Method 2 of 2: The Six Pack Workout
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Exercise your core muscles. Once the fat on top of your abs is gone, you'll need washboard abs to be underneath. In the comfort of your home, you can exercise your core muscles -- it helps posture, too!- The plank: You can't just focus on what's on top -- it's what's behind your abs too -- your back! And doing the plank works both. With your forearms on the floor and your toes into the ground, lift up your core and thighs off the floor. Make sure your elbows are in line with your shoulders. To do it right, keep your butt and abs flexed.
- The reverse crunch: Upper abs are easy; it's the lower ones that are hard. This exercise is much like a crunch, but with your feet in the air. To start, put your arms at your side, keeping your palms down. Place your knees over your hips, using your abs to place your body. Instead of moving your head toward your knees, move your knees toward your head. Hold your knees briefly as close to head as possible and then lower them back towards the mat.
- The Bicycle: This exercise targets your back and sides, in addition to your upper and lower abs. Lie on a soft surface like a yoga mat and make a pedaling motion in the air. Alternate raising shoulders toward the opposite knee. Make sure to work both sides evenly. 2 sets of 12 reps is a good place to start.
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Start weight training. If you're going for a six pack, you'll need strong pecs, shoulders, and back too. Your entire body needs to be on track, not just your abs.
- Wood Chop: Using a free weight or medicine ball, kneel down on one knee. Lift the weight up, with both hands, over the shoulder of your leading foot. Lower the weight to the other hip, hold, and bring back up. Always make sure your entire body is facing forward. Aim to use a weight that fatigues the muscle in 12 reps.
- Trunk Rotations: Working with a dumbbell or medicine ball, get into a sitting position, knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Lean back slightly to engage your abs. Bending at the elbows, hold the weight close to your core and twist from side to side. Pause at the end of each rotation.
- Dumbbell fly: Grab some free weights and sit on a stability ball. Walk it forward until it's your head and upper back that are balancing on the ball. Push the dumbbells up and out, directly above your elbows. Swing out and back in, slowly. Keep your abs flexed at all times and your arms loose, not locked.
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Blast fat with cardio. The absolute quickest way to get rid of fat is cardio.[7] While it's important to do cardio and it's important to work with weights, it's most important to do both in tandem. You need to burn and blast away the fat to see the results you want.
- This doesn't necessarily mean running. Swimming, boxing, cycling, and tennis are also great alternatives (amongst many) if you don't feel like hitting the concrete.
- Consider high intensity interval training. Most studies have shown that the benefits of cardio are amplified when done in intervals.[8] Work out as hard as you can for 30 seconds, relax for a minute, and repeat 9 more times. And you'll get your workout in super quick.
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Keep it varied. You don't want your body to get used to your workouts. Once something becomes easy, step it up a notch. Constantly challenging yourself is the only way you'll see results you've never seen before.
- Each time you exercise, make sure to target different muscle groups. Do somewhere between four and eight moves and don't repeat the same moves the next day. Keep your muscles guessing by constantly changing up your routine. But, as always, check with your doctor if you're 45 or older.
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