One myth about getting tight, well defined abs is that doing plenty of ab exercises is a sure way to get ideal abs. This is not the case, although ab workouts do help firm up and strengthen your ab muscles.
Many people waste their time merely doing sit ups, crunches, and other ab workouts for weeks only to complain later that their abs feel tighter but don’t look any different. The trick to getting and keeping tight abs is to keep the amount of fat on your body low. Fat easily accumulates under your ab muscles ( visceral fat) and also over your ab muscles in essence hiding your muscles from view. While it is true that ab exercises produce more muscle which in term helps burn fat, you’ll still need other ways to burn off fat from your midsection.
Any activity such as running, swimming, biking, karate, etc. that gets your blood pumping and your body sweating is a fat burning activity. Adding in these cardio workouts will help excess fat melt away and allow you to show of your hard work and well earned tight abs. Doing these workouts in addition to strength training will help accelerate your results and allow your ab muscles to be seen.
It is also important to note that you should only work your abs out a few days a week. Ab muscles are some of the most sensitive in the body and require resting period in order to rebuild and repair after ab strength training. Working your abs hard every day just keeps breaking them down and doesn’t allow them to benefit from the workout.
Most people seem to do well working their abs out about 2 to 3 days a week allowing time in between for rest and repair in which your abs will come out stronger and more defined after each workout/rest period.
Written by Maxwell Payne
