Summer is now almost upon us, which means barbeques, parties, long days, short nights, warmer weather, and plenty of hot sunshine and days on the beach or basking in the sun. When the weather’s warm we like nothing more than to strip down and enjoy the weather, possibly even topping up our tans, providing we’re sensible that is.
The problem with that is that if you’re not in shape and are carrying way more body fat than you should be carrying, the last thing you’ll want to be doing is to strip down and go topless on the beach, or even your backyard for that matter.
As far as the perfect physique goes, most people agree that a set of shredded six-pack abs is the way to go, which is why so many men drive themselves crazy trying to gain a set of abs in the first place. Building a set of shredded six-pack abs is not easy, but if you follow our advice, the entire process will become that little bit easier for you so that you can strut your stuff proudly on the beach this year.
Do More Cardio
People seem under the illusion that the secret to achieving a six-pack is to perform nothing but sit-ups and stomach crunches every single day. While those core exercises do indeed play an integral part of building a six-pack, if your body fat percentages are too high, you won’t be able to make out your abs in the slightest, as they’ll be hidden away under a layer of fat.
For the abs to become visible, generally we need to get our body fat percentages to around 13% or below. Anything above that and the abs will not be visible. Cardio plays a key role in the burning of body fat, and so for that reason, you must ensure you’re performing plenty of cardio each week to achieve the most noticeable results.
Don’t go crazy with the sit-ups
Another common misconception associated with six-packs is that we need to be performing over 1000 sit-ups and stomach crunches a day for our abs to become visible. It is complete nonsense and is a total waste of time.
Ab exercises are essential, but 1000 reps are not. Instead, something as simple as two ab and core exercises, with three working sets of around 30 reps, performed two or three times a week is more than adequate when it comes to building up the abs. If you’re doing 1000 sit-ups per day, stop it as not only is it a waste of time, you could even potentially end up overtraining, which is the last thing you want.
Clean up your diet
If you’re serious about achieving a set of shredded six-pack abs this summer, your diet is going to need some major cleaning up as keeping your body fat percentages low enough for the abs to become visible is essential. Forget beer, forget pizza, and forget any other form of processed junk food because for the next few weeks, even months.
You’re going to want to be eating nothing but healthy, nutrient-dense, natural products to ensure that your body fat percentages remain, or drop down, low enough for the abs to become visible.
Vary your workouts
One of the most common mistakes that people tend to make when trying to get a set of shredded six-pack ABS is to stick with the same exercises and the same routines for their ABS and their cores week in and week out. They’ll go into the gym, finish off their ABS, and will perform the same exercises, typically crunches, every single week without fail. While crunches and sit-ups are indeed very beneficial, many other ABS exercises are just as practical.
In reality, you should vary your workouts and mix and match between callisthenics and HIIT, so that your core and your ABS don’t get used to being put through the same workout every single week. Remember, the trick to growth and progress is to keep the body guessing, so mix things up and add a little variety to your AB workouts and you’ll be amazed by what a difference it can make.
Carb-cycling
Carb-cycling, also known as carb-rotating, is one of the most effective diets and nutritional strategies for stripping away those last few ounces of stubborn body fat to reveal the lean, ripped, and chiselled six-pack ABS hiding underneath.
Carb cycling is ideal because it will trick the body into using your last few ounces of body fat for energy, rather than carbohydrates. You will generally have high carb days, medium carb days, and low carb days. The idea behind the medium and low carb days is to drain away from the last remaining traces of glycogen from your muscles, which in turn will force the body to turn into body fat for energy instead.
The high carb days replenish glycogen stores which will make you more efficient in the gym and will again help to ensure that when the glycogen has gone, that your body once again taps into your body fat because it will think that it is starving.
Think about using a fat-burning supplement
Thermogenic fat burning supplements are currently more popular than ever. When you see some of the fantastic products available from some of the most reputable and most effective companies in the world, it’s easy to understand why.
Getting a sick pack is all about getting your body fat percentages as low as possible, generally below 12%, which is not easy, even with healthy eating and plenty of exercises. Fat burning supplements help to raise core body temperatures, which in turn result in more calories being burnt, and more energy being created as a result.
It means that not only are you burning more calories, but you’re also getting more power to become more active in the process, so it’s a win-win situation. Just make sure that you purchase from trusted sellers and companies, and that you use them responsibly, as these supplements
