What's up guys Jeff Cavaliere Althleanx.com.
So, six pack abs is what you came here for, but the number 13 is what's going to
get you them the fastest. You see, I put together my best 13 tips, both nutrition
and training to make sure that you complete that journey to a six pack once and for all.
Which, by the way, starts in the bathroom.
So, the first thing on the list actually has
to do with the first thing that you need to do in the morning. And that is you need to reach
for this before you reach for this to jump in the shower. And that's because we wake up most often
in a dehydrated state. So, what I want you to do is drink 16 to 20 ounces of water upon waking,
I mean before you do anything else. You see, it starts the habit early and you can continue
this, maybe you need one of those reminder water bottles, but water is going to be essential
because if we don't have it, every other training tip and even every other nutrition tip
in this video is going to suffer if you don't.
So now when it comes to the training side
of getting six pack abs, the sequence of the exercises you perform is actually more
important than the exercises themselves. I know that surprises you, but I want to show you
how to get this right every single time. All right focus when you're looking at ab exercises
on what's actually moving. Because these are the same exercises, but they're done in
different orders. If I focus on what's moving, I see the top and the bottom in that exercise.
I see the top moving but the legs staying still here, and I see the legs moving and the top
staying still. Well, what is the right order? This is not right. Because what we want to
do to get the most out of your ab workout is go this way. You want the bottom-up movements
where just the legs are moving to come first and that's because we need the most energy at
the beginning of the workout to handle these moves because we have to lift the additional
weight of our legs. These are always going to be the most difficult exercises you do.
Next, we want to still focus on any exercise that's got the legs moving, but the top is
moving too, you're getting that additional in this case from the obliques so you're
able to do it after you're a little bit fatigued here. The last exercises that you put
into your workout are always going to be the ones that just move the top, because no matter
what state of fatigue you're in, you're still going to always perform these movements without
compromising the overall effect of the workout.
All right so now piggyback that on top of that
division half for your workout, I got one here for your plate too where we actually want to divide
your plate. Because if you do this nutrition will become a lot more simple for you. If you
visualize looking down at your plate, think of it as a clock. Right? And if we look down at the
clock, all I want you do to is focus on two times, 9:00 and 9:20. Once you do that, the rest is easy
because all you do is then portion out your plate with different components or macronutrients.
In the largest portion here, that's where you go with your fibrous carbohydrates, right? You're
leafy vegetables, your green vegetables, the things that crunch. I have a whole list of them
for you on our website, I'll link it down in the description below. Second you then fill up that
portion of the plate, the second largest portion, with protein. And again, it doesn't matter
if you're following a vegan diet or you're a meat eater, your proteins go here in this
proportion. And then you fill up the rest of your plate with your starchy carbohydrates,
and notice I'm not avoiding them entirely, I think they're an important part of a
healthy balanced nutrition plan, but they do get the smallest portion because we tend to
overeat those if we're given free reign.
And then over the top of it all is our incidental
fat. Not piling it on, but more so cooking with it. The fact is guys, when you divide your
plate like this nutrition becomes a lot easier, counting calories is not something that you
have to do and at the end of the day when we get our nutrition in check the six pack
abs are a hell of a lot easier to see.
So, counting calories isn't the only thing
I hate counting, I actually think counting reps is one of the worst ways you can go about
your ab workouts. You see what you need to do is you need to stop counting reps and instead make
them count. And that means trading in quantity for quality. See, if your ab workouts
look like this, I can guarantee you're not getting the most out of them.
Speeding through repetitions just to reach a certain number is not going to get you the
results you want. Instead, they should look more like this. And I know it looks slow and I know it
looks deliberate, but really what you're getting is a quality contraction. So, instead of counting
reps, if you count the contractions you'd actually be on the right path. And again, it doesn't matter
how long it takes you, as long as you accumulate good repetitions here, what looks like it's
slow is actually the fastest way to see abs.
Now let's take that a step further now
and see how we can apply that specifically to some of your lower ab exercises. And see if you
want to get more quality, then you've got to focus on doing things like this, and that is what are
you actually trying to move? If you want to get the most out of your lower ab movements,
it's the pelvis that matters the most. Is the pelvis moving through space? If
it's not, then you're not flexing your spine and you're not working your abs to their
fullest extent. That's the first thing.
The second thing is, is there something we can do
to recruit lower abdominal muscle fibers better? Yes, we can do it by contracting your adductors.
If your ab movements allow it you would actually squeeze your knees together or cross your feet
over like this and then perform your ab movement. The additional stability that comes from the
adductors on to the pelvis gives you more leverage to let those fibers do a better job of pulling.
You'll feel the difference immediately, so give it a try and I promise that quality of every
repetition is going to go through the roof.
Just like those bottom-up movements, we
actually have an opportunity to do two things to dramatically reduce the quality of all of
our tap down movements. The first one is, again, the thing that's moving. Here, we're not looking
at just bending our neck and grabbing on for dear life, we're trying to actually get our shoulder
blades off of the ground. So, just like the pelvis is driving those lower ab movements, shoulder
blades getting off the ground will drive proper top-down movements. And there's another thing we
can do here to enhance the contraction and quality of every repetition and I call it the folding
ribcage. You see if I were to draw an imaginary line right here under my ribcage and then just
focus on just trying to fold my body in half upon that line you will feel a much better contraction
on every single one of your top-down movements. No matter what crunch variation you're performing,
if you focus on folding right there, the quality will increase dramatically in the long run.
