Beach Body Abs Diet
The first thing you’re going to have to change will
be your diet. It goes without saying that even if you had
the best abs in the world, it will still look pretty ordinary
if a layer of bodyfat covers it. Diet plays a crucial role
in defining your midsection so some modifications will be
required in order for your body to look it’s best.
To begin with, get into the habit of using a diet log to
keep track of your meals. Everyone is less likely to cheat
when they know they have to write down everything they’ve
eaten each day. An elaborate journal isn’t necessary
either; a simple notepad can work just fine. Also, begin
switching to six small meals a day now instead of three
larger ones to help rev up your metabolism as well as prevent
the stretching of the stomach and the abdominal walls which
occurs when one gorges themselves in food.
Next, you’ll want to start creating a slight caloric
deficit each day to help burn away the bodyfat. It is recommended
that you work on losing only a pound or two, a week, of
bodyfat. The weekly loss of any more weight than this, for
the typical person, probably includes substantial amounts
of water weight and muscle tissue and can wreck havoc on
your metabolism. Remember, it’s the bodyfat that’s
covering your abs that you’ll want to lose so a good
rule of thumb is to cut back your daily energy requirements
by only around 500 calories a day.
Now if you’re not sure what your daily energy requirements
are for your current bodyweight (or the amount of calories
you will have to consume each day to stay at your current
weight), you can use this easy-to-remember formula as a
guide. To estimate your daily total caloric needs, multiply
24 times 1.0 (if you’re a man) or 0.9 (if you’re
a woman) by each kilogram of bodyweight you weigh. Then
multiply that result by 1.7 (for a moderately active man)
or 1.6 (for a moderately active woman).
(Men) 1.7 x 24 x 1.0 x bodyweight (in kg)
(Women) 1.6 x 24 x 0.9 x bodyweight (in kg)
To determine how many kilograms you weigh, divide your
bodyweight in pounds by 2.2. Remember though that this formula
is only a guide. It is highly recommended that you use the
formula as a starting point, and then pay close attention
to your body in order to fine-tune your calories according
to how your body responds to your efforts. Look at your
body in a mirror, if it doesn’t appear (or feel) as
if your body is losing any weight after a week or two, then
reduce the amount of calories you ingest even more.
Cardio
You’ll next want to start including cardio (aerobic
exercises) into your weekly routine. There are few short-term
options that can burn calories and strip away the bodyfat
better than sessions of aerobic activities. It is no coincidence
that even top-level bodybuilders will steadily increase
their cardio workouts as a contest approaches to help really
bring out their muscle definition. Begin by working out
3-4 times per week for 20 to 30 minutes at a time on a treadmill
or a stationary exercise bike. Then work your way up to
more intense sessions of at least moderate intensity for
45 minutes or longer by weeks 3 and 4. The last few weeks
before you hit the beach, you’ll want to include interval
training into your routine to really help blast away the
last few pounds of bodyfat.
Beach Body Abs Workout
Spot-reducing your way to abdominal definition is a myth.
It is impossible to localize fat loss over any one specific
area of your body and is the reason why it is important
for you to also watch your diet and include aerobic training
if you truly wish to showcase some beach-body abs. But the
inclusion of some solid abdominal training is still important
for great abs. Strengthening the abdominal wall will tone
and help reduce, if not prevent, any unnecessary sagging
of the belly. Also, abdominal workouts will certainly develop
the muscles of the ab (particularly the rectus abdominus
and the external obliques) and enable them to easily become
more visible, sharper and tight.
While there are literally hundreds of abdominal exercises
to choose from, it is important that several considerations
are first kept in mind before performing any of them. First,
it is strongly recommended that you learn how to focus on
feeling the contraction of your abs when exercising and
really squeeze the muscle at the top of any rep. There are
many individuals out there who lay claim to performing several
hundred sit-ups per day, but it is the quality that counts
here and not necessarily the quantity.
Become more efficient when performing your abdominal exercises
and allow the muscle do the work and do not use the mechanical
involvement of other bodyparts or even momentum to help
swing the body in order to complete any reps. Additionally,
make sure that you maintain continuous tension while performing
your reps and never allow your body to rest at the bottom
of a movement. Finally, be sure to breathe in during the
relaxation phase of your movements and exhale during the
contraction phase of the reps.
Having now prepared yourself, choose three exercises to
perform for your abs and complete 2 sets, of 15 –
20 reps on each exercise, three times a week. Once again,
focus on squeezing the muscle at the top of the movement
and go in a slow, deliberate manner during each repetition.
Recommended abdominal exercises for beginners during their
first week would be crunches (with legs supported on a bench),
seated twists, and knee-ups or lying leg raises.
As the next few weeks progresses and your conditioning
improves, you will need to increase the intensity factor
for the abs to really shine. Begin by increasing the number
of sets of each exercise from two to three and then add
additional, more advanced, movements to allow for up to
five exercises for your abs. Recommended abdominal exercises
during this stage could include reverse crunches, crunches
on an incline board, vertical leg raises, medicine-ball
twists and decline-bench twisting crunches. You literally
have from hundreds of movements to choose from. During the
last two weeks before you hit the beach, begin cutting back
on the rest time between your sets and also start to include
supersets of your exercises in which you complete one set
of each exercise without stop.
While there are still other factors that could be included
for consideration of your ab training, consistently eating
a lean diet, performing cardio work and exercising your
abs with sufficient intensity will always remain at its
core. Put in the work on those three tenets of abdominal
development and you’ll be sure to possess a beach-body
that will look great in a bathing suit and absolutely turn
heads this summer!
>>
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