Ok, well there might have been a few things that I may have left out. There are a few intricacies. Most people believe that if they spend the majority of their workout each day doing a million sets of a million repetitions of a million crunches that their six pack will somehow magically appear. Umm, not so much. There's no such thing as "spot training". If that were the case, there'd be a lot of guys walking around with man-boobs (or "moobs", as I call them) and flat, chiseled stomachs! We all have abdominals muscles, it's just that some people's abs are covered in more bodyfat than others. When we lose bodyfat, we lose it from EVERYWHERE, not just from one spot. In other words, you can do crunches until you pass out, but it doesn't necessarily mean you're gonna look like this guy:
So how can you get what T.O.'s got? Well first off, don't try to be T.O. Just be you. Terrell Owens is an elite, freak o' nature athlete who's probably had that stomach since he was in diapers. You'll just hurt yourself trying to get those lines (Plus, he gets paid millions to be in that kind of shape. You and I are just trying to make end's meet and work with what we've got.). I like to tell my clients that there's generally three parts to muscular development. One part proper training, one part proper nutrition, and one part proper rest/recovery. All three parts must be done correctly in order to achieve desired results. What this means is you can't train you ass off, and then go eat at Golden Corral. You also can't eat perfectly, and then not train at all (No grind, no shine, baby!). And you can't train right, eat right, and not give yourself ample time to recover between workouts. You've got to do all three aspects correctly in order to improve.Your diet is HUGE in getting your six-pack to show up. You can't possibly believe that eating ballpark nachos, cheesecake, and washing it all down with a case of Miller High Life on a consistant basis is going to help you maintain your sexy, do you? Clean things up by regularly cutting out simple sugars (soft drinks, desserts, and sugary juices) from your diet. Decrease your complex carbohydrate (rice, breads, pastas, potatoes) intake as the day progresses. Start subbing in fibrous vegetables instead. Your last meals of the day consist of some type of lean meat and a host of colorful veggies. A sound meal plan will make or break your ab development. In fact, I actually know one of the premier IFBB pro bodybuilders in the world who doesn't even train his abs, due to his strict dieting during his contest prep phase. And we've all seen what bodybuilder's abs look like... However, I wouldn't recommend taking his approach, as training your abs makes them stronger and more endurable for functional purposes.
Training your abs two to three times a week should be enough in terms of frequency. I dedicate the last few minutes of training sessions with clients to core training. No need to spend a half hour doing crunches and sit-ups. Three or four sets of one to three exercises is plenty. I like using exercises that target different regions of the entire abdominal wall. For example, I'll use reverse crunches for the lower abs, Russian twists for the obliques, and crunches with the feet elevated for the upper abs. If you do those three movements couple of per week, you'll train your abs from every angle. Don't overtrain! Your abs are muscles too and need rest just like everything else. Overtrain, and your progress will go backwards.
The bottom line is if you combine good training with smart eating and proper recovery, you'll be on your way to going shirtless in the winter time. Follow these basic principles and your lady will eventuall spend more time eye-humping you instead of Reggie Bush everytime he appears on TV. Questions or concerns? Hit me up!
Now... What are you going to do?
CAS
