How to get six pack abs

I have no secrets that will magically give you six pack abs. Most of what I have to say is really basic information, some of which you probably have come across but have never really put it all together.

First things first - you already have six pack abs, in fact we all have six pack abs. These abs are made up of an abdominal muscle known as the rectus abdominis. It is a muscle that we all have and if you don't then you would know about it really early on in your life (just for those who are interested, congenital absence of this muscle would result in a very large hernia, where all the contents of your bowel would protrude out.....that's a topic for another time.....lets get back to building six pack abs).

In most people, the rectus abdominis is covered by a layer of fat (or several layers of fat....). You must be wondering why I am telling you all this? Well, in order to get six pack abs you don't need to do hundreds of sit-ups, you just need to concentrate on getting rid of the abdominal fat.

So how do you get rid of abdominal fat?

To loose weight, energy output must be greater than energy input. In other words, you need to burn more calories than you take in. You don't need to be obsessive about this and start calculating exactly how many calories you take in to the decimal place. All you need to do is make sure you exercise more (at least half an hour a day) and eat less (but DO NOT starve yourself, if you do it will not help at all; in fact it will do the exact opposite; I could explain the detailed mechanism of action behind this, but it is too complicated for the purposes of this article).

First step is diet. Look at your diet and make a list of what you eat and how much you eat daily. Then analyse this list and replace all the unhealthy items with healthier ones. I am sure you know what unhealthy items are, but don't forget to cut down on sugar, butter, jam, oily stuff, fried food, chips, burger, pizza, fizzy drinks, crisps, etc. Aim to have 4-5 small meals a day. Eat a minimum of 5 fruits and vegetables a day. Eat just enough to quench your hunger but don't eat until you can't eat no more.

Second step is exercise. There is a general misconception that in order to get six pack abs you have to do hundreds and hundreds of sit ups everyday. This is not true at all. Approximately 80-90% of the work is to do with loosing the abdominal fat. One of the best ways to do this is to run, not jogging but running. There are a couple of rules when it comes to running that you must always follow. Rule number one is to always warm up and warm down properly before and after every run. Rule number two is to take things slowly and never try to rush things. Aim to do half an hour everyday; no more (otherwise it will be difficult to maintain) and no less (otherwise not effective).

Third step is abdominal exercises. The main thing to remember here is to do a variety of exercises and never stick to doing just one type of sit-up or crunch everyday. This is simply no effective; your body adapts to the exercise quickly and soon you don't get any benefit from it. Remember it is quality rather than quantity that matters. If you can do a certain exercise 100 or even 50 times, then it is too easy for you and you are not getting much benefit from it. The kind of exercise that you really want to do is the one that you can barely do 10 times. You will get the most benefit from this exercise. Here are a few routines to get you started:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fU_8kJeXeE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOri5Tlm23c

Finally, in order to pull this off you need determination and will power. This is not something that neither I nor anyone else can give you. You have it within you; if you look hard enough, you will find it.

The key is to never give up. Be positive and you will get there in the end. No tricks, no shortcuts; just hard work. The harder you work, the luckier you will get.