With the advent of swimsuit season, millions of Americans are looking for ways to slim down their waistline while toning up their muscles. The abdominal muscles (known as “abs”) of the lower chest are particularly targeted due to the highly desired visual appearance of a “six pack” set of muscle growth. Six pack abs are not difficult to achieve with certain exercises and self discipline of diet and workouts, but not every person’s body physique is capable of the type of muscle growth that trainers or celebrities sport. It may be difficult or even impossible for some to get the sculpted look, and all exercise enthusiasts should consult with their doctor before beginning an exercise regimen.
Six pack exercise is not different from any other muscular strength workout routines. Rather than strict cardiovascular exercise (such as running, biking, or swimming) or muscular endurance workouts (push ups or crunches), the key to achieving strong and compact ab muscles is to program your lower body to resist greater and greater forces. All muscle growth occurs when a set of tissues is forced to expand and contract beyond its capacity, causing the muscle to be broken down and then rebuilt over the span of a day or two. As the muscle rebuilding process is more gradual than the process of heart improvement from cardio workouts — which can and should be done daily — the weight lifting required for six pack abs need not be done more than three times per week.
For ab muscles, workouts must push the limits of the lower body to exhaustion for optimal results. This is potentially a dangerous practice, as not all people know exactly what limits they can take and will do too much in their initial workouts. Burning out is a very real threat, and when the equipment weighs as much as several hundred pounds, it’s important to start out very slowly at first. Seeing as how the process will take months before a visual result is achieved, patience is key.
To get the ideal body shape, it’s necessary to target body fat percentage and reduce it to a healthy point; this must be done separately. If body fat isn’t a problem, then exercise the abdominal muscles with steadily increasing weights. Machines can target the ab muscles, but free weights give more flexibility and are less expensive. Either increase weight or repetition; increasing weight gives a more visibly defined chest but increasing repetition will make one’s core stronger.
Comments on this entry are closed.