How To Create An Effective 6 Pack Workout

Ask anyone you know or anyone you meet out and about, what they think of the looks of a well toned body and a perfect set of 6 pack abs, and you usually will be met with an initial blank look, then the eyes glaze over, and then a small smile as the drool works its way down the chin. Yes, no doubt about it, having a good set of well developed abs is the ultimate challenge for most people that are into fitness and toning up their bodies, and that challenge can be met head-on if you have a well planned 6 pack workout that will accomplish that for you.

When you hear the expression “abs” or 6 pack abs, the speaker is referring to the sets of muscle groups that surround the abdominal area of the human body and control the motion for that part of the body. There are several groups of muscles found in this area and each group has a defined function of its own as well as working hand in hand with the other muscle groups too. One of the main muscle groups is known as the rectus abdominus, or to the man on the street as the 6 pack; the transverse abdominal muscle; and the obliques, which are made up of two working sets of opposing muscles; the external obliques and the internal obliques.

The functions of the muscle groups is most important to remember when trying to put together a 6 pack workout that will do what you want for you as far as developing a washboard front that will evoke sighs from everyone who views it. The muscle groups work independently in some functions and in others, they work in tandem with each other. The obliques are found on the sides of the torso, and aid in the twisting and rotating of the body; the internal obliques are involved mainly with the rotation as they are found flanking the rectus abdominus muscle inside the hip bones; and the external obliques do most of the twisting. The rectus abdominus, or better known to most people as the 6 pack, helps with the general motion of the middle body because it is found between the ribs and the pelvic bone; and the transverse abdominal muscle is the strongman of the group, holding in your insides while it acts as a belt around the midriff.

When you want to put together a 6 pack workout, you must consider all the types of exercises that are out there tailored specifically to the abdominal section of the body. The most common exercise group that is recommended for firm flat abs is the crunches; and they are found to be much more effective in developing a 6 pack more so than are situps. And situps are far more dangerous for people just starting out with a workout regimen because if you are not careful, doing situps can pull on your back and cause painful damage to the lower back. Some of the other exercise choices are leg lifts, static holds (which are used to train your core muscles), various types of twists for the obliques, and the bicycle maneuver.

So now you have an idea of what is out there as far as exercises, but read any book or treatise on the subject of a 6 pack workout, and you will find that everyone recommends incorporating a good eating plan along with the workout regimen to get the desired results and make the entire world envious of your midsection. One works along with the other and you can’t exclude either regimen from the plan or you won’t succeed. The eating part of the plan has to be low fat and well balanced, because it is plain old fat that is masking those fabulous abs lying dormant there and that fat must be burned off; and you have to have the correct exercises to go along with the eating plan so you keep your metabolism running at a good pace. The exercises that have over time found to be the most effective in developing good abs are weightlifting and cardiovascular exercises practiced together. But studies have shown that the best results are obtained when the weightlifting is done first and then the cardiovascular. You wouldn’t think it would matter which was done first, but it does; the weightlifting goes after carbohydrates as an energy source, and when it’s time for the cardiovascular routine, your body has almost no energy reserve left, so guess what it zeroes in on to get that energy—that’s right, the fat you have stored here and there, and now the fat is getting burned.

So now you have a good idea of what exercises will help you put together a good 6 pack workout, and there are just a few items to keep in the forefront of your mind when you are starting your regimen. First of all, with the exercises on a daily basis, you need to Keep your metabolism steady, Drink more water (include a lot of tea if you want-it’s almost all water and is a good metabolism booster as well), Eat smaller meals and eat more often during the day, Eat more fiber-keep your system moving, and most important of all (to the chagrin of a lot of people) Eat breakfast.

Developing a 6 pack workout that will do its thing for you and get you the abs you want will be a challenge, and the workout itself will be just that, a lot of work. But you have to work hard to lose the fat and develop the muscles around the abdomen to get the look you want; so stay focused on the fact that you must have a deficit of 500 calories a day to lose 1 pound of fat every week. It won’t be that long until you notice that as you stroll through public places with your defined 6 pack abs on display, that you will leave a trail of admiring, panting people in your wake.