Ah, ripped abs… quite possibly the most desirable aim for both male and female bodybuilders or those interested in general physique improvement. In truth, it’s a simple old game, but so many screw it up or waste their time listening to myths and bogus information, it’s unreal. I hope to set the record straight here, and give you the only tried, tested, and true method for achieving the kind of abs you can only dream about.
Probably the biggest mistake, or misconception people have about creating ripped abs is, they seem to believe by doing countless sit-ups, crunches and other ab workouts day after day, they are able to ‘burn fat’ in the area of the stomach, thus, creating the ripped effect they desire.
If only it were that simple. Unfortunately, that is not how fat burning works.
In order to achieve ripped abs, a persons overall body fat must be low. How low? Impossible to say; as low as it takes for the abs to be defined, and it’s as simple as that.
Some people tend to put fat on all over their bodies, while for others it seems to be all concentrated on the stomach, so, it may take a while, but with some persistence, you’ll get there.
The fastest possible way to burn fat is, to go on a cutting diet, where you are actually eating at a calorie deficit (15 calories per lb of body fat, minus 500-1000 calories, every day.)
Do NOT starve yourself – this will put your body into starvation mode and it will conserve fat, rendering your efforts to lose fat futile.
To put the process of fat burning in hyper drive, you should do some steady cardio on a daily basis. I like using an exercise bike for this at a steady pace, which keeps the heart rate at around 130-140 BPM, for around half an hour.
You should also do your exercise on an empty stomach, so your body is forced to burn body fat instead of actual calories from your stomach.
One final tip is, don’t try to go Speedy Gonzales on the exercise. Go steady and stick to what I’ve said. Going too fast will force your body to simply clap out before you are ready, plus, go too fast and you’ll burn muscle tissue, and not fat.