You don't need complex six pack ab workouts containing hundreds of crunches and dozens of exercises each week. The best way to burn belly fat and start seeing your 6-pack is to spend less time focusing on it! In my opinion, all you need to do to get 6-pack abs is this... Lose belly fat with nutrition, intervals, and resistance training.

More specifically...

First, start by improving the quality of the food you eat. No more processed
carbohydrates, no more sugar, no more deep-fried foods, no more fast food,
and no more sodas or juices. Simply making these changes will help you lose
stomach fat fast, and you'll drop your body fat percentage in just days.

Next, you need to spend more time on the basic workout methods, such as
total body strength training and interval training, and less time on boring,
ineffective ab training exercises. Doing hundreds of crunches won't get you
results. And doing long, slow boring cardio is also an inefficient way to
burn belly fat and see your 6-pack abs.

1) Beginners should stay the heck away from situps and crunch-type movements until they master the Plank, Side Plank, and Bird Dog. You have to take care of your back before you can start pounding it with
traditional ab exercises.

Bird Dogs:


Plank:


Side Plank:



2) Here are some my favorite no-crunch abdominal movements for intermediate exercisers...

a) the Stability Ball Rollout (also can be done with the Ab Wheel or as a
Barbell Rollout)

Start


Finish



b) the Stability Ball Jackknife:

Start


Finish




c) the Plank with Your Arms on the Ball (which according to research quoted
in Men's Health, this exercise works your abs 30% harder than regular Plank -
all without messing your low back).




Okay, so I've given my controversial advice about what beginners and
intermediate fitness levels should do for abs...now for my more advanced 6-
pack ab recommendations.

But first, I want to mention some "unknown" ab builders...

a) The Elevated Pushup

Start


Finish



b) Straight Arm Cable Pullover

Start


Finish


c) Front Squat (Click here to see a special article on the effectiveness of front squats for core strengthening)

d) DB Pullover & even DB Triceps Extensions with extra stretch!

All great total body moves to have in your program to burn calories and
build abs at the same time.

3) What do you really need to do to bring out your abs once you have your
body fat low?

My favorite advanced ab exercise is Cable Crunches, which are without a
doubt, the best resistance exercise for building abs. There are several ways
to do them, with one version being safer but just as effective as all other
versions. (Click here to see a description and photos of the cable crunch)

The big message I like to get across to clients is that they can build 6-
pack abs without ever doing a single crunch while lying on their backs.

It shocks people, but it is true. If you want to lose stomach fat fast and
see your six pack abs, focus on your nutrition, total body strength
training, and interval training before you even consider adding more reps to
your current ab workout!

About Craig Ballantyne