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Get Ripped Abs

The Key To Getting Ripped Abs

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What Not To eat

Most people struggle with self-control, so avoid having tempting foods in the house and going shopping while hungry. Anything that raises blood sugars too high has to be avoided. Enemy No. 1 is sugar and sugar-containing foods. This also includes starchy foods, since these are rapidly broken down into sugar in the gut. This means no bread, pasta, pizza, cookies, doughnuts, cake, breakfast cereals, crackers, puddings, ice cream, waffles, high-fructose fruit juice, sodas, artificial sweeteners, canned creamy soups, dried fruit and noodles. No deep-fried foods like French fries, fried chicken, fish sticks, potato chips or anything with batter on it. Milk and cream need to be restricted since they are high in calories and actually raise insulin without raising blood glucose. Alcohol intake during your fat loss diet should be kept to a minimum since it contains empty calories.

Breaking Through the Plateau

Follow the dietary advice given here, and you’re guaranteed to lose fat. Everyone responds differently, however, and fat loss might stagnate before you can see a six-pack develop. Here are a few tips to tweak your diet and lifestyle if your fat loss has plateaued:

1. Feeling hungry? Eat less but more frequently. Snacking is not a good idea.
2. Tired or stressed? Chronic sleep deprivation causes cortisol levels to rise, and this leads to fat deposition around the abdomen. Get some sleep and adopt strategies to manage stress.
3. Reduce carb portions to a half-fist.
4. Remove carbs from your evening meal. Eat meat and veggies only.
5. Keep the majority of your carbs for days on which you train. Consume most of them after your workout.
6. Cut out nuts, cheese, fruit, and alcohol completely until you’ve reached your goal.

Hit Your Core

Forget about running long distances on the treadmill to lose fat. Do 20-minute high-intensity interval training sessions two to three times per week instead. Sprints, rope-jumping, biking, swimming and rowing are great examples. Once you've burned the fat that was hiding your abs, build up your abs so that they stand out more. Heavy compound exercises like squats, deadlifts and shoulder presses work your abs far harder than sit-ups or crunches. To target your abs specifically, incorporate these exercises into your workout:

1. Stability: Work your core with the classic plank. Hold a push-up position (or on your elbows) for 30 seconds, working up to 60. Too easy? Try the extended plank with your arms out in front of you or the star plank with your arms and legs out in an X-formation.

2. Flexion: Hanging leg raises target your abs better than sit-ups. Hang from a pull-up bar and use your abs to pull your legs up until horizontal (L-sit position). Slowly lower them all the way back and avoid swinging. Do three sets of 12-15 reps. Too easy? Pull your legs up until your feet touch the bar.

3. Rotation: If you work out your obliques too hard, they’ll give your waist a wide appearance.  Russian twists are a great way to develop them without adding too much mass. Sit with your legs elevated and your torso leaned back with your back straight. From this V-sit position, rotate your rib cage to the left and touch the floor with both hands, return and rotate to the right. Do three reps of 12 reps each side. Too easy? Hold a medicine ball or a 45-pound plate.

How Bad Do Want It?

For a lot of us, getting a six-pack is hard work, and keeping it might even be harder. Keep yourself motivated by monitoring your progress. Measure your waist circumference weekly and, if you’re able to, your body-fat percentage. If you want to get ultra-serious, keep a food journal. A study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine showed that dieters who kept food journals lost about twice as much weight as those who didn’t. The reason why is because people felt more accountable whenever they had to write down what they ate. Accountability is a powerful motivator, so tell your friends about your goals and ask for their support. If a buddy tempts you with cake, punch him in the gut to remind him why having abs of steel are important!