Best Six Pack Abs Workouts

By Chris Frost

So many people want to know how to get perfect abs, or what is the best six pack abs workouts or the most effective lower abdominal workout. Six pack abs has become the one of the most sought after fitness goals in the western world today.

Late night infomercials feature numerous products, all promising amazing abs, but unfortunately there is no quick fix or magic pill to get a six pack. Excess body fat and flabby muscle takes some time to develop, and reversing the situation requires more than a fancy product.

The best workout to get six pack abs is a combination workout that takes into account your diet, fitness and strength exercising. You also need to set goals, choose a good attitude and be positive and committed.

The first step is to look at where you are currently and where you want to be as far as your abs are concerned. You need to know where you are starting from in order to know what you need to do to get to your goal. Set measurable, achievable goals with a pre-determined time frame.

Then you need to look at your attitude and belief system. You must believe in yourself and have a positive attitude towards reaching your goal of six pack abs. It really helps to have some motivational reinforcements that you can look at regularly - photos of your progress from flab to trim, quotes to inspire you, pictures of how you want your abs to look etc. It is so important to get your head right - ask any successful athlete.

Your daily diet is next on the list - you need protein to build muscle, low GI carbs for energy to burn fat, lots of veggies to give you vital vitamins and minerals. Include whole grains, beans and legumes for the important B group vitamins, protein and fiber, low fat dairy for calcium and vitamins and good fats for your essential fatty acids. Each meal should be 20% protein and a range of colorful vegetables should take up half your dinner plate. Regular snacks will prevent you feeling hungry; use protein foods by making fruit smoothies on low fat dairy or soy, and add nuts and yogurt.

Cardio exercise burns body fat - start slowly with walking, swimming or cycling, and gradually build up the intensity and duration. Vary the activities so you work muscles in different ways, and make sure you warm up and cool down properly to avoid injury. Introduce interval training by changing the intensity of your workout with short bursts of intensity several times in a session.

To achieve your six pack abs, you need to do specific strengthening exercise each day. Because there are several muscles in the abdominal group, you need different actions to work all of them. Trunk twisting exercise will work the obliques muscles, those that involve raising the trunk will use the upper abs and the best lower abdominal workout uses exercises that involve leg raises. Increase the intensity by adding extra resistance.

There are strengthening exercises that you can do at home - bicycle legs, planks, V-sits and twisted crunches. Do 15 - 30 minutes daily at home and add 2 - 3 weights sessions at the gym each week. Alternate the sequence of exercises to increase the effectiveness of the best six pack abs workout and you will discover this is how to get perfect abs.