Body Jakeover Abs Tip #32 - Just Breathe

Breathing.  Probably the easiest thing anyone can do, because it involves no effort whatsoever.  You're breathing right now, without even having to think about it.  However, when it comes to doing ab work, the most simple, basic aspect of human life, breathing, leaves so many people clueless, which is why so many people do situps day in and day out, but still look like they just ate a fat stomach for breakfast.

So, how the hell is breathing supposed to help you get a six pack?  Follow these breathing techniques next time you're doing situps, crunches, leg-ups, or any type of ab exercises for that matter...

BREATHE! - The first step is to ACTUALLY BREATHE.  Don't hold your breath.  While breathing is a natural bodily function, for whatever reason, people stop doing it when they work their abs.  Muscles need blood and oxygen in order to build, and cutting off the circulation to your abs prevents this from happening. Holding your breathe while working your abs can also raise your blood pressure and make you light headed or dizzy.  If all that wasn't bad enough, your chances of forcing out a fart in front of the hot guy or girl next to you while you're doing situps will increase significantly if you hold your breathe.

EXHALE! - Best done through your mouth, you want to exhale during the concentric phase of the ab exercise, meaning, you breathe out as your abs are contracting and exerting force.  This would be the "crunch" portion of the exercise, when your upper or lower body moves towards the center.  This helps prompt your abs to do work using maximal abdominal muscle fiber, with less involvement from the iliopsoas muscles (you don't have to know what this means, just know that it's good).

INHALE! - Best done through your nose, you want to inhale during the eccentric phase of the ab exercise, meaning, you breathe in as your body relaxes.  This would be the portion of the exercise when your upper or lower body moves away from the center.  Inhaling is crucial in delivering blood and oxygen to your abdonimals.  Proper inhalation replenishes the energy your body needs in order to continue to contract, allowing for more repetitions (you don't get a six pack by doing 20 crunches and calling it a day).


Exhale on the way up, inhale on the way down, it's as easy as that.  In fact, it's so easy a caveman could do it.  Look at this guy for instance, his abs are impeccable....

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Body Jakeover Abs Tip #124 - Grow Your Abs

Everyone has abs. Even this guy...

If you didn't have abs, you would't be able to stand and you would topple over. However, the problem is that most people can't see their abs because they are covered in a thick layer of flab. It's a bit of a shame to think that you have a great six pack under there, but no one can see it. It's kind of like covering up the Mona Lisa with a blanket. Well, in your track to a six pack, here is a tip in a continuous series that I will begin to sporadically write that will be dedicated to sculpting the stomach of your dreams.

Jakeover Abs Tip #124 - GROW your abs

The abs are just like any other muscle. If you work them out, they will get bigger. Once they get bigger, they become more visible. This is especially helpful for those who aren't currently walking around with a 3% body fat percentage. How? The bigger your abs are, the more raised they become, allowing them to push through the flab for greater visibility. Sure, if you weigh 300 pounds, this won't help you very much. But if you're kind of on the verge of a sixer, where if you're standing in the right lighting, and you flex so hard that you feel like you're about to take a crap, that they become somewhat visible, this will give you that extra "umph".

Now onto how to grow your abs. It's simple; treat them as any other muscle. If you want to grow your biceps, you do curls with heavy weights, right? So when you're trying to grow your abs, you'll want to take weight to your abs when you're doing ab work. You can start by doing abs on an incline bench, like so...

As your abs get stronger on the incline, you can gradually add weight to grow them. You can do this by simply grabbing a 10 lb. plate (which is what I recommend for beginners to start with), holding it across your chest, and progressing with your sit-ups. Carry enough weight so that you can comfortably do about 15-20 reps, for 3+ sets.

If you can get up to 25, 35 even 45 lbs. on the incline for this amount of reps, you're one step closer to counting to six.

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