When it comes to toned abs, your biggest challenge will involve exercising your discipline and willpower involving food and maintaining a consistent workout routine. Two things that cause anyone to put on weight is excess calorie consumption and inactivity so you’ll need to switch things up so you can get that flat belly you’ve always wanted.
If you eat less and move more you’re going to see the fat falling off your body. It’s as simple as that. Spend time in the gym strengthening your core with compound moves like squats, lunges, planks and cable chops.
Here are a few ways to get started:
Total Body Workouts
When it comes to core building, you don’t want to get stuck in a rut of just doing one or two exercises that only work on one plane of movement (left/right, up/down). Instead you’ll want to do exercises that turn, twist and move your core in every direction (medicine ball throws, ab wheels, hanging leg raises etc.)
Small Ab Focused Routines
The most annoying thing about spending hours working on your abs is that you don’t see results. This is because your body fat absolutely dictates how and if your abs can be seen. A toned stomach is all about your fat content and your core strength.
When you don’t have time to do a full-body workout be sure to spend about 10 minutes of your workout doing core strengthening exercises. Even though it may be months until you lose enough fat to see your abs, you won’t want to avoid training them.
Ab Circuits
If you lead a busy life and are truly pressed for time throughout your day, you’ll want to be sure that you fit in a few ab circuits in the morning or when you can spare a few minutes.
You might not be able to spend an hour at the gym four or five times a week but a quick circuit in your living room or bedroom won’t require equipment. Try things like bicycle crunches, plank walk ups and mountain climbers to get your heart racing and your abs working overtime.
Burpees
Burpees are one of the best exercises for strengthening your core and working all the major muscle groups. In fact, with a burpee, which includes moving from a pushup position to a jump and back up to a pushup position, you’re working every single muscle in your body!
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, doing just 10 fast-paced reps can be just as effective at ramping up your metabolism as a 30-second sprint!
Here’s how to do a burpee:
Begin by standing with your feet positioned shoulder-width apart. Lower your body until your palms rest on the floor about shoulder-width apart. Kick your legs back into a pushup position, perform a pushup, and then quickly reverse the movement and perform a jump when you stand. That's 1 complete rep.
Mountain Climber
A mountain climber begins with an ab crunch where you bring one knee into your chest. Mountain climbers work to develop a toned core, improve balance and will burn a ton of calories. It also builds core stability.
Here’s how to do a mountain climber:
Start in a high plank position, hands placed below your shoulders and your body positioned in a straight line. Make sure your neck stays in line with your body for correct posture.
Quickly draw your right knee into your chest and extend the leg back out as you drive your left knee up to your chest. Repeat this movement as quickly as possible, switching from drawing your right knee in, then your left knee.
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