Every night before I go to bed, I see infomercials for ab machines on TV. They always promise easy results and a washboard stomach. Three hundred dollars later (in only 30 easy payments of $9.99), I've realized that this isn't the case. How can I get ripped abs? Is there an easy way?
- Flabby-bellied senior
Getting a cut midsection may not be as easy as they say in the infomercials (unless you happen to be Alton from MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge), but it's not rocket science.
There are two main obstacles to having a six-pack. The first is that many people have a layer of fat covering their midsection. The second is that our abdominal muscles - which exist for everyone regardless of how much fat is on top of them - may not be properly developed. Each of these issues must be tackled before you develop abs that you feel comfortable showing off.
First let's take a closer look at diet. To get rid of the layer of fat covering your abs, there are a few steps to take. The first is to focus on a healthy diet to discourage your body from packing on layers of fat. Increase your fruit and vegetable consumption - which provides fiber and other nutrients without being high in calories - and decrease your late-night eating.
Another great way to decrease calorie consumption is to drink more water instead of other beverages. A glass of orange juice has 110 calories. A can of soda has 140. To burn a pound of fat, you need to have a calorie deficit of 3500 calories. You do the math. The third thing to do is to increase your cardio and/or make your lifting sessions more intense (i.e. decrease rest periods and increase volume).
The second main problem is the way in which we train our abs. A lot of people get in the gym and do hundreds of crunches and dozens of bicycles. Would you do 100 biceps curls if you were trying to get definition in your arms? No. Then why are you doing so many reps for ab exercises? The answer for a lot of people is that ten crunches don't give them a 'burn.'
The solution to this problem shouldn't be to do more reps, but to increase resistance. Hold a medicine ball on your chest as you crunch. Do some sit-ups with a dumbbell behind your head. Do Russian twists with a weight plate in your hands. Train your abs like you would train another muscle: Use moderate rep ranges and progressively increasing resistance. Start following my advice now and you'll be thanking me when Spring Break comes.
I've been a pretty consistent lifter for about six months. I've seen good gains so far in both size and strength, but lately I've been feeling like I'm hitting a plateau. I read your article last semester about overtraining and have been careful not to overdo it. Can you give me any advice how I can change up my workout to make some new gains?
- Sophomore who has some extra tickets to the gun show
First of all, great work so far. If you've been consistently lifting for six months and are just starting to see your gains, you must have been doing something right. If you haven't already tried doing some new exercises and changing your rep ranges, then that should be your first step. If you have been switching the angles that you are working your muscles and have been altering numbers of repetitions and still not seeing gains, here are some other ideas to help burst through that plateau.
Try working in some negatives in order to focus on the eccentric (lengthening) phase of the muscle contraction. This sort of training will involve loading 10 to 15 percent more weight on than you would normally lift and receiving help from a spotter to actually lift the weight. Your goal is to slowly lower the weight over the course of seven to 10 seconds. Working the muscle on the downward motion helps build mass and strength and is a great way to break new ground.
Another idea is to try isometric holds, which are static repetitions in which you exert enough force on a weight to maintain its position. Try isometric holds along various points on the range of motion of an exercise, holding for five to 10 seconds at each point. Mixing in different methods of working a muscle other than a regular lifting motion is a good way to shock your body into making new gains.
