| For your abs to shine through you'll need to lower your bodyfat level - its like wearing a jumper between your muscles and skin. Doing loads and loads of sit ups and repetitive ab work won't work along. You could get wicked abs, but the 'jumper' of fat will still be there, preventing your definition. You can't get rid of fat in one particular place (spot reduction), its got to come from all over your body.
Just general tips....
RESISTANCE WORK (freeweights, machins, cables etc.) will increase lean muscle mass, improving strength and building a good foundation shape to cut from. Also, increasing muscle mass raises your metabolism rate, so you burn more fat throughout the day, even when your sitting down. More muscle means more energy to fuel them.
CARDIO WORK (running, swimming, bikes etc.) Burns more calories than resistance work on an even timescale, but of course, you can't spend 8 hours a day on a stepper! Try a mix of CONSTANT PACE training (maintaing the same intensity level of a prolonged length of time, eg. jogging for 20-30 minutes) and INTERVALS.
Intervals take up less time and are generall regarded as more efficient than constant pace training. An example would be sprinting up a hill, then walking back down, or swimming one length of the pool as fast as you can, then two at a relaxed pace. The idea is that your heart works at a high intensity for a short period of time, has just enough time to slow down at a comfortable pace, then has to work hard again straight away. This cycle continues over and over. My favourite example would be something like...
Rowing machine: 10 x 100m as fast as you can, with 20 seconds rest between each set. ANYONE working as hard as they can will feel ill by the end of it
:boohoo: :boohoo:
The beauty with this kind of training is that it doesn't take up too much time and it has the AFTERBURN effect of an elevated base heart rate and metabolism. |