There are three things that are important to consider when you are working to get a toned stomach. Three things that you need in order to get six pack abs are:
- Good healthy protein rich diet
- Regular low impact cardio program
- Consistent exercise program
The harder you work on these three areas, the faster your six pack abs will appear. The additional information that follows will just briefly cover each of these three areas a little more.
A Basic Diet to Get a Toned Stomach
You do not have to change your eating habits entirely. However, adjusting your eating habits, the times you eat and what you eat is necessary if you want to get a toned stomach.
Many people believe in eating 2-3 high calorie meals each day. Change your eating habits and eat 4-6 smaller meals throughout the day to help you get a toned stomach.
You should maintain this type of eating schedule for at least 6 full weeks, or longer if possible. At the start it may seem difficult, but after the first week it will get easier.
You should start you day eating the largest of your meals for the day. This will allow you to start your day with your energy reserves topped off.
Plan to eat a small protein rich meal at dinner time so your body does not store body fat when you go to sleep. You should eat a good quality protein source during each of the following 6 meals:
- Breakfast
- Morning snack
- Lunch
- Afternoon snack
- Dinner
- Evening snack
Do Some Cardio to Get a Toned Stomach
Doing some form of cardio exercise each day will help your body burn off those unwanted pounds and help you get a toned stomach.
When you do your cardio exercise, work up to at least 30-40 minutes a session, with your heart rate about 65% of your max heart rate. Make sure you regularly perform some low impact cardio to burn body fat and show off your firm stomach. For people just beginning a cardio program, start off with 20 minutes at least three times a week.
Build Muscle to Get Six Pack Abs
For people who have never worked out regularly before, pick 2-3 different exercises and perform at least 2 sets three times a week to help you start building muscle. Perform 10-15 repetitions, focusing on good form using a low to moderate amount of weight for each exercise set.
If you are just starting an exercise program, limit your work out sessions to about 3 days in a week. As your body develops, you can then increase your workouts to 4 or 5 days a week. Your six pack abs will develop faster if you work them every other day instead of everyday.
Giving your abs time to recover after a workout is a necessary element of a good productive abdominal program. Once you get used to this abdominal program, you can add additional sets or increase the number of reps over time.
Stomach Crunches
- Lie on a mat on the floor or on an exercise bench
- Do not put your hands behind your head. Instead, put your fingertips on your forehead. This will keep you from stressing your neck
- Bend your knees and keep your feet flat on the floor
- Contract your stomach muscles and exhale at the same time to raise your upper back off the floor
- Hold this position for a 2 Mississippi count and then relax
- Continue until you have completed all the reps in your set. You should feel the exercise primarily in your upper abs
Lying Leg Pull-in
- Lie down on the floor using an exercise mat to make it more comfortable. You can also lay down on an exercise bench
- Place your hands palms down under your glutes. If using an exercise bench, grab the sides
- Extend your legs straight out and point your toes away from you. If you are on the floor, also raise your feet about 4-6 inches off the floor
- This will be your starting position
- Bend your knees to bring them up towards your chest and exhale
- Contract your abdominals and hold for about 2 seconds before relaxing back to the starting position
- You should feel this exercise in your lower abs
TIP: Beginners, you may want to try bringing your knees up to about hip level at first and then higher as the exercise gets easier to do.
Try these two exercises and then as you start to get a toned stomach, you can add more sets, reps or even weights to make this more challenging and get a more developed set of six pack abs. Also, remember to train your abs just as you would the rest of your muscles. Give them a day of rest in between abdominal program workouts.
