Building and keeping six-pack abs can’t be done with a workout alone, it has to be part of your lifestyle.
Take any popular workout, P90X or The Insanity Workout just to name two, and along with your workout regimen you’re advised to follow a sensible eating plan and drink plenty of fluids.
The same is true with weight loss plans, whether it’s Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem or Weight Watchers, along with watching your caloric intake you’re also told to start a light to moderate exercise program to maximize your weight loss.
It’s all connected.
Before we go any farther let’s go back to where I was two years ago, at forty-nine I was an obese 225 pounds. My Body Mass Index (BMI) was 32.3 and I was in the 83 percentile, meaning I was heavier than 83 percent of the population for my height and weight.
I had spent the previous year trying, and failing to lose ten pounds, instead I gained fifteen more pounds. It wasn’t because I was inactive, I would walk the dog anywhere from three to eight miles a day, more like hiking really. In addition to that I would ride my mountain bike between fifty and seventy miles a week, with absolutely no weight loss to show for it.
Not to mention my twice weekly upper body workouts.
Oh, I did get in better shape, cardiovascular-wise, but the fat would not go away.
I did have a major breakthrough in May, I rather quickly lost forty-pounds that month. But it still wasn’t enough. At 185 pounds I was still overweight with a BMI of 26.5, not where I needed to be by age fifty, not if I wanted to live much past sixty-five.
I redoubled my workouts, changed them up. I started running during my walks with the dog, I started to stand up in the pedals when I rode uphill, more huffing and puffing, more exertion getting stronger and stronger. I even started counting calories and gave up my Pepsi addiction, about two liters a day.
All to no avail, there I stayed at 185 pounds.
Not even shoveling snow during that Winter burned off the fat.
I had all but given up on being able to lose any more weight, I though Middle-Aged Spread was here to stay.
I thought wrong!
In May of 2012 I started doing some stretching and calisthenics exercises to attempt to regain some lost flexibility. While I was at it I also incorporated exercise that would work my lower abs at the same time, might as well go for a double benefit. I just threw them in with my morning Ab Wheel workout, mostly to just get it out-of-the-way.
I had stopped weighing myself, it was pretty much the same every week, maybe 184 pounds or 186 pounds, but no real change.
Imagine my surprise when I stepped on the scale after a month and saw 172 pounds, thirteen pounds lost without really trying and making only one small change in my activities.
I started experimenting with my new-found discovery, no weight training for a month or two, less bike riding the more bike riding. The only thing I didn’t experiment on was walking the dog, just try to tell a Rottweiler ‘No’! It doesn’t work well.
My latest and last test is almost done, I let myself get out of shape and overweight one last time, back up to 185 pounds and I stopped working out. Not my abs and no weight training. It was a bit harder than I thought it would be, getting out of shape on purpose.
I am by no means an expert, not a Personal Trainer, not a Nutritionist, no degrees or formal training of any kind. I do have an edge, I’ve been very fit and I’ve been too fat, obese actually, and I have found an easy, if rather boring, way to get in shape and stay in shape, all in less than four hours a week. If you follow a few simple rules.
Three Simple Rules To Living The Six Pack Lifestyle
- Find A Exercise Program You Can Stick With. There are a lot of different exercise programs to choose from. Any one of them should do what you’re looking for. The biggest problem is they’re all trying to look like they’re fun and exciting to do, day in and ay out. They’re not. Give it a month or six and you’ll get bored with it. Whether it’s the music, the trainer yelling at you through your T.V. or just the constant repetition you’ll lose interest and either go looking for something else or give up entirely.
- Don’t Eat to Excess. This takes some discipline, but it does get easer. It’s just a matter of not gorging yourself when you eat. You don’t have to deny yourself tasty treats, I don’t. You just have to understand that treats are not the meal. A little self-discipline can go a long ways.
- Be Active. This is the most important, even if you do follow the other two rules if you’re not active except when working out your metabolism won’t function properly, your body won’t be the efficient fat burning machine it can be. Even if it’s just a half-hour walk or a short fifteen minute bike ride, you need to get out of your chair or off of your couch and do something physical, you’ll both look and feel better.
Michael Cole