Six pack abs are the crowning glory of any impressive physique but getting that shredded look on your midsection isn’t always easy.
That said, everyone has abs so why not get them looking sharp?
If you have put in the hard work to get your abdominals looking defined, don’t then make the classic mistake that we all do and lose them. You can keep your physique ticking over all year round with just a few essential steps from the experts at Fitness First.
It’s not all about hitting 1,000 sit-ups every day, however. Of course abdominal exercises will make your abs pop but you need a holistic strategy that will keep you lean, your fat burning furnace on high and your diet on track.
Follow the key steps below and you can expect a razor sharp six pack on that holiday in Ibiza right the way through to Christmas with the family.
CRUNCHES: This basic abs exercise is a staple of any six pack plan. You can perform dozens of reps to exhaust the muscle and start to add in resistance with weights when your abs get used to it.
High intensity workouts
High intensity workouts are brilliant for fat loss. You can run slow and steady for miles and miles, but your fat loss won’t be as effective as the short, sharp shock from HIIT training (High Intensity Interval Training).
Doing short bursts of super high intensity work, whether sprinting, on a bike or hitting exercises like burpees or tuck jumps, can increase your metabolism for more than 24 hours after training.
This means it creates a calorie ‘afterburn’ effect long after you’ve finished your workout.
Sprinting is among the best HIIT workout you can do to keep your six pack as it’s an all-over movement that will work your abs, glutes, quads, arms and chest.
But you can also do four-minute Tabata intervals (eights sets of 20 seconds work and 10 seconds rest) or any other type of cardio interval that pushes you to the limit in short bursts.
Doing as little as two short and intense HIIT sessions per week will increase your metabolism and keep your body burning its fat stores.
Drink water
Not only does water aid your concentration, brainpower, give you better skin and feed your muscles, but it will help keep you shredded.
Why? Because drinking water can actually speed up your metabolism by 30 per cent. It will also keep you feeling fuller and stave off those hunger cravings that can make you reach for biscuits, cakes and sugary snacks.
Drinking six to eight pints of water a day is optimal. If you’re bad at remembering, fill up a 5 litre bottle and try and power through it at work.
Or even set alarms on your phone to remind you to down a pint (of water) every few hours.
MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS: This exercise is great for attacking your abs – but they can be done super fast so they’re brilliant to add into fat burning HIIT circuits. Try to perform max reps in one minute – it will sen your heart rate soaring and leave your shoulders, chest, quads and abs burning.
Lift heavy weights
If you want to keep your body melting off fat for year-round abs, then lifting heavy weights is a must.
Just like HIIT training, heavy weight training is an incredible metabolism booster.
You can see an increase in your metabolic rate for up to 48 hours after a heavy session on the weights, according to research.
Hitting big compound exercises like squats and deadlifts will get you most bang for your buck in terms of metabolic effect.
You will also be simultaneously hitting so many different muscles doing big compound lifts including your core.
Eat whole foods
“Abs are made in the kitchen”. You’ve probably heard that saying a million times, but it’s totally true.
What you put in your mouth on a daily basis has a huge bearing on your body composition. While you can treat yourself from time to time, you’re going to get the best results from whole foods.
‘Whole foods’ are basically sources of food that unprocessed and as close to their natural state as possible.
Whole foods are nutrient rich and your body takes longer to break them down than processed junk, so you’ll absorb a higher portion of those nutrients.
Protein is key to building muscle, and more muscle means a faster metabolism.
You need to be eating at least 1g of protein per pound of body weight from lean sources like chicken, turkey and fish to preserve that muscle.
Carbohydrates are an important source of fuel and are key after a workout to help spike insulin. But only good, clean, slow-burning sources of carbs will help you keep cravings at bay.
Sweet potatoes, brown rice and quinoa are your best sources.
Green vegetables are rich in fibre and should be on your plate at every meal. Fibre is key in weight loss – stabilising blood sugar, slowing down digestion and making you feel fuller for longer, so fill up on everything from Brussels sprouts and broccoli to spinach and cauliflower.
TOES TO BAR: Performed slow and strict, this exercise is excellent for building core strength. It’s the king of leg raise movements and will also work your lats, biceps and grip strength on top of your abs.
Good fats
If you’re looking to get lean or stay lean, don’t fall into the ‘low fat’ trap.
Believe it or not, eating fat can help you lose fat. But not the bad saturated and trans fats that you get in fried food and takeaway junk – we’re talking the good stuff, things like flax seeds, avocados, oily fish and nuts.
Monounsaturated fats, found in things like olive oil, canola oil and nuts like cashews and almonds, are good at increasing good cholesterol and help stop the build up of belly fat.
Polyunsaturated fats, found in oily fish like mackerel and salmon, as well as walnuts and flaxseed, contain essential fatty acid Omega 3, which improves your body’s ability to burn fat, build muscle and reduce inflammation.
Keeping your Omega 6 and Omega 3 ratio in check (around 2:1) will keep inflammation down which is a big cause of raised cortisol levels which makes us store belly fat.
Eating more fats and less carbs in your diet means the fat-storing hormone insulin won’t be released as much and actually will make your body burn more stored fat as fuel.
Fat packs more than double calories per gram than protein and carbs, but it also leaves you fuller for a lot longer and less likely to crave sugary foods. Anywhere from 20 per cent to 40 per cent of your dietary calories should come from healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
Calories
To lose weight or burn fat you need to be in a calorie deficit. So you need to be using up more calories than you’re taking in.
That’s why tracking what you eat using a meal planner or fitness tracker is really important to getting and staying shredded.
It’s easy to eat more than you need especially when you’re training hard – but working out what your daily calorie need is will make attaining abs, and then keeping them, far easier.
To see your abs you have to be pretty lean, anywhere from six to 12 per cent body fat.
Russian Twists: This move is one of the best rotational exercises there is for your obliques. Having to stabilise a heavy med ball or dumbbell through a rotation will work your obliques and your whole core hard.
Overall fitness
You will find that if you live a more active life, eat consistently well, and train hard and intensely then strong abs will be a pleasant by-product of that healthy life.
Yes, you can kill yourself for eight weeks to get a set of abs in time for barbecue season, but it’s very easy to undo all your hard work very quickly.
Small things you can do to help maintain your ‘beach body’ are walk more, have active rest days, and pack healthy snacks, like nuts and seeds, to stave off cravings.
Alongside that, just keep doing what you’re doing in the gym.
Reduce stress
This might seem inconsequential when compared to diet and training, but stress can be a big cause of belly fat.
When you’re stressed your body produces a hormone called cortisol in the adrenal glands, which helps in your age-old ‘fight or flight’ response.
But chronic stress from work, kids, studying or general mental health can mean continuously raised cortisol levels, which means your body will store more visceral fat around your abdomen.
Learning to meditate, taking long walks, getting a decent night’s sleep are all ways to keep stress at bay.
DUMBELL PLANK WITH EXTERNAL ROTATION: Planks are great isometric core strength exercises that will help build you a strong lower back and abs. But adding in the rotational movement with a dumbbell allows you to hit your obliques while isometrically strengthening your core.
This content was brought to you by Fitness First, one of the UK’s most innovative and forward-thinking gyms. Come and trial your local Fitness First for free today, where you’ll find a huge variety of exercise classes and specialised training programmes.
