Tips To Getting Ripped Six Pack Abs

The abs are the most coveted muscle when it comes to fitness and having a muscular body and there is good reason for this.  The abdominal muscles are among the hardest to train and maintain.  Getting a six pack requires a healthy diet with plenty of lean foods, minimal fats and plenty of exercise including cardio workouts.  Although the abs seem to be the most difficult muscle to tone, training your abs is very similar to the way you would train any other muscle on your body.

When you are training to have stronger and bigger muscles, what do you do in the gym?

You increase resistance or increase the weight that you are lifting.

That is the only way that your muscles will grow and become stronger. They need adapt to new weights and get shocked into growth. As with any other muscle, if you continue to workout the same way and if you don't challenge your muscles in a reasonable way - they will not be shocked into growth and therefore you may see some improvement in tone but definitely not muscle mass.

Ab workouts should follow this same principle, although it is very important that you do not overexert your abs with excess weight. This is especially true if you haven't done an ab workout in awhile. Be sure to change up your routine at least once a month so that you can keep your muscles guessing and adapting to new exercises. When you workout your body in a variety of ways, you work out those muscles in a variety of ways too which will help promote exceptional muscle tone and muscle growth. If you want your abs to show, you need to develop the muscles so that they grow forward. When the muscles grow and develop around the belly, they will be more visible. Plus, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn because more calories are needed to necessitate the needs of the muscle.

Here are some of the most effective ab workouts that I highly recommend you try. These ab workouts are designed to work all parts of the the abdominal muscles including the obliques. Although these are great ab exercises, I still highly recommend that you cycle through different varieties of workouts so that you can keep your muscles guessing. With that being said, it is also important that you remember not to overexert your muscles. Working out your abs too often or overexerting muscles with too much weight is dangerous as you could get a hernia if you overexert your abdominal muscles.

I never workout my abs more than 3 times a week. Some people may work there muscles harder, and that's their prerogative. I simply listen to what my body is telling me through pain, aches and cramps. I've overexerted my abs before and I thought I had a hernia but it turned out to only be an inguinal muscle strain. That's why its important that you don't push yourself too hard when first starting an ab workout regimen.

Recommended Ab Workouts

• Kicking Bicycle - Helps to Keep a Strong Core. Lay Down with your back flat on a mat, put your fingertips behind your head and kick your legs like your riding a bicycle. When your left knee comes up from the bicycle kick, move your right elbow toward your left knee so that you are almost doing a crunch motion while kicking your legs. Continue Alternating this exercise left and right. You can do 2 sets for 10 - 15 seconds if that works for you.
• Ball Crunch - Get one a midsize medicine ball and sit on the front side of it. Put your hands behind your head and start doing a crunching motion.
• Machine Resistance Crunch - These are great for warming up and if you are trying to get your abs back in shape. They also workout the majority of your ab muscles.
• CorkScrew - Lie on your back and raise your legs directly over your hips. Slightly bend your knees and place your hands on your sides with your palms facing the floor. Targets lower abs and obliques.
• Reverse Crunch - This abdominal exercise primarily targets the lower abs. Its great for toning your lower abdominal muscles. This is how you do a reverse crunch.