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Best Ab Exercises
The six-pack, maybe the most coveted physical attribute a man can have are difficult to come by, and ab exercises while good, are not the only thing to concentrate on when trying to get ripped abs.
Because fat tends to build up around the waist of men, even with ab exercises definition is tough to come by. You only push the fat on top of your ab muscles out farther when increasing the size of your ab muscles with ab exercises.Everyone has ab muscles, the secret is getting your body fat percentage below 10% and lowering the amount of water your body carries to bring that six-pack out.
The best way to get ripped abs is through diet and exercise (obviously).
The best exercise is aerobic exercise, like running, biking, and the stairmaster. Getting up to your target heart rate for 30 minutes a day, and doing it at least 4 days a week, you will burn fat and up your metabolic rate even at rest. To calculate your target heart rate (take 220 and subtract your age and multiply that number by 70% or .7 to 85% or .85). For example if your 30 years old, 220-30=190 times .7 to .85 equals 133 to 162. This means a 30 year old would have to get their heart rate from 133 to 162 beats per minute for 30 minutes to burn fat and increase their metabolism.
After you have lowered your body fat its time to build the ab muscles with ab exercises. Ab muscles are unlike other muscles in that you can train them everyday. But lets start by training them 3 days a week.
Upper ab exercises---Elevated leg crunches, ab machine crunches, cable crunches, swiss ball crunches
Lower ab exercises---Hanging leg lifts, sitting leg raises, swiss ball leg raises
ELEVATED LEG CRUNCHES- With your back on the ground and your feet elevated sitting on a bench or a chair lift your head and shoulders off the ground about 6 to 10 inches using your ab muscles to lift. After you have raised your shoulders slowly return to the starting position keeping pressure on your abs at all times as you repeat this up and down motion.
AB MACHINE CRUNCHES- Sitting in the crunch machine push your head and shoulders down as far as they can go. When you have pushed your head and shoulders down as far as they can go hold it there for a couple seconds, and then return to the starting position keeping pressure on your ab muscles the whole time, and repeat.
CABLE CRUNCHES- On your knees grap the cable and pull down using your ab muscles. When you have pulled as far as you can go stay for a two second count, return to the starting position and repeat keeping pressure on your abs at all times.
SWISS BALL CRUNCHES- With your back on the ball and your feet on the ground, position yourself so your upper butt is supporting your weight on the ball. Move your shoulders up and down keeping constant pressure on your ab muscles.
HANGING LEG LIFTS- Your body vertical and your elbows supporting your weight on the leg lift equipment, or if there is no leg lift equipment hanging from a bar using your hands lift your kness to your chest, return to the starting position keeping constant pressure on your abs and repeat.
SITTING LEG REAISES- Laying with your back and shoulders on the ground lift your straight legs in the air about 20 inches. Stop and lower your legs until they are about 2 inches off the ground and repeat.
SWISS BALL LEG RAISES- Laying with your back on the ball and positioned by something you can hold on to lean back and grab with both hands that object. With your weight on you lower back lift your legs up and down keeping pressure on your abs at all times.
I would avoid doing oblique exercises.
Men tend to build fat around their midsection, and by working your obliques you are only building that area out farther, and taking away from that v-shaped look men are looking for. So unless you have a naturally thin waist and very low body fat, I would stay away from alot of oblique exercises. Your obliques will get enough work from your regular ab exercises anyway.
Diet is another step towards getting ripped abs.
Low fat foods are a must in getting nice abdominals. Also, cutting carbs in your diet so your body can concentrate on buring fat is helpful. Furthermore, getting rid of some of the sodium in your diet helps with water retention.
Not only should you pay attention to what you eat, but also to the quantity of food you take in.
If you can imagine there being a scale from 1 to 10 on how full you are, with 1 being starved and 10 being as full as possible. You should never eat past a 7 on the scale and let yourself get under 2. Never stuffing yourself (meaning a 10 on the scale), or over eating. And never starving yourself (meaning a 1), were your so hungry you stuff yourself at your next meal is critical in losing fat and ab muscles showing.
Supplements can also help in getting ripped abs.
Some supplements can speed up metabolism and burn fat, while others can build muscle and provide energy during a workout.
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