If you want great-looking abs, you should perform a six pack abs workout. Six pack abs are achieved in two ways. First, you have to lose excessive fat on your body; then, you have to work on building up your muscles. Two commitments that will help you get this way are daily exercise and watching your diet. Because fat hides your abs, in theory, you could have the most toned abs, but they won't appear if fat remains over them. For this reason, spot training does not work because you cannot lose fat from only one area of your body. Instead, the road to six pack abs lies in reducing fat from all over your body.

Cardio workouts are the first exercise that you can use to work your abs and muscles at the same time. The reason is because cardio workouts are the first step in the process of developing six pack abs. Since spot training--the myth of burning fat in only one area of your body--is not possible, you must burn it from all over your body. Cardio workouts are the exercises that are perfectly designed to accomplish precisely that. Cardio workouts are best defined as exercises that increase the rate of your heart for a certain amount of time. Some examples of such workouts are activities that are also fun to do, such as swimming, bicycling, running, rowing, dancing and simple jogging. Any of the aforementioned workouts should also work out your leg and arm muscles.

Lifting weights is another exercise that you can try as a six pack abs workout. Getting more muscles onto your entire frame should be a goal if you truly want to show off your six pack abs. When your body has more muscle, your body just burns off more calories, even when it is resting. When your body burns off more calories, it burns off more fat. When more fat on your body is burned off, the greater the chances that your belly fat is burned off, too. This leads to your abs being more prominently displayed. Further, lifting weights is essential to counterbalance the effects of losing lots of calories, which you are aiming to do with your cardio workouts. If you don't lift weights while doing cardio workouts, then you might just lose even the muscles in your abs. Weightlifting exercises can involve working the muscles in your arms and legs in addition to your abs.

Another type of six pack abs workout is the reverse crunch exercise. This consists of you lying on the ground on your back with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle and your legs held together. You can also keep your hands at your side, or even behind your ears, whichever is more to your liking. Contract your abs as you concentrate on lifting up your hips in towards the rib cage. Take a breath in while you contract, and exhale as you go back to the starting position. This exercise also works on the muscles of your thighs.