Since it's almost summer again I'm sure many people are out looking for ways to get that great six-pack developed. The problem with this is that you can't just decide a few months ahead that you are going try to get your abs moving now. This has to be a priority in your life at all times. Depending where you are at physically you need at least 3-6 months of dietting and intense training.

I would say that abs are 80% diet and 20% exercise. What you have to do is plan a good schedule. You have to know when you have free time and when you are not available. Another thing you have to lower your overall stress (students, laborers, etc) because you will not subject yourself to a steady diet if you are highly stressful. Trust me, I speak from experience. So that aside, I think everyone with some motivation can get their abs to appear and in some cases make them defined to the point that they should be receiving calls from fitness magazines!

Ok so the first step would be to get your eating plan. In order for this to work you have to determine your weight, goal weight, and body fat. Usually males need to be lower than 10% BodyFat to reveal their abs and women need to be lower than about 17% BodyFat. A good healthy diet would consists foods such as:

-Oatmeal
-100% whole grains (cereal, bread, etc)
-Lean Meats (chicken, tuna)
-Green Vegetables (green peas, green beans, broccoli, spinach)
-Eggs
-Nuts and Seeds (peanuts, almonds)
-Natural Peanut Butter
-Cottage Cheese

Sticking to a diet is quite possibly the hardest part about developing abs. A good rule of thumb is to take in 10-12x your weight in calories per day. Most people eat a few large meals per day which lowers your metabolism. Healthy dieters will eat 5-6 meals per day to keep their metabolism at top speeds, burning more fat. Also, a major factor for losing fat is drinking a lot of water. Multply your weight by .66 and this is how much water you should take in in ounces per day.

As for supplements

A good supplement to take is Whey Protein. This is easily absorbed by the human body and generates a lot of fat loss while increasing the speed of your metabolism. This also helps build muscle after every work out so that your muscles will be available faster the next time you work out. I'll also recommend Flaxseed oil as a supplement. There's been some reports that claim flaxseed oil helps burn fat much faster. I personally use this and believe it works great.

Exercises

Beginners will want to take it easy and start with regular situps and crunches. As you develope your ab strength you can move up the next level and start doing weighted situps. Begin by putting 5 pound weights on each hand resting on your chest and do situps that way, about 4 sets of 20 to start. As time progresses you'll eventually be able to do 4 sets of 50 with 15 pound weights on each hand!

Stretches

In between your sets it's a major plus to be stretching your abdominal area by laying on your stomach and doing a superman pose with your arms and legs up as high as possible. Another good stretch is laying on your forearms at 90 degress and keeping that pose for as long as 1:30secs.

I'm in really good shape after doing different routines similar to the above statements for about 6 months. I was in average shape but it took a little longer because I was on and off my diet.

These are the basics for losing bodyfat and getting in shape for summer and to reveal your abs, that's right, reveal them. Everyone has abs, they just aren't viewable yet! Don't worry, don't stress, anyone and everyone can have the body they want with time, effort, and discipline. Remember, it's just a matter of time before you get what you have always dreamed of!

Good luck! Best Wishes!