When it comes to getting the six pack abs you’ve always wanted, we here at TFLA try to give you as many exercise options as possible. The same old crunches and leg lifts can only take you so far before boredom sets in. Today, we’ve come up with a few sports that, when done correctly, are the perfect six pack abs exercises.

{Killer abs like these require a lot of work and loads of laps!}

Keep reading to find out which sport will help you get the six pack abs that’ll make others green with envy!

Yoga

Forget what you think you know about yoga and keep an open mind because yoga is a great six pack abs exercise that helps give you a strong core. The static poses and focus on bodyweight exercises and breathing helps give you a solid foundation to begin giving your abs a hardcore six pack abs workout!

Six pack abs exercises like mountain tilts and the triangle pose are great yoga exercises that strengthen the core and abdominals. Even if you feel that yoga is too calm and relaxing for an effective six pack abs exercise; give it a try. If you don’t love it, there are dozens of other sports you can do for six pack abs!

Skiing

Skiing is a great activity that gives your abs a good workout. Specifically cross-country skiing is a great cardio exercise, but it also an amazing six pack abs exercise. The up and down motions made by your arms and twisting torso strengthen your abdominal muscles as you work to made yourself glide over the snow.

Cross country skiing is a great full body workout as well because the cardio aspect burns hundreds of calories per hour. Don’t take my word for it though; see how sore your abs feel after a day of cross country skiing as your six pack abs exercises.

Kayaking/Rowing

Water seems to provide an ideal environment for six pack abs exercises. Everyone is well aware how effective swimming is for strengthening abdominal muscles, but other water sports like rowing and kayaking have proven highly effective six pack abs exercises.

The rotation of the abs in kayaking provides plenty of exercise for toning the obliques, which is an important part of six pack abs exercises. The power required to paddle a kayak strengthens abs as well as core strength.

Rowing requires your body to perform different motions, but rowing is another activity that helps you achieve six pack abs. Rowing tightens abdominal muscles and strengthens the core by performing a constant rowing motion. Machines at your local gym, called rowing machines, are an effective alternative for six pack abs exercises.

Soccer

One look at David Beckham and there can be no doubt that playing soccer will suffice for six pack abs exercises. Besides all the running that soccer involves (futbol for my non-American friends!), heading a ball and quick changes of directions are all signs of a powerful core and well-sculpted six pack abs.

{He doesn’t believe a lot of factual things, but he does believe that soccer is a great six pack abs exercise!}

Running and kicking simultaneously while changing the direction of the ball gives you six pack abs exercises that’ll leave you sore in the morning. Even recreational soccer players like you and I can get a good round of six pack abs exercises by participating in a game of soccer.

Running/Sprinting

Whether you like to run at a moderate pace or sprint like the wind, these are both incredibly effective methods of performing six pack abs exercises. The pumping motion of the arms during running or sprinting works the oblique muscles while the bending motion of the hips works the lower abdominals and core.

Running or sprinting is a superb form of cardio exercise that has the added benefit of burning and strengthening your core. When you don’t have time to alternate between strength training and cardio workouts, choose a long run or an effective sprint to get six pack abs exercises and a full cardio workout!

These are just a few sports that can help you achieve six pack abs. Alternate between traditional abdominal exercises and six pack abs exercises and activities for a well-rounded abdominal workout. Don’t forget the importance of a healthy & well-balanced diet to achieving six pack abs.

Wanna learn more about achieving that elusive six pack? Read our The Truth About Six Pack Abs review…it’ll change how you work your abs!

All over the ab world, abdominal machines get a bad rap. “They’re ineffective” people say, or “my abs look no different than when I started” disappointed customers complain. Some complaints about some ab machines on the market are legitimate, but machine alone cannot turn love handles into six pack abs.

[Abs such as these require daily alternative exercise, including gym, tan, laundry, and fist pumping.]

But using an ab machine to supplement your abdominal workout isn’t a bad idea–especially if you have an ab machine collecting dust in some nether region of your home.

Whether your weight loss goal is to slim your midsection or develop abs to show off, you must understand that one machine won’t do the trick. You need to work every aspect of your core to burn fat and build muscle in your abdominal region.

Bosu Ball

This stability ball is a great core exercise that your ab muscles will appreciate. No matter which side of the ball you use, your need to remain stable will force your core to work harder and thus giving your abs a workout to complain about in the morning!

The Bosu Ball allows you to focus on stability, an important factor in preventing injury and improving performance, with your ab workout as a bonus. You shouldn’t, however, stand on the ball for 20 minutes a day and call it your ab workout.

[Use your Bosu Ball as an alternative way to do your plank exercises (see below) and firm that belly!]

