What You Need To Know About The Coveted Set Of Abs
Are you seeking the coveted set of abs? What does that look like to you?
Do you want them to be flatter and tighter?
Do you want the "lines down the sides?"
Or do you want a full blown 6-pack?
Whatever YOUR concept of great abs is, as soon as you use the word "definition" (or any of its synonyms) in describing your ideal abs, you are talking about Muscular DeVelopment.
A lot of people are misinformed, thinking that as soon as they "get rid of the gut" there will be a taut and sculpted midsection. That is rarely the case.
A great set of abs is achieved by 2 things:
1) Thickening the abdominal wall
2) Fat reduction
Here's what I mean: The abs are muscles. In order to see them individually, or even get "the lines," the muscles have to be trained. The cool thing is that these muscles are used in virtually every workout that you do; so they do get some training. The heavier you go in the weights you handle, the more volume you do, and the more stability you require in your training, the greater the tensile training of the abs.
However, sculpting a great set of abs is INTENTIONAL.
You have to take into consideration what your IDEAL is.
Do you want to keep your waist tiny, or do you want to be swole?
Do you want a tight physique with curves?
Do you want a V-Taper?
Do you want more of a straight up and down physique?
The abs will conform and develop to whatever method of training you apply.
Where I see people making the biggest mistakes are performing exercises which yield a physique that is NOT congruent to the one they have in mind.
For example: Side Benders.
Side benders (holding a weight in one hand and bending the torso to the side so that the weight travels up and down the outside aspect of the leg) do incorporate abdominal work. HOWEVER, they also recruit the lats. And depending on where your lats insert, this repetitive motion doesn't yield the abdominal lines most people want, nor does it corset the midsection.
What it DOES DO is make your physique develop straight up and down.
So what I'm telling you is that:
#1: You've got to be CRYSTAL CLEAR on your goals.
#2 You have to have the correct information so that you're training in the way that will yield the aesthetics you want.
That brings us to the next issue for your coveted set of abs which is FAT REDUCTION.
What you need to know is that if the muscles are not formed, NO AMOUNT of fat stripping will yield a luscious set of abs. They may be flat, you may see the bottom of your ribs, but there will be no "definition."
We have a saying in the Fitness World, and that is: "Abs are made in the kitchen."
What this means is You Cannot Out Train A S#!++y Diet.
Now I say this with full clarity: Abs are a functional aspect of your body. They keep you walking, sitting upright and able to do things. Can you eat relatively clean and keep yourself lean?
Yes.
But when we move into abdominal aesthetics, now we're talking a horse of a different color--ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE A NATURAL ATHLETE.
As you get older, and I don't mean a certain age as being old, I mean older than prime time puberty; things change. What you once were able to "get away" with food and drink wise as a teen or in your early 20's doesn't hold true any longer.
This isn't meant as a discouragement, this is to EMPOWER you with the correct information on what it takes to achieve those abs you crave. Do with this as you will.
HERE'S THE REALITY: Sugars cause setbacks in your abdominal aesthetics.
The sugar sources to be aware of are:
Straight up sugar (IDC if it's turbinado or not. Sugar is sugar.)
Sugars in dairy
Sugars that are hidden in the ingredient label (stuff that ends in -ose)
Sugars in alcohol-even the clear stuff like vodka
I don't know why. I take that back. I probably do...but I honestly don't care to invest any energy into a discussion about it.
I'm just here to tell ya, most people find that as soon as they eliminate these from their daily nutritional program, they begin to get the abdominal aesthetics they want.
So, to get you moving in the correct direction, the starting place is for you to be clear on your goals.
What is it that you WANT?
