By: ISSA

It's getting colder outside and people tend to be less active. The six-pack from the hot summer will be covered by ugly fat. This scenario is known and feared by all fit people. BUT the fact is - it doesn't have to happen. Instead of seeing winter as a time where you cannot maintain your nice looking abs, because you can't train outside in the cold weather, get in the kitchen and make those abs look even better. Does this sound great – then read on!

Introduction

We all know about the myth that says that you should do hundreds of crunches to burn the fat covering your abs, but it doesn't work that way. Instead it is a question about calories. If you eat more calories then you burn, your body will store those extra calories as fat. If you eat fewer calories, you will lose weight. NOTICE I write lose weight, not lose fat. There is a big difference.

Losing weight is really easy, but losing fat is a harder task. If you just lose weight, a big part of it probably will be lean and since lean burns calories even at rest, losing lean will make it harder for you to burn enough calories to burn the fat covering your abs. To lose fat and finally see that abs, you need to make smart choices in the kitchen and plan your training right.

So what do we want? Our goal is finally to get a great set of abs. What must we do?

• Make smart choices in the kitchen
• Plan our training right
• Maintain (or build) lean muscle tissue

The Workout Routine For Great Abs

Now you probably think, that I'm going to show you some new fancy exercises that build great abs in no time, but I have to disappoint you here. Those exercises do not exist, but hard and smart work can do the same for you.

The first important point to remember, is that we need to lose fat, so that we can actually see the abs. Remember to succeed in this our calorie balance must be negative. There are only two ways, in which we can make it negative. We can simply eat fewer calories. But eating less calories alone isn't enough, since the lean lose would be far too great.

The other way getting into a negative calorie balance is to burn more calories through exercise. Cardio exercises are a great way to burn calories. But doing too much will make you lose lean – try to compare the body of a sprinter and a marathon runner. The sprinter has a great amount of lean tissue and is also very lean.

So instead of focusing on burning fat, we will try to build lean, which can burn the fat for us. Therefore this program is a combination of weight training and very high intensity cardio. In the weight training session we will also build that abs underneath the fat, so that our 6-pack will show, when the fat covering it is burned.

The weight-training program is a split, which is focusing on compound exercises. You don't have to use isolation movement (except for the abs) – you can't form your muscles anyway. You could also use a full body program, but the drain on the CNS would be to great.

On this program you will have to weight train 4 times a week and doing cardio 2 times a week + some small ALL-OUT-Cardio sprints (will be covered later). Here is the "basic" plan of the program:

Week 1

Monday morning: Workout 1
Tuesday morning: Workout 2
Wednesday: Cardio for about 1 hour – as high intensity as possibly
Thursday morning: Workout 3
Friday: Rest (you can go for a walk before breakfast if you like)
Saturday morning: Workout 1
Sunday morning: Cardio for about 1 hour – as high intensity as possibly

Week 2

Monday morning: Workout 2
Tuesday morning: Workout 3
Wednesday: Cardio for about 1 hour – as high intensity as possibly
Thursday morning: Workout 1
Friday: Rest (you can go for a walk before breakfast if you like)
Saturday morning: Workout 2
Sunday morning: Cardio for about 1 hour – as high intensity as possibly

Week 3

Monday morning: Workout 3
Tuesday morning: Workout 1
Wednesday: Cardio for about 1 hour – as high intensity as possibly
Thursday morning: Workout 2
Friday: Rest (you can go for a walk before breakfast if you like)
Saturday morning: Workout 3
Sunday morning: Cardio for about 1 hour – as high intensity as possibly

The Workouts

Now let's take a look at each workout:

Workout 1 – Quads, Hams, Calves, Biceps

Exercise	Set Number	Reps
Squats	1	15
	2	12
	3	6-10
	4	6-10
	5	6-10
Leg Press	1	6-10
	2	6-10
	3	6-10
Lying Leg Curl	1	6-10
	2	6-10
	3	6-10
Standing Calf Raises	1	8-12
	2	8-12
	3	8-12
Barbell Curl	1	6-12
	2	6-12
	3	6-12
Hammer Curl	1	6-12
	2	6-12
	3	6-12
Exercise	Set Number	Reps

Click here for printable workout log!

Workout 2 – Chest, Shoulder, Triceps

Exercise	Set Number	Reps
Bench Press	1	15
	2	12
	3	6-10
	4	6-10
	5	6-10
Incline Dumbbell Press	1	6-10
	2	6-10
	3	6-10
Dumbbell Shoulder Press	1	6-10
	2	6-10
	3	6-10
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	1	8-12
	2	8-12
	3	8-12
Dips or Triceps Pushdown	1	6-12
	2	6-12
	3	6-12
Lying Triceps Extension	1	6-12
	2	6-12
	3	6-12
Exercise	Set Number	Reps

Click here for printable workout log!

