10 Best Workouts For Women To Get Six Pack Abs
You cannot get six-pack abs without working your ab muscles. You need to lose belly fat to chisel your abs. Here are 10 ways to do that:
1. Burn Fat With Cardio and HIIT
If you want to build 6-pack abs, you must first burn the flab. There’s nothing better than cardio and HIIT to burn calories. Three hours of cardio and HIIT a week can help shed a significant amount of fat from your entire body. You may try running, running up the stairs, skipping, bicycling, playing a sport, swimming, using gym equipment, HIIT, and/or Zumba.
2. Crunches
Crunches work the mid-section of your abdominal area or the rectus abdominis muscle. This is an effective exercise to start with if you want to strengthen your core.
3. Bicycle Crunches
Bicycle crunches help build the abs and also work on the quadriceps and hamstrings.
4. Sit-Ups
Sit-ups are similar to crunches and work on the rectus abdominis and external obliques. This is one of the best ways to get six-pack abs for women. Variation: Keep your palms on your thighs and arms straight and then do sit-ups. Allow your palms to slide up to your knees when you get up, and slide down when you go back to the starting position. Here are a few more sit-ups variations.
5. Lying Leg Raise
Lying leg raise is a bit challenging exercise if you are overweight in the lower body region. This exercise is highly recommended if you want to lose weight from your belly region and carve your abs.
6. Leg Up Crunch
This exercise is a challenging variation of crunches and works on your lower and upper abs.
7. Plank
Planks help strengthen the core, improve posture, and reduce back pain. They reduce your tummy bulge and work on the rectus abdominis, internal and external obliques, transverse abdominis, arms, shoulders, quads, back, and hip muscles. Variation: You can do a side plank by lying down on your side and then lifting your body by supporting it with your forearm and feet.
8. Mountain Climbers
The mountain climber exercise mimics the movement of climbing a mountain. It helps burn belly fat and strengthen your core. Steps To Do Mountain Climbers
9. Hanging Ab Curl
This is an amazing and fun exercise to tone your abs. It works on the lower ab muscles, inner abs, and transverse abs
10. Arm Pull Over Straight-Leg Crunch
This exercise works on your lower, middle, and upper abs, hip flexors, and hamstrings. Tip: You can use 2-pound dumbbells while doing this exercise. You may also do these exercises to reduce lower belly fat. Apart from exercising, you must eat right to get 6-pack abs. Here are some diet tips you should follow to sculpt your abs.
Diet Tips And Sample Diet Chart For Six-Pack Abs
1. Sample Diet Chart For Six Pack Abs
Here are some more diet tips.
2. Load Up On Lean Protein
Protein is food for muscles. Consume lean protein to help repair and rebuild your muscles because a lot of wear and tear occurs when you work out (1). Include foods like chicken breast, mushroom, lentils, fish, beans, and soy in your diet to give your muscles the required nutrition.
3. Do Not Avoid Healthy Fats
Healthy fats do not make you gain weight. Healthy fats help reduce inflammation and prevent inflammation-induced weight gain (2). Consume almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, pine nuts, avocado, fatty fish, chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, olive oil, cheese, dark chocolate, and eggs.
4. You Need Dietary Fiber
We often assume that we need to avoid carbs to lose weight. But that’s not true. You need the right type of carbs. Dietary fiber is a type of carb that cannot be digested by humans but aids weight loss by keeping you full for a longer duration and preventing fat absorption (3), (4), (5). Consume broccoli, flax seeds, prune, peaches, pear, apple, lima beans, black beans, figs, berries, oats bran, barley, green peas, guava, peach, Brussels sprouts, artichokes, pomegranate, kiwi, brown rice, beetroot, quinoa, and acorn squash.
5. Drink Up
Usually, when you are thirsty but don’t drink water, you may think you are hungry and load up on calories. Moreover, not drinking enough water can prevent your cells from performing their functions, leading to slow metabolism, dehydration, constipation, and bloating (6). Drink at least 2-3 liters of water per day. You can also drink infused water, fresh fruit or vegetable juices, smoothies, coconut water, and buttermilk.
6. No Starving
If you think you will lose weight by starving yourself, you are mistaken. Not eating for a prolonged period may signal the body to shift to the starvation mode, and it will stop using any calories consumed as usable energy. The extra calories will get stored as fat, leading to weight gain. Eat every 2-4 hours to keep your metabolism active and the cells functioning properly.
