How to Get Six Pack Abs

Category: Abs Exercises, Articles, Body FITNESS    |    74 views    |    Add a Comment

Strengthen your abdominal muscles and lose body fat. The concept is simple, but putting it into action is not. It will take dedication, willpower, patience and time to get a six pack but in the end, the effort is well worth it. Remember, abs are made mostly in the kitchen! You can have the most toned and defined abs but they won’t show through if there’s a layer of fat over them.

  1. Do Crunches. Lie on the floor (with or without a mat) and cross your arms in front of your chest. Bend your knees up as far as they go. (Do not place both hands behind your head. Placing both hands behind your head can cause lower back problems in the long run as it places unnecessary stress on that part of your body from pulling on your head and neck.) Another alternative is to cross your arms in front of your chest and lightly place your finger tips behind your ears, without pulling on your neck or ears to help raise you off the floor. Draw in your abdomen towards your spine while inhaling through your nose. Now raise your shoulders (upper torso) towards your knees, using strictly your abdominal muscles. It is very important not to lift your entire back off the floor, as this can cause back strain, and the extended movement does not help you develop six pack abs any faster. The most important part of the crunch is the initial flexing of your abs as you lift your shoulders off of the floor. As soon as you begin lifting off the floor exhale through your mouth, ending with a gasp once your shoulders are off the floor. Then pause for a second once you are at the top of the crunch and exhale the last bit of air from your diaphragm while flexing your abs. The proper breathing and flexing make all the difference. Now lower back down slowly and controlled while inhaling through your nose, just until your shoulder blades touch the ground. Do not let your head touch the ground and repeat.
  2. Do Sit Ups. Lie on the floor, feet on the floor, knees up and fingers placed behind your ears or hands crossed on your chest. Sit all the way up, lifting your lower back off the floor along with your shoulder blades.Lower yourself down. Repeat. Once this becomes relatively easy for you (i.e. you can do a quite a bit with ease) start adding more challenges. Find an incline bench or do these on an exercise ball. Once you “graduate” from that, do weighted sit ups. Hold a weight on your chest while you do these. As these become easier, hold heavier and heavier weights. You might also try lifting your feet off the ground while doing the sit ups or alternating the leg in the air, like pretending to pedal while sitting up. If your hands are behind your head, bring your left knee up to touch your right elbow and then your right knee to the left elbow.

  3. Do Leg Lifts. Lie on the floor, legs straight out, hands at your sides. Lift your legs straight up (not bending your knees at all) until they’re at a 90 degree angle (or close). Lower your legs and repeat without letting your legs touch the floor. For more challenge there is equipment at most gyms that will allow you to raise yourself up using your arms as support and dangle your legs. You can perform leg lifts there too. If you’re using this piece of equipment, you can make it easier by just raising your knees to your chest. It’s more difficult to raise your legs to a horizontal position with your legs straight. This helps firm up the lower abdomen. If you’re truly a monster, try doing leg lifts with a medicine ball hanging from your feet. Or hang from a pull up bar and raise your legs in front of you all the way up to the bar. Still too easy?…

  4. Do Jackknife Sit Ups. Lie down flat on the floor. Place your hands on the ground to your sides for balance; you can pick them up as you get used to the movement. Simultaneously raise your knees and torso so that your knees and face meet on an imaginary line extending from your pelvis to the ceiling. You should be able to kiss your knees at the top of the motion. Your legs will naturally fold bringing your feet towards your hips, much like a jackknife. Lie back down (i.e. “spread out”) and repeat. Place a weight between your feet when you think you can handle it. What’s that? More?

  5. Do V-ups. Lie on the floor, legs straight out, hands on the floor but this time extended out over your head. Simultaneously raise legs and torso. Don’t bend your knees! What kind of V would it be if you bend your knees? Reach with your hands toward the raised feet. Touch your feet if possible (will require some flexibility). Relax, return to starting position and repeat. Add weight between feet to match your taste.

