10 Steps To Getting Your Best Abs Ever - Advanced Course

1. Slow down. Concentrate more on feeling the muscle you are working, contracting and slowly releasing it, than on getting so many reps done. Don't rush through the movement.

2. When doing crunch movements, let your upper back come off the floor, but never pull on your neck. Concentrate on using your abdominals to do the work.

3. Do your cardio. This is key to burning the fat so those muscles will show.

4. Add weight, not repetitions, to your ab movements. Until I started using weights, I could not get the results I was looking for.

5. Use a medicine ball. Start out with a light weight and work up to your desired goal. Concentrate on using the ball correctly and maintaining excellent form to avoid injury.

6. Invest in a vertical leg raise apparatus, or use one at the gym. You can really hit the abs with this.

7. Do your ab work daily. Ab muscles do not need a day of rest. You can work them seven days a week.

8. Hold your abs in throughout the day. Train your abdominal muscles constantly.

9. Eat a diet low in fat to avoid excess bodyfat. Fat will obscure your abs no matter how hard you train them.

10. Don't eat 4 hours before bed. Those calories tend to be stored as bodyfat.


Before starting any physical program check with your health care
professional.

Flat Belly Rules

Belly fat not only looks bad, but is the most dangerous fat you can have on your body. When you decrease your waist size, you also decrease your risks of heart disease, diabetes and certain kinds of cancers.

As women get older and enter perimenopause and menopause, hormonal and metabolic changes create a more difficult challenge. We tend to get bloated and retain more water, and our waists also start to spread. But we can still look tight and trim. Before a photo shoot or special event, I take the following steps in order to show more muscle and get rid of the bloat:

• Limit all carbohydrates (only for short time--no longer than 2 to 3 days--and I still eat some complex carbs like oatmeal and whole-wheat bread).

• Limit sparkling and carbonated beverages including sparkling water.

• Eat more lean protein.

• Limit spicy foods.

• Limit cruciferous vegetables and other raw vegetables, since the fiber can cause bloating. These include cabbage, broccoli and brussels sprouts.

• Eat smaller meals 3 to 4 times a day.

• Limit salt, which causes water retention.

• Make dinner your smallest meal.

• Drink plenty of water throughout the day.

• Don't forget to hold your stomach in throughout the day and train those muscles constantly. I do ab work twice a day, even if I only have 5 minutes!