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Ask The Ripped Dude: What Are Your 10 Top Ab Tips?

I've graced more than 20 magazine covers over the past three years. My nickname says it all: 'The World's Most Ripped Fitness Model.'
by Obi Obadike Dec 14, 2011

Male or female, our eyes are drawn to a person's abdominals ... or gut. To make and maintain a midsection that earns looks of admiration rather than admonishment, certain things have to happen - and others can't happen. Follow these ten important tips, and you can develop those razor-sharp abs you always wanted.

1

FOLLOW A HIGH-PROTEIN, LOWER-CARB DIET. Your diet is essential in building a lean physique. It is important to consume
4- to-6 small meals per day; this helps to speed up your metabolism at an incredibly rapid rate. Although there are many
different theories on meal frequencies, eating smaller meals more
often will help the average person avoid overeating and will curb
hunger. Along with eating frequent, smaller meals, you should
consume your carbohydrates first thing in the morning to give
you energy through the day.

2

FOLLOW A CONSISTENT WEIGHT-TRAINING AND
CARDIO REGIMEN. This will allow you to burn fat through
the day. Weight training helps you to burn calories after the
workout and throughout the day while cardio burns calories
during the workout. A combination of cardio and weight training
will give you the optimal fat burning rate you need to stay lean.

3

DRINK A LOT OF WATER. If you're completely
hydrated, your fat-burning rate will be optimum. To
speed up your metabolism, drink at least 6-to-8
glasses of water per day. Remember: the less water
you drink, the slower your metabolism will be; the more
water you drink, the faster your metabolism will be.

4

MODIFY YOUR ABS ROUTINE. There isn't a specific abs routine that will work better than all others, but changing your abs routine will maximize the results. Some of the common ab moves like crunches, old-fashioned sit-ups, hanging leg raises, broom twists and sprinting, are great for building abdominal muscle. It's important to remember that your abs will show the most development through change and confusion as opposed to stagnation.

5

UNDERSTAND THE TRUTHS AND MYTHS ABOUT ABDOMINALS. We all have abs. Unfortunately, some of us have to work harder than others to attain visible ones. Doing 1,000 sit-ups per day is not going to make your abs just magically pop out, but getting your body-fat levels very low will allow your abs to appear. For a male to able to be see his abs, he has to be roughly at 12 percent body-fat and lower. For a female to see hers, she needs to be at roughly 14 percent and lower. If you can get your body-fat to those levels, you will start to see your abs.

6

ALWAYS EAT BREAKFAST. A healthy breakfast is the most important meal for a reason - it jumpstarts your metabolism for the entire day. Not just any breakfast, though. Unless you want a muffin top, skip the muffins and opt for protein, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates. Emphasis on the protein. Can't go wrong with eggs.

7

BE COGNIZANT OF THE FREQUENCY OF YOUR ABS TRAINING. It is important to train your abs at least three times per week for a beginner and intermediate fitness enthusiast. For the advanced gym guru, train your abs about every other day to build them properly. I would implement at least 3-or-4 different abs exercises every other day for 25-to-30 reps per set. Your rest for each set should be about 30-to-45 seconds. You'll really feel the burn with this minimal rest. If not, you aren't working the exercise properly. Muscle grows when you apply shock to that body-part. The only way to do that is to push through the temporary burn of that particular exercise.

8

DON'T GET SMACKED BY SUGAR, STARCH AND SALT. Also, stay away from foods that are high in unhealthy fat and high in carbs. All of these things can contribute to a high amount of fat gain and prevent your abs from coming out of hibernation. It is okay to consume sugar, salt or starch - just make sure it's within moderation.

9

IMPLEMENT A VARIETY OF
CARDIOVASCULAR EXERCISES.
Cardio helps you lose fat. There is a
variety of different cardiovascular exercises you can implement. Long-distance running, sprinting, swimming, climbing stairs, cycling, elliptical, treadmill, etc. Bonus: They all work your abs to varying degrees and will therefore help you get definition.

Obi Obadike's Favorite Abs Exercises:

Abs Workout


10

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. If you believe you can do it, you will do everything necessary in your power to attain that goal. Your mind will help guide your fitness goals and if that goal is to attain great abs, then, provided you do the necessary work, it will happen for you.

Accelerate Your Fat Loss

Contact Info: www.obiobadike.com
Like his Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/oobadike
Twitter Info: https://twitter.com/#!/obadike1
Email address: obifitness@verizon.net


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About The Author

Obi Obadike
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Known as ''The World Most Ripped Fitness Model,'' he's very passionate about educating people all over the world about health and fitness.

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Showing 1 - 25 of 27 Comments

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ministry1965

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ministry1965

Breakfast to jumpstart your metabolism - What a crap. Get real now please. This is 2011!

