Revealed! The 3 Keys to Six Pack Abs

I'm not sure what your idea of a "perfect body" looks like because everyone has different goals and different standards of physical attractiveness.

But there's one thing that everyone wants...

ABDOMINALS!

I've never met a single person, male or female, young or old, who didn't want a lean, flat stomach with a "six pack" of abs.

Abs are the one "defining" part of the body considered universally attractive and desirable. abdominal flab is always an unwanted guest.

Ironically, getting great abs is the one goal that seems to elude most people.

How many people do you know - maybe even yourself - who have successfully reduced their body fat percentage, taken in their belt a few notches, dropped a few pounds, and yet they STILL don't have that rock-hard, flat-stomach six-pack look?

When you flip through the fitness magazines, you see awesome abs everywhere, but when you go to the beach, the pool or the park in the summer, how many sets of six pack abs do you actually see in public?

You have to agree - a truly impressive set of six pack abs is a rare sight. Why is it so hard to achieve the ripped abs look, and how do you get it?

There is an answer...

Most people are either going about it completely wrong, or they are on the right track, but their approach is incomplete.

The first place they stumble is that they believe ab exercises alone will get them a six pack. Ab exercise strengthens and develops the muscles but it does not necessarily remove the body fat.

You could have great abdominal muscle development, and strength, but if your body fat is too high, then you still will not be able to see them.

This is because most of your fat is "subcutaneous" - which means the fat is stored right UNDERNEATH your skin, but right ON TOP of your muscles - covering up your muscle definition.

A good example of this is when a bodybuilder "bulks up" after a competition, gaining excess fat. This bodybuilder already has impressive muscle mass and abdominal development. The muscles are still there - underneath - but when they get covered up with fat they're no longer visible.

So, the #1 key to getting great abs is body fat reduction.

If your body fat is not low enough, you will never see your abs. You need a method for reducing body fat to a level low enough that allows your abdominals show through.

The ideal fat reduction method must include nutrition, cardio training and strength training.

Ask yourself, are you leaving out any one of these critical components?

Are you dieting without exercising? Are you doing cardio, but not weight training? Are you training hard, but eating poorly?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you are going to have difficulty getting the six pack abs look until you get all three into place at the same time.

Key #2 is to diet properly in a manner that is hormonally and physiologically correct, in order to make sure you avoid hitting a fat loss plateau.

It's common to get great results when you first start a program, but then you hit a fat loss plateau within 4-12 weeks where fat loss slows down or stops completely.

Sound familiar?

This happens because there is a lag time before your body recognizes a severe calorie deficit and when it does, your body fights back to maintain homeostasis.

Once your body starts getting clear signals that there's a food shortage, your metabolic rate will decrease. Fat burning hormones like leptin and thyroid will also decrease and the appetite center in your brain will get turned up full blast.

This explains from a physiological point of view, why "the last 10 pounds" is such a drag to lose - it's because your body goes into "starvation mode" before you get lean enough to see your abs.

How do you avoid starvation mode? Simple - don't starve yourself! Most conventional diet programs are based on extreme calorie restriction, which almost always works in the beginning, and almost never works for long. There are exceptions. For example, the entire Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle program is based on this premise:

It's better to burn the fat than to starve the fat (eat more, burn more)

Key #3 to 6-pack abs and the body you want is to use the right combination of cardio and strength training.

There are three different types of training you must do to get great abs.

One is cardiovascular training to assist with the fat burning process.

The second is weight training - for your entire body - which will increase lean body mass. Lean muscle is the engine that drives your metabolism.

The third is the specific abdominal exercises.

Ab exercises alone don't work.

Diets alone don't work.

"Diets don't work" is more than a cliché, it is a physiological truth. Exercise combined with nutrition is the answer, not one or the other.

When I first read the Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle program, I noticed that it was based on on all three of these keys... plus the motivational tools you need to put these keys to work in your life. For long term success, you can't just diet and you can't just exercise, you need a program that has both.

When you add the "mental training" component, which includes setting goals properly, visualizing, and focusing your mind on what you want (not what you want to avoid), this gives you the motivation to stick with your exercise and nutrition program more easily and consistently.

And there you have it... the fat burning, ab revealing formula.