Men, Abs and Machines – What’s the Truth?

Stunning men abs are everywhere. You can see sculpted bods on TV, in magazines, and on billboards. We all know that a six pack is sexy. But how do you get one?

Those sculpted bods with ripped abs are usually paid models selling some gadget, gizmo, gimmick, or machine promising to give you rock solid sexy abs.

Do those machines work? Do you know the truth?

Before you buy an abdominal training machine or join a gym, there are 3 things you should know:

  1. Abdominal training machines can aid in strengthening and toning, but they will not give you overall strength or melt fat, when used alone.
  2. Although machines and equipment may help, men abs can get toned and strong without them, at home.
  3. Due to genetics, some men will get rock hard abs quicker and easier than others.

Machines

The number of abdominal training machines available is mind-boggling. Many can be found at the gym, and others are available for home use. Do they work?

That depends. Some provide real benefits, most are the same as just doing abdominal targeting exercises, and a few actually do nothing.

The machines you can find in the gym usually have the benefit of progressive resistance, allowing you to increase your workout as you increase in strength, but you can achieve the same benefits at home by doing weighted exercises.

The primary benefits to purchasing an at-home machine for men abs are:

  1. Motivation
  2. Form

If having a machine will motivate you to follow through with your fitness plan, then purchasing one is a good investment. If it won’t, then it may not be.

Form is an important consideration. If you do not have good form, you are not exercising properly. This not only defeats the purpose of working out, but puts you at risk for injury. An exercise machine cannot give you good form. However, once you know you are exercising properly, the machine can reinforce your good form until it becomes second nature to you.

Before purchasing a machine, ask your friends for recommendations and check popular review sites on the Web.

Working Abs at Home

Unlike with many exercises, there is little danger in working your abs to exhaustion. Start out slow, and step up your routine until you can’t do anymore.

6 great ab training exercises are:

  • lying leg raises – lower abs
  • reverse crunches – lower abs
  • hanging knee raises – lower abs
  • ab crunches – upper abs
  • cross-knee crunches – upper abs
  • pulldown crunches – upper abs

Genetics

Don’t get discouraged because the guy next to you at the gym works out half as much and has abs of steel, while you’re still sporting love handles. Most people who start a fitness routine for the first time give up within a month.

Why?

Because they aren’t taking genetics into account. Did your father have a potbelly? Don’t be surprised if you do too.

Don’t worry, though. You’re not doomed. But you may have to work harder and longer than others; men abs aren’t always the same.

Keep training, and remember that proper diet and cardio fitness is key to any fitness routine, and soon your hard work will be paying off and you’ll be glad that you didn’t quit.

5 Key Points to Help Tighten Lower Abs

Everyone is looking for ways to tighten lower abs. It is probably one of the hardest (if not THE hardest) muscle groups to reach. It’s that stubborn little pooch women usually complain about; that extra flab of fat that keep men from buttoning their pants effortlessly.

I’ll tell you, it is difficult to zero in on your lower abs. I personally have had to struggle with that area for years. When I learned that cortisol, a hormone released by the body when it is under a lot of stress, contributed to the build-up of fat around that area, it really didn’t help me at all either. That just doubled the stress right there.

Click here and find out how to tighten lower abs!

How does one tighten lower abs then, you ask? The best way to get your lower abs to look like they’ve gone to abdominal boot camp is by (1) LOSING OVERALL BODY WEIGHT. That would be your primary goal here.

Targeted abs exercises won’t be enough, I tell you. Once you get your total body fat to a minimum, things will get much easier, you’ll see.

If you know what your total body fat percentage is you’ll know how much fat you’ll need to burn in the process. In this case, like in many others, knowledge is power.

You can start to tighten lower abs by (2) FORMING GOOD EATING HABITS. Eliminating excessively fatty foods from your diet, cutting down on highly processed foods, and taking alcoholic drinks sparingly can do you more good than you can imagine. Sticking to a well-rounded diet that’s loaded with whole grains, fresh fruits, colorful veggies, and lean meats will definitely set the motion toward a healthier, more fit you.

(3) CREATING A HOLISTIC EXERCISE PLAN that you can live with and, eventually, crank up as you progress is necessary for you to achieve your general goal – a completely toned set of lower abs.

Perform cardiovascular exercises 3-5 times a week for at least half an hour. Mix it up so you don’t get bored. One day you can head out and run a few blocks, in two days you can do some laps in the pool.

If you want to tighten lower abs, you must get your entire body moving and your blood pumping. With high spirits and endorphins swimming in your blood stream, there’s really no stopping you from achieving your goal.

What’s a successful ab workout program without (4) EXECUTING WIDE-RANGE AND SPECIFIC LOWER AB EXERCISES? There are quite a few options to choose from, but here are some exercises that you can check out:

  • Exercise Ball Ab Crunches
  • Reverse Abdominal Leg Crunches
  • Hanging Leg Raises

(5)STAYING MOTIVATED AND FOLLOWING THROUGH is crucial, especially when things start to feel repetitive and bland. Involving friends and family members can get you that extra support you need to follow through, even after you’ve attained ripped lower abs.

