Sixteen Tips for a Six pack

Simple steps you can take to guarantee yourself phenomenal abdominals

1. Adjust your diet
You can do all the crunches and hanging leg raises you want, but you’re never gonna have razor-sharp abdominals if they’re covered under a ton of blubber. Nutrition probably plays the biggest single role in staying lean. You gotta eat clean. Cut back on the carbs, up your protein, and stick with healthy fats. Drink more water and less soft drinks or alcohol. Opt for organic foods you prepare yourself over hitting the fast-food drive-thru. Avoid all processed foods. If it comes in a can, bag, or box, you probably shouldn’t be eating it. And lay off refined sugars, additional salt, or other crappy condiments or fatty dressings. Drowning healthful food in garbage to add “flavour” defeats the purpose. And eat foods that will help to boost your metabolism.

2. Flex those abs
You don’t need to be in the gym to work out your abs. You can do it while watching TV or driving your car with isometric flexing. Flex and hold your abs (similar to what competitive bodybuilders do onstage). Flex your abs hard for 10 seconds, then relax for 10 seconds. Repeat for 10 to 20 sets. While it sounds simple, it’s one hell of a workout!

3. Hit the weights
You may think that just running the treadmill is the only way to get ripped. Not so much. Hitting the weights hard and heavy is integral. Weight training allows for a slow burn that aids you in burning calories after the workout and throughout the day. Couple that with a comprehensive cardio routine, and you’ll be burning fat 24/7.

4. Modify your abs routine
You don’t just do one exercise to build your back or triceps, so why would you do that with your abs? There are a plethora of ab exercises you can do—so do them. Mix up your routine every few weeks. Incorporate new exercises and rotate out others. And you don’t need to do crunches or sit-ups endlessly. An IFBB pro once said if you can do more than 20 crunches in a single set, you’re not doing them hard or controlled enough. It’s also important to use resistance, such as with kneeling cable crunches. Eric Broser of All American EFX Sports says, “I feel that many trainees fail to build a satisfactory six-pack because they refuse to treat their abs like other muscle groups. In order to make the actual ‘ab-blocks’ pop, they need to be trained with resistance, and not only 50+ reps but also bodyweight-only sets.”

5. Seek out expert advice
A personal trainer may be what you need to elevate your game, by having someone there to push you, ensure you’re using proper form, and inspire you to succeed. Almost every gym has personal trainers working out of it. So accept the fact you don’t know everything, swallow your foolish pride, and open your wallet. A good trainer could be a very sound investment to get you to your six-pack goal. If you’re really serious, you may also want to consider hiring a nutritionist or contest prep coach. This option may be a little more expensive, but the results will be well worth it. Top trainers such as Charles Glass, Hany Rambod, Darren Mehling, and Dan Kennedy know all the ins and outs to help you get the most out of your physique.

6. Incorporate HIIT training
High intensity interval training (HIIT) is widely considered to be the most effective way to shed unwanted fat. Best of all, it takes up less time than solid state cardio. But it does require you to bust your butt intermittently by alternating moderate-intensity intervals with high-intensity intervals. Basically, you do a high-intensity exercise such as sprinting then follow it with low-intensity walking. Then repeat. Sound easy? Not by the time you get to your eighth sprint. Try it next time you’re at a track. Sprint 200 metres (half the track) then fast walk 100 metres (1/4 the track) and repeat. By the time you cover a mile doing this, you will feel the burn. This HIIT method has been proven to be effective at burning fat even after you are done training. Fast and effective fat melting—just what your abs need to become visible.

7. Never skip breakfast
There’s a good reason why breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day. Research has shown that eating breakfast can boost your resting metabolism by 10 percent. Of course, you should be picking healthy options. Stick with protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats. Eggs anyone?

