Continuing with last week’s theme on Obsessed with Abs ?, here are 5 more tips and 2 in-home exercises to get you there.
6. Eliminate anything white from your diet. That means white rice, white flour, white potatoes, sugar and all processed foods. Outside of potatoes, the nutrient profile in these foods is negligible–they will do you a lot more harm than good. Instead choose oatmeal, brown rice and sweet potatoes for your carbohydrate sources. They are slow digesting carbohydrates that your body can use as fuel, providing long term energy. They are also loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre. These foods leave you feeling fuller for longer, making you less likely to overeat.
7. Get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep per night. This may be the most important tip of all and yet it is the one most ignored. That doesn’t mean go to bed at 1:00 a.m. and get up at 9:00. Better to be in by 10:30 and get up 8 hours later or more, depending on your schedule. These are the hours when your body recovers mentally and physically from the rigours of the day. By being awake during these hours you would be missing out on the crucial recovery benefits available to you. Study after study has shown that a lack of sleep leads to increased cortisol levels (stress hormone) leaving you fatter and more depressed than you were the day before. So get some sleep.
8 Minimize your sodium intake. Table salt will quickly add water retention to the abdominal region, so if you have a high-salt meal, expect to notice a difference the next day. If you must have salt with your meals, opt for sea-salt.
9. Drink more water. Drink at least half your body weight in ounces each day to remain truly hydrated and flushed of sodium. As an example, I weigh 210 pounds and therefore I try to drink at least 105 ounces of water daily. If you are training intensely multiple days a week and using coffee to fuel your workouts, then you will probably want to increase that number by 10 to 20%. Coffee is a strong diuretic. So adjust your fluids accordingly.
10. Start performing some abdominal work. There are specific abdominal exercises that have been proven in numerous studies to target more muscle fibers than others. Try performing side planks and the stability ball roll out, shown below. Abdominal exercises may not be quite as important though as you have been led to believe in achieving a six pack. We all have abdominals, for the majority of the population they are just hiding under several layers of fat. You can do all the crunches you like, but if you are eating poorly, you are never going to see them. Remember this credo: “Abs are made in the kitchen”. So while these exercises will strengthen your core and build up your abdominals, if you truly want to see those muscles you need to fine tune your diet and get your body in a calorie deficit first.
For women to start seeing their abdominals, they will need to get down to approximately 15 to 17% body fat and for men somewhere between 10 and 12%. The side plank is one great exercise that you can perform at home 3 times a week.
If you have a stability ball, the stability ball roll out is also an excellent choice.