Posted on February 28th, 2008 by Shannon Clark  •  Filed under: Health, Training

Probably one of the top requests people have with regards to their fitness/training goals is getting that six-pack. Whether you want to believe it or not, having a set of toned abs symbolizes someone who is in shape because very few people are genetically lucky enough to naturally have abs – and those that do, we typically hate!

Unfortunately, many people go about chasing after defined abs in a very wrong manner.

Ask one of these individual’s who is highly coveting their own set of abs what they’re doing and they’ll likely tell you, ‘lots of ab work’. Crunch after crunch after crunch. Hours are spent on the mats in the gyms doing core work in hopes of achieving their goal.

While this is great – don’t get me wrong, a strong core is extremely important for prevention of injuries as well as overall body fitness, all those crunches are not going to get the job done as far as your six-pack is concerned.

If such an approach worked, why aren’t the millions of people taking up space on the ab mats all walking around with abs of steel?

The answer is because their diets are not in order.

Ever heard the saying, ‘abs are made in the kitchen’? If not, it’s about time you did. Make no mistake about it; diet is going to be about 80% of the equation when it comes to seeing your abs. If your abs are in hiding under a nice layer of fat, it doesn’t matter how strong you build them, they’ll still be hidden.

If you want to see them when you look in the mirror, it’s time to bring them out of hiding. Diet is what’s going to get you there.
Ideally, you want to be consume protein and carbohydrates around the workout period in order to fuel and recover from your workouts. Then, in effort to maintain your insulin levels and prevent hunger and accumulation of body fat, have meals composed of protein, fat, and slow digesting carbohydrates for the remainder of the day.

Remember too that your total calorie intake must be less than you are burning, therefore the most assured way of getting those abs to be revealed is to track this number. Yes, it will take slightly more time and effort on your part, but if you really want this goal accomplished, it’s something you need to do.

So, next time you find yourself sweating it out on the ab mat, ask yourself what you ate that day so far. If it’s been less than optimal, you need to spend a little less time doing ab crunches and a little more time planning your diet. Do that and I guarantee you’ll start getting some noticeable results.