Genetic factor

The first thing you must realize is that every guy has his own uniquely shaped abs. Randomly selecting a picture out of some men’s magazine or billboard and saying that’s what you want your abs to be like could be slightly self-defeating, because even if you did get to low enough body fat levels, your abs may not be genetically shaped in a similar way; therefore, the appearance of your abs will still be different.

Recognizing that this factor is out of your control and not getting hung up on it is one step forward on your quest to get ripped abs. If you are unable to do this, you’ll only become more frustrated as time progresses, which is a serious motivational killer.

Rest assured, though, that if you can get your body fat levels low enough and perform correct, targeted exercises for this muscle group, your midsection will garner second glances.

Food factor

Next comes the diet aspect of the equation. Ever heard the saying, “Abs are made in the kitchen”? Nothing could speak the truth more. As stated, everyone has some ab muscles, but most have a layer of body fat hiding them. Removing this layer is going to be about 90% dietary effort and 10% exercise effort when it comes right down to it. If you aren’t ready to take control over the foods you are putting in your mouth, getting ripped abs should not be a goal for you.

While the old notion used to be that you should eat a diet as low in fat as possible in order to remove body fat, this has changed in modern times. Now, diets that are higher in protein, moderate in fat and low or moderate in carbs are making headway, as this helps to control insulin levels better, and insulin happens to be the prime hormone that stores body fat (in a hypercaloric balance).

That’s not to say you can’t get lean on a higher-carbohydrate diet; you most certainly can — and some guys do — but for the vast majority, hunger levels are much more manageable on a low to moderate carb approach, which correspondingly makes eating fewer calories easier.

At the end of the day, it’s really going to come down to your total calorie intake, with less importance placed on how you get there — assuming sufficient protein is present, of course.

Discover ways to get ripped abs with these routines…

Finally, you have the actual ab routine. The regular performance of these exercises will play a large role in shaping the way your abs look once the fat is removed and they are visible.

When selecting ab exercises, think of anything that will decrease your stability — this effectively causes the abs to work harder as they are recruited. Exercise balls are the perfect tool for this, and there are a variety of movements you can do with them.

If you are looking to actually increase the size of your ab muscles, weighted ab work will be your best bet. Since muscle tissue will only grow significantly when an overloading weight is placed upon it, you must treat your ab muscles like you would any other muscle in the body. You wouldn’t get as developed doing push-up after push-up as you would with heavy bench pressing, so the same principle applies here.

Finally, the last types of ab exercises to include in your program are ones that have you contracting the ab muscles and holding this contraction for an extended duration of time. The benefit to this is that it will help the abs learn how to remain contracted, which will help when it comes to keeping them slightly flexed, allowing the muscularity to show even more.

If you are trying to get ripped abs, be sure to keep these major factors in mind. Most importantly, do not overlook the importance of your diet. Far too many guys think that they can just be sure to do enough ab work and cardio to make up for a less-than-stellar diet, but this kind of thinking almost always leads to less-than-stellar results.