One of the most common questions I get asked, as a personal trainer, is how do I get a set of ripped six pack abs fast? A lot of people mistakenly believe that the fastest way is to concentrate on doing hundreds and hundreds of sit ups or crunches. The abdominal muscles, however, are hidden below a layer of fat and the key is to get rid of this.
Abs workouts on their own will not help you in losing belly fat. In order to get rid of fat you have to either promote weight loss by dieting or by increasing your metabolism. Unfortunately, abdominal workouts do not increases the bodies metabolic rate enough to stimulate this fat loss. There are much more effective methods that will burn off this fat tissue, faster than sit ups or crunches, to reveal a fine, defined six pack.
The best exercises are, in fact, those that stress the whole body therefore increasing the body’s metabolism. Those I would include would be:
The exercises that burn calories fast are those that exercises the big muscles in the body such as squats, deadlifts, presses, lunges, sprinting, snatches etc.
Most of these exercises use the quadriceps muscle, the big muscle at the top of the thigh. Due to the size of this muscle, any exercise that involves them burns up a lot of calories. These are exercises that I would advise not performing every day as they put a large amount of stress on the body and would probably cause fatigue. I would incorporate them into an overall exercise plan.
These exercises also stimulate the production of growth hormone which would also help increase the mass of the abdominal muscle groups and help get a ripped six pack fast.
I am not advising neglecting the exercises that focus mainly on the abdominal muscles. If these are stimulated with focused exercises then they will also benefit from the increase in growth hormone production. I would normally advise exercises that target the abs and core muscle groups as a small part of an overall regime with more time spent focusing on the full body exercises that use the big muscles.
Also, remember that nutrition is probably the most important factor when losing abdominal fat. Eating junk will just counteract any work you put in on a great workout regime.
In summary, to reach your ultimate goal I would advise mainly working the large muscle groups with some time spent on focused abdominal exercises, This combined with adequate nutrition to help with burning body fat will soon see you reach your ultimate goal.