True enough, keeping these five important points in mind while working to tighten lower abs can only get you fast results.

Click here and find out how to tighten lower abs!

3 Key Points to Help Tighten Lower Abs

You may have worked hard…exercised regularly and eaten right. You may have even seen some encouraging signs of progress: maybe you’ve lost an inch or two from your waist. Maybe your favorite pair of jeans or dress fits a little better…but, then you notice that your lower abs are just not as tight as you expected them to be…

People just like you are looking for ways to tighten lower abs. It is probably one of the hardest (if not THE hardest) part of the abs to show. It’s that stubborn little pooch women usually complain about or that extra flab of fat that keep men from buttoning their pants effortlessly.

Did you know that the lower abs is both the last to lose belly fat when you’re exercising and eating right and the first to gain belly fat when you’re not? OUCH!

This is because of the average man and woman’s hormonal make up. Your body naturally stores fat in your lower abs first (especially men) for survival reasons.

Even worse, cortisol, a hormone released by the body when it is under stress, further contributes to the build-up of fat around the waist…That just doubled my stress right there :)

By the time you finish reading this article, you’ll will have learned 3 proven ways to both tighten lower abs and make your hormones actually help keep the fat off your belly…

Ready? Let’s get started with the most obvious…

1) Perform specific exercises to tighten lower abs…

What’s a successful ab workout program without specific exercises to tighten lower abs? There are quite a few options to choose from, but here are 3 of my favorite lower abs exercises that will give you great overall results:

Abdominal Bicycle Crunch

woman-doing-bicycle-abs-crunches-1 woman-doing-bicycle-abs-crunches-2

Reverse Abdominal Crunches

 

Hanging Leg Raises

2) Lower Your Overall Body Fat %

What good is having tight lower abs if they’re hidden behind a layer or two of belly fat? I mean, you want to tighten lower abs AND have them look great, right?

Well, the best way to get your lower abs to look like they’ve gone to abdominal boot camp is by lowering your overall body fat. That would be your primary goal here.

Targeted abs exercises won’t be enough…Have you noticed this? Once you get your total body fat to the ideal, things will get much easier, you’ll see.

If you know what your total body fat percentage is you’ll know how much fat you’ll need to burn in the process. In this case, like in many others, knowledge is power.

And the fastest way to burn off body fat is to do interval training. It allows you to burn off fat in the least amount of time. Sweet!

The other way to lower your overall body fat % is to INCREASE your muscle % through resistance training. Don’t worry ladies, you won’t look like a bodybuilder if you do this right.

Interval training is great for fat-burning in the short-term but muscle-building is BY FAR the best long-term strategy for keeping fat OFF your body…

If you’re serious about creating a healthy, lean body, there are 2 abs programs that I’ve found to give the best results: www.NoNonsense6Pack.com and www.GetHotAbs.com.

You can learn about these programs by clicking on the URL above.

Ok, Ready for tip#3?

3) Have a Good Eating Strategy (NOT Diet!)…

If you’re like me, you hate diets! I mean, if they really worked long-term, why do so many of us seem to go from one diet to another with no real long-term success. And you’ve probably heard that the diet industry is a multi-BILLION dollar industry. But where are the real results?!

…Ok, you already know diets are useless long-term but at the same time, you do need a good eating strategy. After all, what you eat is about 60-80% of having great abs.

So what’s the difference between a diet and a good eating strategy?

Here it is: a diet is short-term and many times requires starvation or the complete elimination of an entire food group (e.g. carbs, fat, etc). This just can’t work long-term and is doomed for failure at some point because it’s unrealistic.

An eating strategy on the other hand is a long-term approach because it deals with reality. No need to cut out EVERYTHING forever (impossible).

You’ll find that good eating strategy teaches you to restructure what you’re already doing in a way that tells your body to naturally release excess body fat…but you’re still eating when you’re hungry. No starvation. Yay!

The basics of a good eating strategy include eliminating excessively fatty foods from your diet, cutting down on highly processed foods, and drinking alcohol only every once and a while can do you more good than you can imagine.

Sticking to a well-rounded diet that’s loaded with whole grains, fresh fruits, colorful veggies, and lean meats will definitely set the motion toward a healthier, more fit you- without starving.

 

Do you need some more help with an effective long-term eating strategy?

After looking through a lot of programs, the diet solution is my favorite because Isabel (the program creator) uses common sense and real science to guide you through fat-burning meal plans that are for people that actually enjoy eating REAL food.

You can learn more about Isabel’s program by going to www.FatBurningMealPlans.com

I’m sure that by now you can see how these 3 tips can help you to tighten lower abs- starting today! But, as you’ve heard before, you have to take action!

Start by doing a couple of the lower abs and fat-burning exercises that we talked about in the article, then consider getting a full ab workout program and/or the diet solution

To Your Success!