Be Healthily Ripped and Buff: Five Nutrition Tips for Getting those Six Pack Abs

Hello everyone.  Today’s article is a guest post from Nick Clipton who manages and writes for the weight gain blog: http://www.buildingbodymuscles.com/.  Nick’s blog contains lots of fantastic muscle building information and also reviews many of the top body building programs so feel free to check it out after you have finished reading.

—–

If there’s one area in the body which is considered to be a chore in any workout routine, that is none other than the abdominal area. Nobody welcomes the thought of having to spend endless hours doing crunches, sit-ups and other stomach-targeting exercises just so that you can have ripped, six pack abs.

Fortunately, abdominal developing exercises can easily be combined with watching your food intake to make sure that you are getting the best nutrition possible. This way, it will be easier for you to achieve your goal of getting rid of that beer belly and developing the six pack abs that you’ve always wanted to have.

Five Nutrition Tips for Getting Six Pack Abs

To start right off, here’s the cardinal rule in getting six pack abs. Aside from the regular abdominal developing exercises that you have, you should have a healthy, nutritious diet to go along with it.

There’s no sense in wearing your self off doing hundreds of crunches a day if you will just eat your heart out right after a strenuous workout.  Remember that the only way to uncover those rippled, chiseled muscles on your abdominal area is to get rid of the underlying fat – and this can only be done with proper diet.

Here are the five nutrition tips that you need to remember so that you can be on your way towards getting those six pack abs:

1. Have a detoxifying diet.
It’s good to start off your six pack abs program by undergoing a detoxifying diet which will help rid your body of the potentially harmful toxins. Fill up your grocery cart with food items like fruits, veggies, rice, healthy grains, beans, nuts and seed, olive oil and green tea. You should also drink plenty of water to up the ante in your detoxification diet.

2. Watch your intake of carbohydrates.
As a general rule, the energy being used up by your body comes from the calories in carbohydrates.  Once the carbs are already used up, the body utilizes fat and then the muscles as a source of energy.  As such, when you reduce your carbs intake, the only thing that will be left for your body to use is fat.

3. Pump up the protein content of your diet.
If the usual way that people describe you is that ’skinny guy’ and you want to develop six pack abs, then you do need to amp up the protein content of your diet. Protein is the primary component of gaining muscle mass, boosting your metabolism and eventually displaying those ripped, six pack abs.

4. Eat smaller meals more frequently within the day.
You may have already heard about this tip many times in the past, and it is with good reason. By eating smaller meals throughout the day, your metabolism will increase and more fat will be burned in the process.

Eating more frequently throughout the day will also result to a reduction in the hormone called cortisol which causes an increase in belly fat.

5. Drink plenty of water.
To cap off your six pack abs nutrition program, make sure to drink lots of water. This will benefit both your exercise program and nutrition program by allowing your kidneys to function at optimal level.  It also leads your liver to metabolize fat at a more efficient level. So if you want to have a really effective six pack abs nutritional program, drink up!

3 Stomach Toning Abdominal Exercises

A lot of people who exercise regularly strive for a ‘washboard stomach’ or ’six pack abs’. Along with the arms, the abdominal muscles are one of the muscle groups most focussed upon by exercisers. Toned abdominals are a great focal point for both men and women and can really enhance the look of your whole body. In this article we will discuss The Ab-Wheel, The Bicycle and Hindu Push-Ups. All of these are simple, quick and effective exercises which will help strengthen your abdominals in no time at all.

1) THE AB-WHEEL:- For this exercise you need the equipment of the same name. It is basically just a small wheel with a short bar in the middle, that has hand grips on either side.

• To begin, kneel down on the floor with your knees pushed together and place the wheel on the floor in front of you. Grab the wheel with your hands and lock your arms out straight.
• When you are in position roll the wheel forward slowly until your arms and hands are in front of your head. You should be between three and six inches off the floor but make sure your body doesn’t actually touch the floor.
• After this reverse the motion, arch your back and pull yourself back to the starting point (using your abs).
• Remember to take deep breaths as you start and breathe out as you stretch forward when performing this exercise. One set is represented by between seven to ten repetitions.

2) THE BICYCLE:- For this exercise lay down flat on the floor and make sure you press your lower back downwards.

• To begin, place your hands behind your head, with your fingers laced together.
• Next, bring your knees up to your chest and begin to rotate them at close to 45 degrees. The motion should resemble peddling a bicycle.
• As you are performing the peddling motion, touch your left elbow to your right knee and then your right elbow to your left knee.

3) HINDU PUSH UPS:- For this exercise you need to get on your hands and knees and spread your legs very wide with your rear end up.

• To begin, bend your elbows (like a common push up) and bring your back downward in an arc.
• Then straighten your arms so that your back is arched upwards with your hips just above the ground.

A combination of the above abdominal exercises will help you strengthen your stomach muscles. If you breathe deeply whilst performing these exercises you can also strengthen your lungs, build upper body strength, increase your endurance and improve your flexibility. Perform these exercises for a minimum of five minutes a day and you will notice the change in your abdominal strength.

Remember that strong, toned abdominal muscles are just the first step towards having a great looking stomach. You also need to reduce the layer of fat around your stomach area. Make sure that you incorporate lots of fruit and vegetables into your diet. Also, drink plenty of water. Finally, make sure that you remain active and regularly perform cardiovascular exercise. If you follow these simple steps and incorporate the above three exercises into your daily routine you will be on your way towards having those great looking abs you have always dreamed of.

*****

If you found these abdominal exercises useful you may want to read Firm and Flatten your Abs, an excellent guide to toning your abdominal muscles. It contains an additional 44 abdominal exercise accompanied by over 100 exercise photographs.