So, one of the techniques I like to tell people when it comes to creating an overall benefit
in terms of fat loss, is to seek out the opportunities where you can sort of just sneak in
the things that have a marginal impact their own, but together can actually make a difference. And
that's where I reach for three things that I just use every single day, and that's Green Tea in
the form of a supplement - green tea extract, Red Pepper Flakes which I put on my dinner at night
which I shared in my full Day of Eating video.
And I also shared Cinnamon, how I like to use
a large amount of it every single morning in my oatmeal. Whether it be through increased
insulin sensitivity, decreasing your appetite or just by increasing your metabolism each of
these act in their own way, but the big thing is they're very simple to add at very little
extra cost to you in terms of effort level.
The next step is actually something I shared in a
recent video of mine because it's something that I have adopted into my own nutrition plan in just
the last year, and that is the addition of Ginger every single day. You see Ginger has the ability
to help our fat loss efforts by decreasing our insulin sensitivity. It also has an effect on our
training because it decreases muscle soreness. So, if you're embarking on your journey to a six
pack, but each workout leaves you too sore to get much out of the next one, then this is
where this can have an impact in both ways.
All I do is just simply reach for a pinch of
pickled ginger just like this every single morning. It's the consistency you're going for
here and remember it's these small things that add up when we're trying to have an impact on our
nutrition and we know that nutrition holds the key to seeing those six pack abs ultimately.
So, the kitchen isn't the only place that the little things matter. Jesse
actually tells me that they matter in the bedroom too. Wait, what?
Well, that's where I do my ab work.
Of course. So, when we're talking about ab
exercises, the little things are how you breath. Because on every repetition of every exercise you
do, you should be breathing. But are you doing it right? Well, here's what you want to do. As you
do a typical crunch, yes you want to exhale, but you don't want to actually push your stomach
out as you do it. A lot of people confuse the exhale with the pushing of the stomach.
You actually want to do the direct opposite, blow air while pulling your stomach down. And we
call this cinching. You want to cinch your stomach down to activate the Transverse Abdominis. And
without this activation, yes you might wind up with a six pack, but it's going to look bloated
and distended. Remember, the little things count everywhere, right Jesse?
Yeah, something like that.
So, if you've been waiting for the real secret
tip, here it is. You've got to have whipped cream and frozen yogurt every single night. Okay, maybe
not exactly whipped cream and frozen yogurt. Guys, the point is, this is something that I actually do
and I shared that again in my Day of Eating video, because I need something to
make the process enjoyable. But if you hate the process, then you're
not going to get to where you want to be. Ultimately, if getting six pack is torture,
you're going to stop before you every do.
Now, am I saying having a hot fudge sundae with
Double Stuf Oreos on top? No, I'm saying choose something a little more responsible, a healthier
option that still satisfies that cheat seeking impulse you have that's going to keep you on
track, but at the same time keep you sane.
Speaking of sanity, one of the fastest ways to
become frustrated is to actually have a set of six pack abs but actually not like the way they look
because something's missing. I can tell you what's missing, most often it's the crooked muscles that
you didn't pay any attention to, and that is the Serratus and the Obliques. Because much like a
good picture, the frame is going to focus your eye on the masterpiece that you created. If you don't
have a frame it just doesn't look right.
So, while there's a million different exercises
you can do to train your Obliques and Serratus, this one is particular gets it done in one move
and it's called the Corkscrew. And the goal is simple is to twist as you come up and press
down through your hands, getting that protraction for the Serratus and getting the twisting for the
Obliques. Regardless of what exercises you choose, remember the framing is as important as the
picture itself. And now that you know it, remember not to forget it.
So, if the Serratus and the Obliques can taper your eyes and make
them focus more towards the midline, a pyramid will tend to focus your eyes up towards
the top. But if you're putting all of your focus up towards the top of this pyramid, then that's
what's actually causing a problem for you to get your six pack. Because cardio is not the basis in
the foundation of getting six pack abs and neither is ab training. And a lot of people think that
that is the foundation. But we know, that as we've covered here already in this video, nutrition has
to be the foundation of everything you do.
If this isn't in place, the saying goes,
you can't out train a bad diet. No matter what you do up here in terms of working out,
it's never going to undo what you're doing wrong down here in the nutrition.
Hey Jeff, you got any snacks for me?
Uh, I've got an apple in the fridge.
No, dude way too much sugar.
Grapes?
Dude, even more sugar.
You want a carrot?
Ah, figures. Might as well be a candy cane. You got any jerky
for me or something, I mean come on.
Jerky. Fucking jerky you.
And finally, though extremely important, extreme nutrition tactics are not necessary and never will
be when it comes to getting abs. Avoiding apples, grapes and carrots because you think that's
what's standing between you and a six pack, is sort of like the same mentality of thinking
that throwing a deck chair off of the Titanic was going to save it from sinking.
It's the bigger picture items that maybe we're not necessarily ready to come face-to-face with
or change, that often times are really standing in the way and those extreme tactics are never
necessary, it's just what we use to distract ourselves. But now we have an actual list here
where we can start to adopt even a few of these to set us on the right path to getting
those six pack abs once and for all.
So, if these 13 tips have you excited to start
your journey to six pack abs, but you're looking for more, I've got a 22-day ab workout that
you're going to want to follow along with me here. Or, my complete Day of Eating video that I
referenced a few times in this video that you're going to want to check out.
If you're looking for step-by-step daily meal plans included with all of
our workouts, you can find them over at Athleanx.com. And if you haven't already
done so guys, make sure you click Subscribe and turn on your notifications, so you never miss
a new video when we put one out. See you soon.
Amazing video!!