ninja sleep tip: Switch OFF your electronic devices at least an hour before bedtime.
Step 7: Reduce Your Overall Stress
This is another significant factor people conveniently forget about.
An increase in cortisol levels is your body’s hormonal response to a stressful situation. While some cortisol is necessary, elevated levels for a long period of time shut down your body’s fat burning abilities.
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