  6. Static Hold and Side Statics. Put your body into the push-up position but with your elbows on the floor, and you whole body flat. This position is known as the static hold position and it trains your core (including your abs) to hold the body in place which is the real purpose of your abs. Hold this position for as long as possible, but you should be aiming to start off with at least 45 seconds, while seasoned ab workers known to achieve over 20 minute static holds. To perform the side static hold roll onto one side of your body and lift into the same position as before, but this time only one arm will be on the ground with the other arm pointed straight up the air and your non-weight bearing leg resting on your bottom leg. Once again, hold this for as long as possible


  7. Train Your Oblique Muscles. It’s not as important to work on your oblique muscles at first, but eventually you’ll want to start working these too. These are the muscles to either side of your stomach. There are multiple ways to do this and anything that includes twisting your torso against a resistance counts. There are twisting machines at gyms, you can twist while you do sit-ups, you can do side bends, you can twist side to side with a medicine ball in hand, etc. Be aware though, that many beginners tend to have weak obliques compared to their abs (it simply isn’t used as much in daily life) so go easy on the sides at first.

  8. Know that since it is, literally, the center of your body there are many other tricks you can use to train your abs, and some of the other movements will more or less involve your abs. Including every abdominal exercise in existence would make this article painfully long and new methods are being developed constantly. Now that you’ve made up your mind about a washboard mid-section, get creative! Find new ways to crunch, bend and twist in your daily life. Some possibilities include:

    • Use a stability ball. Do your crunches on the ball to introduce instability to your workout, which will improve your balance too. There are also lots of core exercises that can be done with a stability ball.You can also use a small bubble use for physical therapy.

    • Duck and twist during your daily routine. Reach with your left hand to things on your right and vice versa. If you feel like turning around to face something, see if you can do it with keeping your hips in place and twisting at the waist (warning: awkward when talking to other people, use only against inanimate objects). While walking or standing, pretend that something is coming toward you and you have to duck to get out of the way. Do this as often as you are comfortable or at times when it won’t look weird. You can bend forward from the hips or, if you’re really into it, bend at the knees too and really “sink” out of the way. Caution: If you have lower back problems, you could injure yourself.
  9. Do the Scientific Best Abs Exercise Researchers at the San Diego State University, found that there are certain abs exercises that triggers most muscular activity. The winner was the “bicycle maneuver”:
    • Lie on the floor; make sure your lower back is pressed on the ground.
    • Take your hands behind your ears. Then bring up your knees at a 45 degree angle.
    • Start doing a bicycle pedaling motion. Touch your elbow with the opposite knee (right elbow with left knee and so on, alternating)
    • Breathe relaxed and evenly throughout the whole exercise.

Lose Fat


  1. Lift Weights. The more muscle your body has, the more calories your body burns, even at rest. Many people are afraid of getting huge due to weight lifting but the fact is you won’t!, Many huge body-builders out there have been body-building for years to get huge. If you just do cardiovascular exercises without lifting weights then you will lose the muscle mass, you will also feel weak and it will take longer to lose that fat. So, to get rid of that fat quickly lift weights combined with cardiovascular exercises. Running, biking, swimming, stair climbing, jumping rope, tennis, volleyball, dancing, squash or any other activity that gets you moving and keeps you moving is a great way to burn fat. However, a cardiovascular workout should be performed for at least 20 minutes to burn fat prior to this your body will simply run on its stored energy, which results in minimal fat loss. Cardiovascular training should always be done after your weight lifting workout. While lifting weights, you use stored, (carbohydrate) energy, thus, by performing cardiovascular exercises after weight training your body will have less stored energy to use and go straight into the fat storage for its energy use. The overall best way to shed fat fast is to do cardiovascular (30 minutes minimum) right when you wake up. Your body will search for energy to use, and when it finds nothing in your stomach, it will go directly to your fat reserves for energy.

