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Ways To Get Washboard Abs

Updated on January 21, 2015

Getting Washboard Abs

There are many fitness enthusiasts looking for ways to get washboard abs. Whether you're male or female, nothing says that you take good care of your self better than a flat and defined midsection. You'll need to motivated and determined, but with some work you can get washboard abs. Find the determination to get rid of the unwanted body fat you have and start creating a plan for success. When the fat starts melting off you'll gain the motivation to continue getting leaner and you'll be on your way to washboard abs.

The best ways to get washboard abs are to exercise regularly and follow a fat burning diet plan. It comes down to consuming less calories than you burn every day. If you combine your diet and exercise regimen properly you can turn your body into a fat burning machine.

Abdominal Exercise Equipment

Workouts For Washboard Abs

Obviously, performing abdominal workouts is extremely important when you're looking for ways to get washboard abs. Most fitness enthusiasts do take the time to train their abs. The only problem for many of them is that they just go through the motions when they do ab exercises and don't train with the intensity necessary to optimally build those muscles. If you always do a set number of reps your muscles will get used to it and eventually not respond as well. You need to continue doing reps on your ab exercises to keep the muscles growing.

Another way to get washboard abs is to regularly make changes in your abdominal workout routine. The abs will hit a plateau if you always do the same exercises. If you always do crunches on a flat surface, try doing them on a core ball. Try doing leg raises while hanging instead of always doing them on a bench. Do some sets with an ab roller. All of these things will give your abs a kick start in muscle growth.

The abs are different than other muscles in that you don't necessarily want to make them too thick. This can lead to a blockly looking midsection. You just want to develop the abdominal muscles and keep the waist small and tight. Because of this you should perform all of your ab exercises for high reps when you're trying to find ways to get washboard abs. You should also use no extra weight, or very light weight.

The abdominal muscles recover faster than most other muscle groups so you can train them more frequently. If you want to get washboard abs you should do an abdominal workout every other day. If your abs are still sore from their last workout you should take an extra day off of training them.

Super Sets and Drop Sets For Abs

When it comes to the abs, you can do a lot of reps on your sets. Besides doing one long set on the same exercise, I like to do super sets for abs. To do this you do a set of an ab exercise followed immediately by a set of another ab exercise. If you want to do a set of more than two exercises, feel free. The first exercise should be a tougher one. An example of this would be to do a set of hanging leg raises followed by seated or lying leg raises. If you want to keep going, you can continue with a set of crunches or another exercise. There are plenty of ab exercises to experiment with when you want to do super sets, and you can continually change want you do to see more results.

Another thing you can do to really work your abs is to do drop sets on ab exercises where you use weight. This is most effectively done on weighted crunch machines, dumbbell side bends and twist machines.

Sample Ab Workout

2 super sets of hanging leg raises followed by bench leg raises

2 super sets of core ball crunches followed by crunches on the floor

1 drop set of side bends or machine twists

1 super set of your choice to finish with

Boosting Metabolism To Get Washboard Abs

Fat loss is essential when you're looking for ways to get washboard abs. You may already have well developed abs that are hiding under a layer of body fat. Having extra body fat around your waist may be what's keeping you from getting washboard abs. You may be doing ab workouts regularly and have already developed the muscles. The only problem is that they are hiding under a layer of fat. To get rid of this unwanted body fat you need to boost your metabolism through dieting and exercising.

To lose body fat and get washboard abs you need to burn more calories away than you take in. This means that you not only need to consume less calories, but also burn more through exercise. The problem is that many dieters take it to extremes and lower their daily caloric intakes to a ridiculously low amount. However, this can cause muscle loss along with fat loss and you'll be more likely to binge out at some point. If you eat and exercise a certain way you can speed up your metabolism and burn away fat without starving yourself.

One of the best ways to get washboard abs is actually to eat more often. Eating smaller meals more frequently during the day will boost your metabolism more than eating the normal 3 meals per day. Every time you eat something you get a boost in your metabolic rate. When you eat more frequently you'll get more of these metabolism increases. You also won't go through energy lags that you may have when you follow a 3 meal a day diet and you won't be as likely to binge. Keep your meals low in calories and high in nutrition.

Of course, exercising to boost your metabolism is one of the best ways to get washboard abs. To get optimal results you need to do both cardiovascular and weight training.

Performing cardio workouts will get your heart pumping to burn more calories and fat. Three or four cardio workouts per week for 30-45 minutes will go far in increasing your metabolism and fat burning. You can get a bigger metabolism boost by performing bursts of high intensity training during your cardio workouts. This will also allow you to shorten your workouts.

Performing regular weight training is another great way to get washboard abs. As you gain more muscle size your resting metabolic rate will increase. This added muscle will automatically burn extra calories. With more muscle mass you'll be burning away the fat covering up your abs even when you aren't doing anything. You should weight train with a lot of intensity for the best results. Lifting 3 or 4 times weekly for 45 minutes to an hour will do wonders for your body.

Once you start following the right diet and exercise program you'll know the best ways to get washboard abs. It won't be long before you see that six-pack coming out.

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