By Batista Gremaud
Do you want to look and feel better in and out of clothes? Get in better shape and lose weight while achieving a flatter, toned stomach without that bloated belly look.
Following these five tips will help you achieve your goal of six-pack abs with some work, dedication, and willpower.
Tip #1 Weight Loss Through Healthy Eating
The first thing to acknowledge is that getting a ripped midsection involves losing weight. Abs become visible when your body fat decreases, exposing the abs under the skin. Reducing your body fat percentage down to near-single digits doesn't happen by chance: it's a direct result of diligent training and drastic nutritional sacrifices.
General principles of healthy eating will help you to achieve your goal:
Focus on eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. These foods are packed with nutrients that are essential for good health.
Limit your intake of processed foods, sugary drinks, and saturated fats. These foods can contribute to weight gain and other health problems.
Make sure to get plenty of protein. Protein helps to build and repair muscle tissue, and it can also help you to feel fuller longer. 1 gram of your ideal weight, as per Dr. Lyon's recommendation.
Additionally, a colon cleanse can help to eliminate toxic waste stored in the colon and help to reduce stomach bulges while improving overall health.
Create a caloric deficit
To lose weight, you need to create a caloric deficit. This means that you need to burn more calories than you consume. Creating a caloric deficit is the only way to lose weight and keep it off. You can track calories and macros with online apps such as myfitnesspal or Fitbit.
However, you must strengthen your abs with strength training to get visible toned abs.
Tip #2 Strength Training
Resistance training does not only build muscle; it also strengthens bones and tendons and boosts your metabolism. It also helps to reduce visceral fat trapped in the internal organs, making your belly look flatter.
In addition, strength training can correct postural deviations and improve posture. Improved muscle tone and improved postural alignment will help show off that six-pack!
A typical fitness myth is that you can spot-train.
The "spot training" fitness myth is the belief that you can tone or target a specific area of your body by doing exercises that focus on that area. For example, crunches to tone your abs or bicep curls to tone your arms. Unfortunately, spot training is not an effective way to tone your body.
To tone your body, you must do full-body exercises for all your major muscle groups and the synergic muscles around tendons and ligaments to avoid injuries. This will burn more calories and help you build lean muscle mass, giving your body a more toned and sculpted appearance.
Ab Curl Instruction:
Train your abs by lying on the floor or bench
Curl your body up 30° toward your thighs
Secure your feet under a couch or similar heavy items, keeping your knees bent.
Fold your hands on your chest
Do not grab your neck with clasped hands.
For added resistance, you may hold a weighted dumbbell or plate.
Do five sets of 8 to 12 repetitions three or four times per week. As with other muscles in the body, your abs need rest time to recover. So more is not necessarily better.
This exercise can also be done standing or kneeling on a weighted cable station.
Tip #3 Water
Staying hydrated is a key to burning fat efficiently. Water is essential for many bodily functions and can help promote weight loss by boosting metabolism and burning more calories throughout the day.
While adequately hydrated, your liver can spend more time processing fat and less time helping your kidneys with hydration. In addition, it helps flush out your system, rid your body of excess water weight, and eliminate sodium and other minerals, which helps to reduce bloating and the appearance of belly fat.
Tip #4 Cardiovascular exercise
Cardio is important for general health; however, focusing only on cardio can be highly counterproductive. Aerobic activities facilitate burning calories for only the duration of the chosen activity. Excessive aerobic exercises also produce a large amount of cortisol in the body (stress hormone) that suppresses the immune system.
This can encourage weight gain and inflammation. In addition, it is hard on the joints. Cardio releases endorphins so that you will feel good, but the adverse side effects are numerous and significant.
Another Myth:
Cross-training compounds results and saves time. Beware of cross-training, boot camps, and CrossFit activities. These types of training are entirely unsustainable, extremely hard on the body, and have an average injury rate of 75%. Unless you are a pro athlete training for specific reasons, don't go there!
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Tip #5 DeStress
Though the reasons for stress vary from person to person, the effects of stress on the body are the same. When we experience stress, our bodies go into "fight or flight" mode. This causes the release of a hormone called cortisol, which tells the body to store fat, particularly in the abdominal area. This makes us feel heavier and more sluggish and can lead to long-term health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and even depression. So if you're looking to trim down your waistline, finding ways to de-stress is essential. Exercise, relaxation techniques, and even simply taking some time out for yourself each day can help to keep cortisol levels in check and prevent stress from making you fat.
Deep breathing helps release belly fat because it massages the abdominal organs and helps the body release toxins stored in the fat cells. Deep breathing also helps increase blood and lymph fluid circulation, which helps break down fat cells.
Don't give up
Losing enough body fat – and retaining enough muscle for your six-pack to show can take months or even years to achieve. You must commit and be willing to make drastic lifestyle changes to get a six-pack.
While having 6-pack abs is a great goal, don't let yourself become discouraged; enjoy the journey. Many pleasures and benefits come with adopting the bodybuilding lifestyle, such as having more energy, looking and feeling better in your clothes, and enjoying clarity and focus.
With or without a 6-pack, you'll improve the quality of your life and potentially avoid life-threatening diseases while extending your lifespan.
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BASTISTA GREMAUD
Batista Gremaud is the CEO and president of Dr. Fitness International, International Body Designer, Strength Training Expert, No1 Best Selling author of Feminine Body Design, Empowering Fitness For A Pain-Free Life, co-creator of the Feminine Body Design online strength training mentoring system, co-host of the Esoteric Principles of Bodybuilding, and producer of the Dr. Fitness USA’s show; Recipient of the most outstanding fitness program 2019 by The Winners Circle, Mastermind at Sea.
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