Your Workout: Killer ABS

If you want to get a stronger core, this is your new workout. You can do all the exercises at home and don't need anything except for a yoga mat.

Who doesn’t dream about the elusive six-pack or at least a flat tummy? Strong ABS don’t look only sexy on the beach – they help us to keep a good posture and avoid back pain. Many reasons to work out the mid-section!

You can do 200 crunches every day (don’t ever do that!) and achieve no results if you don’t get rid off that fat layer first. That’s why you need to do three things in the same time:

1) PROPER NUTRITION: You have probably heard it a thousand times: ABS are made in the kitchen. And it is true! I repeat it again and again 70-80% is about healthy nutrition, 20-30% about proper workouts. Cut down the fats and increase the protein. Lean meat will help you build up muscle and keep your energy levels high. Egg whites and lentils are also excellent sources of protein. Everyone tends to think that carbohydrates are rice, pasta, bulgur and bread. But all the veggies are carbs too and the good news is that you can eat tons of them because they are low in calories! Eat three main meals and two snacks through out the day so your bloodsugar doesn’t drop and you don’t end up with a craving and eating anything you can get hold of. Last but not least, make sure that the total amount of calories you have consumed is less than what you have expended, otherwise you will add body fat.

2) CARDIO: Choose an activity that you like. Nothing beats running but the stairmaster, biking, swimming or aerobic classes are beneficial as well. You need about five intense cardio sessions a week in order to create a calorie deficit which will lead to fat loss.

3) WORKOUT: Start with the exercises indicated. Once you have strengthened your muscles, you will have to add resistance or weights. It doesn’t make sense to train your biceps with sets of 50 reps and no weights, right? It is also a very uneffective method to develop ABS since your core muscles are muscles just like your biceps. Feel free to work your abs six days a week because they recuperate fast and can withstand regular training.

Spiderman. 2x15 rep

Crunch. 12 rep