Leverage Cold Weather to Build Six Pack Abs
For most people, cold weather means weight gain. They go out less, they exercise less, they eat more and they put on the pounds. But for a small subset of the population, winter is a time for making massive progress on their physiques. How does this work and how can you mimic their success? Read on.
Why Bodybuilders Use Winter to Build Muscle
Bodybuilders tend to train in two phases: Phase one is muscle training, where they focus their entire attention on building new muscles. Phase two is fat cutting, where they trim the fat off all the new muscles they've built.
In order to have visible six pack abs, you need two things. You need to have ab muscles in the first place, but you also need to remove all the fat that's in the way of your six pack abs.
Instead of trying to train muscles while losing fat like most people (which is extremely difficult), athletes and bodybuilders segment their training into these two phases. Even if you never want to be an athlete or a bodybuilder, you can still use this technique to your advantage.
Winter is the ideal time to focus on muscle growth, because you're naturally wearing a lot of clothing to cover up your body. You don't have to worry about looking sexy just yet. You can focus on building muscles, even if your progress isn't visible.
Then by the time it's summer, you'll cut back on the fat and have amazing six pack abs.
What Exercises to Do
The best exercises to do for your ab muscles are pull-ups and leg lifts. Though sit-ups are the most famous abdominal workout exercise, they're quite inefficient.
It would easily take you half an hour to do 100 sit-ups. To get the same level of soreness, you'd really only need to do 20 leg lifts or 10 pull-ups, which would take you only 5 minutes to do. Doing a few sets of these a day takes no time at all.
Work out your abs every day or every other day during winter. Combine it with other kinds of exercises to kick up your metabolic rate by building new muscles.
Changing Gears
As winter ends, change your focus away from working out to a diet that contains as little saturated fat, processed sugars, processed carbs and other processed foods as possible. Focus on cutting the fat instead of building muscles.
Maintain a steady workout schedule to keep the muscles that you built. You only need to work out a couple times a week to prevent muscle loss, though you won't gain new muscles.
That's how you leverage winter for building six pack abs. Use it to really focus on building your abdominal muscles, without worrying about how you look. Then cut back on your tummy fat when winter ends to get visible, sexy abs by summertime.
In conclusion, by following the approach of bodybuilders and leveraging the winter months to prioritize muscle growth, anyone can work towards achieving six-pack abs. Focus on exercises such as pull-ups and leg lifts for efficient abdominal muscle development. As winter transitions to spring, shift towards a healthy diet to cut fat and reveal the muscles built. By using this strategy, you can achieve visible and desirable abs just in time for summer.