Use this in addition to other exercises that work your abdominal muscles. Remember that a slimmer midsection requires working out all muscles equally.

Treadmill

If this isn’t your first weight loss rodeo you probably have at least 2 (maybe 4 or 5) pieces of workout equipment propping your computer or doing dinner table duty. It’s okay, we’ve all succumbed to those infomercials where everyone is thin and happy all because of recent weight loss due to the magic machine. The important thing is that now that we know better, we can put those machines to use for a higher purpose. You!

[Treadmills are great for abs because they work out every muscle without "feeling the burn" in a specific region. Burning all over is better than burning in one spot!]

Dust off that treadmill and place it in front of the television or turn on some tunes and work those abs. Unlike the promises made by ab machine salesmen, your treadmill will help you burn fat all over your body. Ab-only machines simply work to strengthen your abdominal muscles, which is great if your goal is to tone your belly. If you still need to burn while you strengthen, walking or jogging on the treadmill help.

When it comes to working the abs, most of us need all the help we can get!

Elliptical Machines

Personally I am a fan of elliptical machines. They allow you to do cardio without doing too much damage to your knees. If you already have an abdominal workout that targets all three abdominal regions, use that elliptical that haunts you at the gym or in your home to help burn additional fat.

Because many elliptical machines have multiple settings, you can switch up your workout to help you keep it fresh while you feel the burn! If you have a long way to go before you get the midsection you’ve always wanted, don’t underestimate the importance of cardio to your goal.

Getting the abs you want requires regular physical activity and eating less. Regardless of your abdominal goals, you need a steady combination of strength training and cardio exercise. The goal is to burn fat and build muscle for abs you don’t mind the whole world staring at with envy!

Floor

Lots of people have given good old-fashioned sit ups and crunches the boot, but I say we should remember how effective our old friends have been. If you’ve never had a moment of weakness and purchased a too-expensive workout machine, look to your floor to help get your belly in proper shape.

Plank: Lay on your stomach with your forearms on the floor, pointing straight ahead. Make sure your feet are touching. Lift yourself up on your toes and forearms, taking care to keep yourself straight. Hold the position for as long as you can, starting with 20 seconds and increasing as you build strength.

Bicycle Crunches: Start on your back with your hands behind your ears and your legs bent. Lift your feet straight up so your legs are in a 90 degree angle. Do crunches and move your legs as though you’re riding a bicycle, touching your right elbow to your left knee and your left elbow to your right knee. Start with 2 sets of 10 repetitions.

[Maintaining the proper starting position is essential when performing abdominal exercises on the floor to avoid injury and work those abs!]

Remember: KEEP BREATHING!

Find out how you can maximize your diet for spectacular abs by reading our review of The Diet Solution Program, created by Isabel De Los Rios.

With the opening of his new movie “The Town” and the revelation of his new totally toned physique, everyone is buzzing about Ben Affleck…and his abs.

[Ben Affleck traded up his trademark lean physique for a toned and buff bod in The Town]

While it’s true we are used to seeing Big Ben looking toned and healthy, he really did a little bit extra to take on the role of buff bank robber Doug MacRay. Unlike his work in Daredevil, Ben’s physique in The Town required a lot of work to his core….a lot!

You can get your abs in shape like Affleck, although maybe not as quickly, with these ab exercises.

Leg Raises

One way to work your core and build muscle is leg raises. Properly executed leg raises requires you to use your core to lift yourself up, think of it as a backwards pull up.

You’ll need a flat surface such as a chair or floor to sit on for these. Sit on the edge of a chair or bench with your legs crossed at the ankles. You can leave them uncrossed if you’re too macho, but crossed provides greater control and decreases the opportunities for you to injure yourself. Place your arms at your sides, or underneath your butt. Remember this is an abdominal exercise so you won’t be using your hands.

[Grab a chair, bench, or grab some carpet and let leg raises help you get the abs you've always wanted.]

Using your ab muscles, slowly raise your legs up until your butt is no longer touching the ground and then slowly lower yourself back down. Do 2 sets with anywhere from 15-20 repetitions for get your abs in Affleck shape!

Pull Ups

As much as we all hated doing pull ups in gym class, there’s a reason our sweat suit-clad teachers challenged us to do them. They strengthen your core and help you avoid pesky back injuries that’ll sideline you and your weight loss goals. Affleck was so serious about his abs for The Town that he has one put up in his trailer. Now that’s ab dedication.

Whether you buy a door frame pull up bar, or head to your local gym or park, pull ups are a great core exercise to add to any workout regimen. If your core isn’t quite strong enough for a full pull up, use a chair or a foot stool until your abs are strong enough to do the work for you!