  2. Keep Metabolism Steady. Eating one small meal (such as a potato, a salad, etc.) every three hours that you are awake will not speed up your metabolism, rather, it will keep it going. Your metabolism goes and slows with your food intake and eating something small every three hours will keep that metabolism burning calories and will help you lose weight. A jar of nuts in the office will do just fine, grab a handful when you feel like it. Most fruits can last for a couple days without refrigeration, and if you have a refrigerator at the office, make use of it.
  3. Eat Smaller Dinners. Cut down on the size of your dinner. If you’re hungry, snack on fruits or other healthy, low calorie snacks. Large dinners tend to hurt a fat loss process because most people aren’t very active after dinner. This is the basis for advice along the lines of “don’t eat anything within N hours before going to bed”. The claim that your entire dinner is stored as fat isn’t entirely true (the process is more complicated than that) but the fact you don’t move after dinner is enough to hurt your cause. You can offset this by eating a larger lunch or snacking healthily before dinner. Fresh fruits or vegetables are excellent choices for curbing appetite not to mention other health benefits. A handful of nuts might do the same. Drink a large glass of water before sitting at the table.
  4. Eat More Fiber. Most people don’t get enough fiber. The recommended amount is actually not that much if you eat a healthy diet. “Fiber foods” include whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and nuts and seeds. Other options are fiber supplements.
  5. Eat Breakfast. Many people skip breakfast because they don’t have time for it. Keep this in mind: You don’t have time to skip breakfast, it’s simply too valuable to skip. The fact that skipping breakfast messes up your concentration and other mental functions is beyond the scope of this article. The harm of skipping breakfast from a weight loss perspective is it makes you eat a huge lunch since your body hasn’t had anything in the past 12 (or more) hours. When you eat a huge lunch you get that after meal drowsiness so now you’re both unproductive and inactive. Cereals don’t take much time to prepare and consume, and most of them are very healthy nowadays. If you are extremely pressed for time, consider grabbing a box of breakfast bars or a smoothie and throwing one in your bag when you leave for work or school. Some breakfast bars out there are also excellent sources of fiber.

  6. Drink More Water Every Day. Many places suggest 8 cups (2L) of water a day. It also depends on your weight (1L/20kg would be good, more if it’s hot or you’re ill). It sounds like an absurd amount of water, but actually, you can drink tea without sugar to make up some of the quota. In fact tea, especially green tea, rev up your “metabolism” (actually cause a temporary increase in calories burned).
    For fat loss purposes, it is important to remind yourself that thirst is a much weaker stimuli than hunger. If you consistently feel hungry after meals, don’t immediately think that you need to eat more. You may simply be thirsty!
    Needless to say there are many benefits of water. The human body is anywhere from 55% to 78% water depending on body size.

Top Tips

  • Motivation is the key. Regardless of aim, having the right attitude towards your motivation is important. If your motivation source is purely the result, you will likely not last very long. It’s important to enjoy the exercise, the immediate and long term benefits and to incorporate enjoyable activities into your exercise routine. And remember, your significant other can also benefit from mutual exercise activities.
  • It may help to use a record-keeper or plan book for your exercise program. Exercise journals are fantastic for this purpose because as you enter daily information in the journal, you’re putting together a complete record that can be referred back to in the future.
  • If you feel you need to, ease into the changes in your lifestyle. Start eating breakfast. If you have difficulty with this, start with a couple glasses of water or a large cup of coffee right when you wake up. It’ll go down easy and prepare your stomach to get back to work. Cut the amount of dinners little by little. For the exercises, start slow and increase pace and/or repetitions as you are comfortable. Attempting lifestyle changes in a drastic, sudden manner can backfire. Do what you can but don’t sell yourself short.
  • Make a photo diary of your body but don’t take pictures too often (once a month is fine). Don’t study your pictures intensely since you might not get motivated if you don’t see a difference. If you are consistent in your diet and exercise, you should see changes monthly. Keep in mind that you won’t see changes in the mirror everyday since they will be very small improvements.
  • Unless you are watching your weight for another reason, ignore the reading on the scale. You may be decreasing your body fat but your weight may stay the same (or even increase) as you build muscle. Muscle tissue is denser than fat so it will be heavier than the same volume of fat. Water weight can also vary your readings by a surprisingly large amount.
  • Try to keep a steady eating routine. It will throw your body off if you skip a meal and starve yourself only to stuff your face later. Avoid such situations as much as possible.
  • For added variety you may look into using a Swiss ball and/or a medicine ball during your ab workout. Doing crunches on the swiss ball will improve your balance, or you may use it to get a little more flexion in your abs. The medicine ball has many different uses, the simplest one being added weight.
  • If you are already skinny, but simply don’t have the abdominal muscle that you want, passively exercising while doing other things can help a great deal. If you spend a long time in a sitting position, try continuously clenching your stomach. Get in the habit of doing this for hours at a time and you may be surprised at its effectiveness.
  • Try to make an effort to make your abs strong while you are young because the abs are one of the last muscles to atrophy, so you may not have to worry about them when you are older if you do a good job while you are young.
  • Try some stress relieving activities, such as yoga or meditation. Built up stress causes an increase in your weight.
  • You should make working out a priority like keeping a job, you don’t want to miss and not get paid.
  • 500 calories’ is the calorie deficit a day needed to lose a pound of fat per week. This may be from eating less or hitting the gym.