7. Consume Fat Burners
Some foods help burn calories apart from nourishing your body. Include fat-burning foods in your diet to help you shed fat. Consume grapefruit, green tea, brown rice, quinoa, cayenne pepper, black pepper, celery, cinnamon, yogurt, low-fat milk, nuts, turmeric, dark chocolate, apple cider vinegar, spinach, cauliflower, garlic, and peanut butter. Here’s a list of other foods to eat to get six-pack abs. Brooke Cavalla, a Certified Prenatal/Postnatal Exercise Specialist, says, “Coffee itself is not directly related to sculpting a 6-pack. It certainly can help boost energy levels and give you a little more “push” during your workouts, which is what helps you burn and get 6-pack abs. When coupled with regular exercise and healthy eating habits, coffee can help give your workouts an extra boost.” She adds, “There has been some research to suggest that caffeine, the main ingredient in coffee, can help boost your resting metabolic rate (RMR) and reduce hunger signals. RMR is the rate at which your body burns calories.” You now know what foods will best help you get those killer abs. But the most important thing is to be able to maintain the weight loss and your six-pack abs. Here’s how you can maintain your hard-earned six-pack abs.
Lifestyle Changes To Maintain Six Pack Abs
Lifestyle changes help you beyond maintaining your six-pack abs. They give you an inner makeover. Once you get used to a new and better lifestyle, you will love the positive changes and not want to go back. Here’s what you should do:
1. Stop Hitting Snooze
We all do it – keep hitting the snooze button until it’s too late even to take a shower! But if you want to retain your amazing abs, you must drag yourself out of bed. If you wake up early or say, at least 2 hours before you head out, you can do yoga or an abs workout, prepare breakfast and lunch, and not look like you rushed to work or school without brushing your hair.
2. Reduce Stress
Stress is harmful in many ways. When you are stressed, the hormone cortisol is released, which increases the glucose levels in your blood and causes increased hunger (7), (8). This leads to fat deposition in the abdominal area and, in some cases, insulin resistance and diabetes (9). Yoga, meditation, cardio, weight training, playing a sport, swimming, painting, reading books, traveling, listening to music, and even applying makeup for fun can help reduce stress.
3. Don’t Skip Breakfast
If you miss breakfast, you will feel hungry all day long. You need to have a substantial breakfast to help your body function normally. Include fiber, protein, and healthy fats in your breakfast to have a complete and balanced meal before you start your day.
4. Avoid Junk
Wondering what to eat to get a six-pack? Avoid junk food. High-carb, high-calorie, and zero nutritional value foods are junk foods. They do nothing but harm your health. Avoid snacking on junk food, such as potato chips, fries, fried chicken, Indian fried snacks, etc. Also, avoid midnight snacking.
5. Weekly Workout
Working out is essential if you want to maintain your abs. Work out at least 4 hours a week to keep yourself in shape. Do a mix of cardio, weights, and strength training to shed the fat and build lean muscle mass.
6. Build Social Support
Social support is the most important factor when it comes to weight loss or maintaining it. Associate with people who have lost weight or want to lose weight and are serious about it. You can learn a lot from them and stay motivated.
7. Share Your Calories
You may have a craving for a certain dessert or fried food. Well, if you do decide to give in, share your dessert or fried food with your friends or spouse to consume fewer calories. Also, when you eat, use smaller bowls or plates to signal your brain that you are consuming enough and don’t require any more food. Can walking give you abs? Brooke says, “Walking is a great way to help your body burn calories and stay active. And if you are in a calorie deficit through your diet, walking can also help you lose weight. However, I would not say this is the most efficient way to get a 6-pack.” At what body fat percentage do abs show females? “Some women may begin to see their ab muscles around 18% body fat, but if you really want to see the definition, body fat levels will likely need to be around 12-17%. But this varies based on genetics and fitness level,” says Brooke. How long does it take to get abs for a female? It takes somewhere around six months to a year for women to get six-pack abs. The time depends on your current body weight, medical history, genetics, and adherence to the plan. What foods ruin your abs? All kinds of high-calorie junk food can ruin your abs. How long do you need to hold a plank to flatten your belly? Start with a 30-second hold and then move up to 1-3 minutes. Make sure you maintain the correct posture while doing a plank to prevent lower back injury. Also, eat the right foods to shed pounds. What are the first signs of abs? The first signs of abs are pants fitting loosely at the waistline (which indicates you are losing fat around your stomach) and the visibility of the upper 3 abs (as they are easiest to work compared to the lower abs). What is the ideal body fat percentage to see abs? Ideally, 10-14 percent body fat is considered safe to see abs. This is when you would be lean enough to show muscles that make the abs visible. Is it easier for a guy or a girl to get a six-pack? Generally, males have more muscle mass than females, which makes it easier for them to build visible abs. Can you get abs in a month? No, achieving abs in 30 days is just not feasible. In fact, even those who are lean and in good shape may take anywhere between 6 months and a year to get abs.
