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5 STEPS TO SHOW ABS

So there he is . . . Hugh Jackman with his shirt off, blades protruding from his fists, abs protruding from his stomach. You secretly ask yourself, how do I get abs like that?? Here is the secret . . . Everybody has abs ready to go. The only issue is the layer of fat surrounding your gut keeping them hidden. There are steps you can follow to strip away the fat and show off the washboard you didn’t know was there, but it takes hard work and motivation. We are going to look at ways to strip away the fat and become ripped. How fast your progress, is up to you.

Step 1: Diet Plan

We have talked about Macros and ways to monitor your diet, but let’s simplify it and try to focus on the basics.

• Calorie consumption: Try to consume 9-14 calories for every pound of body weight you have on board daily. (your weight is 220lbs x 10 calories = 2,200 calories you can intake).
• Protein consumption: Try to consume 1.5g of Protein for every pound of body weight you have on board daily. (your weight is 220lbs x 1.5g = 330g of Protein)
• Fat consumption: avoid bad fats (i.e. chips, candy, soda, etc.) and focus on good fats. Good fats can be found in nuts, fish, flax seed, olive oil, coconut oil, etc.
• Carbohydrate consumption: You can boost your metabolism by alternating your diet with low-carbs throughout the week and then high-carb weekends. (Depending on training program, you may want to focus on low carbs daily, then hit high carbs on HIIT days).

Step 2: Supplements To The Rescue

• Whey Protein / Whey Isolate / Casein Protein can all assist you with hitting your protein targets. Wake up to a Protein shake, take another shake within 30 minutes of completing your workout, finish the night off with a slow digesting Casein to keep the body from becoming anabolic and feeding on muscle tissue.

• Fat burners can increase metabolism and speed up the fat shredding process. 
• BCAA powder are a great way boost endurance and start the protein synthesis process to build muscle. Ensure the formula is a 2:1:1 ratio to give you the desired results (inspect quality for vegan based versus duck feather, or pig fur)
• Glutamine is essential to repairing muscles in between gym sessions.

Step 3: Workout Strategy

• There has been some dispute around the amount of time it takes abs to recover. They are utilized in a lot of different movements and weightlifting exercises. So when you decide to perform ab focused exercises it is important to only do it 2-3 times per week allowing for ample recovery time.
• Mix up your ab exercises (don’t try to do 200 crunches every session). Switch up between Crunches, sit-ups, planks, flutter-kicks, decline crunches, oblique crunches, etc. 
• Incorporate more compound lifts to improve your core strength and improved abs size. (deadlifts, squats, kettlebell swings, hacksquats, etc.)

• Cardio is key
• Running at 8mph can boost metabolism up to 13.5 times your normal rate.
• Jump rope burns 11 calories per minute.
• HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) can burn body fat for up to 24 hours post workout. 

Step 4: Sleep More

• A. Lack of sleep can actually drop your metabolism by up to 35%. You can fix this by shooting for 7 hours of sleep per night or more.
• B. Exercise in the morning. Avoid evening lifting as your adrenaline and continued energy from preworkout can keep you awake.

Step 5: Stay Focused

• A. Get a training partner to keep each other on track towards hitting your progress goals. 
• B. Vary workouts, this will keep it engaging and interesting. When workouts become stagnant you are more likely to become uninterested and fall off of your plan.
• C. Progress photos are a great way to visualize the differences you have made over time. Take them once every couple of weeks.