Warnings

  • Most, if not all of these exercises are not recommended for people with lower back problems. There are many other ways to properly develop six pack abs without putting so much strain on your back. If in doubt or experiencing lower back pain, talk to a physical therapist for proper ways of performing the routines.
  • This exercise regimen will only work for a select few individuals. For some people, this exercise advice will actually provide the opposite desired effects. For example, for people who have a few extra pounds around the belly and start this from scratch. They are actually more likely to look larger in the belly for a period of time since they are putting on muscle beneath their fat at first. You may want to begin for a significant period of time by doing more cardiovascular exercises to lose fat all over the body. Doing specific muscle exercises, unfortunately, does not remove fat from that specific area of the body. Additionally, focusing solely on the abs can produce an imbalance in the body and may cause back problems where there were none before or exacerbate any existing problems
  • As with any exercise program, consult your doctor before making major changes in your workout routine if you have medical problems. Increase loads slowly. Being eager is great but setting unrealistic goals isn’t going to help you in the long run.
  • Don’t starve yourself. If you go hungry for an extended period of time your metabolism will slow down. The body, thinking that no food is available tries to make the best of what it has and goes into power-saving mode. Whilst on ‘power-saving’ mode, the body will supplement its carbohydrates (being burnt for energy) with the proteins in your muscles. What this means is that you are in fact eating back into that six pack just to try and make it show through.
  • Fiber also acts like a mild laxative. Be careful if you eat a lot of fiber. It can also cause some gas if you’re not used to taking in so much fiber. If you increase your fiber dosage by a lot, increase your water intake too. Excessive fiber with little water can result in digestive problems.
  • Habitual snacking on unhealthy foods is often done almost unconsciously. Many people do this and don’t realize how many calories they take in. They insist they eat very little (which is true during their major meals), but they don’t realize that their snacking is making them gain weight or stopping them from losing weight. Avoid buying high sugar snacks and instead buy healthy, low calorie snacks. A way to prevent unhealthy snacking is to write down everything you eat in a day. As you watch the list grow you will be inclined to put that donut down.
  • Be wary of ab machines that you may see on TV. Many of these are in fact rip offs and you are more likely to stay motivated if you incorporate an ABS workout into a regular gym session(you are less likely to get sick of it). You can get a great ab workout just by using the floor. Remember that it’s not the exercise that will give you the six pack. It’s the combination of strength exercises and fat loss. Playing more athletic sports, weight lifting, and cardiovascular exercises are a million times more effective for fat loss than using an exercise machine. If you feel you need to use those machines, a gym membership will likely suit you much better.
  • Supplements can be useful, but they are just what they advertise themselves to be; supplements. There is no magic pill to make you lose weight with no work. There are some supplements out there that can help you lose weight by increasing your metabolism or by helping you curb your appetite, but you still have to work. Most tend to be “snake oil” and will not really give you any results while costing you great deals of money. And remember, even if they DO help, all supplements still require the consumer to watch their diet and increase their exercise. A simple multivitamin or mineral pill is likely all that most people will need.
  • Sit ups can be bad for your back and neck. They have caused many lower back problems and are not recommended by most doctors. More and more K-12 schools are phasing sit ups out and switching to crunches. A good alternative to sit ups is to lay on your back, lift your feet in the air as high as you can reach them, and lift your butt off the floor instead. The best results come when you do them slow and tighten your abs (and even butt). When you lower your legs do not let your butt touch the ground completely, then repeat. This exercise conditions, tightens, and hardens all the same muscles as a sit up when used with crunches as well.
  • Don’t neglect warm-ups or you may find yourself pulling muscles and long-term pain when you start doing this method!
  • Opinions on weight loss and muscle training routines are like noses - everyone has one but they’re all different. In the end, you should find something you enjoy and that you will stick for life. Over time, you can modify it until you get the results that are right for you.

