Seven Tips to Build Six Pack Abs Fast

Everybody wants the perfect set of six pack abs. However, if you are like most people, you've started some sort of a system and grew sick of it. While you can't build that perfect set of abs overnight, the following tips will help you to get a rock hard stomach if done on a consistent basis.

1) Crunches are still the most effective exercise to build up abdominal muscles. However, most people do them completely incorrectly. In order to give your abs the maximum resistance, lift your chest straight up to the ceiling. Do not roll your shoulders, and don't cup your elbows around your head. Doing so takes the work off of your abs and completely defeats the purpose. Focus on putting the strain on your stomach, and squeeze it as you lift.

2) Focus on quality, not quantity. Some guys will brag about the fact that they can do seventy sit ups in a minute. However, speed crunches will do little to build up abs unless they are done correctly. Keep hands over the chest and avoid tucking your head into your chest.

3) Use weights. This is more true for guys than it is for women. Think about this: if you were to bench press 100 lbs over and over again without ever adding weight, would your chest bulk up? Of course not. Why should abs be any different? To get that perfect six pack, you've got to progressively add resistance. The easiest way to do this is to hold a weight over your head while performing your crunches. You'll be more sore than you've been in a long time, and instead of just building endurance, you'll build strength and bulk abdominal muscle, which is what you need for your six pack to show.

4) Don't neglect cardio. You can't lose fat in just one part of your body. Therefore, when people ask, "How do I lose belly fat?" the answer is to simply lose total body fat. The best way to do this is to up the cardio in your workouts and change your diet accordingly.

5) Low carb diets have positive results for your abs. High protein, low carb diets can help you to lose that extra layer of fat around the midsection, which is the biggest problem to overcome when attempting to build a six pack. Low carb diets are difficult to live by, but they help to cut down body fat relatively quickly. If you need an extra "push" to get your abs to start appearing, then cutting the carbs temporarily can often do the trick.

6) Switch up your workouts. The infomercials would love for you to believe that you can do the same exercise over and over again and get the perfect set of abs. Chances are that they have super muscular models using the equipment to validate this idea. However, in order to sculpt your stomach, you've got to switch up the exercises. Create a schedule that changes up the exercises three times a week. You can't target each section of your abs in every workout, so focus on lower abs one day and upper abs the next.

7) Hold your reps for as long as you can. To use the previous example, many brag about the number of sit ups that can be done in a minute. However, a better exercise would be to lift and hold the position that puts the greatest strain on your abs. This brings an entirely different dynamic to your workouts, and it makes it much more difficult. Quality is better than quantity, and you can give your abs a much better all around workout if you hold your reps instead of rushing through them.

In order to create the perfect midsection, you must implement a consistent system. This includes cardio and more progressive and aggressive ab workouts. Weights will help you to build up bulk muscle, and holding reps will give each muscle a shock. Switch up your routines to get a full ab workout each week, and watch your body change within a few months.