The definitive thread for Abs!

[Lowe]

How did they measure the body fat?

Please don't tell me that they put you on a machine with bare feet....

[Parm]

You're not far off. They lay me down on a bed thingy and put stickers on my hands and feet, then connected those to some sort of electrical power source.

I didn't ask any questions, I was just praying I wouldn't get fried.

Didn't take long at all and I didn't feel a thing.

[Livinit]

All in all there is some pretty sound advice already shown in this thread.

But here's my 2p worth anyway, which also kind of sumarises whats been said so far.

Increase your Metabolic Rate. - eat little and often and as healthily as possible.

Deacrease your body fat. - change eating habits as above and ensure some regular aerobic exercise to your weekly routine and up your reps without increasing weight, on the parts of your body you are most happy with. As your metabolic rate starts to increase with your improved dietry habits, your body will naturally start to decrease your body fat as well. The Aerobic exercise will give it the turbo boost it needs.

Increase your water intake - you should be looking to intake 2-3L of water a day if poss when you are training.

Get your Proteins in when you think of food, think of protein. Its essential for cell growth and repair. And make sure you have a regular intake of VitC. This does not mean do the Atkins Diet and cut out carbs, cos that is stupid, as all food groups are essential to your diet. But if you focus on food slightly more in terms of Protein, you will find that you naturally start to cut down on more of the crap carbs.

Drink Hot Water - Drinking hot water at least once a day and firmly massaging, your lower stomach will help you break up and flush out any old crap, glogged up in your colon as well and help flatten out your lower stomach.

A good, old fashioned, varied, all round stomach routine - is the key to building good Abs. You have to lay some good solid foundation work on your abs to get them in great shape. Upper Abs are the easiest to build the lower abs are the hardest. V-Ups and Jack-sits and Partner Leg Throws, are in my experience some of the best all round ab excersises. (They are all difficult and all hurt to start with, but stick with mastering them cos they will give you a good foundation of overall ab strength) but there are a few others you should add to your repetoire. Dont forget your Obliques. A proper floor ab routine will help you burn the tummy fat you need to get rid of to.

Work towards an exercise goal instead of a look goal. - if you can master a session where you able to preform a total of 500 combination excersises including 100 each of Jacks, V's, and partner throws. You are well on your way to being an Ab jedi and looking like board shorts were tailored for you. As long as you have mastered the 1st 3 points above.


How do I know all of this? Up until a few years ago I had a complete ripped 8pack. At 32 now and rarely having touched the Gym in the last 10 years. simply eating sensibly and living a fun filled, active life, bounces me between a 6 pack and a 4 pack. Depending on what kind of crap I am putting in my body and how often I drag my ass away from my PC. But the few years i did include a solid all around stomach routine in my workouts, gave me the foundation i am left with today. And my wife says its her favourite part of me (I thought it was my eyes and my wit).

And don't forget, Nail the fizzy drinks on the head, or anything else that Bloats your stomach. Always sit up-right with good posture.

Oooh, and No pain, No Gain! (that just had to be in here somewhere didn't it)

[Parm]

There's just so much to think about but I am trying! Honest!

I'm quite happy with my progress so far, I'm confident that my fat is burning and the general outline of my abs is starting to show.
I'm very happy with my eating habits because over the past few months I really have gone from eating like a pig to eating much much healthier.

A lot of people have recommended eating small meals frequently. I find that quite difficult cause it's just so time consuming. I can't find enough different things to eat either lol!