When you see the actors on television sporting 6 pack abs, do you wish your abdomen looked like that? Many men do, particularly the ones who have, over the years, lost much of the muscle tone on their midsection, and even elsewhere on their bodies.

The excess fat on a male body tends to concentrate right on the abdominal muscles, covering them, and making those muscles disappear.

If, additionally, you’re not eating healthy foods and you are drinking beer and other carbonated drinks, you are probably bloated, and this further extends your abdomen.

Most men can tone their abdominal muscles enough to define their abs, although some will, genetically, never enjoy so much muscle tone that muscles will be visible anywhere on their body, including the abdomen. For those men, being healthy is, hopefully, enough of a goal. For the rest of you who deeply desire 6 pack abs, you will have to make a serious commitment in order to succeed.

Get serious about those abs and set yourself the goal to re-define the six pack abs which you know you have underneath that flab. The first step is to change your eating and drinking habits. When your whole body becomes leaner, so will your abs. Lose some weight and you will feel a strong impulse to keep improving your physical fitness level, and you will reduce your chances of developing some very serious health problems which have been linked to a waist measurement of more than 40 inches in men.

To get those 6 pack abs fast, you will need to diet and to exercise. Exercise alone won’t do it. Diet alone won’t do it. When you design your exercise routine, consider if you want a bulky six pack or a lean, slim six pack. You might want to think of the rest of your body and see what would match the rest of your body’s muscle tone. If you plan to improve the muscle tone on your arms and chest in addition to defining your six pack abs, then change your whole body with the same guidelines.

The exercises to define six pack abs are not very interesting, but with a little variety and creativity, you will be done before you know it. You need to work your abs with crunches and sit-ups, but also with leg raises, either off the ground or in the Captain’s Chair exercise. These exercises will work your upper and your lower abs. To slim your waist and better define your six pack abs, you should add oblique exercises, which will improve the muscle tone on the sides of the abdominals. Make sure to inhale through your nose before each repetition, and to exhale through your mouth as you complete the repetition.

Stretch between sets if you want your muscles to be longer, leaner, and flatter. Drink plenty of water, and before you know it, you will have six pack abs faster than you expected.