7 foods to help you get shredded

Who says you can’t eat well and get shredded at the same time? When we say shredded, we mean build muscle and get enviable abs!

However, getting a Chris Hemsworth beach body and guns may take some time in the gym but there are some other things you can do to get your body in the best shape in order to achieve that shredded look.

In fact, it all starts with your diet! These foods will help you build muscle and get abs…

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Oats

Including oats in your diet or smoothies can be an easy way to help you get abs. Not only are oats high in fibre, which can help with weight loss, digestion and regulate blood sugar levels, but they are also a great source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Eggs

Eggs are considered one of the best foods for flat abs because they help you burn fat and are loaded with protein.

What’s more, eating eggs for breakfast may help kickstart your metabolism and give you that burst of energy you need to keep you going throughout the day.

Chicken

We all know that chicken is loaded with protein, and this may be key for weight loss and building defining muscles. This is because protein-rich food contains amino acids the body needs to build muscle and lose fat, especially around the tummy.

Coconut oil

Eating fat will not make you fat unless you are eating too many calories and coconut oil is the best-kept secret at helping you get a six-pack!

Coconut oil boosts energy and endurance, helps with weight loss and is great for fat burning. Studies have found that just 1 or 2 tablespoons of coconut oil a day can help you burn up to 120 a day!

Avocado

Avos contain heaps of ‘healthy fats’ and these healthy fats can help boost the production of your hydrochloric acid, which helps you digest proteins.

What’s more, it will also help with the development of tissues and muscle mass.

Brown rice

Cutting back on refined carbohydrates can help you lose belly fat and also gain a six-pack! Whole grains such as brown rice, also help to burn belly fat and keep you feeling fuller for longer.

Beetroot

Beetroot is considered a ‘super food’ as it can help improve athletic performance. And that’s not all, it can also help regulate blood pressure and increase blood flow.

The red root veggie is also high in beta carotene concentrations, which helps boost muscle power and this can help you get abs.

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3 simple steps to get you building pack abs

Diet

First up; Diet! This is arguably the most important step to getting those abs you’re looking for. Locked away in everyone’s body, is a legit set of 6 pack abs. It’s part of our muscular system and those muscles are all there no matter how unfit, overweight or unhealthy you are.

So that’s a positive realisation, now all we have to do is reveal it to the world. To do that, the most efficient way is to watch our diet. If you are in a calorie deficit, i.e. consume less energy than your body uses to operate on a basic operational basis, then you will lose weight.

Ideally, you want to lose fat, not muscle, however weight loss can be both fat and muscle loss, depending on your macronutrient intake and what exercise you are completing.

So basically, cutting down on how much we consume on a daily basis, is the first step toward getting better shape and definition through our abs!

Get some help with reducing your calories by working out your BMR.

Exercise: Cardio, Compounds and Core

Exercise is the next critical stage to getting those tight abs. While we are cutting down on our diet, if we exercise, whether it is through cardio or weight resistance movement, we will burn more calories and our abs will become more prominent.

Cardio and aerobic exercises including rowing, running and outdoor sports which get your heart rate up, is a fantastic way to get the body moving and awake, making it more responsive to calorie changes, resulting in fat dropping and your abs showing through.

Resistance exercises in the form of compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, rows and pull-ups, can fire up your core muscles and assist in building up strength through your abs. The constant core and ab activation required for your compound movements increases their strength, size and stability, which will keep you firing along for your pack goals.

Specifically isolating and building up the ab muscles can be beneficial in producing results for your abs, however, it will not be as efficient. Examples like sit-ups, planks, side planks, crunches, leg lower, bicycle crunches, v sits and the like, paired with a good deficit diet; will show a well-toned midsection year-round. Ideally, we can include a balance of quality compound movements with isolation ab movements for maximum ab recruitment and growth.

Consistency

The final aspect to attaining a strong and attractive 6 pack is consistency. One day of good eating won’t get you jacked, in the same sense you won’t lose your 6 pack abs after one day of poor dieting.

All we need is consistency in our diet and training to maximise our chances of attaining the body we are after. Consistency pairs heavily with routine and schedule. If we have a strong structure and routine in our training, we are likely to continue positive patterns into the long term, all with the greater goal of creating positivity in our lifestyle which we can pass onto others.

Constant and consistent exercise will keep our bodies on point, burning more and more calories and keeping us in a deficit. The afterburn effect of constant resistance exercise effectively gives your body a slightly higher metabolic rate, aiding any deficit you have in your diet.

If you follow these 3 simple steps, your abs will begin to show in no time, and finally, you won’t have to wear your plastic AB apron at your next family BBQ.

Read more advice and tips from Ed here.

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