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Do you want to get a six pack, but have no idea where to start? Well, before setting out on your challenge you must be aware of how hard it will be, if you aren’t ready for the problems that lie ahead you might give up and your six pack goal will become nothing more than a memory. Some of the reasons why getting a six pack is hard work and how they can be overcome are discussed below.

Eating the Right Foods

In a lot of cases, eating the right foods is the difference between having a six pack and not having one. It is said that the six pack is mainly achieved at the kitchen and not the gym like most people will naturally assume. It is important to not only eat the right meals but eat regularly, albeit in small portions. However, for some people eating several times a day is not an option, as a writer from For Skinny Guys Only suggests:

Having a desk job or school life leaves you with quite a few hours to prepare your meals. And grabbing unhealthy food on the go would only serve to make it more difficult to get those already difficult-to-obtain abs.

The reason why eating frequently is important is the fact that it keeps your metabolism active which is your fat burning engine. The trick is not to consume the wrong food types in order to keep the metabolism going. Some people just find too many excuses to not follow a correct diet plan for getting six pack abs and it doesn’t help that there are so many varieties of sugary snacks and drinks out there nowadays. Because of such food, the more healthy meals taste bland to most people.

Furthermore, keeping an eye on what you eat for most people just gets plain boring and eventually they begin to cave in as their cravings take over their bodies. Ultimately, you will have to decide what you deem more important, your junk food eating habits or a set of stunning abs.

Finding the Time to Workout

The truth is that working out in order to get a six pack does not mean having to spend hours and hours at the gym each and every day. What you need to do is spend around 30 minutes around 4 times per week, but that time must be spend doing high intensity workouts; in other words, not at jogging pace.

An intense workout is required because you must reach an anaerobic state of exercise. This is the type of exercise that does more to burn fat, which in turn will allow for more visible abs. By doing the right exercises you will be able to get a six pack much more quickly, without the difficulties that most people have. A writer from Spark People suggests that many people struggle to find time for exercise:

What’s the No. 1 excuse for not working out? Lack of time. Sure, we’re all busy handling multiple priorities and rushing around from here and there every day. However, I promise that no matter how busy you are, someone even busier than you are is working out right now.

If you are having trouble finding time then wake up earlier or, skip your regular TV program for exercise. Chances are that if you actually look for the time out of your day as opposed to making excuses then you will find it.

Consistency

The thing about getting a six pack for most people is that it will take a long time, especially if they are doing it for the first time. This means that consistency will be key, but sadly, most people just don’t have the determination to do what it takes to get a six pack. You need to be consistent with the exercises that you do and the diet plan which you have set out to follow. Even a few days of neglecting your plan can snowball into your bad habits creeping back and the result is that you go so far backwards it will be difficult to get back on track again. However, there are bigger benefits to achieving a six pack than may be visible at first, as an expert from Milan Stolicny explains:

This kind of commitment is a valuable thing to possess. It’s hard to learn, but it is possible. But if you do learn it and keep it, you can achieve anything you want.

After having successfully achieved a six pack you will have learned how to be determined in achieving a difficult goal, and how to be consistent in meeting that goal over time is important. You can take these learned lessons and apply them to other areas of your life such as your work life.

Once You Get It, It’s Not Over

What most people are not ready for when setting out to get a six pack is that once it is achieved, the work is not yet over. The grind, as most people view it, will need to be maintained for as long as you want a six pack. An expert from the CNN reports why maintaining a six pack is difficult:

Six-packs are difficult to maintain because they require less than 10 percent body fat, said Jordan Yuam, a fitness trainer.

For a lot of people the act of getting a six pack wears their body out, and as a result it means they will need a period of rest once they actually get it. But this rest period can result in an increase in body fat, and the visibility of the six pack is reduced.

