subject: The Best Ab Workouts For A 6 Pack [print this page] So you want a set of 6 pack abs but you do not know where to begin. Most people start by doing sit ups or crunches. But, unfortunately and ironically, sit ups and crunches will do very little to get you a set of 6 pack abs. That is unless you have less than 10% body fat if you are a man and less than 16% if you are a woman. If you are at a low enough body fat percentage then those exercises will help. However, most of us need to get to that point before all our effort on our abs is apparent to the world.
So, this issue now becomes one of reducing our overall body fat percentage so that our 6 pack can show. Just as most people do sit ups hoping to get 6 pack abs, most people do cardio exercises to lose weight. This is good but a single pound of fat is 3,500 calories and you could spend an hour on the treadmill and only burn 400 to 500 calories.
What you need is a workout that is going to burn a lot of fat as well as work your abs. To achieve these goals it may seem a little counterintuitive. But, we are going to start lifting weights.
Weight lifting helps us achieve our goal of 6 pack abs in a number of ways. First, muscle weighs more than fat so your body must work harder throughout the day and burn more fat. Secondly, by doing compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups at the same time, rather than isolating individual muscles, you will throw your body into a metabolic shock which will cause you to burn calories at a higher rate for days on end. Thirdly, exercises such as dead lifts, clean and jerks, renegade rows, dumb bell swings and others actually work your ab muscles because they must be used to stabilize the body. So, the best workout to do to get 6 pack abs is to lift weights!
Now, the best ab workouts for a 6 pack that I can recommend require you use a kettlebell (KB). This is a device that looks like a cannonball with a handle on it and, because of its design is ideal for swinging between your legs. This may not sound like it would do a lot, however, you will be huffing and puffing in no time and burning calories at a rate of up to 20 a minute! But, you will also be working the muscles of your core: your back, your hips and your abs. If you do this on a daily basis you will really start to see some results in both fat loss and muscle definition.
