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.