Article Rated:
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Dec 14, 2011 9:19pm | report
SuperTrajce

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SuperTrajce

and in 2011 we should skip healthy breakfast?? :)

Dec 15, 2011 3:30pm | report
Mikey1979

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Mikey1979

Of course breakfast will speed up metabolism, but not only that, breakfast is still the most important meal.(next to pre and post workout). Skipping your breakfast will increase the leptin hormon which is responsible for fat storage. Also if you skip your breakfast you miss to feed your body with the most Important macronutrition after a foodless period of 8-9 hours(sleep). Think about that before spreading nonsense Mr. ministry1965...

Dec 20, 2011 12:56am | report
ministry1965

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ministry1965

Hahaha! Wake up! I repeat! It´s 2011 and soon 2012. Knowledge about mealfrequency, breakfast and hormones has come a long way since your arguments was up to date. But keep beliving. Me myself keeps on learning more about our fantastic body and it´s mechanisms. Best of luck!

Dec 20, 2011 12:11pm | report
theleanrhino

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theleanrhino

lol yeah cause Obi doesn't look like he knows what he's talking about at all.

Dec 30, 2011 12:37pm | report
killa_svet

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killa_svet

it is 2012 indeed - ur body is in its highest fat burning process in the morning when u wake up! our ketones are mobilized to the max....breakfast only spoils it! Ministry1965 knows exactly whats hes talkin about its just that its a long topic. Upon waking up have some fats like coconut oil or flax go do ur work out - extend the fat burning process as long as u possibly can and then have u a nice balanced huge meal so the body absorbes everything extremely fast and deliever it str8 to ..yes u guessed it - UR MUSCLES! Thank me later!

Sep 2, 2012 10:32pm | report
BuildingBody28

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BuildingBody28

Not to mention you haven't eaten for like 9 hours.

Dec 6, 2012 4:05am | report
JBB00101

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JBB00101

nice

Article Rated:
8
Dec 15, 2011 5:20am | report
Kelgogi

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Kelgogi

I knew he was going to say that the advanced gym rats have to work their abs every other day. Ugh. Pain... here I come.

Dec 15, 2011 11:41am | report
DCHodges36

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DCHodges36

"Muscle grows when you apply shock to that body-part. The only way to do that is to push through the temporary burn of that particular exercise. " I like that part...some people stop the exercise or don't work through those nasty 2-3 more reps. I'll have to keep that in mind.

Dec 15, 2011 1:46pm | report
wwalker2010

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wwalker2010

Great article. I always love reading Obi's stuff.

Dec 15, 2011 1:50pm | report
VarzMega

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VarzMega

Him and Rob Riches= Ab gurus

Dec 15, 2011 6:18pm | report
ministry1965

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ministry1965

You can eat breakfast if you want but it won´t jumpstart your metabolism. If you belive that you´re likely to belive that more is better when it comes to training. Both is wrong and since long proven in clinical trails. Still the missinformation spreads through different "Gurus".
Sad but true!

Article Rated:
1
Dec 15, 2011 10:25pm | report
tetsure

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tetsure

Look at livestrong.com and its references concerning breakfast. "Does Eating Breakfast Raise Metabolism?"
You might want to check your facts again, unless you have something in the face of these studies?

Jan 1, 2012 11:20pm | report
tetsure

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tetsure

AND wikipedia.

Jan 1, 2012 11:22pm | report
EDZIA_M

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EDZIA_M

sure its all truth but i expected those great 10 tips to be more than: " keep ur fat levels low"..., " exercise a lot", "follow a high protein diet"...

Dec 17, 2011 2:02pm | report
theleanrhino

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theleanrhino

well that's pretty much it. There aren't any secrets to getting abs, so you're going to hear the same thing from everyone.

Dec 30, 2011 12:42pm | report
michaelmasacre

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michaelmasacre

Intradesting... :/

Dec 19, 2011 2:47pm | report
donpeppone

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donpeppone

Haha! yeah the only way to jumpstart our metabolism is by drinking a lot of dammn WATER yo!

Dec 25, 2011 11:25am | report
Uniformed87

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Uniformed87

Breakfast is essential. I know many a lifter and they all say the same thing. All of them have some great results so i wouldn't argue. Of course you can get results other ways, but lets start simple huh?

Jan 8, 2012 3:25pm | report
aestheticEE826

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aestheticEE826

works for me...

Article Rated:
10
Jan 26, 2012 12:54pm | report
naturalhench

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naturalhench

So... In a nutshell: eat low carb, do weights and cardio, train abs regularly and mix it up. Done

Jan 27, 2012 5:11pm | report
lightingbird

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lightingbird

Good tips. I'll definitely try the routine. I don't look nothing like the author but I'm trying.

Feb 5, 2012 11:11pm | report
mbodyb11

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mbodyb11

I have a question. Everyone's always talking about getting visible abs. Are they saying when you're relaxed or flexing the abs they're visible?

Mar 31, 2012 9:20am | report
fascismforfun

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fascismforfun

We would all love to see them while not flexing!! I think we generally would like to see them all the time, but if you see them while flexing then use that to motivate you further!! I love these tips, they are practical, true, and no gimmicks or supposed short cuts.

Aug 2, 2012 1:04am | report
Showing 1 - 25 of 27 Comments

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