With Pilates exercises and a proper diet, anyone can have six pack abs – including you!

What Are Six Pack Abs?

There are several layers of abdominal muscle in the human body, the deepest being the transversus abdominus, which wraps around your torso between your ribcage and pelvis and helps hold in our guts and stabilize our spines. Over that are the internal and external obliques, which wrap diagonally around the ribcage. The top layer is the rectus abdominus, which runds from just under your breastbone to your pubic bones. The six pack that you see is the rectus abdominus muscle. It is like armor and protects our abdomens from injury when punched or kicked in the gut.

What About The Fat Over Them?

Here is where things get interesting. The fat over your abdominals must be removed by a good healthy diet which will help you lose weight. Without the correct diet you can exercise your abs all day and still not see that six pack hiding under the fat. If you need to lose weight, you must change how you eat in addition to adding in exercise. If you are already slim but simply have no tone in your abdominal muscles, try starting a Pilates exercise program as soon as you can.

How Can Pilates Help?

Pilates exercises will help you achieve six pack abs in several ways.

Builds lean muscle mass. Lean muscle is heavier than fat, but takes up a lot less space and is much more energy efficient. Any exercise that works your muscles against gravity or resistance will help to build lean muscle mass, including weight training, yoga, and of course Pilates.

Tones abdominal muscles. When done properly, Pilates exercises work your abdominals in a very “pulled in” position. This Pilates Scoop is well known for helping to pull in the waist and flatten the belly. If you do a lot of crunches and work incorrectly, you will actually watch your abdominals get bigger and grow outward instead of pulling in. Plus so many Pilates exercises specifically target your abdominal muscles in various relationships to gravity and resistance to really get them working!

Improves posture. Pilates exercises help strengthen your postural muscles, which will help you stand taller. This alone will help you look slimmer, as your abdomen and waist will be longer instead of smashed together and round. As your shoulders pull back and your spinal muscles get stronger and more supple, you will look slimmer in the belly as if you lost five pounds overnight. So if you are searching for the best exercise method to go along with your weight loss program and give you fabulous six pack abs, look no further than Pilates exercises. Your back and neck will thank you, your posture will thank you, and your six pack abs will thank you!