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The majority of people typically think of exercises (mostly crunches and sit-ups) when they are considering going for that set of washboard abs … possibly for the first time in their life.

The unpopular truth is, it’s going to take 4 separate but related activities to get the type of abs you see highlighted on TV and in movies and magazines; there just aren’t any short cuts, unfortunately. All the activities are necessary and they’re aimed at the crucial combination – lose fat, build muscle.

Your Diet

The major realization here is, you can spend 24 hours a day working on crunches but if you’re still wearing a fat suit, you’ll never have ripped abs.

So your diet has to be one that creates fat loss. Meaning, first, think about calories — you need to eat fewer calories than you burn. Second, you need a good balance of carbohydrates, proteins and fat – and yes, there IS healthy fat. You need the protein because you want to build muscle and also to help muscle recover from exercise; and, protein can help you to control your appetite. You need carbohydrates for energy, of course. And healthy fat because some forma of fat – and most fat in people’s diets is NOT the right type of fat – are an essential part of a balanced diet.

Cardio Exercise

So … why cardio-vascular exercise, specifically?. The answer is simple mathematics … because to eliminate 1 lb of fat you need to burn 3500 more calories than you take in, so if you want to get rid of that layer of fat that “hides” your abs, no matter how well developed, cardio is one step along the fastest path.

Strength exercises

Strength training has the biggest impact on the metabolism … meaning, if you perform this type of training regularly, you’ll literally put your body in a position where the metabolism speeds up and … you’ve guessed it, your burn fat more quickly. Large muscle exercises – squats, bench presses, lunges, etc – performed regularly will have a bigger impact on metabolism even than cardio and certainly more than small muscle exercises (bicep curls, for example) although it all helps. The faster you burn the fat … the faster you get those ripped abs you’re working so hard for.

Abs-specific exercises

And only now do we come to the exercises that most people have in mind from the outset – crunches, sit-ups, and leg-lifts in all their variety.

So, this is the path you need to take for great abs; but the biggest obstacle isn’t actually associated with any of these. The biggest challenge is purely mental, and it’s simply this – are you willing to pay the price?

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