Abdominals For Life - Part 1

If improving your abs was just about exercise then everyone at the gym would have a trim, hard stomach. 1.6 million Australians (of approximately 20 million) have a gym membership, and likely about half are active members (actually go). So where are the 800,000 six packs out there? Next time you are walking through the supermarket take a look around and see if 1 in 25 people have a ripped stomach (you might find them in the organic section). I would say the numbers are nowhere near that given Australia is currently vying for the title of Second Fatest Nation In The World behind our friends in the USA.

Exercise will condition the abdominals, but if you have a layer of mud sitting over the top then noone will ever see them. Here are my top 6 recommendations for a hard, flat and lasting six pack.

Invest in positive thoughts

If you dont believe that you deserve to have a flat stomach then you wont get one. Your body wont let you achieve a result that you think is impossible. Dont believe me? Teleport into my living room and i will explain it to you (note: teleportation has been common place since 2002 read here). In addition, negative thoughts create stress in your body. Stress increases the levels of cortisol in your body which is a fat storage hormone - stress can make you fat. Last, decide whether you want a flat stomach for you or for someone else. If you are trying to impress people or to gain admiration from others, then you are creating pressure (stress) for yourself in the pursuit of a goal that you may not really want. Ask yourself if having a six will make your life better, or whether you think others will like you more 'cause of it.

Believe in yourself and invest time in visualising achieving your goal.

Eat organic food

The body has a brilliant technique for keeping toxins out of your vital organs - it stores it in your body fat. Estimates suggests that the average english speaking person consumes 70 kg of food additives each year, and while not all those are bad for you, the majority are. So where does all that artificial stuff go? Well if you are healthy and vital then your body will be able to filter most of it out (though if you are healthy and vital then you most likely arent eating this crap). If you are not healthy, then your body processes what it can and the rest ends up on your arse, belly, hips and thighs to keep it away from your all important organs.

Eat as much organic, whole food as you can.

Eat according to your Metabolic Type

Metabolic typing will allow you to balance your hormones, energy levels and body fat through correct intake of food. It works because you have a genetically determined ability to process nutritents that must be satisfied for your body to thrive. For example, if your genetic heritage is eskimo then you will do better eating fish, meat and fat and minimal carbohydrates. If you are from the equator then you should eat less meat and more carbohydrates. Metabolic typing will allow you to determine your genetic heritage and take ALL the guesswork out of your diet.

Eat according to your metabolic type.

Movement matters

Everyone by now knows you cant spot reduce the fat off your stomach with exercise, right? Why then do I still see people doing thousands of crunches? The body is a complex unit that is designed to jump, catch, throw, lift, pull, push and sprint. These are all big exercises that consume massive amounts of calories and work all four layers of the abdominals. A crunch works predominately one layer of abdominals in a way that it was not designed for and consumes little calories. In fact you are more likely to become injured cruching from the floor before your stomach flattens out. Train the abdominals at the end of your workout because they are stabilisers of the body and you need them to do complex movements.

Use exercises that require big movements and lots of muscles such a squats, deadlifts, overhead pressing and swissball stability.

Train the abs harder not more

The abdominal musculature is designed for hard and/or fast movements with high load and low repetition. This is why sprinters always have amazing abdominals (and better physiques in general) than marathon runners. As a general guideline, if you can do more than 8-12 repititions of an exercise then you need to increase the load, not the volume. If you dont know how to do this safely, then invest in someone who does. Finally, abdominal training should be done at most three times per week, on non consecutive days.

Increase the difficulty of your exercises, not the number of repititions. If you can't do this safely, invest in someone who can.

Get some sleep

You dont get better at the gym, your body makes improvements while you are recovering. Most of this is done at night between the hours of 10pm and 6am.

Kick the tv and / or work and go to sleep as close to 10pm as possible.

These six suggestions will get most people well on their way to abdominal success. If you have implemented these techniques for 12 weeks and are still having no success, then read Abdominals For Life! - Part 2. This will give some additional steps to maximise your efforts.

In health and happiness,
Ryan Prigg.