Workout Your Abs
Do you find that even though there are innumerable ab workout programs out there, it becomes nigh on imposssible to choose which one will be the best one to follow when trying to get your abs into a ripped 6 pack. After all with all this information it can be hard to work out exactly where to get started and what is in fact the best way to workout abs.
What you need to do when you start working out your core muscles, is bear in mind that the different routines all work whether it be going for high reps and light weights or heavy weights and low reps, using a stability ball, whatever, these will all work at least until your body becomes conditioned to it, then it needs to be challenged again in a different way to keep the progress going.
Ideally when working out your abs, you should start off with your own body weight on a stable platform, and look to increase the intensity of it until you are using heavy weights on an unstable platform. Following this procedure will allow you to progress with some good results, because what happens when ending out on an unstable base, this forces all of your core muscles to work, especially the really deep ones that do not get called in to play much when you are using a stable basewill cause even the deepest of your core muscles, which generally do not get called in to play much, to work.
If you are unclear as to what I mean by doing floor work with a stable base, then this is simply doing your crunches on the floor. Then to make it unstable you would progress to doing these exercises on something unstable such as a gym ball and then make it more intense by adding weight into the mix too.
Now to get the ripped six pack look you are going to need to do a weighted movements, I mean you can always achieve a flat belly that looks slim with no abs showing, however, that is not really what we are trying to achieve. That is why we need to add the weight into the mix, as we are going after the ab muscle itself and the only true way to develop this muscle is by using a machine to do weighte crunches, or getting on a ball and doing the crunches holding a weight. It is important during your ab exercises to make sure you are crunching your upper abs onto your lower abs during each rep. The reason for this is to maximize the burn and get the full development of the ab muscle.
Although there are ab workouts out there for the lower abs and the upper abs, really you should just think about working them both out at the same time whenever you train your abs. The reason I say this is that you cannot totally separate upper and lower, so why not just focus on working them all in the first place. Of course, if you feel that you do want to try and exercise them seperately, then exercises such as leg raises will do the trick. Also, just as before, if you want to you can progress leg raises from stable, to weighted to unstable to unstable and weighted
One of the key areas in all of your workout plans and not just ab workouts is how often to train them, after all you may well know the body works best when it is fully recovered from the previous workout. So bearing that in mind, train them as often as you want as long as you are recovered. If you are finding you are not making any progress then you need more rest in between training them.
The last point on this subject is that your abs are under a layer of fat, so in order to make sure you get a razor sharp six pack, as well as the weighted exercises, you need to ensure that you have cardio in your plan and that you watch your calorie intake too.
Also do not forget to consult with your physician before undertaking any exercise regime
