Gaining Definition In Your Abs… more diet, less exercise?

A lot of people want to know the key to getting either a flat stomach or a six-pack. In this post, we will look at testimonials of those with a great set of abs, scientific research and my own personal experience with sculpting my mid-section. The truth is: there’s more than one way to do it, depending on your goals. But for almost everyone, there are a few constants that will get you the results you’re looking for:

Your diet is the key to “seeing” your abs

Ab definition, a six-pack, whatever you want to call it comes from removing fat off of your mid-section. Taking an excerpt from Mark Sisson’s Daily Apple:

“As we often say here “80% of your results come from how you eat.” Conversely, eating more carbs drives up insulin, drives carbs towards fat storage, decreases fat-burning by prompting fat cells to hold on to stored fat and makes you hungrier for more carbs. I could burn some or most of all that off again by doing tons of cardio, but that only makes me hungrier for more carbs and perpetuates the cycle. It’s like digging a hole to put the ladder …………………………………………into wash the basement windows.”

The evidence is right here. The man has an 8-pack at 54 and is absolutely jacked!! There is obviously a trend in most of my posts revolving around how certain carbs with a high glycemic index escalate insulin levels, telling the body to store more fat. So, common sense tells us that if we minimize our carb intake to foods with a lower glycemic index (such as fruits and vegetables), we will store less fat!

In a post on Military.com, they recommend:

The most important factor in acquiring washboard abs is eating a healthy diet. Here is a list of recommended healthy ways to help you lose a few inches:

- Drink at least three liters of water per day (100 oz)
- Eat five servings of vegetables and fruits per day
- LIMIT fried foods and cheese
- LIMIT processed sugar (for example: sodas, cookies, candy)
- Eliminate fatty red meat – only lean red meats (1-2 times weekly)”

In my opinion, go ahead and change “LIMIT” to “ELIMINATE” on bullet points 3 and 4. Eating fried foods = no six-pack. Processed sugar… you might as well forget about it. But the point of drinking a lot of water, proper daily servings of fruits and vegetables (especially for the proper amount of fiber to keep your digestive system running properly) and lean red meats only… all great points.

So how do scientific studies explain the correlation between high GI carb diets and excess abdominal fat? In an article on Look Cut:

A recent study by Reina Sofa University Hospital in Spain examined the effects of 3 different diets on fat distribution and insulin resistance. The study compared a diet high in carbs with a diet high in monounsaturated fats (avocado’s, nuts, flax) and a diet high in saturated fats.

The diet high in carbs showed a strong propensity to redistribute fat towards the abdominal region. Conversely, the diet high in monounsaturated fats showed just the opposite; a tendency to prevent abdominal fat deposition.”

You can workout your abs just as effectively at your desk as in the gym!

That’s right, I said it! Where’s the proof? You guessed it, the picture above of Mark Sisson is the proof. Mark doesn’t work out his abs in the conventional sense. Rather, he sculpts his mid-section by doing the following:

I don’t specifically do an ab routine or ab classes as any part of my workouts. On the other hand, I pretty much work my abs all day long without specifically focusing on them…

Sure, you can if you want, but I think the best way to work your abs is involve them in almost every other movement you do. Every time you do it. When you do pushups, you should tighten your abs hard, likewise when you do pull-ups, squats, lunges, curls – you name it. And working your abs doesn’t stop in the gym. When you sit at your desk, you should take that opportunity to tighten your abs (and by abs, we mean the whole complex: rectis and transverse abdominus, internal and external obliques, and pyrimidalis).”

I always say that I don’t expect anyone to try one of my suggestions until I’ve tried it first. Well, I read and incorporated Mark’s outlook on abs in this post a few weeks ago and I’ve already felt the improvement. What do I mean by felt the improvement? Well, one of the best ways to know that you’ve worked out a muscle group is the feeling of soreness. When a muscle feels sore, that’s called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. An article by Ezine describes this phenomenon:

24 hours to 48 hours after a hard workout, most people begin to experience soreness in the body parts trained. This is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, or DOMS.

DOMS is caused by tiny microscopic tears that occur in the muscle as a result of high intensity exercise (such as weight training, intense cycling, etc). After the workout, the muscle begins to rebuild itself (provided it is allowed enough time and nutrients to recover). This is the rebuilding process which creates new muscle that is bigger and stronger than before. In other words, your muscles are growing. Your muscles grow when you are at rest – not when you’re at the gym.”

A ha! But you might be thinking that my last claim can’t be true because incorporating Mark’s ab “workout” was not the only variable in my recent routine, right? Yep, the other variable has been The Paleo Diet that I’ve been trying out. So which one has contributed the most to my increase in ab definition? My eating habits, by far. However, contracting your abdominal muscles through simply tightening them or by doing specific ab exercises (doing actual ab workouts does help some people because it’s a focused attack on the abs rather than a consistent working of the abs) will tone your abs so that when you get rid of the stomach fat on top, you’re six-pack will be ready!!

Try to avoid ab workouts with heavy weights

This is really the only muscle section of your body where using heavy weights to work out is detrimental towards attaining a desirable looking mid-section. In a previous post, I touched on the benefits of the plank exercise. Rusty Moore’s ab routine consists of, “doing planks for 5 minutes after my cardio workout. I’ll do 2 minutes of the normal plank…and then 1-2 minutes of the plank on my right side and 1-2 minutes on the left.”

When it comes to oblique exercise, it’s even more important to stay away from the heavy weights. In an article by Natural Bodybuilding, the author states:

That area of the body [obliques] will only be thickened up by training it directly with weights, which will in turn lead to a thicker waistline. You need to asses what is oblique muscle and what is fat in the area first. Do you have naturally thick and muscular obliques which are causing the problem or are you just carrying some extra fat in that area? 99.99% of the time, it’s just extra fat.”

Basically, the more your use heavy weights while working out your obliques, the more likely your going to build out the muscles on your waistline. So stick to isometric holds, side crunches or simply ab muscle tightening throughout the day.

Consistency and patience… it really is necessary

Here’s the part that most people get scared of… but there’s really NO reason to be. Getting a six pack really takes time, especially for guys. In a great post by Natural News, the author says:

If you are a male, abdominal fat is probably the last fat that will disappear from your body. First your body will remove fat from your face and extremities, such as your arms and legs, then it will remove fat from your upper torso, your chest, upper thighs and buttocks, and lastly it will use the fat stored in your abdomen.”

The best way to accomplish your goals it to be aware of what it takes to get there. And in this case, it’s gonna take hard work and dedication. But that’s the best part of it in my mind because this way you will know that you earned it. It’s the perfect “icing on the cake” scenario… the part that matters the most is the proverbial finish line!! It’s a journey. The closer you get to your goal, the more your confidence will be boosted and it will result in added energy, happiness, and a brighter outlook on life. You will even see your productivity go through the roof because you believe in yourself!! Take it from me, I witnessed it first hand!

photos provided by flickr user Plutor and Eric Hamilton and linda! and La Fondinto