Develop your abs: 4 things to remember!

To build up your abs and make your belly firm, performing so-called "ab exercises" is not enough. You must also apply certain intensification techniques and watch your nutrition. Also, if you can't go to the gym every day, you need to get some essential equipment (floor mats, dumbbells, etc.) at home. In this article, you will already find all the tips and recommendations to get firm abs quickly.

Fighting fat

When you want to build up your abs and develop your abdominal muscles, some friends will advise you various ab exercises. If you do them, you will not necessarily achieve your goal. In fact, these exercises do not promote the reduction of fatty tissue, which is essential to firm up your stomach. Therefore, we recommend that you focus on eliminating the fat located under the skin of the belly. To this end, pair abdominal exercises with a dry run, consuming fewer calories. To learn more, click on fitness-musculation-nutrition.fr.

In order to succeed in your diet, you must know how to manage your food. Here, you must ban fast food, sugary drinks, alcohol and cheese. These foods provide a large amount of bad fats and carbohydrates to the body. On the other hand, you can maintain a high protein intake with low-fat meats (chicken or turkey). As an alternative, you can also eliminate fat by opting for a fat burner. The latter is an effective supplement that you will find in the form of capsules or gel. It will help you limit the assimilation of fat and accelerate its combustion.

By applying these solutions, the fatty tissue in your body will melt away faster, which will help firm up your stomach and develop abs.

Choosing the right abdominal exercises

To achieve firm abs and a well-sculpted body, performing random exercises or constantly lifting weights is not the best solution. Instead, you should focus on specific abdominal exercises.

The basic abdominal exercise

The first exercise consists of performing series of abdominal exercises of the "crunch" type (between 20 and 30 depending on your physical abilities). Gradually, you can increase the number of crunches depending on how you feel. To succeed in this exercise, do not pull on your neck when you stand up. You risk injuring your neck. The best tip is to place your hands on your chest or on the side of your head.

Variations of the crunch

Besides the crunch, you can also perform other variations to increase the level of difficulty. This is the case of the crunch declined with twist. Here, after lowering the bench more than 30 °, you must place your feet under the sleeves, then contract the abs (the chest and legs must form an angle of 90 °). You can also try the crunch on a gym ball. You must sit on the ball, move your feet forward so that your lower back is supported on the ball, bend your knees and spread them, then place your feet flat.

To further challenge your abs, perform the hanging deadlift. In this case, you must hang by your arms from a fixed bar, without touching the ground with your legs. The exercise consists of bringing the legs back to a square position and holding the position for a few seconds. This helps to strengthen the lower abs.

Some other abdominal exercises

In addition to the crunch and its variations, you can also perform other exercises to develop your abdominal muscles. In short, here are some examples that should help you reach your goals:

• The floor crunch: to perform it, keep your pelvis flat against the floor and lift your shoulders in a back and forth movement;
• Combination crunch, or "V-Up": raise your legs and torso simultaneously, and keep your arms straight throughout the exercise;
• The crunch with the high pulley: it solicits mainly the upper and lower part of the abdominal muscles. To succeed in this exercise, you must roll up your chest so that you look behind you between your knees;
• The suspended leg raise: it allows to work the lower abdominal muscles. You must lower your legs as little as possible during the negative phase, and raise them as much as possible during the contraction;
• Floor rotations for the obliques: they are performed at the part of the crunch position. Then, during the contraction, direct your elbow towards the opposite knee;
• The plank on the ground: it allows you to keep your stomach flat and increase the resistance of the deep muscles;
• The scissors: they strengthen the lower and upper abs, while soliciting the obliques.

Watching your diet

To develop abs, nutrition remains an essential element that should not be neglected. If you want to have a stronger abdominal muscles, you need to start by reducing your caloric intake. Also, you need to hydrate more regularly. Here are some other tips to follow:

• For breakfast, take a large glass of lemon juice to stimulate digestion;
• Have a bowl of high-fiber oatmeal to keep your energy up;
• Choose fresh fruit over fruit juice that contains no fiber;
• Focus on whole grains or rice, vegetables and lean proteins;
• Include in your menu artichokes with a little vinaigrette, mineral-rich kale and oils (walnuts, hazelnuts, sesame, etc.);
• For the seasoning of meals, avoid excessive salt, and add garlic and spices;
• For dessert, take pineapple to stimulate transit and facilitate protein digestion (you can supplement with 1 to 2 capsules of vegetable charcoal).

Some other useful tips

Before you start abdominal exercises, you should expect to put in maximum effort. Most of the time, you need to push your limits. This is how you will reach your goals. Finally, here are some other tips that will help you along the way:

• Eat green vegetables: they contain vitamins, minerals, nutrients and fiber;
• Avoid refined sugars: they promote fat storage and kill hopes of shapely abs;
• Drink enough water: this will hydrate the skin, drain toxins, reduce inflammation and facilitate recovery;
• Eat less: reduce your food intake to the bare minimum to create a caloric deficit;
• Don't neglect cardio: in addition to abdominal exercises, you should also perform endurance activities and cardio sports (jogging, cycling, swimming, jumping rope, etc.).