We live in the 21st century, in which a natural thing (abdominal muscles aka abs) is hard to come by. As such, many ask themselves, how to get abs.
Things to know about Abs
A grave mistake many people make in their pursuit of abs is to start doing relentless crunches, thinking abs will magically appear. But they fail to realize that getting abs goes deeper than that. As such I outline some things in which many people get wrong.
Everybody Has Abs
Except for people that suck in their stomachs on a regular basis, everybody has abdominal muscles (abs) beneath that layer of fats. The hardest part of everything is revealing those hidden abdominal muscles to the general public.
Back muscles are more important than abdominal muscles
Many people overlook the importance of the back muscles in their journey to get the perfect abs. Abs are like icebergs, in which most of the package is hidden.
I mean just think about it, the abdominal muscle is connected to the obliques which are in turn connected to the back. As such, the back is the backbone (no pun intended) that holds the front abdominal and stomach together.
In fact, the back functions more like a foundation, the oblique muscles function as the walls (building blocks) of the house, and the abdominal muscles function as the roof of the house.
For this reason, theoretically, you cannot have defined abdominal muscles if you have a weak back (back muscles).
This matter is more apparent in older people, who lose the definition in their abdominal muscles when they get old.
How to Get Abs
1. Food
Unknown to many people, 95% of the human physic is done in the kitchen. Proteins are bodybuilding foods, and to get a beautiful body, a person must eat nice and balanced meals.
Carbohydrate intake should be regulated whereas proteins, vitamins and minerals should be eaten generously.
To successfully get abs, you must be willing to stock up your kitchen, do meal preps, regulated your intake of carbohydrates.
2. Lift weights
Muscles need the energy to function optimally. Common sense dictates that if an individual has more muscles, they are able to burn off more energy, than their counterparts, with lesser muscles.
For this reason, it is advised that to get the perfect six-pack abs, a person must be willing to build more muscles by lifting weights regularly.
This will go a long way, in burning off those stubborn abdominal fats, which cover up an individual’s six-pack abs.
It should be noted that, when lifting weights, individuals should start with lighter weights before moving on to heavier weights as the body gets stronger.
3. Engaging in Cardio
Cardio, also known as cardiovascular activities, are exercises that improve the health of the cardiovascular system.
Cardio exercises like running and swimming are notorious for ridding the body of belly fats and reveal the abdominal muscles since they burn a lot of energy.
In fact, according to VeryWellFit, it is estimated that running, one of the best cardio exercises, burns about 100 calories, for every mile ran. When this is compounded over time, it becomes a huge amount of energy (fat) burned, which leads a person to lose stubborn abdominal fats.
4. Herbs and Teas
Herbs and teas are packed with lots of antioxidants and essential vitamins and minerals, and it is for this reason, Chinese people reverse them.
Unfortunately, many people completely ignore them these days, although these herbs and teas can fortify a person’s immune system to unbelievable levels.
5. Sleep
Everything that wants to grow, must rest. Sleep in incredibly important in your quest to develop the best-looking abs.
Without sleep, you run the risks messing so many things up:
- Experiencing burnout where you can’t even stand working out anymore.
- Injuring yourself, and destroying ligaments, which might cost thousands of dollars to fix
6.Water Flush
The water flush is a weight loss technique, in which a person, flushes their digestive systems three times a day, to rid the body of toxic radicals.
The water in question is advised to be at room temperature (not cold, lukewarm or hot), but should be at a cool temperature.
It should be noted that the large quantities of water is not ingested to hydrate the body, but to flush, clean and clear the digestive system, as you flush your toilet.
You can learn more about the water flush (water therapy), here.
Workouts
In this section, I outline the best workouts you can engage in to see the best results in your quest to get those killer 6, 8 or 12 pack abs, depending on your body type.
1. Squats
Unlike other exercises that target a niche set of muscles, squats are full-body workouts.
Squats target the hamstring, quadriceps, adductors, shin, gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles of the legs; the back muscles, the abdominal muscles and finally the obliques.
As such, it is wiser to engage in smart workouts like squats than engaging in flashy workouts that don’t give the best results with time.
2. Leg raises
Unlike crunches that mostly target the upper abdominal muscles, leg raises target both the lower and upper abdominal muscles; with the back muscles.
As such, leg raises are considered on the best abdominal workout a person can ever engage in.
3. Running
I explain some of the benefits of running above, but to expatiate a little.
Running builds the calf muscles, and obliques which aid in toning the body. It also burns a lot of calories, which helps to reveal the abdominal muscles in all its glory
4. Swimming
By far, the most effective exercise to build abdominal muscles. Swimming combines a lot of exercises into one.
- It is a good cardio exercise, as it pumps up the heart rate of a person
- Swimming is a full-body exercise and is quite difficult to an extent, since the person, engaging in it is forced to use almost all the muscle groups in their body.
- Another added advantage of swimming is that the pool helps in regulating the temperature of an individual and prevents them from having a heat stroke.
5. Dead Lift
Like I always say, to get stunning abs, you need to have a strong back. Without one, your dreams of getting abs might never come to fruition.
The deadlift is a compound movement and is incredibly effective in developing obliques, ie if the person engaging in it, is not constantly sucking in their stomachs.
6. Skipping Rope
Skipping rope is a workout that can service all forms and shapes of people. It just involves jumping over a rope as it swings by an individual.
The fact that most boxers are made to skip rope is a testament to the effectiveness of the workout.
Also, the intensity of the skipping rope can be varied to cater for different hardcoreness of people.
Workouts to Avoid
Below are workouts that are hard to master, as they require proper form and technique to execute them properly.
Also, the are so hard that 99% of people cannot do them properly, due to their poor posture and technique.
Before doing these workouts, professionals must be involved to teach the proper technique required to do them properly.
1. Crunches
When done by a master, crunches are very effective in developing defined abdominal muscles. But when done by an amateur, it can actually have serious negative effects on the person:
- Injuring the spine of the person in question
- Creating space between the abdominal muscles, which can further lead to diastasis recti.
If you are adamant about doing crunches, then here are some tips you should consider:
- Crunches can be related to skating on a skateboard. Your body should light enough and just be in contact that you don’t fall, but it should also be heavy enough that you can control the board effectively.
In the same vein, when engaging in crunches, most of the heavy tension should be placed on the oblique and back muscles, but the hard tension should be placed on the abdominal muscles.
2. Russian Twists
Like crunches, many people engage the abdominal muscles too much, when doing the Russian twist, which can cause them to gradually move apart and cause diastasis recti.
In fact, Russian twists are actually harder to master than crunches. Many novices go to the gym and see a person, swinging their body from side to side, but the
3. Planks
Many fitness gurus recommend planks to their students, which can have devastating effects on the student involved since they don’t have the proper technique to execute the perfect plank.
Planks are meant to work your back muscles not your abdominal muscles directly.
Remember I told you that the abdominal muscle is connected to the oblique, which in turn is connected to the back muscles.
Also, I said that the back muscles serve as the foundation, the obliques serve as the walls of the building, and then the abdominal muscles serve as the roof.
Now think about it, If your house has a bad foundation would it stand?
Your answer would probably be no, in the same vein, you need to build a strong foundation (back), in your journey to get the perfect body.
Hence, why fitness routines are called bodybuilding, and without a strong foundation (back), your building (your body), will not be desirable.
Summary
To summarize how to get abs fast, you need to do the following:
- Eat quality protein
- Try the water flush
- Drink quality teas and herbs
- Lift weights, by engaging in compound movements like squats
- Sleep a lot, to rebuild damaged or injured muscles
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