Friday, December 19, 2008

Ripped Abs Formula

By Jose Loni

The most common question nowadays is "How do I get ripped abs quickly?" We always view having ripped abs as a symbol of health and fitness, strength and aesthetic beauty. Actually getting ripped abs can be achieved quickly by watching what we eat, training with resistance and intervals, and the management of our stress levels.

Having ripped abs means, we need to reduce our body's fat levels. When we decrease our overall body fat, then our abs will appear ripped because they will be more visible.

One of the factors involved in getting ripped abs is watching what we eat. We should eliminate processed foods, fast foods, sodas, and avoid refined carbohydrates like white sugar and white flour. We should avoid fad diets and consume foods that are balanced with fruits, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. The frequency of our meals will help stabilize our body's energy and help optimize our workouts and burn fat. Ideally we should eat 5-6 times throughout the day.

Resistance training and interval training are exercises that have been very effective in getting ripped abs. Both types of training increases lean body mass, which enables our bodies to utilize the energy need from the fat that is accumulated in the abdomen. The increased metabolism has also been effective in burning fat, well after the training session.

Examples of interval training are: speed rope jumping, hill sprints, wind sprints and swimming sprints. Interval training can also be done on treadmills, stair climbers and rowing machines.

Resistance training on the other hand, sculpts our bodies, which not only defines the parts that we train, but also complements our ripped abs. Focus on multi-joint exercises to help burn fat throughout our bodies and aim for low repetition resistance sets of 8 repetitions per exercise, this has been shown to boost metabolism after the exercise session.

Lunges, squats, chin-ups, step-ups, dead lifts and rows are all examples of multi-joint exercises.

Getting the body's systems to utilize resistance and interval training has been shown to result in increases in the body's fat burning capabilities. Moreover, the body continues to burn fat and calories up to several hours after the workout.

The overall reduction of stress is also another important factor we need to consider when doing exercises for ripped abs. Stress in our bodies increases a hormone called Cortisol, which increases fat storage in the abdomen.

Yoga, meditation, deep breathing and tai chi have all been shown to help decrease stress levels. There are many different stress management activities and techniques that can be utilized to reduce stress.

Watching our diet, training with resistance and intervals, and managing our stress levels are ways in how we can get ripped abs quicker. These factors can definitely determine how fast we can burn our belly fat as well as make us feel healthy and happy. - 16004

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