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Some people will tell you that the only way to a six-pack is through thousands and thousands of crunches or sit-ups. However, the likelihood is that the person telling you this neither has a six-pack nor has attepted this many crunches. The way to get a six pack is through defining the abdominal muscles, and this requires a low body-fat percentage. Yup, that means a bit of dieting. However, the first step in building a six-pack should always be to develop the muscles in the first place. Think of it like this, first you have to buy the car before you can drive away with it.

Working the abs can be done in a number of ways, and the different permutations and combinations are too numerous to describe in this article. One of the easiest ways is to go to your local gym and use the abs resistance machine. This lessens the number of crunches you need to perform to significantly work your abs. It also has the benefit that you can easily gauge your progress, without losing count as you approach your hundredth sit-up. If going to the local gym is too expensive, then my best advice to you is to buy a swiss ball and a couple of dumbbells. The swiss ball is basically a device that is very unstable when you use it, so good core control is needed to keep you from falling off. Keeping balance recruits your ab muscles and using the dumbbells only adds to the difficulty, as well as working your other muscles at the same time.

Once you have been working your abs for a few weeks, you will notice that your exercises will become easier and you will become stronger. It's now time to start working to reduce some of that fat. At this point it's always useful to do a little thought exercise. Tense your abs and try and pinch the skin around your abs. The fat that you grab before you reach your muscles is what is stopping you from having the six-pack that you want. A diet and cardio work is virtually the only way to strip away the troublesome fat. The key to a diet is to take in fewer calories than your maintenance level. When you eat more, your body is in an anabolic state and will tend to increase in mass, whereas when you eat less, your body's cortisol will start getting to work on your fat. Using cardio equipment like a treadmill or a rowing machine will also allow you to strip away body fat as your body dips into its fat reserves to create energy.

After following a strict diet and cardio regime for a few weeks you should notice the fat coming away and your new abs being revealed. Now it's time to hit the beach and show the world your new body.

Learn more about this author, Jon Greengrass.
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