Flatten Your Stomach, Get a Six Pack

If you are doing abdominal exercises in the hopes of getting a strong core and a flat stomach, you aren’t alone. The abdominal muscles are some of the most exercised in the hope of losing belly fat.

However to get great abs you need more than just exercise. Sure lots of crunches and other ab exercises may give you great tone and definition, but to see the best results you need to reduce the layer of body fat covering up those visible cuts referred to as 'six-pack' abs.

Nutrition

The first key to losing body fat and gaining muscle is with proper nutrition. You need to create a diet that burns slightly more calories than consumed. Begin by reducing your portion sizes and maintaining a balanced diet of carbs, protein and fat.

Eating several small meals throughout the day helps many people stay more satisfied and reduces hunger. Other tips for avoiding fat gain include: getting calcium, eating breakfast and eating high fiber foods. Make sure you stay well hydrated by drinking water throughout the day. Also, be sure not to cut calories too drastically or you could inadvertently lower your metabolism.

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise is the best way to burn calories and manage (or lose) weight. Reducing your calories without exercise will lead to initial weight loss, but you'll likely reach a plateau and you may also lose muscle. A personal exercise plan will get you past plateaus and can help you maintain muscle.

Abdominal Exercise

Finally, to get defined abs you should perform specific abdominal exercises that work all the abdominal muscles. There are many exercises you can do to work the abs. One of the better ab tools you can invest in is an exercise ball. Exercise balls are great for crunches, twists and other movements. Because you stabilize your torso on the ball you use more muscles than when performing standard crunches.

Core Training

You can also perform core stability exercises to improve your torso strength, balance and stability. Your core is made up of abdominals, lower back and hips and creates a foundation for all other movement. These muscles stabilize the spine and create a strong center around which the extremities can move. A strong core is important in every aspect of movement; especially power movements.

Combining a bit of each – good nutrition, aerobic exercise and core specific strengthening – will go a long way to give you those strong, flat and functional abs