Workout 3 – Back, Traps

Exercise	Set Number	Reps
Chins	1	15
	2	12
	3	6-10
	4	6-10
	5	6-10
V-Bar Cable Rows	1	6-10
	2	6-10
	3	6-10
Dead Lifts	1	6-10
	2	6-10
	3	6-10
Rear Lateral Raise	1	8-12
	2	8-12
	3	8-12
Barbell Shrugs	1	6-12
	2	6-12
	3	6-12
Exercise	Set Number	Reps

Click here for printable workout log!

These are only the basics – there are two very important parts to come yet – the AB-TRAINING and ALL-OUT HIGH INTENSITY CARDIO.

Cardio

After each of the weight training sessions you will have to do a tiny bit of cardio – not normal cardio, but ALL-OUT HIGH INTENSITY CARDIO, like this:

Perform a light 3 Minutes warm-up – just to make you prepared for the ALL-OUT Cardio

Now you do 30 seconds ALL-OUT Cardio (preferred is Running) followed by 30 seconds rest. You do this for a total of only five minutes = 5 sprint.

It is very important that the sprints are ALL OUT Sprints.

Ab-Training

I know you thought you should do some work for the abs also and you are completely right. 3 days per week you follow the workouts (before ALL-OUT Cardio) with this abs-routine. Be prepared to feel that abs burn.

The routine for the abs is a 10 minutes NONSTOP circle – no rest between exercises. You pick the first exercise – move on to the next – move on to the next and so on – until you have completed all the exercises 3 times.

The Program looks like this:

Seated Leg Tucks with Dumbbell between feet – Failure after 10 reps

Normal Crunches with Dumbbell on chest – Failure after 10 reps

Crunches with Legs Raised with Dumbbell on chest – Failure after 10 reps

Twisting Crunches (bodyweight only) – 20 reps

Side Crunches (bodyweight only) – 20 reps

The exercises are:

Cable Crunches – Failure after 10 reps

Hanging Hip Raises – To Failure

That wasn't hard was it???

Off To The Kitchen

Our goal is to build lean tissue on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays since we have our weight training sessions at these days. Therefore Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays will be our days to burn fat. We have to plan our nutrition after these goals.

On days with weight training you should add 10 % Calories to the level were you do neither lose nor gain weight. On other days you should eat 1/6 less than this level.

If you maintain weight at 3000 Calories a day the nutritional plan would look like this:

Monday: 3000 Cal + 300 Cal = 3300 Cal
Tuesday: 3000 Cal + 300 Cal = 3300 Cal
Wednesday: 3000 Cal – 500 Cal = 2500 Cal
Thursday: 3000 Cal + 300 Cal = 3300 Cal
Friday: 3000 Cal – 500 Cal = 2500 Cal
Saturday: 3000 Cal + 300 Cal = 3300 Cal
Sunday: 3000 Cal – 500 Cal = 2500 Cal

You should work your way to these ratios:

For days with weight training: 50 % Carbohydrates, 35 % Protein, 15 % Fat.

For other days: 30 % Carbohydrates, 50 % Protein, 20 % Fat.

What type of food to eat when:

For days with weight training:

• Eat most of your Carbohydrates around your workout and in the morning.
• Until 5 PM you could eat starchy Carbohydrates like Oats, Yams, Brown Rice etc.
• After 5 PM try to stick to Fibrous Carbohydrates like Vegetables.
• Eat enough healthy Fats, like nuts, Flax oil etc., but eat them with Protein and not Carbohydrates. This means Carbohydrates + Protein in the morning and essential fats + Protein later on the day

For other days:

• Eat most of your Carbohydrates early
• Try to stick to Fibrous Carbohydrates as most as possibly

Meal Samples:

For days with weight training:

Meal 1 – 6.00 am: Oatmeal, whey protein
Weight training 7.30-8.30 am:
Meal 2 – 8.30 am: Sweet potato, whey protein
Meal 3 – 10.30 am: Brown Rice, egg white omelette
Meal 4 – 1.00 pm: Whole wheat bread, chicken breast
Meal 5 – 4.00 pm: Sweet potato, broccoli, tuna, walnuts
Meal 6 – 7.00 pm: Mackerel, green salad
Meal 7 – 10.00 pm: Protein shake with Casein

Meal 1 – 7.00 am: Oatmeal, whey protein
Meal 2 – 10.00 am: Sweet potato, broccoli, chicken breast
Meal 3 – 1.00 pm: Brown Rice, egg white omelette, asparagus, Flax oil
Meal 4 – 4.00 pm: Salmon, green beans, broccoli
Meal 5 – 7.00 pm: Green salad, olive oil, tuna
Meal 6 – 10.00 pm: Protein shake with Casein

These are just samples – you can make the plan after your taste.

Give the program and the nutritional plan a try and you'll not only get a great six-pack – you'll look great from every angel.

So what are you waiting for – IT'S TIME TO CLIMB.

About The Author

Michael Nielsen, CFT and SPN, personal trainer in Denmark and Natural Bodybuilding Competitor. Email him at mich1@mail1.stofanet.dk.

Thanks,
Michael Nielsen CFT and SPN ISSA

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