It is well known to all that a well defined abdomen is synonymous with fitness. It is probably the muscle area that is most important for anyone, especially when it comes to lifting your shirt and shaking your head…Here you have the best tips to define the abs.
If a survey were made of the customers of any gym, I am convinced that achieving a defined abdomen would be one of the common objectives… However, a strong and well worked out abdomen has a number of benefits far beyond the aesthetic ones.
Index
- 1 Get defined abs
- 2 How to quickly define abs
- 3 Working the Abdomen to Avoid Injury
- 4 Importance of training the abs
- 5 Defining abs for health
- 6 Diet and Exercise to define Abs
- 7 Diet to Define abs
- 8 Nutritional strategies to define abs
- 9 Abdominal hypertrophy
- 10 Exercises to define the Abs
- 11 Isometric Abs for Defining and Tightening the Abdomen
- 12 HIIT to Define Abs
- 13 Increase Calorie Expenditure
- 14 Related Entries
Get defined abs
Getting the famous “6-PACK” is quite a complicated task, even frustrating at times, but by heeding the following advice, we can gradually achieve such a coveted reward for our effort and perseverance.
You will achieve abdominal marking when 2 conditions occur simultaneously: low percentage of fat and hypertrophy of the rectus abdominis
How to quickly define abs
We tell you how to do it: it is impossible! 😛
That’s it, don’t look for shortcuts, it’s just a process that takes time, and you have to be patient. If someone tells you that they know a cousin of a friend of an acquaintance who…
There is no Magic Formula to define abs other than consistency…
Working the Abdomen to Avoid Injury
Yes, this may be a motive quite removed from the main point, but it is nevertheless closely related.
If our midline or “core” is strong, will protect us from risk of injury from strength or power training, as would be the case with Deadweight, Squat, Load…
Think of your abdomen as the link between the upper and lower body, and therefore, it is involved in almost any task or physical activity
Importance of training the abs
We can summarise it in these points:
- Avoid injuries
- Improve your Posture
- Balance and Stability
- Strength and Power Exercises
- Of course to contribute our image
Defining abs for health
And if the above was important enough, in order to prevent possible injuries derived from exercise, on this occasion, all the frameworks and procedures that we carry out, which in principle suggest a certain “obsessive” nature, can force us to maintain some really healthy habits.
In other words, we force ourselves to always look for a reason or excuse to keep training, moving, eating a healthy diet….
Diet and Exercise to define Abs
These two factors are the most important when it comes to achieving a defined abdomen and being the envy of the beach or the swimming pool…
Once you read the word Diet, a chill will have run through your body… In a way, some dietary guidelines and good planning should not, in general, lead to a certain amount of burden.
Satiating foods such as protein, with high nutritional density, without food extremism…
Reducing the fat percentage is essential if you want your abs to be visible
Diet to Define abs
The first step in defining abdominals is undoubtedly, controlling our diet
In this sense, a diet focused on fat loss will be necessary, although as we will see in the following point, in certain people, especially in ectomorphic profile (“…I have a low percentage of fat but I don’t define my abdomen…”), maybe a high-calorie diet to gain volume could be the main thing…
In contrast, for the rest of the population I am inclined to establish a calorie deficit…
Abs are made in the kitchen, but stimulated in the gym…
Nutritional strategies to define abs
We can use the following guidelines as the HSN Protocol for Fat Loss and get some well-defined Abdominales:
Eating enough protein
With every meal or snack that we make and, under our requirements, include a portion of protein
Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, and there is no body “store” as such, i.e. it does not exist like with carbohydrates (they are stored as glycogen) or fats (depending on the type of fat they accumulate in the adipose tissue or are oxidised).
On the other hand, this nutrient produces the highest thermogenic effect, i.e. when it comes to digestion, our body will consume a higher percentage of calories than if it were carbohydrates or fats.
- How much protein to ingest?: It will depend as we have said on your needs, but a good way would be to distribute the total grams of protein in each of the meals. For example, if our protein requirements force us to eat 160g, and we make 4 meals, in each of them, we will add 40g of protein.
- What kind of proteins? : We will mainly look for animal protein as they are the most biologically valuable, but nevertheless, people who follow a vegan/vegetarian diet can supplement sources of plant protein.
- Protein supplements?: We can make use of protein shakes to help achieve our protein requirements in a practical and convenient way.
