How to reveal those abs!
No matter how hard you train, you will not see those abs if you continue to eat badly. Is there truth in “you can’t out exercise a bad diet”..?
There are four main components to revealing abdominal definition. Genetics, muscular, body fat percentage and diet. Please note that everyone is different and the below is just a guide.
When it comes to abs, everyone has them at some level, but at the end of the day, it does come down to the kitchen. You need to always be working with the the 70/30 rule. 70% Food / 30% Gym. The foods you eat will be the deciding factor when it comes to showing off a flat, defined stomach. We all have abs hiding under belly fat and unfortunately, we can’t just lose fat off one place of our body (this point being our stomach) it has to be an all over body effort!
There are 2 main points to remember:
1) Abs are built in the gym
2) The kitchen will show them off
Body Fat %
For your abs to be visible you will have be on the lower end of the body fat percentage. The bad news is that if your body fat is too high your abs will stay hidden under a layer of fat. For a 6 pack to be visible on men your body fat needs to be less than 20% and a woman 25%.
So, you can be doing crunches for days, but if you aren’t eating properly you’ll never see those abs. You will need to cut out the processed foods and concentrate on the right mixture of macronutrients in your diet.
What are Macronutrients?
Macronutrients is a term used to describe the three key food groups, carbohydrates, fats and proteins. We need carbohydrates for fuel to give us energy, fats will help us feel fuller for longer as well as other positive health effects, and proteins to build and repair muscle. Get the right balance of these and not only will you lose weight, you’ll be more effective at burning fat and building lean muscle. You’ll become a lean, fat burning machine!!
Keep track of your Macronutrients
There are 2 key things to figuring out your macronutrients, your weight (which in turn effects your BMR) and how active you are. Use this online calculator to work out your Macronutrients intake. It takes a bit of trial and error to find your ideal macro ratio, but it’s worth it. Focus on counting your macros rather than painfully counting calories, and once you have found the formula for you, there’ll be no going back!
Abdominal Exercise Example
It’s very important to focus on the muscles surrounding the abdominal muscles and work on all movement patterns and planes of motion; spinal flexion, spinal rotation and lateral flexion.
One example exercise routine of this would be:
- Swiss Ball Jackknife
- Medicine ball Russian Twist
- Side Plank (left and right)
Do 30 seconds of each exercise with no rest between reps. Complete one round then have 60 seconds rest and repeat the circuit another 3 times.
Stick to the above and you’ll be well on your way to a flat, lean, defined stomach!
