30 Effective Ways To Get Six Pack Abs For Women

Are you a woman looking to get leaner, fitter, a bit meaner … and more confident?

Of course you are!

And if so, you’ll be wanting to get six pack abs.

As you know, a flat stomach is very appealing to women. Many of us want one, but not all of us are prepared to do what it takes to get one.

And here’s the thing: It will take a lot of effort on your part to get yourself some perfect six pack abs. Those six pack abs that J-Lo has? They didn’t just appear as though overnight. J-Lo has an amazing body that she worked long and had for.

The great news is, though, that as long as you do the right things, you too can have six pack abs.

Wanna know how? Let’s take a look at some tips. Roll up your sleeves and let’s go!

30 Effective ways to get six pack abs

Workout Weekly

Below, we’re going to go through the different workout regimes you need to do in order to get six pack abs. But before we do, it needs to be mentioned that all your hard work will be for nothing if you’re not consistent about this. To develop and maintain your abs, you need to workout on the weekly.

Eat Carbs Before a Workout

Before you do any kind of workout, it’s a good idea to eat carbs first. Why? Because they’re the best way to fuel your body so that you can keep going for longer.

This is important. If you don’t have enough energy, you won’t be able to give your all during a workout and thus they won’t be as effective as they could be.

Crunches

From now on, crunches will need to form a core part of your workout regime if you want those six pack abs.

Why? Because they target your abdomen’s mid section.

If you’re totally new to this and haven’t worked on strengthening your core before, crunches are the best place to start.

All you need to do is grab your exercise mat and lie on your back.

Then, flex your knees and place both hands on either side of your head.

Curl up at a 30 degree angle and exhale. Inhale before returning to the starting position.

Bicycle Crunches

This workout targets you hamstrings, quadriceps and your abs.

All you need to do is grab your mat, lie down on it face up and place your hands beside your head.

Then, curl into a mini-ball at 45 degrees.

Breathe out, twisting to your left and then raise your left knee toward you chest.

If you can, touch this knee with your right elbow before turning your upper body to your right. Then, raise your right knee to your chest and attempt to touch it with your left elbow.

Do this for 2 sets of 10 reps.

Sit-ups

Sit-ups are those things we were made to do as kids that we hated, but now that you’re older and determined to get yourself a 6-pack, we’re afraid that you’re going to have to do the dreaded sit-up …

… over and over …

… and over again.

But fret not! Once you start seeing results, sit-ups will feel like a lot less work.

All you need to do is grab your exercise mat and lie flat on your back.

Flexing your knees at a 90 degree angle, fold your arms across your chest in such a way so that your left palm is placed on your right shoulder and vice versa with your right palm.

With your feet firmly flat on the ground, you then need to lift your head up … before lifting the shoulders.

Next is the tricky bit – you need to pause for a whole second before going back down.

Do this for 2 sets of 10 reps.

Lying Leg Raise

Hate to break it to you, but this one sounds easier than it actually is!

For this one, you need to grab your exercise mat and lie down on it, placing your palms face down.

Raise both legs up but halt when you’ve got them to a 90 degree angle from the floor.

Lower them back to the starting position slowly and gently.

Sounds easy, right? However, if you’re currently overweight this move will be a tad tricky. So be careful!

The Plank

Anyone who’s never tried the plank but seen it in action must be wondering what in the heck people do it for!

The plank is actually a really effective workout exercise that strengthens your core. As a bonus, it also relieves back pain and will improve your posture.

All you need to do is take your exercise mat and kneel down on it.

Then, with your flat palms in front of you on the mat, bend down and put your forearms on the mat.

With your legs kept straight, extend them and hold this pose for 20 seconds. Hold it for longer if you can and repeat it 4 times. Pretty soon you will start to feel the burn!

Remember that if you’re finding it hard to maintain any of these exercises and you’re losing motivation, ask a friend if they want to do them with you. Doing the plank with a mate is so much more fun than doing it alone!

Hanging Ab Curl

While sit-ups are a bit – let’s admit it – boring, the hanging ab curl is anything but. It’s actually really quite fun!

All you need is a pull-up bar and some inner motivation.

Start by gripping the bar and letting your legs dangle (but keep them nice and straight).

Then, breathe out and bend your knees before pulling your legs towards your chest.

Breathe in and slowly lower your legs, returning them gently to your starting position.

Didn’t we tell you that it’d be fun?!

Super Woman

Now then, doesn’t this one sound totally amazing?!

