Before we hit specific flat abs workout plans, let’s cover the basic principles of what it takes lose belly fat and tone up.

One of the largest fitness misconceptions out there is the idea that a person can tone up or lose fat in just one part of the body. These people do countless crunches for weeks before they give up in frustration, wondering why their efforts aren’t paying off. This may come as a surprise to some people, but exercising your abdominals does not give you flat abs.

Flat abs come from one and only one factor, low body fat. The notion above is that of spot reduction, and it has no factual basis. Our bodies are genetically predisposed to store fat in certain places more than others. And as a consequence, our bodies lose fat from certain places before others, or in seemingly larger quantities.

Workout plans designed to give you flat abs should look no different from workout plans designed to build muscle and lose fat. A healthy combination of resistance or weight training in conjunction with cardio interval training is the best cure for what ails your abs. The key is to develop enough muscular strength to carry your body through intense cardio interval training sessions.

Notice here I used the word intense, and not long. In fact, there’s no need to lift weights or do cardio for longer than a half an hour each for maximum muscle building and fat burning results, as long as your workout is structure properly. This structure will unfold as we discuss specific flat abs workout plans in coming posts.

But getting back to basic principles, we have one more to cover. Our bodies get flat abs in one way, low body fat. Our bodies lose fat in one way, exerting more energy than we consume. Period. That’s it. In order to lose fat, you need to consume fewer calories, (especially calories comprised of high glycemic carbohydrates or hydrogenated fats) burn more calories in the gym, or both.

Now that we’ve covered the basic principles of weight loss we can move on to specific workout plans designed to give you flat abs.