What the Differences Between Men and Women Mean for Your Quest to Attain Washboard-Muscled Abs
While most readers dream of getting the abs of movie stars, few take into account the relevant background factors that will impede or ease their progress. A large part of getting those chiseled abdominal muscles isn’t lifestyle, discipline, or equipment… but instead, simple biology.
While you may not be able to CHANGE your biology, knowing how it affects your health and exercise routines will allow you to design a realistic fitness plan that will give you your goal without excess of effort or unrealistic expectations.
One of the most obvious issues facing women is the necessity of proper chest support. This isn’t something you can change, and the more well-endowed you are, the more support you’ll need!
All exercises that focus on the abdominal muscles place a certain amount of strain on the back, and can be performed poorly, at best, without a sports style bra. This should be the first thing you buy when looking for washboard abs, even before all the actual training equipment.
Looking past such physical tools and back to the body itself, you will probably find it easier to get your abs if you’re a man. Sorry, but nature is sexist!
This is because men are less predisposed towards retaining fat, which covers muscles, and also because they tend to ‘bulk up’ with less effort. However, while a woman may have an uphill struggle to get similarly sculpted abs, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
In fact, men and women both require the exact same kinds of exercise to get good abs! Basic and frequent cardio will melt the fat so your muscles will show, and a variety of crunches and other ab-focused exercises will make your muscles more well-defined once the fat is off.
There are four separate groups of ab muscles, but the right exercises will work all of them out equally, so that you feel good as well as looking good.
What’s the most crucial gender-based difference in building dream abs? Your diet! Keeping a diet that minimizes fat while building muscle is absolutely vital, and unfortunately men can get away with a slightly less disciplined diet than most women.
But when you dig down to the bottom of it, men and women both need the same things to eat and drink, the same nutrients, the same muscle-building protein and avoidance of excessive sugars and fats, that cause good-looking abs to appear.
So no matter who you are or what your biological background is, don’t give up on those abs. It may be harder for you than others, but it’s ALWAYS attainable… if you’re just willing to work with enough determination to overcome mother nature.