Revealed - the best exercise to get a six pack

Steve Hensel says…

It seems that everyday in the gym I get interrupted by someone asking me “Can you show me an exercise to lose this?” as they point to their (often) overhanging belly!

While my answer to this question is simple - it generally leaves people unsatisfied - like I’m not telling them the full story or don’t want to help them.
Because despite what the title of this post says - there is no single exercise that will achieve your goals of a flat stomach!

What really works is looking at the bigger picture and combining the correct overall exercise approach with a good nutrition approach. Because while there is no magic bullet exercise for fat loss or building a six-pack, it is your entire exercise program that is key to promoting the important fat-burning process.

The thing is that to get a flat stomach you need to burn fat - and this is not achieved with hundreds of sit-ups - what you actually need to lose fat is to increase your metabolism, have a good nutrition strategy and healthy hormones.

So rather than debate the merits of each individual exercise I thought I would share with you 10 of the common mistakes people make and show you how to avoid them to have an effective kick-ass (and fat) exercise program…

1. Ignoring the importance of nutrition - flat abs are predominantly made in the kitchen! Unless you get your food strategy correct you’re results will be less than optimum.
2. Spending too much time on cardio training (walking, running, rowing, spin, aerobics) and not enough time on resistance training. To get a flat stomach you need to burn fat and the most effective way of doing this is to increase the metabolism. To effectively increase your metabolism long-term you need to do resistance training to stimulate your muscles.
3. Beginners jumping into advanced training without building a foundation. You need to build healthy joints (especially knees and shoulders), a strong low back and a healthy core to progress faster - don’t worry about your results during this period, if you are eating correctly you will lose fat even with a less intense exercise program.
4. Spending too much time on abdominal exercises (mainly seen in women) although you want a flat stomach this is an ineffective use of time. Abdominal exercises will generally not contribute much to fat burning and although they will strengthen the abs (not always in a good way if you read Katrina’s post) you won’t see these muscles unless you lose the fat!
5. Spending too much time on beach exercises (mainly seen in men) beach exercises are isolation exercises that only work one muscle group at a time and generally focus on the muscles guys like to flex at the beach! The exercises that will get the best results are a COMBINATION of squats, deadlifts, pull-ups/chin-ups, bench press, lunges and rows. (Spending 1-hour on the bench press is still beach training and will do little to improve your overall shape!)
6. Not training the legs. Training the lower body will provide the most intensity to your exercise program and give you the best results - plus after a good set of squats, lunges or deadlifts you will know your heart and lungs have been working!
7. Not doing the important exercises because of fear of injury. Firstly you should spend the first few months preparing the body correctly for these exercises. Secondly all of the important exercises (squats, deadlifts, pull-ups/chin-ups, bench press, lunges and rows) can be adapted to any level of strength and fitness.
8. Not using the correct weight - Males tend to use too much weight and lose technique. Any exercise done with poor technique or too quickly because the weight can’t be controlled is ineffective. Many females use weights that are too light- for example lifting pink dumbbells 50 times while chatting to friends- this is what I call token weight training and is again ineffective. The weight should be such that you feel fatigued at the end (normally between 12-20 reps depending upon your aims) but can maintain good technique, control and speed all the way through.
9. Women not using weights for fear of getting bigger. Training with weights increases muscle which increases metabolism which reduces fat. End result? Weights make women smaller. Unless you have unusually high testosterone you will not develop unsightly muscles, what you will notice is an improvement in muscle definition as you lose the fat that was hiding them!
10. Drinking coffee immediately after training. The body must always cycle stress with recovery. Exercise is a stress that causes an increase in stress hormones. For ideal results you need to allow a period of recovery without increasing stress hormones further so you should avoid stimulants such as coffee. Drink water and eat a high quality meal as soon as possible after training to maximise recovery.

This article was written by our contributor: Steve Hensel