Body By Dan: You Are What You Eat

Category: Wellness
Published: July 2006

The abdominal muscle group has become the standard icon of fitness. Everyone talks about them, yet few know how to get them. We all have them, it just takes some effort to find them. How does one do that? It's not as hard as you think if you follow these dieting and exercise guidelines.

A person's diet is the most important part of their quest towards great abdominal muscles. Now, we're not talking about fad diets like the grapefruit or no-carb diet, we're talking about a diet that promotes a healthy lifestyle, fat loss, and muscle growth-balanced diet. If someone eats 3-4 smaller balanced meals a day, along with a few healthy snacks, they are guaranteed to be on the right track for great abs. A balanced diet consists of the following: whole grains, protein, fiber, fats, fruits and vegetables, and proper hydration. All of these food groups supply the body with the proper nutrients necessary for muscle growth, and the fiber and hydration required to get rid of excess wastes.

Eating 3-4 smaller meals a day, rather than 2-3 giant meals (like most Americans eat), allows your body to only intake nutrients as they are necessary and rarely store excess fats or glucose. This reduces excess cell storage and results in lowered cell accumulations and lowered cell volume, thus resulting in less fat deposits. Most Americans consume 2-3 giant meals a day because of their hectic schedules, and often end up skipping out on breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and consuming a 500-600 calorie breakfast filled with carbohydrates, proteins and fats will help you reduce your urges for snacking on junk food or binging later on.

Another Dieting Tip
Along these same lines, the best way to eat a balanced diet while losing body fat and gaining muscle mass is to consume most (90%) of your carbohydrates by the end of dinner time. This is not saying that you should eat excess amounts of carbohydrates during the morning and early afternoon, it simply means not eating as many carbs right before you go to bed. This is because carbohydrates are used largely to supply your body with energy, and you're not going to expend much energy in the last four hours before you go to bed. If you don't use up the glucose that these carbohydrates give you, then enzymes in your liver will convert them to glycogen and there will be an excess of glycogen stored in your body. A person rarely uses up the glycogen stores in their body. To supplement this, it is wise to have a snack that is high in "good fats" within four hours before you go to bed. "Good fats" are basically monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, and to keep it simple, I'll give you a few examples of good fats that are tasty - peanuts and most other nuts, fish oil and olive oil. There are a lot of other options, but be creative. For example, you can mix some peanuts and fruit in with your yogurt. Then take a tbsp of olive oil and you're set for the rest of the night.

That's all great, but how do I exercise to supplement this diet?
A well balanced diet is the most important step towards great abs. However it is also important to exercise. Cardio is the most important form of exercise if you're looking to develop some incredibly cut abs. In order to burn fat, you must have an elevated heart rate(HR) of at least 15-20 beats per/min(bpm) higher than your resting HR, for over a 20 minute period. This is for two reasons. The first is that oxygen is required to burn fat, and the increased HR cycles blood through your body quicker than a resting HR. The second is that one can not lower the number of fat cells in their body, they can only decrease the size of their cells. Studies have shown that fat cells do not begin to decrease in size until after 20 minutes of a HR elevated above ~20bpm of their resting rate. Because of this, it is wise to do cardio in longer sessions a few times a week, rather than say 5 quick sessions of 20 minutes each. This doesn't mean that you have to jog on a treadmill for 40 minutes, you can make your work out more exciting by involving multiple activities in your workout. For example, you can warm up by running on a treadmill for 15 minutes, then do 15 pushups, followed immediately by 5 minutes of jumping rope, and a 20 minute game of basketball. Now that we know how to flatten our stomach, let's look at how to make our abs more pronounced.

Abdominal exercises are generally done with greater than 15 repetitions, sometimes even up to 100 reps with as little as 1-3 sets. If you're looking to make your abs stick out, then this isn't the best way to do it. The easiest way to make your abs appear rock solid is to do a high number of sets with a low number of reps. That is to say, you don't want to do 75 sit-ups on the decline bench at the gym for 2sets. To give your abs the deeper appearance you're after, you want to do 5-8 sets of 8 reps (5-8x8) of decline sit-ups with added weight on your chest. This method of exercise will cause your abs to stick out more, which will allow you to lose less fat and still have the six-pack look.

Here's a sample weekly ab routine that you can work into your regular exercise schedule:

Monday

• Straight-Leg Sit-Ups: 5x8
  Lie flat on the ground, with toes pointed up. Fold your arms across your upper chest and flare your elbows out so they are even with your shoulder level. From this position, perform a sit-up until your torso is perpendicular with your legs, and return to the original position. Repeat for 8 reps. During the entire motion, be sure to keep your legs as straight and as flat as possible. As this exercise becomes easier, increase the difficulty by holding a weight on your chest.
• V Sit-Ups: 6x6
  Lie flat on your back with your arms extended past your head and your toes pointed up. Lift your legs and arms at the same time, and bring your hands and feet as close together as possible, making a "V" with your body. Return to the ground slowly and with control, tensing your abs throughout the entire movement. Repeat this for 6 reps. As the exercise gets easier, increase the difficulty by adding ankle and wrist weights.

• Cardio for 40 minutes

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• Decline Sit-Ups Twists: 5x8
  Lying on a decline bench with feet locked under the leg pads, hands crossed and elbows flared out to shoulder level, perform a sit-up while twisting 2-3 times to each side before reaching the top of the moment. Each twist should leave the obliques facing towards your knees. Twist 2-3 times on each side as you return to the start position. Repeat this for eight repetitions. To make this exercise more difficult, hold a weight plate or dumbbell on your chest.
• Reverse Crunches: 6x6
  Lie on your back with your legs and feet raised about 3 inches above the ground, and maintain a slight bend in your knees. Bring your legs up (by using your abdominal strength) till they are perpendicular to your abdominals, and then while squeezing your abdominal muscles slowly raise your hips off the ground. Slowly lower your hips back to the ground while maintaining abdominal tension, and then lower your legs back till they are once again resting about 3 inches above the ground. Repeat for 6 repetitions. This exercise can be made more difficult by adding ankle weights.

• Cardio for 40-60 minutes

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