Must-Read: Getting Your Abs

If you’ve ever spent any time working out, then you know the feeling. You’re going through the workouts, time and time again, putting in the effort and lifting the weights. And no matter what you do, you do that whole “mirror test” after every workout, seeing if the actual lifts that you’ve been lifting or miles you’ve been running has actually changed your body the way you intended… and nothing changes. You look the exact same as you always did.

Packing nothing

Ab muscles, in particular, are finicky when it comes to that sort of thing. There’s a whole lot of things going on in there, what with all of the digestion taking place underneath the muscles, that it’s not always going to be a simple one-to-one correlation of “do a bunch of situps, get a six-pack.” You have to be aware of which muscles you’re working out, and make sure to lose the skin that’s covering it in the first place, and so on and so forth. Which is why we thought it would help out highlighting this fine article over at Men’s Fitness?that goes through a list of things that might be keeping your six-pack indoors, as it were.

For instance, reason number one:

YOU DON’T TRAIN WITH WEIGHTS

Resistance is what stimulates the muscle fibers in the body and promotes muscular growth. You wouldn?t expect to add two inches to your biceps by using the weight of your arms?why would abs training be any different? Training for 50, 60 or even 100 repetitions would be great for endurance and conditioning, but don?t expect to see a washboard appear.

Advice: Incorporate weighted exercises at fewer repetitions. Try out a medicine ball throw while lying on a Swiss ball. Shoot for 12 to 15 repetitions. Complete a total of three to four sets.

Makes sense to us. Head on over to the link to check out the other two tips, and