A blog dedicated to the world of Bodybuilding. ZONAMUSCULAR is a compilation of articles about training, nutrition, suplements and much more from the best independent writers on the web.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

How to Get Ripped Abs Quick - 3 Super Abdominal Exercise Tips


So, you want to get ripped quick. With or without ab exercise equipment. Maybe summer is coming and you want to look really good in those swimming trunks or bikini.

Bad news...you're not going to get ripped overnight. Good news...it can be done in a realistic time frame, which will of course depend on your current condition.

Get Ripped Quick - Super Tip 1: Sorting out your diet

First of all you need to sort out your diet. Don't cut down on your calorie intake too severely as this can lead to muscle loss and also negatively affect your metabolism.

Ideally you want to strike a good balance between your intake of fat, carbohydrates and also protein.

The most important foods that you should cut out are refined sugars and starches. On the flip side you'd want to make sure you take in plenty of whole, natural, unprocessed foods like vegetables, organic meat, nuts, fruit and eggs.

Super Tip 2: What are the best type of cardio exercises to do?

Forget about doing endless long cardio in your ab exercise routine. You want to switch to shorter, more intense workouts. Not only are they more effective at speeding up your metabolism, but they're also more fun, easier to fit into your busy schedule and easier to stick to. Examples include:

  • Rope Jumping
  • Short Sprints
  • Hill Sprints
  • Stair Climbing
  • Interval Training
  • Waist High Roundhouse Kicks on a Punch Bag

If you don't know, interval training is quite simply where periods of intense exercise are mixed with periods of less intense exercise, or recovery. A simple example would be doing a 70m hill sprint, then walking back down before doing another.

Interval training improves the performance of the cardiovascular system and also helps remove the risk of strain injuries that can occur during repetitive endurance exercises.

Quite simply, you burn more calories during short, high intensity exercises than with long, slow cardio exercises. If you want to get ripped quick, interval training is the way to go.

Don't over train, however. You will inhibit your body's recovery and get exactly the opposite results of what you want. An injury caused by over training can also put you out of action for a long time, and there's no need for me to explain what that means. Exercise about 3, maximum 4 times a week, and listen to your body.

Super Tip 3: What are the best abdominal exercises to do?

Focus on full body exercises instead of exercises that only isolate the abs. Most of your exercise time should be spent on these. I'm talking about pushups, pullups, squats, lunges, mountain climbers, static jumps. These are specifically exercises that don't even require any ab exercise equipment, gym equipment or weights.

To get ripped quick you need to engage your entire body. Be sure to include some exercises that specifically target and isolate the abs in your routine, like jack knives, suspended leg lifts and reverse crunches, but don't do ONLY those. Get your whole body working and you'll burn fat much more effectively.

Nicolaas Theron shares more of the best abdominal exercises, full ab exercise routines and a ton of useful information at http://www.bestabdominalexercises.com

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