6 PACK, ABS, CARDIO and MORE
How Can I Get 6 Pack Abs?
What forum, what article, what supplement and what eBook doesn’t talk about this? We all want to know how to get a 6 pack of abs for the summer. Am I right? Is it that hard? Honestly it is. It’s not just as simple as taking a pill. But it’s also not as gruelling as doing 1000 crunches a day.
What I’m talking about is… the less body fat you have, the more visible a muscle becomes. This means, if you incorporate some ab work to build the muscles up a bit and then have a low enough percentage of body fat, you now have a 6 pack or 8 pack of abdominal muscles showing!
Getting a six pack is only as simple as working your abs in a normal fashion (maybe 2x a week) and having a diet that boosts your metabolism to help you burn fat.
You start by losing body fat. The less fat you have, the less there is between the muscle layer and the skin. Things start to show up when the middle layer (fat) starts to disappear.
This is not just my opinion. Getting a six pack of abs is more about nutrition and cardio then it is about ab exercises.
An Easy 3-Step System for Ripped Abdominals:
Step 1
Training: 1% of your overall ab development will actually come from training. Consider the fact that most people think 90% of your results come from training, you can see this isn't the popular consensus. Needless to say, that’s where most focus their efforts. They don't get their nutrition in order; they don't use cardio effectively so the masses just do more ab training and more crunches. Ultimately for your abs to show you must have abs to show and a low percentage of body fat for them to appear. More training does nothing to eliminate the layer of fat that is covering them. This is commonly known as spot reduction. Training an area for the sole purpose of eliminating fat in that area.
Tip - Do not make training the #1 priority to show off those abs. Train them like any other muscle. More ab work will not make your abs appear. Focus on lowering your body fat levels and not spot reduction.
Step 2:
Cardio: 9% of your effort can be directed as using cardio as a fat burning tool. High intensity interval training is by far the fastest and most efficient method you can use to shed the pounds. You'll want to keep in mind, using cardio is a tool. Not a foundation. This simply means that doing marathon sessions will not be to your advantage. Learn to use cardio effectively and you can enhance and boost your metabolism beyond what even eating the right foods can do. Some competitive bodybuilders use cardio up to twice a day for 30 days to just chisel off that last remaining layer of fat that's cover up the abdominal region.
Tip - Cardio can be done twice a day for a full body shock! Just keep in mind this method is a short-term tool and not a routine you would use for any length of time.
Step 3:
Nutrition: 90% of your efforts will be based upon your diet. In order to show off the abs, you must get rid of the layer of fat that is covering them up. It is that simple. Many people will train their abs and do all kinds of cardio and they still forget that nutrition plays such a massive role in getting rid of belly fat. You must know how many calories a day you need to eat and what to eat in order to get your nutrition on track and working for you. Going to the gym more often, doing more cardio and more hanging crunches will do you no good if you fail 90% of the test.
Tip - Use nutritional fundamentals to turn your body into a fat burning furnace.
Wait just a second...
Before you rush off to check your nutrition, cardio and training, take this next concept into consideration.
Loose Skin: Skin is very elastic and over time (age) or with a large amount of weight reduction it may not just spring back like it did. In this case, surgery may be the only option once you have reached a very low level of overall body fat.
-Many women may experience this because of pregnancy. -Many men and women may experience this because of a large amount of weight reduction.
For example, if a man was under 10% body fat and had loose skin; this is a prime example where skin may need to be taken away because of other circumstances. While this is pretty rare it does happen and if the skin cannot bounce back, there are little options a person has except to have it removed. What this means is...
If you have a low enough (12-15% or less body fat for a woman in this example) and you still have a lot of loose skin from slimming down or pregnancy, you may want to explore the option of having that excess skin removed.
With that said…
The secret to ripped abs is nothing more than 3-steps in this order of importance:
1. Nutrition
2. Cardio
3. Training
ABOUT CARDIO
Workouts that feature both aerobic exercise (cardio) and resistance training (strength work) can be an efficient way to target multiple muscle groups all in one sweat sesh. Plus, switching up modalities mid-session can keep things interesting and help keep you motivated.
But the question is, should you do cardio before or after lifting weights?
Or should you try what's called a two-a-day workout? This is where you do a full workout
in the earlier part of the day and then another full workout later in the day. Whether or not this is doable for you would largely depend on other factors, such as your schedule and exercise preferences.
Perhaps the most suitable option might be to do strength training and cardio workouts on
alternate days. However, you fit these workouts into your schedule, it's important that you
engage in both on a regular basis.
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If your goal is better endurance, do cardio before weights.
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If your goal is burning fat and losing weight, do cardio after weights.
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If you want to get stronger, do cardio after weights.
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On upper-body strength training days, you can do either first.
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On lower-body strength training days, do cardio after weights.
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If your goal is just general fitness, do either first, but maybe start with the one you like less.
How long those cardio workouts should last also depends on your goals. If you're seeking strength improvements, then you may want to limit your cardio to a 10- to 15-minute session to warm up your muscles . “If your goal is overall fitness and health then there is no real limit, except your physical and schedule limitations.”
Can you do cardio and weights on the same day?
Absolutely yes you can. Traditional workout guidance suggests people alternate their workouts—cardio one day, followed by weight training the next, or vice versa. But “there’s no reason you can’t do both in the same workout session, or split into two sessions on the same day,”
Still, you shouldn't expect to see the same level of muscle gain as you would if you solely focused on strength without the mix of cardio.
If you are going to do two separate workout sessions in one day, just make sure to leave enough time in between for your body to recover—around eight hours between high-intensity cardio and lifting weights.
To build strength...do cardio after weight training.
The reason is pretty simple: Lifting is hard, and you need all the energy (physically and mentally) that you can get to move loads with proper form and technique and avoid injury.
“If you prioritize weight lifting over cardio, you can focus more brain power on lifting those weights correctly versus going into a session sweaty and out of breath, unable to perform as well and upping your risk due to fatigue.”
"The best type of cardio to pair with weight training is low-intensity cardio."
When researchers compared three workout protocols—strength training alone, running followed by strength, and cycling followed by strength—they found that running or cycling pre-strength workout limited the number of weight lifting reps participants could perform compared to strength training without hitting a treadmill or exercise bike beforehand.
What's more: Muscle power decreased when lifting weights after running on a treadmill, while heart rate and the rate of perceived exertion, or how hard the workout felt, increased .
To lose weight...do cardio after weights.
Doing cardio after weight training burned more fat during the first 15 minutes of that cardio workout versus starting with cardio and then lifting.