Six-pack abs of steel - EVERYBODY wants them, but so few will do what it takes to get them.

However, every once in a while I meet someone who's willing to torture themselves everyday, sometimes mutlitple times a day with endless amounts of crunches, leg lifts and sit-ups in their quest for six-pack abs. But of course, that just doesn't work so then the question comes, what in the world does it take to have six-pack abs?

And, there you have it - our Ask J Question of the Week is "How do you get six-pack abs of steel?"

First, the anatomical reality: EVERYONE ALREADY HAS SIX-PACK ABS - actually, it's technically an 8-pack, but let's not worry so much about the exact anatomy. The point is, your born with your rectus abdominis (the muscles on the front of the stomach). The issue is the fat covering them. You put that there.

Now, the exercise reality: All the crunches, leg lifts and sit-ups in the world won't do you any good if you're not doing something to remove the fat covering your abs. But, "I thought I was doing something with all those cruches, leg lifts and sit-ups?!" you ask. That's a very common misconception based on a proven false theory known as SPOT REDUCTION - in other words, specifically exercise the area you want to lose fat.

SPOT REDUCTION DOESN'T WORK. If it did, every fat person who chewed gum on a regular basis would have a skinny face - think about it.

Fat is best burned off the body by raising your METABOLISM. To raise your metabolism, you need to perform total body workouts, ideally incorporating total body movements in a circuit training format. If you follow this blog regulary, you'll see we talk about High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) quite a bit so I won't cover that here.

Then of course, you have to have a healthy, balanced nutrition plan where you consume enough calories to support your body, but not too much that you consume more calories in a day than you burn. We go deep on that subject in steps 2 & 5 of my book, The Science of Getting Fit: 6 Proven Steps to Achieve Your Weight Loss & Fitness Goals.

After reading all that, you may now be asking yourself, "Well, should I even bother with ab exercises then?"

The answer is ABSOLUTELY YES!

BUT, not the traditional ab crunching, low-back killing exercises, and certainly not any of those super-cheesey infomercial products. The best exercises are the ones that force all the abdominal muscles to engage, especially the transverse abdominis (TVA). One of the most important functions of the TVA is to keep your waistline tight!

My favorite ab exercise is a simple pillar hold (aka, plank, prone core hold) where you simply rest your weight on your forearms and toes and hold your body off the floor straight as an arrow for as long as you can. Draw your abdomen in and hang on tight. You'll feel that sucker in no time!

Of course, we all like variety and everybody wants a program. Instead of reinventing the wheel, I will plug one of my associates Craig Ballantyne. He's got a whole killer line of ebooks and a few great ones for abdominal training. Check out his killer ab training books here.

I'm also working on something real special for you, my Online Video Boot Camp. Along with Monday, Wednesday, & Friday at-home boot camp workouts, I'll be providing Tuesday / Thursday cardio & core workouts to take your abs to a whole new level! Stay tuned - just a few more weeks!!!

Have Faith & Take Action!

Justin Yule, B.S., CPT

Your friendly neighborhood Chaska boot camp instructor and online personal trainer.

Burn 9x more fat at a fraction of the cost of other personal training programs.