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Herbal Weight Loss - Stay Slimmer

Category: Articles, Weight loose & gain    |    51 views    |    Add a Comment

Crammed work schedules, stressful scamper here and there to get the different tasks done, and no work-out! That’s what most of the people’s normal day is like. Nothing surprising that many of them end up with those feeble bodies and bulbous bellies. And to forget that excruciating stress! Can’t you wring out a few minutes from your schedule everyday to take care of yourself?

You must understand that staying fit is as important as being successful n life. If your body is not successful, how can your life be! You have to realize the imprtnace of fitness loose our weight and reshape our body, if any disfiguration caused due to several reasons like below:

  • Post Pregnancy extra flab
  • Over eating
  • Craving for Junk food or Fast food
  • No daily exercise
  • Any disease like hypo-thyroid etc.

But getting slimmer in a natural way, may prove to be the best way of shedding extra flab.

Short history of herb

Weight loss herbs are the ancient way of reducing weight. We even weren’t aware of the fact that this herb has immense effect on our health or fitness; the herbs started their work profoundly in our body.

Our unhealthy lifestyle

Though history found that people stayed in herbs and natural food, didn’t get fat so easily, as we get now. Obviously, our sedentary lifestyle has immense bad effect on our health, which leaves us unhappy with the hulk like body at the end of the day. Sitting almost 12-16 hours in front of computer, taking own convenience instead of walking or craving for cheese sandwich, burger instead of fruits, fresh vegetables may be the root cause of storing extra calories in our body.

Reason for weight gain according to Ayurveda

Ayurveda defines human body in the light of three doshas; they are Kapha, Vata and Pitta.
The main culprit being noticed for gaining weight is Kapha Dosha. Due to imbalance of Kapha, Ayurveda tips the finger towards it as a main cause for getting fat.
These weight loss herbs are the remedial product for balancing Kapha Dosha, and impart its success story on improving metabolism in the mind of the herbal weight loss product users.

How herb works

It is the lifelong process of reducing weight, as it works naturally:

  1. It feels the body needs first
  2. It provides the remedy for different body basic
  3. It has no side effect
  4. It has safe and exact effect on different body types
  5. It cures any disease naturally and simply

Process of fat burning

Herbal slimmer takes natural way to burn your fat, if you put proper effort in it:

  1. It works as a hunger-suppressant
  2. It detoxifies the body by excreting excess waste products from it
  3. It acts as booster of metabolism
  4. It removes the excess water from the body
  5. It eliminates laxatives by cleanses the bowel

Extra benefit from herbs

Along with burning fat from the body, this herbal weight loss system also focuses on different matter of the body in order to make your body strong and healthy from inside:

  • It helps in preserving muscle tissues
  • It helps in strengthening internal immune system
  • It doesn’t make you pale even after reducing extra pounds
  • It doesn’t make your skin loose and untoned
  • It doesn’t take your energy away from you
  • It doesn’t give heartburn or acidity problem
  • It doesn’t give the problem of flatulence

Few herbs do the miracle

The natural and herbal way of losing weight is inevitably very much prevalent all over the world. Let’s now know which herbs do the miracle in loosing weight:

Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
It acts as a remedy for

  1. appetite control or loss
  2. gas relieve
  3. digestion control
  4. tissue tightening

Black Pepper (Piper nigrum)
It works as a

  1. Kapha pacifier
  2. digestion controller
  3. appetite stimulator

False pepper (Embelia ribes)
This weight loss herb is the remedy for

  1. enhancing metabolism
  2. stimulating digestion

Indian Bedellium or famously known as Guggul (Commifora mukul)
This herb also has extensive effect on human body as a:

1. Thyroid gland metabolism stimulator
2. BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate increaser
3. Cholesterol controller

Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra)
It works as a:

  1. satisfier for sweet-lover
  2. controller of snacking habitual without adding extra calorie

Psyllium (Plantago Psyllium)
1. Commonly found in powder form acts as a natural laxative.

