A lot of people start a fitness program with the dream of a flatter abdomen and tighter abdominals. The attractive midsection is the epitome of a fit body. When you have that sleek midsection, you're more confident, it feels great and you look your best. All are worthy fitness goals, but require a worthy effort to achieve.
Unfortunately, most individuals quit soon after starting with no results and more miserable than before - falling victim to unrealistic expectations and lack of information. The familiar problem stems from not really knowing how to go about attaining the goal, what is required beyond area targeted exercises, and that abdominal exercises actually play a minor role in achieving the kind of body they want. If a flatter stomach and tighter abs interests you, consider some of these tips on how to truly go about it. These tips are going to save you time and help you get a lot better results.
#1 - Ease Into It.
When initially starting out, one the most essential things to remember is to ease into the training and not overindulge. If you injure yourself or find the exercises too challenging because you pushed too hard, you're more likely to give up and not continue.
Begin with easy exercises that still challenge you and then progress slowly from there as you settle into the first movements. Increment the level of difficulty deliberately as you gain acceptable strength and endurance.
#2 - Start With Some Cardio.
It's important to mention performing hundreds upon hundreds of situps or ab crunches will not decrease belly fat and give you chiselled abdominals. It will be required to work the fat off from your entire body since genetics determines where the fat will come off first and at what rate. Cardio activities like walking, jogging, cycling and swimming are a good place to start since they allow you to start the calorie burning process slowly and at your own pace. Most everybody is familiar with these activities so they're not intimidating for most beginners and they provide a solid foundation for a well-rounded fitness program.
#3 - Bring On The Metabolic.
Once you're comfy with the cardio activities, it's time to get a little more advanced and add some metabolic or interval training such as circuit workouts, bootcamp classes or suspension training. These workouts are meant to be performed at higher intensities for shorter periods, so you can increase your cardiovascular efficiency, ramp up your metabolic rate and burn more calories. Metabolic training is very effective because it works large muscle groups at 70% capacity and more and ultimately keeps your body out of it's comfort zone. These types of workouts can and should be tough. If you're doing more than two or three metabolic training sessions per week, you may be over doing it.
#4 - Now Tone Those Abs.
Now that the fat burning activities are successfully under way, it's time to incorporate the last portion of this fitness program. It's a good occasion to integrate some ab isolation movements in order to tone and strengthen the abdominal muscles further. Isolating ab muscles means only using the abdominal muscles for any given exercise while trying to ensure the use of other muscles is kept to a minimum. In this case, form is vitally important when you do your ab exercises. You need to feel the ab muscles contracting with every movement. If you don't feel the contraction, then you need to amend your form since you likely haven't isolated the abs sufficiently. As mentioned previously, ab exercises should be performed slowly with focused attention on proper form.
Certainly, proper breathing technique is another element (and frequently ignored) that is particularly important during ab exercises. A normal mistake done by many beginners is holding your breath. Straining and temporarily elevated blood pressure is a direct consequence of holding one's breath during exercise. Proper breathing form should coincide with proper exercise form. Breathing out during the lifting phase of the exercise will squeeze the ab muscles to a greater extent and make the movement more effectual. Inhale throughout the lowering phase of the exercise while keeping even tension on the abdominals. The lowering phase should be slow and deliberate just like the lifting phase.
#5 - Variety Increases Success.
Lastly, engaging in a variety of exercises and keeping your program fresh is a enormous advantage to any fitness program. A variety of exercises alleviates boredom, maintains motivation, and keeps things fresh and fun. When it comes to isolation exercises, performing a variety of movements allows you to work the abdominals from different angles and hit all regions.
One of the best pieces of exercise equipment that is excellent for both variety and motivation are body weight based suspension trainers. Suspension trainers such as the TRX ProPack, Jungle Gym XT, Human Trainer and the Freestyle Trainer Pro allow for literally hundreds of exercises that engage the abs and core region. Consequently, they are perfect for metabolic and interval training. Visit FitnessCulture and have a look at the TRX Suspension Trainer review to learn more about suspension training.
Common to any fitness goal, it's essential to remember, you are the one who will decide whether you will be successful. A quote by Henry Ford once stated, "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you are right". A positive confident attitude is the single most important factor to succeeding at anything you set out to do. With the right attitude, consistent training, a good diet, proper form and the appropriate amount of time, you will get the flatter stomach and tighter abs you desire. As an added bonus, you will get the substantial benefits being fit.
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