This is another fun workout that’s also really effective. It focuses on your hamstrings, as well as your upper and lower abs.

All you need to do is grab your exercise mat and lie face down it, extending your legs and pointing your toes outward.

Then, with your hands extended out front too, lift your hands and legs in a movement that looks as though you’re flying.

Aim to hold this pose for as many as 5 seconds before releasing.

If you do sets of 10 reps of the super woman workout, you can burn a good amount of calories.

Arm Pull Over Straight Leg Crunch

This workout is useful because it targets your upper, middle and lower abs. It also targets your hamstrings and your hip flexors.

All you need to do is grab your exercise mat and lie down on it, making sure that your legs are nice and straight.

Then, pull your legs up at an angle of 45 degrees before raising your head and shoulders.

While lowering your hands to your feet, raise your legs so that they are at an angle of 90 degrees from the floor.

Keep this pose momentarily before slowly releasing and returning everything to the starting position.

If you want to make this workout more effective, do it with 10 pound dumbbells in your hands.

As well as working out, there are lots of other things you need to get stronger cores:

Eat the Same Kind of Meal Each Day

When it comes to getting a flatter, stronger tummy, consistency – and not variation – is key.

Those women who have amazing six packs, of the kind that you look on with green eyed jealousy? They tend to eat the same thing, day in and day out.

Is it boring? Not if you flavour your meals properly. Plus, you can always add substitutions, too.

For many women who have a super strong core, their daily diet will largely be made up of a protein bar in the morning pre-workout, followed by a protein shake post-workout.

This shake will usually be followed by two meals that are centred on fish or chicken, with some vegetables at the side, such as leafy greens and potatoes.

Alternatively, you can go with pasta or rice instead as one of your meals.

And for snacks? Nuts, celery, carrots, peanut butter and rice cakes are all good options.

Even if you do flavour your meals, such a disciplined routine can still get boring. However, this consistent approach to your meals is the most effective way to get all the right nutrients you need as you look to develop a stronger core.

Hold yourself Accountable

Developing and maintaining six pack abs can be really tricky, especially when we’re losing motivation or have no accountability.

If you struggle to hold yourself accountable to yourself, post on social media about your abs goals. Post pictures too. This make you accountable to somebody!

Eat Before Bed

Ever woken up in the middle of the night feeling totally starving?

Perhaps you’ve been so overcome with hunger that you’ve even been prepared to leave the comfy confines of your bed and go on the hunt for food?

Hey, it happens. But while it feels OH SO GOOD at the time to bite into that thick slice of guacamole on toast, this kind of behaviour doesn’t do your six pack abs goals any kind of favours.

When you wake up in the middle of the night, let’s face it: The only thing you’re going to eat is junk. Donuts, candies and the like.

For this reason, you need to make sure that you don’t go to bed early, and the easiest way to do that is to eat before bed. This means that your muscles won’t be starved of the vital protein that they need, and it will also allow your muscles to recover properly throughout the night.

The best thing to eat before bed is Greek yogurt, although a bowl of porridge with quinoa is a good option.

Share your Desserts

This is a cool little hack that means that, just because you’re aiming for a flat stomach, it doesn’t mean you need to cut out all the cakes.

When it comes to dessert time, order one – but share it with your partner or a friend!

Work Out At Home

No, this doesn’t mean that you get to avoid the gym!

But the thing is that, we see a lot of women who are intent on getting abs falling into the trap of believing that a workout is far less effective if there is no equipment involved.

This just isn’t true!

At home, you can work on your abs whenever you want. We’ve already outlined a few workouts you can do at home above, but you can also add to them with a minute or two of flutter kicks and a minute or two of mountain climbers.

If you only workout at the gym, you might fall behind. It’s much better to also use any spare time that you can at home, too.

Avoid Processed Foods

There’s no need for us to go into a massive spiel about how bad processed foods are – you already know this!

But for a quick recap, here are SOME of the reasons that processed foods are bad for you:

• Processed foods are high in sugar
• Processed foods are actually designed in such a way that you’ll eat more of them than you actually need to!
• Processed foods contain artificial ingredients that don’t even exist in nature
• Processed foods are rich in refined carbs
• Processed foods are low in nutrients
• Processed foods are low in fibre

As is pretty darn clear, there is literally nothing good about processed foods. They have zero redeeming qualities! And if you’re looking to hone 6 pack abs, you cannot afford to get caught eating processed foods. They will totally wreck your goals because they don’t have your best interests at heart – far from it!