You must include Carbohydrates
Do not give up on carbohydrates completely. Many people who are trying to get a ripped belly are quick to eliminate virtually all carbohydrates from their diet, except for fibrous vegetables.
When removed in this way, your metabolism will plummet, making fat loss even more difficult, and of course, our performance will also be affected.
Calorie Cycling
Adding a good dose of carbohydrates at least one day a week will avoid this and help keep metabolism working faster.
You can increase your carbohydrate intake two or three days a week on the hardest training days
Intake of Fats
When it comes to improving the diet to define the abs; fats, given their caloric intake, should be taken into account. Of course, you should never cut them out, but it’s true that given their caloric density, it’s very easy to go overboard.
However, certain types of fat are essential for our body, as well as exerting significant benefits.
This is the case with fatty acids omega-3 from blue fish, which, in turn, provide a significant portion of protein
Other important sources of fat are olive oil and coconut oil, providing monounsaturated fats and medium chain triglycerides, respectively.
Intermittent Fasting
It is not a diet per se, but another way to help us “get through” the calorie deficit. In many cases, performing the intermittent fasting, allows to create this negative balance of calories in a much easier way.
Simply skip your first meal, breakfast, and then eat your total calories within an 8-hour window. You can have 2 meals and a post-workout shake.
Abdominal hypertrophy
We can reduce the percentage of fat, but without a hypertrophied rectus abdominus, defined abs will not be noticeable.
Your abdomen is a muscle, and therefore you must exercise it and stimulate it. Without a hypertrophied abdomen (“muscular” abdomen), perhaps all of the above will be meaningless, as we could become obsessed with following every point to the letter, and yet not achieve the expected result.
If our aim was to achieve larger and more powerful pectorals or dorsals, the resource is clear: we would train those most important exercises that stimulate these muscle areas.
Well, the exact same thing happens with the abdomen.
Exercises to define the Abs
Without diminishing the importance, in comparison to dietary guidelines, abdominal training will also be key to promote, above all, the hypertrophy of the abdomen.
Among the exercises that will have the greatest impact are multi-joint or so-called basic exercises, such as deadweight, squat, or military press.
If you want more abs, do more squats
Isometric Abs for Defining and Tightening the Abdomen
If we refer directly to exercises for the abdomen, our bet should undoubtedly be the isometric exercises. When we perform them, the muscles work to maintain the position, but there is no muscle contraction.
In a way, all day long they stay active, as in any movement like getting up, walking, standing… they are necessary.
We are going to focus on 3 exercises:
Isometric Plank
Stay in this position, without dropping your pelvis. We will know that we are doing well, when we start to “shake”. We can get into the habit of trying to accumulate about 5 minutes every day.
Ab Wheel
This nice wheel can become a real instrument to increase the volume of the abdominals. We simply “roll” until we extend ourselves completely, only with the support of our knees and the wheel itself, to tighten the abdominal rectus, and return to the starting position. A fairly powerful routine would be to perform 10 series of 10 repetitions with 1 minute rest. You’ll be sure to get a good grip for several days…
Dragon Flag
Without doubt one of the hardest exercises for our abdomen. It consists of raising our trunk, without bending our knees, controlling the movement, to return to the starting position, without support.
Complete 4-5 series of 6-8 repetitions for efficient work.
HIIT to Define Abs
HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training is a powerful tool that we can use for two purposes: Maintain Muscle Mass and Produce a Caloric Expenditure in a Short Time
It should be noted that the effort involved in doing a sprint, will be the sporting movement itself that is giving us the opportunity to tighten the abdomen.
We can add between 2-4 HIIT sessions per week, even after strength training with weights
Increase Calorie Expenditure
If there’s one thing we should be aiming for, it’s the highest calorie intake to boost fat loss. Sometimes, simple changes in our behaviour result in contributing to an increase in total daily calories.
These calories could be attributed to NEAT (“non exercise activity thermogenesis”), i.e. the expense that comes from any activity other than physical exercise.
If we simply change our car for a bicycle, we will be able to substantially increase our NEAT
Related Entries
- Can you Lose Localised Fat in the Abdomen?
- Alternative Exercises for the Abdomen
- Hypo-Pressive Abs: Benefits and How to Perform Them
- Why Do Abs Before Training?
- Abs at Home: 6 Effective Exercises
Caloric Deficit - 100%
Cycling Calories - 100%
Isometric Exercises - 100%
Strength Exercises - 100%
Increase NEAT - 100%
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