Body Blog: Work Those Abs!

As a fitness blogger, there is one question I hear more than any other: “How do I get flat abs?”

By SarahFit

People think by doing 100 crunches every night will give them a six pack when it’s actually almost the opposite. With Spring Break coming up, you may or may not be half way there to your ideal bikini body. Lucky for you, I’m sharing the best kept secrets when it comes to getting amazing abs in no time at all.

The most important thing to fix when trying to get flat abs is your diet. Start making smart choices by limiting the number of carbs you eat. Swap refined white carby foods like white rice or white bread for whole grains. Sprouted grain bread, like Ezekial, is amazingly filling and delicious. Your body actually digests this minimally processed food like a vegetable. To reduce bloating and water retention, limit sodium intake to no more than double the amount of calories per serving (i.e. If it has 100 calories, the sodium should not exceed 200 grams). Recently I was amazed at how this simple salt reduction made me simply feel skinnier. Rather than counting your calories, try and stick to real foods like vegetables, fruits, and lean protein. If you have a layer of fat over your abdominal muscles, the hard work spent doing crunches will never be appreciated.

Now to create those chiseled core muscles, you must increase the amount of fat burning exercise you are getting. I have personally found that running helps flatten my stomach but I’ve worked with trainers who don’t believe it’s necessary and actually the opposite of time efficient exercise. Everyone is different. Try getting in at least 30 minutes of heart pumping cardio or resistance training 5 days a week. This will help speed up the fat melting to reveal the hard work on those abs. With resistance training, you will want to be doing body weight exercises like push ups, mountain climbers, squat thrusts, high knees, jumping jacks, etc. combined with lifting weights. Working more than one muscle group at a time will also speed up the results. An example would be doing push ups, which work your entire upper body and abs as well.

To create the tight definition that creates the 6-pack look, you don’t need to do a single crunch! Hanging leg raises and curls are excellent for working every muscle in your core. For a more convenient exercise you can do in your dorm try these Pilates inspired aerial moves from Tyler from the Real World Key West. Pilates is a great workout for creating flat abs. However, I caution that doing the same ab exercise moves over and over will only prevent you from seeing results in a short amount of time. Try switching up your routine as much as you can. Get inspiration from these various ab workouts found free on YouTube. Here are my favorites:

Progressive Side Planks

1 Minute Abs Workout Video

The Best Pilates Core Workout

Britney Spears’ Ab Workout

All Star Ab Moves

The Best Ab Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of

The Dorm Ab Workout, Trim n Tone

For more free workout videos delivered weekly subscribe to my YouTube channel, DietHealth. Did I mention we give out free gifts to our subscribers each month, from free food to healthy recipe books and fitness DVD’s?

You can also follow me on twitter (DietSarah) and ask any fitness questions you may have! See you next week!