7 Pillars of Awesome Abs!
Calling all the BUF ladies out there – it’s nearly bikini season and we’re getting just a little bit excited here at BUF HQ because it’s less than a month before our BIGGEST program of the year, BUF Bikini Bod, launches – and this time we’re taking those six weeks of clean living goodness 100% online, so #BUFgirls everywhere can follow along! In the meantime, as the sun begins to shine that little bit brighter, the usual early Springtime questions are popping up again, and taking out spot #1 on the list is, “How can I get awesome abs!?”.Well, the short answer is, there’s not just ONE answer. Here are my top tips for awesome summer abs!
Food Rules For Flat Abs
It’s true, abs really are made in the kitchen! First up, ditch fried foods and refined sugar. Next, increase leafy greens and fibrous veggies, eat lean protein at each meal and make sure you get in a few serves of healthy fats every day. Small portions of foods like avocado, olives and nuts can actually help your body to burn through stored fat, it’s like magic! For an extra metabolic boost, use anti-inflammatory herbs like ginger, turmeric, chilli and cinnamon to give your metabolism a natural kick up the butt. At BUF, we’re also totally addicted to supergreens. Our daily mantra is, “greens before caffeine” because we find it’s an easy way to get extra veggie-power in and increase energy. Favourite brands are Synergy Natural’s 100% Organic Greens, Nu-Zest Good Green Stuff and Cell Logic’s DefenCELL.
Optimise Your Exercise
If you just do hundreds of crunches, you’ll build your abs up without ditching the fat sitting on top of them, which isn’t the way you want to go (it just makes your core look thicker!). I use the 90:10 rule with my workouts. That means focusing on functional, full body strength exercises and high impact cardio for 90% of each workout, then using traditional ab-toning moves for just 10% of the session. That way you get max fat burn and toning benefits.
Abs From Every Angle
When you get to the “abs” part of your workout, make sure you don’t just do the same ol’ crunches over and again. To build a lean, long, feminine looking mid-section, you need to work your core through all three planes of motion (that means moving in multiple directions). Hit up standard crunches for the ‘disco muscles’ up front, side-to-side movements for your obliques and rotational movements (like cable woodchops) to work through the transverse plane. Don’t forget stability exercises like planks for your deeper abs too, they’re the most important of all! You can even work these at your desk by simply drawing your entire mid-section in, holding for 5-10 seconds and releasing.
Give Yourself A Break
Cortisol is your body’s stress hormone and too much of it will make you store fat around your mid-section. Chill out a little by taking a few minutes away from your desk each hour to breathe deeply. Reduce external stressors on your body, like coffee (sorry gals! If you can’t go without, have it black and pre-workout so you can burn it off, rather than milky and at your desk) and also refined sugars, packaged and salty foods. Give your organs a break and your system a chance to burn stored energy too, by leaving at least 12hrs between dinner and breakfast when possible.
Liquid Lessons
If you’re really serious about revealing those abs, try ditching alcohol altogether for a month and see what happens, or at the very least, stick to one drink per sitting. The liver processes alcohol before any other kind of food, so its presence alone slows fat burning. Also ditch any drinks containing artificial sweeteners (bye bye diet coke), as they increase gas and bloating and trick your body’s appetite control system. Increase water and green tea consumption to supercharge your body’s fat burners and add herbal teas like ginger, peppermint and chamomile to ease digestion and bloating.
Sleeping Beauty
Yep, getting consistently decent sleep can help you achieve a flat stomach. Why? Because if you don’t, your hormones can run amok and you’ll feel hungrier between meals and less satisfied when you do sit down to eat. You don’t have to go chasing Rip Van Winkle’s record for maximum hours of shut-eye, just 6-8 hours each night will do the trick nicely. If you ask us, 7 is the magic number!
Work For It
Turn movement into a habit by finding the fun in it and mixing up your regular routine. Not sure where to start? Download our new fave iPhone app ZOVA (get.zova.com) for guided, mini workouts designed especially for women. Every workout is set to motivating rhythms, so you can’t help but feel excited about your session. Try completing one ZOVA workout per day (or on the days you miss bootcamp for our local #BUFgirls), for 21 days (almost exactly how long you have until BUF Bikini Bod kicks off and also the number of days it takes to set a new habit in place) and you’ll be feeling better about revealing those summertime abs quick-smart! Happy ab-hunting girls! And remember, if all else fails, just embrace your other assets and find a man with great abs to call your own instead ;)See you on the beach!