Place your hands on the bar, palms facing you or away from you–I think palms facing you is the best way but decide for yourself. Don’t forget to keep your core tight throughout the repetitions so your abdominal muscles get the most from your workout. Start with 3 sets of 5-10 repetitions, and increase when you’re ready.

Crunches

Ahhh, the crunch. Many workout gurus are divided on the actual effectiveness of the abdominal crunch, but I happen to believe that when done correctly crunches can give you abs worth showing off. Just ask Affleck.

Rumor has it that Ben Affleck did circuit-like exercises targeting his mid-section, including different variations of the abdominal crunch.

Vertical: Vertical crunches are simple and effective, and if done properly won’t leave your back aching for days on end. Lie on the floor with your hands behind your head, as you would for traditional crunches. Cross your legs at the ankle and lift them in the air, leaving your knees slightly bent.

Using your abdominal muscles, raise your head toward your knees (extra points for touching your knee!) and slowly come back down to the starting position. Begin with 2 sets of 15 repetitions, every other day.

Remember: exhale on the way up, inhale on the way down! Breathing is key to effective abdominal exercises.

You can also do a wide variety of crunches using an exercise ball, including side-to-side crunches and bicycle crunches.

Captain’s Chair

You’ll have to hit your local gym for this ab blasting exercise, but it will definitely be worth the effort. Hold your arms in position, holding onto the hand bars with your legs hanging down. Keep your abdominal tight and slowly lift your knees inward to your chest and bring them back down slowly.

[Make sure you begin each repetition in this position to maximize your ab workout and avoid injury.]

When you start this abdominal exercise, aim to complete 2 sets. Each set should contain at least 15 repetitions. As you feel more comfortable, increase or decrease sets and reps as you deem necessary.

[Step 2 of the Captain's Chair: squeeze ab muscles to bring legs in and slowly bring back down. Now...repeat!]

Nutrition

In addition to relentless effort, Affleck abs requires a healthy diet filled with fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins. Whether you need to just burn fat from your abs, or build core muscles from scratch, the key is eating healthy and eating to lose weight.

The kind of toned physique donned by Big Ben in The Town requires a commitment to regular physical activity as well as to eating right. Without both parts of the fitness equation, you’ll have Affleck abs, but they’ll be so buried beneath the fat that only you will know about it!

See if Mike Geary can help you get fab abs like Affleck by reading our review of his ab program, The Truth About Six Pack Abs.

Six pack abs are said to be the pinnacle of fitness by some. I’m not much for flashy titles, but not many things are more appealing then a flat stomach on the opposite sex.

Ever stared in a mirror after months of hard training and wondered when you’ll see that sexy six pack of yours?

[I think NBA basketball players are unusually tall and look ridiculous in public places. Not Jameer Nelson. The guy is well put together but it might also help he's six feet tall and 190 pounds. Advantage: short guys!]

For the average Joe like you and me, we tend to screw things up royally when it comes to going after the vaunted six pack or flat stomach. But how?

Too much time training abs

For one, we spend way too much of our precious training time on ab exercises (bicep training ain’t far behind). Speaking directly from experience, I’d spend an entire training session, typically 60 minutes, doing hundreds of reps of various crunches, leg raises, and twisting exercises.

Fast forward to today, I use that time now on full body workouts that elicit a much better metabolic response and increase my fat-burning hormone levels throughout my body.

Michael Geary, nutrition specialist and author of The Truth About Six Pack Abs, talks at length about how losing stomach fat is one of the most important aspects to uncovering your abs. The range of movement and amount of work required in exercises like ab crunches is not enough to cause a significant metabolic response to burn fat.

You need to challenge your entire body and exercise proper nutrition to destroy that wall of fat that is blocking out your six pack abs.

Low Fat or Low Carb diet?

Neither. Don’t get fooled into this “low” or “high” fad diet business because I was a sucker for a long time when it came to fad diets.

Instead, go Medium Fat, Medium Carb, or have balance, and you’ll be lean enough to see your flat stomach and eventually your abs. More importantly, stay with nutrient dense foods in their natural state, or as unprocessed as possible.

Various studies have shown the damaging effects of heavily processed foods in our bodies including new research published in the journal BMC Cancer by Dr. David Christiani and others of the Harvard School of Public Health. This study reveals that children who eat processed meats like bacon, hot dogs and sausage are 74% more likely to develop leukemia than children who avoid such processed meat and eat more vegetables and tofu instead.

Absolutely crazy! I’m not making this stuff up. Click here for the study.

Unprocessed foods to help keep you in balance include vegetables, fruit, unrefined grains, nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocados, and many more.