The reasons why getting a six pack is difficult as mentioned in this article are just some of the more common ones. Your unique life situation might present other reasons. The important thing to remember is to overcome whatever problems you face by sticking to the program that you have set out for yourself. Eventually, with enough hard work you will get your reward, which is a stunning six pack that people will be jealous of.

It seems like a very simple equation. Look at a man. Look at a woman. Who has more muscle mass? The reason for the answer you obtained is largely due to a unique and powerful hormone-testosterone. Ensuring that your body has adequate levels of this androgen is critical to meeting your goals.

Testosterone is a steroid hormone produced by Leydig cells in the testes in men and in the ovaries in women. There is also a small amount produced in the adrenal cells of both sexes. While this hormone is produced by both men and women, men have 15-20 times as much in their blood. This increased amount, starting at puberty, is largely responsible for the development of the male physique. While it has many effects we are aware of, for our purposes, there are a few that make a difference to those of us interested in getting our bodies looking like we want.

Muscle Mass

Research shows a direct correlation between testosterone and muscle mass. A study performed by Dr. Shalender Bhasin, et al, stated the following, as reported in the New England Journal of Medicine:

Testosterone, especially when combined with strength training, increase fat-free mass and muscle size and strength in normal men.

Testosterone does this by increasing the rate of muscle protein synthesis. As an example, those on the above study had an increase in in fat-free mass of 6.1 kg (13.4 lbs). They also had an increase in in bench press strength of 22 kg (48 lbs), as well as an increase in squatting-exercise capacity of 38kg (84 lbs). Clearly, ensuring our bodies have sufficient amounts of this hormone is important to getting the physique we want.

Increase in Red Blood Cells

Healthline.com tells us one effect of testosterone that we may not always think about:

The hormone plays a key role in erythropoiesis, which is the production of red blood cells. If you have low testosterone, your body won’t produce as many red blood cells. This decreased cell production may cause a significant drop in energy.

Certainly, low energy and a healthy training program don’t mix. The message is again clear: If you want to have the body you want, ensure you have adequate testosterone.

Mental Health

Testosterone plays an important part in keeping good mental health. When a person has low testosterone, he won’t just be saddened by the poor results in the gym. Testosterone has a direct bearing on our sense of well-being. A study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism tested the effect of testosterone replacement therapy on men with hypogonadism. After the therapy, they showed decreased anger, irritability, sadness, tiredness, and nervousness. They also reported improvement in energy level, friendliness and sense of well-being.

Negative Effects?

Of course, we have heard of the possible negative side effects of testosterone. As bodybuilding.com humorously noted, chances were slim that you’d get a positive response if you asked a doctor 10 years ago about increasing testosterone levels to get a great body. He probably would have responded,

Testosterone is bad for you. It will shrink your grapes to raisins, give you liver disease and make you backhand your Grandma!

While the above study didn’t address raisins or livers, it shows that your Grandma can rest easy. Even with the high doses of testosterone given this study group, no significant changes in mood were reported by the men taking part in the study. Of course, these results might be questioned, so the researchers went one step further: They asked their significant others and parents the same question. Interestingly, they reported the same thing, no significant changes of mood were noticed.

Building muscle fast has always been one of the main concerns for bodybuilders. Because of this, most will want stuff that will help them get to the point where they are ready to show off their massive arms and legs. But there has always been a bit of a dark shadow when it comes to taking supplements. Grunewald and Bailey made this statement in the journal of sports medicine:

We conducted a survey of 624 commercially available supplements targeted towards body building athletes. Over 800 performance claims were made for these supplements. Supplements include amino acids, boron, carnitine, choline, chromium, dibencozide, ferulic acid, gamma oryzanol, medium chain triglycerides, weight gain powders, Smilax compounds and yohimbine. Many performance claims advertised were not supported by published research studies.

Since that article has been published, there has been a lot of scientific research and advancement in the field of supplements that promote muscle growth and building. Here is a look at some of the best muscle building supplements and how they affect your body from a scientific viewpoint.