8. Stay positive
The power of positive thinking is a strong force. Visualize yourself with a six-pack. Tear out pages from this magazine and hang them on your bedroom wall or bathroom mirror. Stare at them. Tell yourself you will succeed. If you tell yourself enough times you’re gonna have a ripped sixer, your brain will start to believe it. And once you believe, you will do everything in your power to make that goal a reality. Always be positive.

9. Use supplements
You already use protein powders and creatine, so why not try a fat-burning supplement? There are many great products out there that contain proven ingredients to boost your metabolism. Flip on over to our “Sports Nutrition Buyer’s Guide” to see the latest in fat-burning supplementation.

10. Always stay active
Living a sedentary lifestyle isn’t gonna get you a six-pack anytime soon. But since you’re already reading MUSCLE INSIDER, odds are you’re already hitting the gym on a regular basis. But why stop there? There are lots of things you can do every day to stay more active. Cycle to work. Join a sports team. Take up running at lunch with coworkers. Walk to the grocery store. Getting and staying ripped requires an active lifestyle—and being active makes life more enjoyable.

11. Train intensely
Instead of just snoozing your way through the same old hour-long workout routine, we want you to jack up the intensity and cut down on the time you spend in the gym. This means incorporating training principles such as circuit training, drop sets, and supersets all while cutting down on your rest intervals between sets. Power hard through your workout, and you’ll be increasing thermogenesis and sweating buckets by the time you’re finished.

12. Eat often
Your body is an organic machine, and to keep your furnace stoked, you need to boost your metabolism. So instead of the three meals a day your mom used to make you, you should be eating five or six times a day. But you obviously have to adjust your portions so you’re not overeating and packing away too many calories. This means not sitting down to a giant plate of pasta, but smaller, fist-sized meals made up of healthy choices. Also try to incorporate a protein drink as one of those daily meals.

13. Avoid stress
Stress and anxiety can wreak havoc on your body as well as your brain. Stress causes your brain to instruct your cells to release powerful hormones. Your body starts pumping out cortisol (which tells your body to replenish that energy even though you haven’t used very many calories, making you hungry) while the body’s production of testosterone slows down. This can lead to a decrease in muscle mass, which results in burning fewer calories. Cortisol encourages your body to store fat—mainly visceral fat—which can be especially dangerous as it encases vital organs and can release fatty acids into the body. Thankfully, one of the best ways to alleviate stress is through regular exercise. Try to focus on leaving your stress in the office and out of the gym. If your stress is too much, you may want to seek professional help.

14. Mix up your cardio
Much as with weight training, your body becomes accustomed to routine. And when it does, you can plateau. If you strictly use the treadmill for cardio, try the stepmill. Or the elliptical. A top-quality gym is packed with many different types of cardio equipment, so take advantage of it and always keep your body guessing. And when the nice weather hits, take it outside. Running, cycling, in-line skating, swimming—there are a ton of fat-burning activities you can do outdoors.

15. Don’t make excuses
If getting and maintaining a six-pack were easy, everyone would have one. It requires diligence and effort. Putting off your training, cheating constantly on your diet, or saying “I’ll do cardio tomorrow” are surefire ways to fail. If you find your cardio falling off, do it first thing in the morning. If you start your day with it, you don’t have to worry about trying to fit it in later. And as an added bonus, it will also help to energize you in the morning. Always plan ahead. Schedule your gym time at the beginning of the week—and stick to it. Every smart phone has a calendar these days, so use this tool to keep you on track. Planning ahead also applies to your diet. One of the best ways to ensure you’re eating right is to be the one preparing all your own meals. Spend a couple of hours Sunday night and make and pack all your meals for the week in Tupperware. Now you have no excuse not to eat right.

16. Read Muscle Insider
Knowledge is power. The best way to excel is to be informed. That’s where MUSCLE INSIDER comes in. you can always rely on us to deliver the goods every issue: fat-fighting facts, the latest nutrition news, supplement breakthroughs and reviews, training advice that works, and motivational articles. We’ve got your back!

For more tips on getting lean and getting that elusive 6 pack, click here!