Five Tips to Tighten Your Abs for the Summer

The warm weather is finally here and with it so are the shorter shirts, tighter pants and bathing suits. If you’re like most people you probably wish your abs looked more like Taylor Lautner’s or Jennifer Aniston’s. For so many people the hardest part of carving out their abs is starting. It is hard to do certain ab exercises in the beginning and that makes it difficult on you mentally to stick with it. Here are some tips to give you the best chance to get off on the right foot and stay on it:

1.       Take your time: You are not going to go from way overweight to chiseled overnight. If you allow yourself the time to change your body you will stay more motivated for longer. If you’re overweight take the proper steps (which I’ll discuss below) to lose those unwanted pounds while you begin to strengthen your abs. Once you are down to your goal weight you can really focus in on bringing your abs out.

2.       Diet is crucial: It doesn’t matter how hard you train your body or your abs, if you eat garbage you will never shred out your abs. I recommend that for most people they need to increase their protein and quality fat (avocado, olives, walnuts, fish, eggs, etc…) intake and back off on their starchy carbs and sugar intake. I don’t love excessively low calorie diets because they are almost impossible to sustain for the long run, I do love putting the proper foods in your body. So, think quality before quantity.

3.       Train your total abs: I see people in the gym and many of them train their middle to upper abs. I don’t see them training their low abs, obliques or hips enough. Work exercises where you have to pick your knees or feet up such as leg lifts to engage your low abs, work torque exercises such as Russian twists or med ball throws to engage your obliques, and work resisted (with a band) side to side shuffles to train your hips and glutes. If you train the abs and the areas around your abs you will see a much better “picture.”

4.       Train different styles of ab movements: When I do see people working different types of exercises I usually see them doing those movements all at the same pace and intensity. It is important to mix up the pace, mix up the weights of the resistance, and mix up the movement itself. Your body needs to constantly see new ideas and movements to continue to positively change without plateau. 

5.       Stop staring at your abs in the mirror: Instead of paying attention to the look of your body I think that you should pay attention to how your workouts are progressing. Are you able to move more weight, are you moving faster, or are you able to do exercises that at one point you weren’t able to? If the answer is yes then your body is beginning to change and it will shape up to adapt to its new abilities.

Your abs can be a sore spot of your body or they can be a highlight of your look. If you are willing to put in the intensity over the long haul you can shape your abs and your entire body.  It isn’t easy but it is absolutely worth your time and effort.  Good luck!

Jim Crowell

www.if-fit.com

412-254-FiTT (3488)