6-Pack-Abs | Fitness | Healthy Body | Workout

Six-Pack-Abs: My Personal Philosophy on How To Get Them!

Oh sure, there are hundreds of articles on how to get 6-pack-abs. So, what the heck, I’m throwing my ideas into the mix as well!

Some people already know this, but if you don’t, I’m going to tell you. Just like any other muscle, working on your mid section, or your core, or your ab area, is the best way to strengthen the muscles in that area and, therefore, achieve those great looking abs, the elusive six pack abs, if you will.

I just made a whole bunch of personal trainers just spit their smoothies out with that statement! BUT, have no fear, I’m not done yet!

Now, before we get all bent out of shape, let’s be clear about something, you can have the greatest abs in the word, but if they are covered up by fat, no one can see them. So, exercising alone will NOT get that six pack ab going for you, you really need to watch what you put into your body. In other words, learn to eat properly!

(ok trainers, you can breathe again!)

BUT, I am not here to talk about eating and dieting, I’m here to talk about my personal philosophy about core muscle building and then I’ll outline a coupe of moves to try on your own to get the core muscle strength you’ve always wanted, ok?

If you want to read about nutrition, check out this article…

Now, let’s keep in mind, these are my philosophies. I’m not a doctor nor do I claim to be. I’m just a regular guy who is a personal trainer, runs a fitness based website, and is really into fitness and ways to improve the way I look. One of the ways to improve this look is to get your core muscles in the proper shape for your physique.

The first thing I would suggest is to be aware of how you currently look and then ask yourself if you would like to change that look. If you can’t answer that, take a good look in a mirror and ask that question again.

If you would like to change that look, then read further. If not, the why are you still reading?

Most people will tell you to do crunches or sit ups to get those abs the way you want them to look. I don’t subscribe to that philosophy.

Why? Well, I’ll tell you…when you do crunches and sit ups, all you’re doing is contracting the ab muscles. In other words, you’re working the muscles in one direction only, which isn’t always the best thing to do.

Any good trainer will tell you that you need both contraction AND expansion to get the proper muscle look and tone, the six pack abs everyone wants.. So, only doing sit ups and crunches will only give you one of those two…the contraction.

So, you need to ask yourself, what can I do to expand, or lengthen, or stretch, the core muscles. There is a lot you can do, but I’ll only mention a couple of them.

One of the best things you can do does not involve much movement, but it really works that core section like you wouldn’t believe! This movement is called the Plank.

Keeping things simple, the plank is nothing more than being in a push up position, but lowering your body and instead of resting on your hands, rest on your forearms. To get even more out of this Plank thing, stay on your hands but lower yourself so that being on your hands and your toes keeps your body parallel to the ground! Now, hold that position for 30 seconds, then rest for 30 seconds. Repeat this several times. This will give you a MAJOR core workout!

Side note, it will also work your arms and your chest as well.

Another exercise to work out your abs, the expansion way, is something called Scissors. This seems easy, but it will work your abs like nothing else!

Here’s what you do. Lay down on your back. Keep your arms and hands at your side, or put your hands on your lower back underneath you. Now, keeping both legs straight with your toes pointing up (in the natural position) raise both legs about 6 inches or so. Keep one leg in that position and slowly raise the other leg as high as you can. I would say count to 10 while raising the leg. Now, when lowering that leg, raise the other one. It’s like a scissor motion, get it? Now, just repeat this about 10 times, increase this with time.

There you go, two great core workouts to help you get that six pack ab look everyone strives for.

Are these the only exercises for abs? Nope, not at all. There are dozens and dozens of abs type exercises and workouts. I just briefly gave you a couple just to get you thinking.

So, there you have it, my personal philosophy on how to get a nice mid section. Now, it’s up to you to do the work!

Hey, if you like this article, you may want to check out more of my writings. I’ll link to them below!