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With the return of warm weather in the spring, thoughts can never be too far
behind of the approaching summer and the many wonderful outdoor activities that
we'll often associate with it and among our top favorite summertime activities
will always be the trip to the beach. Warm blue skies, refreshing ocean
breezes, hot sand, cool waves and the many attempts at constructing the perfect
sand castle; you can swear you're almost there just thinking of it. But that
mental image just wouldn't be complete without also including images of hard,
bronze bodies in attractive swimsuits soaking up the sun. Let's face it,
attractive physiques will always be a top draw at the beach and the abs, or
midsection, is the first thing that everyone notices.
But showing off beach body caliber abs certainly don't come easy. Successful ab
training is a combination of a healthy, lean diet, consistent cardio work, and
a comprehensive abdominal training plan. While all of that may sound daunting,
it is certainly within your ability to attain a chiseled midsection that other
beach goers will positively ogle at, and you certainly still have enough time
to do so. This article will provide you with the steps you'll need to take to
help you look your beach-body best.
Diet
The first thing you're going to have to change will be your diet. It goes
without saying that even if you had the best abs in the world, it will still
look pretty ordinary if a layer of bodyfat covers it. Diet plays a crucial role
in defining your midsection so some modifications will be required in order for
your body to look it's best. To begin with, get into the habit of using a diet
log to keep track of your meals. Everyone is less likely to cheat when they
know they have to write down everything they've eaten each day. An elaborate
journal isn't necessary either; a simple notepad can work just fine. Also,
begin switching to six small meals a day now instead of three larger ones to
help rev up your metabolism as well as prevent the stretching of the stomach
and the abdominal walls which occurs when one gorges themselves in food.
Next, you'll want to start creating a slight caloric deficit each day to help
burn away the bodyfat. It is recommended that you work on losing only a pound
or two, a week, of bodyfat. The weekly loss of any more weight than this, for
the typical person, probably includes substantial amounts of water weight and
muscle tissue and can wreck havoc on your metabolism. Remember, it's the
bodyfat that's covering your abs that you'll want to lose so a good rule of
thumb is to cut back your daily energy requirements by only around 500 calories
a day.
Now if you're not sure what your daily energy requirements are for your current
bodyweight (or the amount of calories you will have to consume each day to stay
at your current weight), you can use this easy-to-remember formula as a guide.
To estimate your daily total caloric needs, multiply 24 times 1.0 (if you're a
man) or 0.9 (if you're a woman) by each kilogram of bodyweight you weigh. Then
multiply that result by 1.7 (for a moderately active man) or 1.6 (for a
moderately active woman).
(Men) 1.7 x 24 x 1.0 x bodyweight (in kg)
(Women) 1.6 x 24 x 0.9 x bodyweight (in kg)
To determine how many kilograms you weigh, divide your bodyweight in pounds by
2.2. Remember though that this formula is only a guide. It is highly
recommended that you use the formula as a starting point, and then pay close
attention to your body in order to fine-tune your calories according to how
your body responds to your efforts. Look at your body in a mirror, if it
doesn't appear (or feel) as if your body is losing any weight after a week or
two, then reduce the amount of calories you ingest even more.
Cardio
You'll next want to start including cardio (aerobic exercises) into your weekly
routine. There are few short-term options that can burn calories and strip away
the bodyfat better than sessions of aerobic activities. It is no coincidence
that even top-level bodybuilders will steadily increase their cardio workouts
as a contest approaches to help really bring out their muscle definition. Begin
by working out 3-4 times per week for 20 to 30 minutes at a time on a treadmill
or a stationary exercise bike. Then work your way up to more intense sessions
of at least moderate intensity for 45 minutes or longer by weeks 3 and 4. The
last few weeks before you hit the beach, you'll want to include interval
training into your routine to really help blast away the last few pounds of
bodyfat.
Exercise
Spot-reducing your way to abdominal definition is a myth. It is impossible to
localize fat loss over any one specific area of your body and is the reason why
it is important for you to also watch your diet and include aerobic training if
you truly wish to showcase some beach-body abs. But the inclusion of some solid
abdominal training is still important for great abs. Strengthening the
abdominal wall will tone and help reduce, if not prevent, any unnecessary
sagging of the belly. Also, abdominal workouts will certainly develop the
muscles of the ab (particularly the rectus abdominus and the external obliques)
and enable them to easily become more visible, sharper and tight.
While there are literally hundreds of abdominal exercises to choose from, it is
important that several considerations are first kept in mind before performing
any of them. First, it is strongly recommended that you learn how to focus on
feeling the contraction of your abs when exercising and really squeeze the
muscle at the top of any rep. There are many individuals out there who lay
claim to performing several hundred sit-ups per day, but it is the quality that
counts here and not necessarily the quantity. Become more efficient when
performing your abdominal exercises and allow the muscle do the work and do not
use the mechanical involvement of other bodyparts or even momentum to help
swing the body in order to complete any reps. Additionally, make sure that you
maintain continuous tension while performing your reps and never allow your
body to rest at the bottom of a movement. Finally, be sure to breathe in during
the relaxation phase of your movements and exhale during the contraction phase
of the reps.
Having now prepared yourself, choose three exercises to perform for your abs and
complete 2 sets, of 15 ? 20 reps on each exercise, three times a week. Once
again, focus on squeezing the muscle at the top of the movement and go in a
slow, deliberate manner during each repetition. Recommended abdominal exercises
for beginners during their first week would be crunches (with legs supported on
a bench), seated twists, and knee-ups or lying leg raises. As the next few
weeks progresses and your conditioning improves, you will need to increase the
intensity factor for the abs to really shine. Begin by increasing the number of
sets of each exercise from two to three and then add additional, more advanced,
movements to allow for up to five exercises for your abs. Recommended abdominal
exercises during this stage could include reverse crunches, crunches on an
incline board, vertical leg raises, medicine-ball twists and decline-bench
twisting crunches. You literally have from hundreds of movements to choose
from. During the last two weeks before you hit the beach, begin cutting back on
the rest time between your sets and also start to include supersets of your
exercises in which you complete one set of each exercise without stop.
While there are still other factors that could be included for consideration of
your ab training, consistently eating a lean diet, performing cardio work and
exercising your abs with sufficient intensity will always remain at its core.
Put in the work on those three tenets of abdominal development and you'll be
sure to possess a beach-body that will look great in a bathing suit and
absolutely turn heads this summer!
About The Author
Nathan Boyd is author of the highly rated ebook, "The Fitness Lifestyle" and the
current Director of Pro Fitness of Texas. Nathan encourages everyone in their
pursuit of becoming physically fit and maintaining it for a lifetime. All
questions and comments are always welcomed!
http://www.weightloss-cookies.com
weightloss@weightloss-cookies.com
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