Creatine

Kreider, in a paper published in 2003 in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry notes,

Although not all studies report significant results, the preponderance of scientific evidence indicates that creatine supplementation appears to be a generally effective nutritional ergogenic aid for a variety of exercise tasks in a number of athletic and clinical populations.

Among the muscle builders, creatine has always been one of the more favored supplements. Because of its ability to cause bulking in a small space of time, it is a good choice for a supplement that will leave a lasting effect on your body. This chemical occurs naturally in your body’s muscle cells and is responsible for promoting muscle growth and cell division in these areas. It can have a number of positive effects on your body, ranging from faster post-workout recovery times to increased high-intensity muscle performance. Because of the fact that creatine is a natural substance produced by the body, there is usually no withdrawal from stopping intake, making it ideal as a natural way to bulk up quickly.

Beta-Alanine

Beta-Alanine is a naturally occurring amino acid that resides as carnosine in fast-twitch muscle fibers of the body. Dr. Derave, in a March 2010 article in the Journal of Sports Medicine says,

Carnosine is a dipeptide with a high concentration in mammalian skeletal muscle. It is synthesized by carnosine synthase from the amino acids L-histidine and beta-alanine, of which the latter is the rate-limiting precursor, and degraded by carnosinase. Recent studies have shown that the chronic oral ingestion of beta-alanine can substantially elevate (up to 80%) the carnosine content of human skeletal muscle.

The way in which beta-alanine works is by increasing the point to which your muscles are able to manage lactic acid buildup. During your workout routines, your respiration is a combination of aerobic and anaerobic since the amount of energy your muscles require for this is usually more than pure aerobic respiration can provide. Anaerobic respiration has the side effect of creating lactic acid in your tissues which can be dangerous if left in pronounced concentrations for too long. Your body converts this lactic acid at the earliest convenience by paying back oxygen debt. The carnosine (which has beta-alanine as a main component) allows your muscles to endure lactic acid buildup for a longer period, making your high intensity training that much more effective.

Whey Protein

Protein is required for the building of muscle mass, since muscles require proteins as their major building block. In a study done in 2006, it was noted that whey protein and soy protein when added to a regimen of training and exercise was able to produce an increase in lean tissue mass and strength in young adults. Taking this into account, it is obvious why whey protein is a popular supplement. This type of protein benefits the body by lowering recovery times post workout; a result of it increasing the blood flow to muscles. It is easily digested and many of the shakes that contain whey protein are able to be taken by people who are lactose intolerant. Because of its ease of digestion and its ability to get to muscles quickly, it is a very good choice as a supplement to aid in the construction and maintenance of muscle tissue.

Branch-Chained Amino Acids (BCAA’s)

BCAA’s are another major supplement component for obvious reasons, being an amino acid. The human body contains twenty-one different types of amino acids. Of these, only three (leucine, isoleucine and valine) are termed BCAA’s. These amino acids help the body build and maintain muscle mass, and some estimates give it the ability to cause muscle synthesis of up to 145 percent if taken after strength training. In addition to muscle growth, it can also increase the stamina of the muscle tissue, making you last longer in a workout, as well as allowing you to train with less damage to muscle fibers and reducing the pain you may have after a workout. Making up about 30% of the skeletal department of the body, these amino acids are important additions to your supplement sheet.

Supplements have advanced quite a way from when the only information we had on if something worked was anecdotal evidence. The world of sport medicine has tested and proved the viability of many of the supplements available for muscle building and maintenance. The supplements mentioned here make up a minor portion of a much larger slice of the pie. Some commercial supplements combine one or more these chemicals to make for a potent brew. As with anything that enhances the human body on a core level, care must be taken with taking supplements.

Trusted brand names and dealers are a good way to ensure that you get exactly what you pay for. Depending on what you are looking for, endurance, sustained workout strength or just something to help bulk up, there is something for you in the world of supplemental bodybuilding.