Last year I did an experiment. Being an impatient Ingrid I don't like waiting very long for the things I want. 'I want it now!' 'I wish it would hurry up!' are some of my favourite phrases.
However I had decided that I wanted a six pack. No not the type you get from the off license or Tesco. Rock hard visible abdominal muscles.
I had decided that I wanted to get fit and this was my goal. Additionally I wanted to do it in 3 weeks. Yes 3 weeks!
Having not done a workout in years I knew it would be a challenge. However I did some research and I followed what I had learned to the letter and within two weeks I had a four pack and by the end of 3 weeks I had a visible six pack.
I am going to give you a quick guide of how to get those abs you've been dreaming of with a few simple steps. I was just short of ten stone when I started and 5'10 inches so relatively slim but not in shape by any stretch of the imagination.
Obtaining six pack abs in 3 weeks is a lot to do with focus as with most goals in life. You have to start by hyping yourself up and thinking about what it is you want.
I found a picture of Mel B (spice girls) who I thought had the most amazing stomach and I put it on my screen saver as motivation to what you can achieve with hard work. You might have a different method. But it's whatever works for you.
The second thing you need to be prepared for I have just mentioned, it's work. If you aren't prepared to work you will not achieve!
Also you must believe that you can do it and are capable of it mindset is everything here no negative thoughts.
Sorry guys this is not an easy method remember we are talking about 3 weeks here. However as my late Gran used to say 'There's no such word as can't'. You can if you put your mind to it!
Diet
Diet seems to be a dirty word these days but unfortunately diet is one of the key factors of obtaining 6 pack abs in 3 weeks. Any personal trainer will tell you six pack abs start in the kitchen.
And I'm not talking about any crazy fad, Atkins, Maple syrup, cabbage soup etc etc kind of diet. When I say diet I am talking about the things that we eat the way we eat and how meals are structured throughout the day because all these things play a role in the way our body holds and burns fat.
Fad diets are not sustainable. For one thing if you are barely eating any food you will always be hungry and are likely to snack. Many people snack on junk food cause it's quick and easy to get hold of.
The first thing I did when I was beginning my mission/experiment was to ban all junk food from my diet and more importantly my house. No chocolate, no crisps, no fizzy drinks, no chips, no biscuits, no processed cheese, no processed meats.
Essentially if it's not there you wont eat it! I suppose you're thinking well what can I eat? A healthy diet. Ok so it's not rocket science but for many people understanding that we need a healthy diet is one thing but putting it into practice is something different altogether.
The best method is cut out all fats, so to clarify, that's no full fat milk, swap it for half fat milk or semi skimmed, or skimmed if you can handle it, half fat milk is till packed full of calcium but without the fat. Buy half fat cheese not processed cheeses and margarine instead of butter.
Essentially we are trying to shift fat from our bodies and build muscle. Many body builders argue that diet is more important than training and I would agree with them. However for muscle building exercises are also essential.
Protein and carbs and why I say Sod the Atkins Diet
Most of us know that carbs play a large role in weight gain and many people blame eating carbs or carbohydrates for their lack of success. Personally I think it's a lot of rubbish.
There are 5 essential food groups Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats, fibre, vitamins and minerals. We need all 5 of these food groups incorporated within our diet to remain healthy. So if you start cutting one out you would become ill.
Many people on the Atkins diet have collapsed and been admitted to hospital.The reason is carbs are essential for energy. How the heck can you exercise if you haven't got any energy from your food to do so?
A car will not run without petrol and your body can not function properly without carbs. However if you have too many carbs in your diet you will gain weight not because they are carbs but because too many carbs equals too many calories.
In the same way that if you ate too many fats you would gain weight. It's all about balance. People often say well if I cut out fats I will get sick then because they are part of my essential food groups. Very true but fats occur naturally in most foods so we aren't cutting them out we are just reducing them and as we don't need much fat to remain healthy it's perfectly ok.
My personal favourite is cakes especially the ones dripping in cream chocolate and sugar mmmm sugar. OK so I have had my Homer Simpson moment now. As gorg as they are they were the difference between me obtaining a six pack and not obtaining one.
OK so what do you eat? Proteins are great for building muscles and I would dare to say essential for this purpose. And there are several ways of getting protein into your diet. The best and most commonly used by body builders is tuna.
Tuna is very high in protein as are egg whites. I'm sure you have heard the stories of burley body builders who drink a combination of egg whites, milk and various other disgusting items in the morning. Sorry not me.
My advice make a huge salad and I'm talking massive pack it full of tomatoes, cucumber,red onions, boil a couple of eggs and remove the yokes with a sharp knife.The yoke is packed with cholesterol and eating this amount of yokes regularly could cause a heart attack so make sure you remove them.
Chop the egg whites and place them in the salad.Egg whites are very low in fat and calories and packed full of protein. Now drain a tin of tuna and add this to the salad.
Can a salad be filling? Well this one can because its packed full of protein. Protein fills you up that's why Dr Atkins recommends it so avidly. Being hungry is what causes many people to gain weight. Because when you are hungry you snack.
