Live in the kind of city where summer never leaves, not really. So it’s important that any curvature around the gut is actually just loose t-shirt fabric and not the soft curves of a beer belly. Sometimes, no matter how many core workouts you do, the last few traces of body fat just don’t seem to leave the ab area. All this brings up the question of how to get defined abs you can be proud of without compromising on your health. The answer lies not just in abdominal exercises and your workout routine, but also in the lifestyle you follow outside the gym.

Shake it up

If you’re going hard on those machines and the abdominal and core workouts, but the body has a tendency to get used to these exercise routines. Instead, try a different approach – opt for full body workouts, alternative functional training which targets the core as a central point. This stimulates all muscle fibers in your body and burns more calories, resulting in a more efficient overall fat loss.

Counting Enough Sheep

The importance of adequate sleep cannot be stressed enough, especially when your fitness routine is a hardcore one. A minimum sleep time is required for the body to recover and relax, and a few extra minutes never hurt. The equation is simple: a well-rested body had more energy to efficiently workout the next day. Inadequate sleep guarantees a slower metabolic rate, less energy, and sluggishness through the following day, which results in an unsatisfactory workout and fat gets the most convenient way to reside inside your body.

Abs Are Made In The Kitchen

Ever heard of “You are what you eat? Well, that holds true even in relevance to your fitness. The thing with abs is that they’re already there in your body, it’s a question of making them visible. And that gets increasingly difficult with each passing meal (averaging between 500-900 calories) and energy drink (100-200 calories). As a general rule, one should avoid refined foods – as these cause high insulin levels that make the body store more fat – and say no to the enemy of a fit body, but also man’s best friend: BEER! Beer, as much as we love the taste of it, is packed with carbs which tend to settle in the body – and all body fat in men tends to pile up around the abdomen.

Lean Mean Protein

A good dose of lean protein helps repair broken down muscles after a grueling workout session. This, in turn, leads to a greater muscle growth and hence, a faster metabolic rate.

Take It Easy

The workplace is a competitive zone, there’s no denying that, and dealing with that stress can get difficult. Two things happen when you’re under stress – the chances of eating unhealthy food increase, and the body releases more cortisol which causes fat accumulation.

Crank That

Interval training on the treadmill is a great way to fast track your fat loss, and increase general stamina and endurance. The best way to go about this is to set speed goals for both high and low intensity runs, and keep switching between the two. The altering speeds burn more calories and thereby more fat.

OMG-3’s

Now, as strange as this may sound, there really is such a thing as Good Fats. The top of the list is Omega fats; they keep your heart healthy and help you lose weight. The best source of Omega-3’s is fish, although not everyone enjoys including them in their daily diet – for those of you who prefer something different, try walnuts.

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