Motivation Monday: Nihat’s secret to defined abs and muscles

By Nihat Strider

“Abs! How do I get abs?”

That is the primary question I get asked as a Trainer. We all have abdominal muscles, it’s just the matter transforming them into the desired defined muscles. Abdominal muscles are just like any other muscle of your body. It is not recommended to do rigorous ab workouts every single day. Just like any other muscle of the body, it will be fatigued if you overuse it. The key is to perform consistent Abdominal exercises to achieve those abs.

On the cover page picture of this article you see a proper form of a plank. Planking is integral for formings abs. Keeping your core tight and maintaining a proper plank for a prolonged period of time truly strengthens your abdominal muscles. In the beginning, it may be difficult, therefore start with 30 seconds of planking for three sets. Then as you get stronger, start holding it for 1 minute to 2 minutes each.

Four factors of achieving abs:

1.  Strengthening your abs with workouts such as planking
2. Toning your abs with workouts such as sit ups and leg raises
3. Shredding the layer of fat from your waistline by cardio workouts
4. Clean eating, the most important factor

Being skinny is not the same as having abs. Please do not have a misconception of losing all your weight and abs will just pop out. You would rather have your ribs showing instead of your abs. Imagine wanting to have a toned butt, you cannot achieve it by running all day. You will need to squat and do proper workouts to make that happen. Same goes for abs, of course cardio is important to shred off fat from your waistline but you will need to do Abdominal exercises to accomplish that goal.

Abs are truly made in the kitchen! It is 30% workout and 70% in your nutritional diet. You can workout everyday but you will never see results if you have bad eating habits. One myth is eliminating carbohydrates completely. Our body needs carbs to function and especially for energy. Omitting carbs fully from your diet will cause weakness in your body. If you are a very active person who goes to the gym regularly or even likes running, then your body needs carbohydrates for energy. The smart option is choosing healthy carbs instead of the unhealthy ones. You can substitute white rice to brown rice, white bread to brown bread and white pasta to whole wheat pasta. The most important factor is portion control. Just because it is healthy foods, that does not mean you should go and feast every single meal. To achieve and maintain your abs, you must have a very clean diet. Stay away from fried foods and sugary drinks. Protein intake is very important when you are regularly working out. But remember, anything in excess is bad. Fiber is a vital nutrition for your abs! Increasing fiber intake along with your ab exercises will help you form those abs faster.

Some people might have a much easier time to form abs than others. It might be a natural form. Thanks to their phenomenal genes. But that does not mean you cannot achieve it. For example, imagine someone who has a natural talent of playing beautiful guitar tunes. However, if you practice with determination, it is possible for you to be great at guitar as well. With healthy eating habits, portion control and proper exercises, you too can walk around Miami beach showing off your abs.
If you do not see results after vigorous workouts and clean diet, you might have a layer of fat on top of your abs. It means your abs exist but it is just hidden under a small layer of fat. You must perform cardiovascular exercises to shred off that layer of fat. Then you will see those abs form just like the celebrity fitness models. Now go get those ABS!

Motivation Monday is a weekly column covering fitness and health. Nihat is a certified personal trainer, for comments or questions please email life@fiusm.com

This week’s fitness model: Daniela Rodriguez.