Psst....Wanna know the simple
secret to six pack abs?
I'll tell you in three words:
Control Your Cravings
One of the most often asked questions in regards to diet and fitness is how do I develop six pack abs?
Oh those six pack abs. Everybody wants them, but so few are willing to do what it takes. Most people don't have a clue about what it takes to develop well defined abs. This article will help shed some light on the subject. In it I will cover the basics including what body fat percentage you will need to achieve and how to determine the number of pounds of fat you will need to lose. I have also provided some links to videos you can view online that will teach you some great workouts to help you develop your own set of six pack abs.
But while we're on the subject of exercise and workouts let me let you in a dirty little secret...
Sporting a six pack, washboard abs, and well defined abdominals is NINETY FIVE PERCENT diet and only 5% exercise.
Yes you read that right... You can do crunches all day long and unless you're on the right diet - you'll never have a six pack!
Do you know why people are so attracted to six pack abs? Because unconsciously they know that...
SIX PACK ABS ARE A BADGE OF DISCIPLINE AND COURAGE
Six pack abs say a lot about a person...Like:
1. They have their act together
2. They can accomplish anything
3. They are the master of their destiny
4. They have an incredible passion for life
5. They know what they want and they know how to get it
How many losers do you know that have six pack abs?
The answer is none. And I'll tell you why?
If you can do what it takes to develop your own set of six pack abs, you can do anything!
Let me just say this to begin with.
Six pack abs don't come in a box or a bottle. You don't need fancy fat burners, dangerous diet pills, expensive equipment, or anything else they try to sell on television; if those things worked every couch potato in America would have six pack abs.
First let's start with some basic anatomy. Abs are short for the abdominal muscles. The abdominal muscles are composed of 3 separate muscle groups. The main muscle group in the front of the torso is called the rectus abdominis and if you look closely you will see that it is split into 8 blocks. The next group of muscles on the lower sides of the torso just above the hips is called the obliques. And the muscles that tie into the rib cage are called the seratus. Everyone has a six pack. If you can't see yours its not because they're not there, they are just hiding underneath a layer of fat. Not thick skin, not loose skin, but fat.
Abs are like buried treasure. The treasure is there, you just have to find it. To find the treasure you only need to understand one thing...
Bodyfat Percentage
Whether or not you can see your abs comes down to one thing and one thing only...
Is Your BodyFat Percentage Low Enough?
Understanding your body fat percentage and its relation to uncovering your six pack.
The author (41) at about 7.5% body fat.
A level that is easy to achieve and maintain by
following the principles and concepts of the Magnetic Diet.
Abs don't even start getting defined for most people until you are at less than 10% body fat for men and 15% body fat for women. So the goal becomes to reduce your body fat percentage to that level or better. To find out how may pounds of fat you have to lose to arrive at that body fat percentage requires some calculations (
the mathematics of weight loss). But before you whip out your calculator you'll need to know what your current body fat percentage is.
Until you know what your current body fat percentage is you won't be able to determine how many pounds of fat you need to lose to achieve a six pack. To do this you can have it measured by a personal trainer or your health care provider. You can also purchase a body composition monitor such as those made by Tanita. A Tanita body composition monitor is one of the best investments you can make if you are serious about developing six pack abs. It will help you to determine if the weight you are losing is actually fat or if you are making mistakes and losing muscle instead. I suggest you order a Tanita body composition monitor from Amazon.com. The model that I have is the BC534 which I am very happy with, but they make several others with differing levels of functionality.
Once you know what your current body fat percentage is you will be able to determine how many pounds of fat you need to lose in order to achieve the body fat percentage required to see your six pack abs.
Determining how many pounds of fat you need to lose to see your six pack abs.
In the previous section I discussed why it is important for you to know what your current body fat percentage is in order for you to understand what stands between how you look now and a well defined mid section. Once you know what that number is, you take it and subtract your goal body fat percentage from it and then perform some additional calculations. As an example we will use 9 percent as a goal body fat percentage. Remember for most people six pack abs don't even start becoming visible unless your body fat is less than 10% for men and 15% for women, and at those percentages, the truth is they are barely visible. The body fat percentages of the fitness models whose abs we all envy are in the less than 5% range. But for the purpose of this example we will use 9 percent as our goal and 20 percent as our current body fat percentage. And we will use 200 pounds as our current weight. So here is the math.
First convert the percentages to decimal values.
20% = .20 and 9% = .09
Then subtract
.20 - .09 = .11
Then add 1
.11 + 1 = 1.11 Then divide that into your current body weight which will then give you your goal weight:
200 / 1.11 = 180
Subtract your goal weight from your current weight to find out how many pounds of fat you need to lose to arrive at your goal body fat percentage.
200-180 = 20
So to be at 9% body fat we need to lose 20 pounds of fat.
To lose 20 pounds of fat without losing any muscle will take approximately 20 - 22 weeks with a combination of diet and exercise. If you lose the weight any faster you will end up losing lots of muscle in the process which will mess up your metabolism. For every 10 pounds of muscle that you lose your metabolism (use the
Daily Calorie Calculator to determine your current resting metabolic rate) will suffer by about 400 calories. What this means is that you will have to add 400 calories worth of activity (running, walking, etc) just to maintain your current weight. Losing muscle during the dieting process is the number one reason why people get fatter when they stop their diet and go back to their old eating habits. By losing only 1 -2 pounds a week and maintaining an intense strength conditioning program, your body will maintain its muscle and turn to fat as an energy source. This is why patience is so important to the process and why I recommend you start a practice of daily meditation. Meditation will help you to lose the got to have it now mentality and allow you to develop the patience necessary to stay with the process long enough to be successful.
To learn the specific diet and exercise techniques that will allow you to lose the fat that covers your abs and achieve a very low body fat percentage
click here to learn more about the Magnetic Diet.
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