I would recommend making a salad for every meal and have a bread roll or a small portion of brown rice vary the contents use chicken breast, lean beef or quorn or tofu if you are vegetarian.
Sweet potatoes, cottage cheese, dahl and black eyed beans are also packed full of protein which will keep you fuller for longer and stop you snacking.
Water
You are probably thinking well why's water so important? Well the majority of the body is made up of water and we can survive longer without food than we can without water. Other drinks and foods can dehydrate the body like foods that are high in salt and high in sugar, drinks and foods packed full of caffeine can also dehydrate the body.
Often when you think you are hungry you are actually thirsty and as a result when you eat you aren't satisfying the need so you may end up eating more. So next time you think you are hungry have a glass or two of water and you may be surprised.
It is important when exercising to remain hydrated and most nutritutionists advise people to drink 2-3 litres a day of water to remain healthy. We lose a lot of fluids from our body when we sweat and obviously exercise increases the amount we sweat.
Exercise
OK this is the one that you were probably dreading I know you wish I had a magic pill that would give you a six pack. So do I, I'd be a millionaire and everyone would look like Greek Gods and Goddesses.
Well I'm not going to give you a magic pill but the good news is you don't have to do ten hours of exercise a day and eat half a slice of cucumber to achieve pleasing results.
In actual fact many dietitians and personal trainers now advise that exercising for more than an hour contrary to popular belief is actually counter productive.
After an hour the body starts burning muscle instead of fat so basically you are building muscle and then burning it off. Talk about pointless. Ideally we want to build as much muscle mass on our bodies so that we can burn calories quicker and therefore get firm and stay firm.
In the three weeks that I worked on my abs I would do the following; I would wake up in the morning and do 500 crunches then I would eat breakfast usually a bowl of porridge or boiled egg whites and a slice of wholemeal bread.
After about 20 minutes I would do an hour of cycling on my exercise bike, 15 minutes to warm up so light to moderate cycling then 30 minutes of moderate/hard cycling then 15 minutes cool down so moderate to light pace.
The warm up and warm down is important because it stops you getting strains and cramps and helps you to get into the groove so to speak. The 30 minutes in the middle and this is essential must raise your heart rate because this is what burns fat/calories.
Without burning the fat you can do a million crunches but your six pack will not be visible. I used a bike because that's what convenient for me but running,jogging and swimming will all do the same thing. As I said the key here is to raise your heart rate. You should be out of breath doing this.
It's not what you do it's how you do it.
Have you ever met a person who tells you they spend 4 hours at the gym and thought; 'well considering you do that you don't look that great?' I know I have.
I like training and I'm sure that some people go and train as much for social reasons as for health ones. However as I said earlier I am impatient and I want results just as soon as possible.
If you have got this far into the article I'm assuming you do too. But spending 2 hours walking at snails pace on the treadmill or swimming slowly or cycling as gently as you can will NOT BURN CALORIES. I'm sorry but it wont. It may be comfortable and relaxing but so is sitting in front of Eastenders eating a cream cake I should know.
Seriously though if you don't feel tired when you have finished then there is something wrong. Don't get me wrong eventually your recovery rate will improve and you will probably sweat less but burning calories is hard work.
The point I'm trying to make is you need to put in the work for 30 minutes a day and you will see the results. I promise.
The second part of my workout routine I would finish at the end of my day. So following the cycling I'd get showered and carry on with my day. Eating healthy drinking water etc etc. Just before I went to bed I would do another 500 crunches and then sleep.
Because the body still burns fat when you are sleeping and repairs itself so this is a nice way 1000 crunches into a day. And believe me after 500 crunches you sleep very well.
Sit-ups vs Crunches
The information I have read on situps and experienced is very disturbing. A close friend of mine used to do situps when she was younger over 100 a day. She now suffers with her back and she's only 28.
I used to go to the gym 4 times a week and do around 100 situps a time and I never gained a six pack. Mainly because sit ups don't focus on the abs. A lot of the pressure is on your back when you do a sit up and I suspect it would take years to gain a six pack this way.
However crunches to me are a body builder's gold. They are simple, easy and VERY EFFECTIVE. I read dozens of articles on their benefits and went onto lots of forums where they were discussed.
However I can honestly say until I actually incorporated them into my workout I didn't realise how good they really are.
Leg lifts are also particularly effective for tightening the lower abdominal muscles and again not that difficult. Other people use the plank or press ups to obtain their abs.
However I found crunches the quickest and most sustainable exercise for me.
Discipline
Eating a clean diet is so important but so is exercise. For those of you reading this who have a substantial amount of body fat I am not going to lie it will take a little longer for you to get a six pack.
But if you cut out the rubbish from your diet and do a lot of cardio training as detailed above around 30 minutes of training a day and the abdominal exercises you will see a difference and within a few months you will have a six pack.
Everyone can get one with the right focus and discipline. Just keep your mind on what you want and don't focus on the body you have because very soon you will have the body you want.
When you are taking a long journey you don't spend the whole time complaining you are not there yet.
You might observe signs and work out how close you are but you know you will get there eventually. Believe you can have it and you will achieve it. All the best with it!
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