Getting those washboard abs – the unpopular truth!

The majority of people typically think of exercises (mostly crunches and sit-ups) when they are considering going for that perfect set of abs … possibly for the first time in their life.

Unfortunately, it's really going to need 4 separate but related activities to get the type of abs you see highlighted in magazines and movies; there aren't any short cuts, sadly. All the activities are necessary and they're focused on creating the all-important combination – lose the fat while building the muscle.

Your Diet

The single biggest issue here is, you can spend the rest of your life working out with crunches but if you still have too much body fat, you'll never have six-pack abs.

So, one key thing is that your diet has to be one that supports fat loss. First thing being, think about calories — you need to eat fewer calories than you burn. Second, you need a good balance of protein, carb, and healthy fat. You need the protein because you want to build muscle and also to help muscle recover from exercise; and, protein can help with appetite control. You need carbs for energy. And healthy fat because some forma of fat – not those in a burger or ice cream, I might add – are an essential part of a balanced diet.

Cardio Exercise

Why cardio exercises, specifically? Because 3500 calories = 1 lb of fat, so if you want to eliminate the layer of fat that hides the abs, cardio helps to burn the calories, and therefore burn the fat.

Strength exercises

Strength training has the biggest impact on the metabolism … meaning, if you perform strength training regularly, you'll literally put your body in a position where the metabolism speeds up and … you've guessed it, your burn fat more quickly. Large muscle exercises – squats, bench presses, lunges, etc – performed regularly will have a bigger impact on metabolism even than cardio and certainly more than small muscle exercises (bicep curls, for example) although it all helps. The faster you burn the fat … the faster you get those ripped abs you're working so hard for.

Abs-specific exercises

And only now do we come to the exercises that most people have in mind from the outset – crunches, sit-ups, and leg-lifts in all their variety.

So, this is the path you need to take for great abs; but the biggest obstacle isn't actually associated with any of these. The biggest challenge is in your head, and it's this – are you willing to pay the price?