Sunday, July 12, 2009

Great Workouts For Flat Abs

By Bob Barclay

A flat belly is the goal of many people; are you one of them? These days we have a more sedentary lifestyle, access to pre-prepared and highly processed food and are spoiled for choice with food. All this has given us the flabby belly. But there is something that we can do about getting a toned, flat tummy. You can do some of the best workout for flat abs at home easily and without a lot of expensive gym equipment.

In the Western world, we eat too much, and we eat too much of the wrong foods. To get rid of belly fat and achieve flat abs we need to burn more calories than we eat. This means - eat less and/or move more. The best way to burn calories and therefore fat, is through activity.

To begin your flat abs workout you need to take control of your diet. Eating 5 or 6 smaller meals a day helps you to avoid feeling hungry and keeps your metabolism working hard. Protein builds muscle, so a diet that includes plenty of lean protein is good for your flat belly. Eat chicken (no skin), canned or fresh fish, beans and lentils, nuts and no-fat dairy.

Balance is important in a healthy diet, so get your carbohydrates from fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grain breads and cereals, dried beans, nuts and non-fat dairy. Drink lots of water; snack on fruit smoothies, nuts and fruit; get enough sleep and avoid fried, fatty, fast and highly processed foods.

You need to start getting active to burn extra calories and fat. Make a decision to have 30 minutes of activity every day, but make 5 of these cardio sessions. Increased heart rate and breathing is what makes a cardio session, and you need to maintain this for 20 minutes, allowing time for a warm up and cool down. Cardio exercise burns extra fat and calories and builds muscle. What's more, it makes you feel good!

When you are ready to move on to strength training, you focus on the muscles of the torso, also called the core. Here, you are preparing your muscles for harder exercises, improving your balance and coordination. It is important to warm up before strength training and cool down after, with a light walk or jog and some stretches.

Gyms have a wide range of weight training machines, but you can do strength exercises at home, using your own body weight as the resistance to the muscle action. Good exercises include the plank and side plank and oblique crunches. If you go online, you will find many sites that give specific abs strength exercises that you can do at home as part of your best workout for flat abs, and avoid the expensive gym fees.

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