The pursuit of a flat tummy or six pack abs is everyone's dream.
Not only is it appealing, but a confidence booster and best of all, healthy.
And recent studies on obesity have shown that waist circumference is more of an accurate measure of heart disease than either weight or body mass index.
Put it simply, the bigger the waist, the more likely of a chance you will suffer from heart disease.
In addition, research conducted in Victoria, Australia involving more than 40,000 locals has discovered a link between waist size and the risk of getting cancer! Therefore being overweight or obese has an unwanted relationship with certain types of cancer: Colon cancer, post menopausal breast, endometrium, kidney and oesophagus.
Now if this doesn't get people excited to improve their health - than nothing will.
Motivated yet?Good.
So lay off the fast food, fried food, soda drinks, onion rings and many more.
Here are the 5 steps to the truth about six pack abs - 1) Our body fat hides the abs.
Proper Nutrition is the MOST important factor in fat loss and in health.
Eating processed foods, trans-fats, and too many calories, will work against your exercise program - no matter how great a workout is.
So if your body fat is too high, it doesn't matter how wisely you work on the abs, it will not show.
Therefore, it is important to eat plenty of lots of fruits and vegetables (rarely does anyone get enough), lean protein, healthy fats and fiber-rich low-glycemic carbohydrates 2) Train your Abs with two types of exercises Some abdominal exercises are based on movement, while others focus more on balance, so that your abs contract harder to keep your body stable.
And most people have difficulty with either stabilization or mobilization exercises.
For instance, try performing a 'Swiss ball roll out' for mobilization, followed by a 'Swiss ball crunch' for stabilization.
3) Throw your cardio workout out Forget the long, boring cardios, 'Interval training' is more important and effective than cardio.
First of all, it gets more results in less time because it applies more greater metabolic stress to the muscle.
Look at running hard early - 80 percent of maximum heart rate for 15 minutes, then to 60 percent for the final 15 minutes.
Why? To burn fat, your body first breaks down fat tissue into fat modules.
Studies have shown that this works better when you exercise at a relatively high intensity.
And at relatively low intensities, molecules go to your cells to be burnt.
And you'll feel as if you're burning fat easier than ever! 3) Stay hydrated Drinking plenty of water helps you to burn fat and also build muscle.
The creatines in our body will force the fluid into the muscle.
4) Don't over train your abs Over working the abs can lead to more laxity in your muscles, and they will appear soft.
Muscles needs time to rest and recover.
5) Forget the stomach exercises Isolation exercises such as sit ups and crunches will not burn much fat.
You can't spot reduce the fat on your body - so doing an endless number of crunches not only does little for you in terms of losing fat, it also wastes your time in your quest for a 6-pack.
Instead focus more on big multi joint exercises which trains multiple muscle groups at once.
Total body exercises that are high in intensity burns more kilojoules, and also stimulates a greater release of muscle building hormones! Stick to full body movements - Use squats, lunges, split squats, push-ups, chin-ups, rows, etc.
Get your nutrition in order followed by, intense workouts using both strength and interval training to turbo charge your metabolism for the next 24 hours.
The truth about six pack abs is - lose the tummy fat and forget the stomach exercises.