Summer is coming up in a few months, which means a lot of people are trying to get rid of the holiday weight they gained and get back in shape so they can show off their ripped abs. For those that want to get ripped abs in time for the summer, there are a five things you need to do to get abs you want.

Eat Plenty of Lean Proteins

Your diet is very important if you want to get great abs, if you eat a lot of fatty foods and junk food you can do a million sit-ups and crunches but won’t achieve any results. You need to eat a lot of foods that are rich in protein because they help your body build lean muscles while burning fat.

Do a Lot of Cardio

Doing cardio regularly helps you burn fat; to achieve the best results you should do interval workouts. While recovering from your interval workout, you can do some abdominal exercises. Interval workouts and abdominal exercises are very demanding; an example is doing a full sprint for 30 seconds, then doing 20 crunches, before going back to another full sprint. If you aren’t in good shape, you should gradually work your way up to the interval workouts.

Eat Carbohydrates After Working Out

A lot of people stay away from carbohydrates because they believe it will make them fat which a myth, eating carbohydrates is after working out provides your body with the vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants it needs to heal and function at a high level. When carbohydrates are eaten after workouts, they have the least chance of turning into body fat.

Eat Healthy Fats

This might not seem right, but healthy fats are actually very good for you. Healthy fats help stabilize your insulin levels, which is important if you want to lose belly fat and achieve a six pack. Foods that contain healthy fats are nuts like cashews, olive oil, fish oil, and nut butters like peanut butter. Like any other food group moderation is important, eating too much will not help you get a six pack. Eating a diet that includes lean proteins, carbohydrates, vegetables, and healthy fats help improve your metabolism which makes your body burn fat faster.

Do Not Overwork Your Abs

A lot of people think if they work out every day they will achieve their goals, working out the same muscles everyday doesn’t give your muscles a chance to heal and is considered counter active. You should try to give your muscles at one day in between workouts to achieve the maximum results. Some of the ab workouts personal trainers recommend to their clients to get six pack abs are hanging leg raises, cable crunches, stability ball crunches, and pull-ups.

Getting ripped abs is not easy to achieve, it requires you to be dedicated to achieving your goal, eating a healthy and balanced diet, working on your cardio to burn your belly fat, and doing regular ab workouts. If you can do all those things, you will have ripped abs that you can show off by the time summer comes around.

Featured images:

License: Royalty Free or iStock source: Fotolia

License: Royalty Free or iStock source: Fotolia

License: Royalty Free or iStock source: Fotolia

Josh Davis is a certified nutritionist and personal trainer who has been working in the health industry for over 7 years. He is a part-time contributor for JackedGorilla, a website that contains a lot of fitness information.