Gold Coast Personal Trainer Reveals How to Get 6-Pack Abs Without Crunches or Sit-Ups

Everyone wants to look good and part of looking good is having flat, sexy abs. I have people coming to me all the time and telling me that no matter how many crunches they do, they just can't get that elusive six-pack. They want to know what my secret is to achieiving six pack abs:

Before I can let you in on my step by step action plan, it is important to dispel some common myths.

Myth 1: If I just lose some weight, you will see my abs

Wrong!

If you want to see your abs, you need to lose fat, not weight. To explain it in more detail you need to understand how your body works. Your body is made up of fat mass and lean body mass (bone, muscle, organs, water). It is important that you decrease your fat mass and maximize your lean body mass. This will boost your metabolism and put you in the best position to achieve six-pack abs.

So, if you lose 10 kilos at the expense of losing some of your lean muscles mass, you will in fact slow down your metabolism and lose muscle tone. However, it you can lose 10 kilo on the scales and you can keep or even gain lean muscle mass, you will improve your performance, see more muscle tone and lose mostly body fat.

I am not a big fan of scales anyway. Scales are not a good indication of weight loss as the results can fluctuate. For example things such as hydration levels, time of day and in women, their menstrual cycle, can all lead to misleading measurements. Women especially find scales a great de-motivator, so my advice is to get rid of them. Don't worry about how many kilos you have lost. Instead focus on losing a dress size or taking before and after photos to track the changes you have made.

Myth 2: If I do lots of crunches, I will get six-pack abs

This is a common misconception and it is WRONG! There is no such thing as spot reduction. You can't just do exercises in one area and expect to lose fat from that one area. You need to do total body workouts.

You see, your body has a genetically pre-detemined way to lose body fat. You need to create a caloric deficit through proper eating and training. So to maximize the amount of calories you burn, you need to engage as many whole body movements during every training session. Compound, multi-joint movements like squats, lunges and push ups burn so many more calories than isolation movements like crunches. When you do a workout, focus on these types of exercises first, and then if you have some time at the end, add in some core work to help strengthen the abs.

Myth 3: Crunches are the best exercises to get six pack abs

Wrong!

For many years, it has been thought that by doing endless amounts of crunches, you will get a six pack. This is not the case. The muscles you see flex when you do a crunch is called your rectus abdominus and their primary function is to prevent hyperextension. But if you don't continually brace your abs as you crunch, your back will begin to hyperextend and put you at a greater risk for injury.

When we train, we focus on stabilization exercises in all three planes of movement: saggital - front-to back, frontal - side to side, and transverse - rotational. We use pillar exercise variations, which are also know as planks. Planks are a fantastic exercise as they activate the key transverse abdominus muscles which wrap around your spine and support your internal organs. By strengthening these core muscles, you will improve your posture and prevent injury to your neck and back. This is key as crunches often cause neck and back injuries.

Myth 4: You need to do long cardio sessions to burn the fat in your abs area

Wrong!

It has been shown in scientific research that aerobic training alone does not burn the fat off your abs. The key is total body resistance training combined with interval training. Interval training alone has been scientifically proven to burn nine times more fat that ordinary exercise so when combined with resistance training you have the one-two punch in your training program that will strip fat off your body.

So what is the action plan to get six pack Abs?

The Anti-Crunch Step By Step Action Plan for Six Pack Abs

Step 1: To see you abs, lose the fat that is covering them

a) Elevate your metabolism by eating the right things

-As soon as you wake up, drink 2-4 glasses of water. Then drink 1-2 glasses of water for every 2 hours you are awake. When you exercise, drink the equivalent of 1-2 glasses of water for every 15 minutes of vigorous exercise .

-Eat immediately when you wake up and then every 2-4 hours after that. That means you will have 3 meals and 3 snacks every day.

-Eat a wide variety of lean proteins, fruit and vegetables.

-Take a multi vitamin and an essential fatty acid (EFA) supplement

-Reduce carbohydrates. To achieve the best results, you the following step by step plan in the exact order:

1) Replacing all the white carbs with 100% wholegrain carbs

2) Replace al refined sugars with natural sugars

3) Limit whole grain starch and natural sugar consumption to within 1-2 hours post-workout or immediately upon waking for breakfast

4) Replace all starches and sugars with fruits and vegetables

5) Replace all fruits with green vegetables

6) Use strategic carb and calorie cycling to take your body to the next level.

B) Train to elevate your metabolism and lose fat

-Monday, Wednesday and Friday - Perform Total Body Circuit Strength Training

-Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday - Perform Cardio Interval Training

Step 2: Train your abs based on their true function: Stabilisation

Here is one of my boot camp workouts which my clients love to hate. There are no crunches or sit ups and they are all stabilisation exercises.

Tabata Workout

This is a 20 minute total body core workout. These exercises use your shoulders, hips and core.

For each exercise below, you will alternate between 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. You will repeat this 30 second sequence 8 times for 4 minutes followed by a one minute rest and transition before moving on to the next exercise listed.

To get the most out of this workout, you need to actively pull your navel to your spine, engage your glutes and maintain a straight line from the heels through to the shoulders.

Exercise 1: Leg Extensions

Exercise 2: Russian Paddler

Exercise 3: Side Leg drops

Exercise 4: Plank

Try this killer core workout and when combined with the other steps of the Anti Crunch Action Plan, you will finally find your six pack abs.

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