Ab Exercises and Diet For Ripped Abs

  
After all, nothing is sexier than a six pack on a woman or a man and people are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on systems promising to get them the flat stomach they have always wanted.

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that you don't need any fancy workout program to get that six pack you have always wanted.

The bad news is that unless you lower your body fat to a level that allows your stomach muscles to be visible, you can do ab exercises until you are unable to move and will never be able to show off a six pack set of abs.

Although many believe that endless sets of crunches will lead to a defined mid-section, developing a well defined mid-section is predominantly a function of body fat. Without the proper fat loss diet to lower your body fat percentage, your abs will never be visible.

My fat loss diet page will give you all of the information you need to know in order to consistently lower your body fat levels and make your dreams of having a six pack a reality!

The only ab exercises that you should use are those that target the full spectrum of abdominal muscles from lower to upper abs. There are a few exercises that accomplish this, but I have found that the best exercise for abdominal development is the simple abdominal crunch exercise.

  

Ab Exercise: Crunches

Targeted Muscles: Lower and Upper Abdomen

Auxiliary Muscles: Side Abdomen - Obliques

Directions:

The crunch targets all stomach muscles and is the only abdominal workout necessary to fully develop the abdominal region.

To perform a proper crunch, you will begin by lying flat on your back with both feet on the ground and your knees bent. Cross your hands and place them across your chest.

You will then crunch up as far as possible, while lifting both knees towards your chest causing you to push your entire abdominal region together. You will crunch upwards until your elbows touch your knees. You will then return your upper back to the ground and repeat as necessary.

It is important to note that you are only to lift your legs until your thighs are perpendicular to the ground which will keep the emphasis on your abdominal muscles and not your hip-flexors.

If you can perform more than 50 crunches for a given set, you will want to place a weight over your chest so that you can no longer perform more than 50 crunches.

Performing 50 or more crunches can be very mentally taxing and will decrease the intensity of this exercise.

Final Note

Of all of the available ab exercises, this is the only one that I use as part of my workout routine and my picture on the home page is proof that performing crunches as described above is the only exercise required for full abdominal development.

The secret to getting six pack abs is following a disciplined fat loss diet to get your body fat to a low enough level that your abdominal muscles are visible and not hidden by layers of fat.

You will also greatly accelerate your fat loss results by performing fat burning cardiovascular fitness workouts.