The Steps to Take to Get Six Pack Abs

You can have the strongest stomach muscles in the world but you won't be able to show them off if they are covered with an extra layer of fat. While fitness is not about showing off it is nice to see the rewards of a washboard looking stomach when you look into the mirror.

The first order of business in attaining those six pack abs is making sure your diet is conducive to your losing weight, specifically fat. Sometimes people will go on a diet and lose fat and muscle because they don't diet properly.

The optimum diet to lose weight is to get plenty of protein and fat along with carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables. You should get your protein from a variety of sources, both animal and plant, with eggs being the most complete protein source that there is. And don't buy into the myth that you get high cholesterol from eggs, it is not true and never was! I've eaten between five and a dozen eggs a day for years and my cholesterol is perfect. But don't think I'm basing the "eggs don't cause high cholesterol" on my own experience, it is a scientific fact. The fat should be obtained from sources such as wild Alaskan salmon, nuts, or olive oil or also coconut oil is an excellent source of fat (also note that eggs are a good source of quality fat.) And if you are cooking with oil, coconut is the best to use. Olive oil doesn't hold up very well at high temperatures.

Now that we are on the right track with the diet the next step is getting the proper exercise to help you lose the fat so your six pack abs can shine through. Crunches and sit-ups are fine, providing you are doing them with the proper form, otherwise you can cause back damage. Aside from that, they are not that good for burning fat and they only strengthen a few different muscles. A far more effective type of workout is one using interval training. Resistance training is also a good method of exercise. The best training routine would have you doing both of those types of workouts on alternating days.

Interval training would consist of any activity that uses short bursts of energy that gets you breathing very hard by the end of it. Then you rest for a minute or two and repeat. You do this 5-7 times and you have achieved an excellent and efficient fat burning (as well as overall health building) workout. An obvious example of this type of workout would be doing wind sprints. But a lot of people may balk at that idea, don't worry, you can adapt many different activities to interval training, such as, swimming, bike riding, jumping rope, etc. If you are at a very low level of fitness walking in fast short bursts would qualify as well.

Examples of resistance training would be lifting weights, of course, but again, don't let that scare you off. You can do a lot of different things here. Push-ups would be included in this category because your body weight provides the resistance. You can find a wide variety of this type of exercise by looking in an exercise manual and a nice benefit is no equipment is required.

The key to getting six pack abs is getting into excellent physical condition. The result is not only looking good, but more importantly, feeling good and being healthy!