Intensifying Your Workouts To Get Ripped Abs

Instead of piling on extra minutes to your cardio workouts and hoping that it could burn off enough fat to gain that ripped abs, try intensifying your workout. You can burn more calories in less time by working out more intensely. One way to do that is with interval training. Vary your speed when jogging or walk for a couple of minutes, then jog, then run. The distance between two phone poles is a favorite gauge when you should shift gears and speed. You will get your heart rate up and boost your metabolism to continue burning calories after the workout as well.

For a start, you can walk at 3.5 mph for five minutes. Increase the speed to 6 mph for two minutes. Come back down to 4 mph for three minutes. Alternate between the two speeds three more times (for 25 minutes), and then go back down to 3.5 mph for the last five minutes.

When you have got used to this intensified workout, you can walk at 3.5 mph for five minutes and increase your speed by 0.5 mph every two minutes (so that you end up at 6 mph), which makes it a running session. Come back down by a .5 mph every two minutes and walk at 3.5 mph for the last five minutes to cool down.

It's a good idea to wear a pedometer because studies have shown that they can actually create an awareness of your actual activity level and lead to increased physical activity.

Feel free to mix and match these speed variations. Mixing up your workouts will challenge your heart (and tone your abs at the same time) more than just sticking to one monotonous activity every day.