How to Get a Six Pack

One of the most common questions people ask concerning fitness and health in general is how to get a six pack. The six pack is the most coveted of all physical appearance characteristics. It tells the world that you are in shape, healthy, dedicated and strong. Of course, it gives you the added benefit of being in great condition, lowering your health concerns and fitting back into those jeans from years ago.

But when it comes to answering how to get a six pack, you should know that there really are no shortcuts. All of the miracle fad diets, the instant weight loss supplements, the tricky new workout gadgets from infomercials, discard all of them. The only tried and true method for how to get a six pack is the proper combination of hard work, eating healthy and working out.

One of the problems with fad diets is that they cut too many calories and limit your intake and nutrients. Starvation diets may end up in you losing weight. However, the majority of this weight is going to be water weight and it is going to come right back as soon as you stop the program. When you limit your caloric intake to too few calories, it actually slows down your metabolism. Your body goes into fat storage mode, burning calories as slowly as possible because it thinks it is not going to be getting enough.

So when you are thinking about how to get a six pack, you have to avoid these drastic diet changes. The right way to go about it is to cut several hundred calories from your daily intake. The key to solving the how to get a six pack riddle is to keep your body well fed enough so it does not slow its metabolism down.

Not only does this require cutting down your total calorie intake, this also involves eating smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day. This keeps your body fueled with energy so your metabolism never slows down.

The thing is, everybody already has abs. They are muscles that are in everybodys bodies naturally. Of course if you work on these muscles they will grow. But remember you are not working on something you need to create entirely; you just need to bring them to the forefront. Eliminating the excess fat on your stomach is the best and most obvious way when it comes to how to get a six pack.

If you are having trouble staying motivated in the gym, do not confine yourself to just using crunches or sit ups. Try incorporating more total body exercises that also in part work the abdominal muscles. Doing thousands of crunches is not necessary for how to get a six pack. You want to incorporate a variety of exercises, core movements, stability exercises, bodyweight drills and even free weight compound exercises and movements that all incorporate your abs.

Do not try to trick your body by starving it or setting yourself up for failure by following a fad diet or infomercial program. Just dedicate yourself to everyday improvements that slowly turn into big gains. Cutting a few hundred calories, eating smaller meals spaced throughout the day and incorporating a variety of abdominal exercises into your workout routine is the best answer for the question how to get a six pack.

Malcolm Blake has researched and written about diet, health and other issues. To see more of his writing, visit his article about stomach fat.

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