Don’t ever let someone or some program tell you there is a limited list of so called “good foods”. There is a ton of possibilities and some programs do a better job then others in organizing this information for you.

Just as an example, Vince DelMonte’s Your Six Pack Quest program provides a variety of meal plans, including ones that focus on veggies entirely and others that are price sensitive if you can’t afford a full on organic plan.

Remember, keep the processed stuff out and you’ll quickly gain total control over how lean you want to get.

Slow and boring cardio

It’s important for people to realize that regular strength training using heavier resistance will not “bulk” you up. You need to be eating off a conveyor belt to bulk up but that’s not the point of this article or this site.

If you can’t find people wasting time doing countless ab crunches, then for sure you’ll find them wasting equally important time doing a slow cardio exercise or lifting really really light weights.

If weights aren’t your thing then bodyweight exercises are an awesome substitute as demonstrated by fitness expert Craig Ballantyne below.

Some of my most challenging workouts in the past year took place without even setting foot in a gym. Just me, outside at a park, cranking out planks, mountain climber push ups, and wind sprints in the fresh air and sun. And when you combine these types of exercises with variable intensity, or intervals, the metabolic and hormonal response you’ll get in your entire body (including your abs) will be impressive.

Mike Geary’s book The Truth About Six Pack Abs is currently the top selling abs program on the entire internet. But his nutrition guidelines and strategies is what sets him apart. Check out our review of this massive fat loss resource of eating habits, food choices, and so much more!

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that obesity can be “socially contagious” and may spread among friends. Umm… Are we talking about the common cold here? Nope. Researchers say your own risk goes up 57% if a friend becomes obese. Here are three ways to defend yourself against those who put you and your fat loss goals at risk:

The Office Candy Jar:

Whether it’s actually a candy jar, doughnuts in the lunch room, or the vending machine in the hallway… it’s all bad news. Five candies a day can add up to 125 calories a day, or 12 pounds a year. SOLUTION: Pack some healthy snacks at your desk. Nuts, granola bars, and pieces of fruit work very well and don’t forget to drink your water. Sugar-free gum will help tame those cravings as well.

Your Significant Other:

It’s much easier to order in or go out for dinner but things can turn ugly when “once in awhile” turns into a couple times a week. SOLUTION: Get rid of those takeout menus and 2 for 1 dinner coupons, and start cooking healthy home-made meals at home with your significant other. Go all week without ordering in, then reward yourselves at a favorite restaurant during the weekend.

Your Colleagues:

Someone from your office always wants to grab a bite to eat at the food court or local fast food joint. There’s leftovers from a meeting in the lunch room, or Bill from HR is retiring so pieces of cake await. Sound familiar? SOLUTION: Always pack your lunch. Just think of the money your saving when your buddy Jim is spending $10 for his greasy burger combo and soft drink. If you must have cake, leave the icing on your plate.

For more ideas regarding healthy eating check out Mike Geary’s book The Truth About Six Pack Abs, currently the top selling abs program on the internet.

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To Find A Fat Loss Program that’s right for you, click the button below:

Is healthy eating on your list for the New Year? Of course it is! Second only to eating a healthy breakfast, packing healthy lunches and snacks for work is essential for you to stay on track with healthy eating and to fuel the active part of the day. Packing your own lunch and snacks helps you stay in control of your food for the day. It is also less expensive then eating out.

Healthy lunches should include a selection from at least 3 of the 4 major food groups below:

1. Grains and Breads

2. Fruits and Vegetables

3. Milk and Diary

4. Meats

Think of snacks as mini meals. Healthy snacks should include a selection from each of groups above but mainly from number 2 above: Fruits and Vegetables. We need to eat more vegetables and fruit in general. By including them in all meals and snacks we will get the recommended servings for the day.

Here is a lunch packing “To Do” list:

1. Get organized for lunch making. Have a plan to purchase groceries, and pack lunches.

2. Make sure you have good gear like an insulated lunch bag, ice packs and a Thermos.

3. Have a variety of easy to eat vegetables and fruit in your fridge and ready to pack.

4. Purchase a variety of whole grain breads, munchable cereal, and crackers.

5. Use low fat spreads and dips to add interesting flavours.

6. Use a selection of lean meat and alternatives – meat, chicken, hummus, hardboiled eggs, and canned fish.

7. Add lower fat milk, fortified soy beverage, yogurt or cheese to your lunch or snacks.

8. If you are cooking a big dinner, cook enough for leftovers for your next day’s lunch.

For more ideas regarding healthy eating check out Mike Geary’s book The Truth About Six Pack Abs, currently the top selling abs program on the internet.

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To Find A Fat Loss Program that’s right for you, click the button below: