Many people seem to think that doing countless sit-ups and crunches all day will result in toned abs. This is a huge mistake and nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is that everyone, no matter how big their belly is, has ripped abs underneath that extra layer of fat. The key is to get rid of this layer of fat and expose those abs as a result. Crunches and sit-ups will only help in building actual abs muscle, but without losing that layer of fat, you won’t see any abs at all.

One of the most efficient ways to lose fat (besides eating right) is doing cardiovascular exercise. This could be swimming, running, biking, or even brisk walking.

do fast cardio

A very helpful tip is to perform your cardio on an empty stomach when trying to get those ripped abs. I recommend doing your cardio first thing in the morning before breakfast. When we wake up in the morning our body is in a catabolic state. Catabolism means ‘the breakdown’ of body tissue, this is the optimal time to do your fat burning exercises as your body is literally in fat burning mode. In addition to this, because you haven’t eaten any food prior to exercise, your body will primarily break down fat to fuel your exercise session rather than food in your system. The idea is that our body has no choice but to burn mostly fat.

Keep your heart rate optimal for fat burning

When performing any exercise, our body decides which resources to use for fuel based on the intensity of the exercise. It all comes down to our heart rate during exercise. Research shows that our bodies tend to optimally burn fat at a specific heart rate. This heart is about 63% of our maximum heart rate. One is able to maintain this heart rate by jogging slowly, walking at a brisk pace, or other similar low-intensity activity. You wouldn’t believe it, but this low intensity style of exercise is optimal for burning fat! See the end of the article for a resource link that explains exactly how to calculate 63% of your maximum heart rate.

Do HIIT to increase your metabolism

Aside from low-intensity cardio, it’s also a good idea to include some high-intensity interval training (HIIT) as well. This basically involves short bursts of intensive activity. An example would be to sprint (run) as fast as you can for half a minute, then jog for half a minute, then sprint for half a minute, then jog again and just repeat this process. Although HIIT won’t burn as much fat as low-intensity cardio during the exercise itself, it is capable of boosting your metabolism even after you’ve finished exercising. For the next several hours after exercise, your metabolism will be much higher than it was before you exercised. This means that by doing HIIT you are literally turning your body into a fat-burning machine for the rest of the day.

It is important that you apply a combination of the previous points. There is so much misinformation out there that can simply lead to weight gain and poor health, so be very careful what you read.