Forms of Herbal weight loss products

From the ancient time, Ayurveda has nurtured their knowledge in curing diseases explicitly for the benefit of mankind. Various saints in the ancient time had vividly researched on various weight loss herbs. This is further being modified in order to make it feasible and accessible to the normal human being. Nowadays, herbal weight loss products found in different forms and shape in order to make it marketable.

It is usually found in the form of:

  • Capsule
  • Edible Liquid
  • Edible powder
  • Gel (for using externally)

So, invariably going along with the natural and herbal remedies will definitely give you hotbod and healthy life. If you are planning to fight your extra calories in a healthy though side-effect-free way, herbal weight loss products can be your gateway to reach your goal in a little time.

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Free tips to fight obesity the herbal way

Category: Articles, Weight loose & gain    |    62 views    |    Add a Comment

Among the various options available to fight obesity, the herbal weight loss remedy is reckoned as the best. Due to the increasing awareness about the herbal products many people are willing to stay by the nature’s side. The herbal products reduce the weight gradually against the weight loss programs that promise weight reduction overnight. Find out whether the herbal weight loss holds good for you.This article covers

  • Herbal Weight Loss- An Overview
  • Working of the herbal weight loss
  • Types of herbs

Herbal Weight Loss An Overview

With the hassles of modern-day living, more and more people often find themselves living on a diet of fast foods for a quick snack. In times where work comes before the stomach’s needs, it is no wonder then that the statistics for obesity and overweight are shooting through the roof. Not only does this kind of an inactive lifestyle lead to obesity, but if unchecked, obesity and overweight problems can lead to various diseases, which in the long term could even prove to be fatal. Inactivity also gives rise to eating simply for emotional fulfillment, which is another important cause of weight problems.

Due to the social stigma attached with being fat, especially so with women, many women tend to embark on a hotchpotch of diets, herbal weight loss solution, weight loss supplements, and other drastic moves in order to reduce weight fast. However, not knowing or enquiring properly before starting a diet, or taking weight loss supplements, may lead to severe side effects by disturbing the body’s metabolism and leading to short-term weight loss.

Herbal weight loss supplements and herbal weight loss programs are the safest option to choose while combating weight problems. Herbal weight loss is a process of losing weight by trying naturally-occurring herbs or products. Combined with a healthy and smart lifestyle, herbal weight loss supplements work effectively in shedding those extra kilos, and maintaining the weight lost over the long-term.

Herbal products are being used widely today for weight loss solutions. However, there is no guarantee that these herbal products can be effective. It is important to remember that there is a lot of variety between herbal products and one needs to choose the right type of product they require. It is also important to note that most of the herbal remedies sold in the market today for fast weight loss solutions, are being sold by individuals who have very limited, and often absolutely no knowledge, about the products they are selling. Therefore, customers need to be aware of the hazards/side effects of the herbal weight loss medicines they are taking.Most herbal weight loss supplements work in the following ways:

  • Increasing the discharge of stool/urine.
  • Stimulating the central nervous system to bring about a sense of fullness.
  • Increasing the level of serotonin in the body, again giving rise to a feeling of fullness).

Types of Herbs

Some of the most common herbal weight loss products/herbs available on the market these days include:

Ephedra (also known as Ma-huang)

Ephedra is by far the most commonly used herbal weight loss product. Traditionally ephedra was used to reduce symptoms during the flu or cold. While ephedra is one of the primary ingredients in many herbal weight loss supplements, it has been proven to be highly unsafe if taken over a long period of time. The misuse of ephedra in severe cases has been shown to cause deaths, while general side effects associated with the herb include high blood pressure, sleep apnea, insomnia, palpitations, diabetes, etc. While ephedra has been efficient in significant amount of weight loss, it is highly unadvisable to consume ephedra.

Cascara (also known as Cascara sagrada, chittem bark)

Cascara functions as a strong laxative and is a commonly found ingredient in herbal weight loss medicines. The herb also functions as an “internal cleanser”. However, cascara should not be taken if you are pregnant. It can also disturb the electrolyte balance of the body.

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