Although you might get the same amount of calories from broccoli as you do from a chip, the quality of the calories is different – and it’s this that matters.

So from now on, aim for unprocessed whole foods.

Eat Lots of Healthy Fats

Some women, in their pursuit of the perfectly sculpted and toned body, decide that they’re going to avoid all kinds of fats – including healthy ones.

This is a big mistake because your body NEEDS fats, especially the healthy ones.

Healthy fats aren’t the reason you gain lots of weight. On the contrary, healthy fats help your body to fight inflammation. This is key because, for a number of people, it’s inflammation that’s causing their weight gain.

Where can you find healthy fats? Try these:

• Almonds
• Olive oil
• Eggs
• Dark chocolate
• Flax seeds
• Cheese
• Pumpkin seeds
• Fatty fish
• Avocados
• Pine nuts
• Walnuts

And as you can see, these foods are pretty damn yummy – especially dark chocolate!

Careful with dark chocolate, though. Just two squares per day are enough to get you the health benefits you need.

Eat Lots of Lean Protein

What is protein?

It’s muscle food.

We could go into a big, scientific explanation of what it is, but that’s all you really need to know – it’s muscle food. Ergo, it’s the stuff you need to be eating more of if you want to get a stronger core.

Lean protein – which you can find in the likes of turkey and chicken breast, mushroom, lentils, soy, beans and so on – is the best kind of lean protein because it helps your muscles to recover from a workout session.

And this is exactly what you need if you want those killer 6 pack abs.

Eat Breakfast

From now on, breakfast is your most important meal of the day. Do not skip it!

If you do, your body will miss out on the protein it needs to kickstart your day.

Drink Lots and Lots of Water

We can’t over state this one enough. If you’re only drinking one glass of water a day at the moment (or less) you need to drink more.

And not just one or two glasses, but 5 or more glasses!

Why? Well, for one thing water is the most natural substance there is that you can drink. Your body and its cells need as much of it as you can give it if its to function at its absolute peak.

For another thing, water can replace all those empty calories you keep consuming when you get hungry at odd times.

See, our body has this funny way of tricking us into thinking that we’re hungry when the reality is that we’re just thirsty and need a drink!

How does this work? The fact is that most of us get out water intake from food. As such, when you get thirsty your body pretends to be hungry so that it can get more water!

From now on, when you get hungry at odd times, try drinking water to see if it fills you up.

Find water too boring? Mix it up with fruit of vegetable juices or even smoothies to get your much needed fix.

Don’t Starve Yourself

Sadly, a lot of women think that they have to starve themselves in order to sculpt their body. This is just not true.

In fact, starving yourself   will have quite the opposite effect!

See, when you starve yourself during the day, what then happens is that you’re so hungry at the end of the day that you eat a massive meal that’s loaded with too many calories. Thus, you end you over eating. Not cool!

Not just that, but the less you eat means that you have less calories available for usable energy.

Instead, it’s a much better, healthier and safer idea to eat every 2-4 hours.

Eat Lots of Fat Burners

You know what a fat burner is, right? A fat burner is a special kind of healthy food that burns fat at a much higher rate than other kinds of food.

These foods also provide your body with lots of much needs nutrition too, of course!

Wanna know what they are? The best ones that we recommend include peanut butter, garlic, spinach, apple cider vinegar, dark chocolate, turmeric, nuts, low fat milk, yogurt, cinnamon, celery, black pepper, cayenne pepper, quinoa, brown rice, grapefruit and green tea.

Add these foods and drinks to your diet and you’ll be well on your way to a flatter stomach.

Get Out of Bed Earlier

Out of all the things in this article, we fully understand that getting out of bed earlier is probably going to be the most troublesome for many of you.

And we’re not even asking you to get out of bed 5 or ten minutes earlier – we’re asking you to get out of bed some two hours sooner than you currently do!

Why? Because the sooner you rise, the sooner your metabolism can kick into action. Moreover, rising earlier sets a positive tone for the rest of the day.

It also gives you the chance to get more done. For example, you can eat a high protein breakfast or do more workouts – things that you might not ordinarily do if you got up later.

Find a Way To Reduce Stress

We’re living in 2018, and while in many respects there’s never been a better time to be alive,  the stark truth is that many of us are more stressed than ever.

How can stress prevent you from getting the body you dream of? Put simply, the more stressed you are, the more cortisol is present in your system.

And the more cortisol you have, the more glucose you have. And when we have too much glucose swimming around in our system, we find it hard to lose belly fat.

Stay happy!

from Beauty And Tips Magazine