Good flat abs workout plans will not actually focus on the abs. The abdominals are important muscles to develop, but they are unique in that they receive indirect stimulation from nearly every other exercise. Despite this fact though, people still attempt time and time again to bring out their abs through countless crunches. And again, if focused on sexy abdominals, flat abs workout plans must be designed to reduce all around body fat, rather than act as a one step solution to midsection woes.

So what do flat abs workout plans need to include exactly? There are two indispensable components of training for flat abs. The first is resistance training for muscle development and increased metabolic rate. And the second is interval training, which will be the key component in fat loss, as well as an over all metabolic supercharge. So what kinds of exercises are best for resistance training?

The best kinds of exercises for all around fitness, and for flat abs in particular, are total body compound movements. In fact, there are probably only 5 essential lifts that take care of more than 80 or 90 percent of your resistance training needs. These 5 will stimulate virtually every major muscle group, as well as most stabilizing muscles. The easiest way to conceive of them is by understanding what our bodies are designed to do.

Our chests, arms, and back, are designed to push and pull respectively. Our legs are designed to squat and stand, and our shoulders are designed to lift our arms over our heads. The 5 major lifts work every muscle involved in these basic movements. The first lift is the good old fashioned bench press… or pushups for someone with less strength. For the back one can choose either pull-ups or bent over rows. The arms are worked in both of these movements, as the triceps support the pushing movement, and the biceps support the pulling movement.

For the legs we use the squat. This can be done with bodyweight or a bar bell. Your body should drop so that your thighs are parallel with the floor. This exercise works every major muscle group in the legs. This exercise is supplemented with the dead lift, a total body lift which provides the simple task of picking heavy things up off the floor safely. This exercise works the hamstrings and quads, the lower, middle, and upper back, and the traps.

And the last lift is the shoulder or military press. Grab a barbell and starting at your collarbone, push the bar straight overhead. These 5 exercises, if done in sets of 3, 8 to 12 repetitions, are enough for anyone to stimulate muscle growth as well as set the path for flat abs. At more advanced levels these exercises should be combined into supersets, where two exercises are performed back to back before a 1 minute rest is taken.

Notice here that I don’t have any abdominal exercises. That is because they are rather unnecessary in producing flat abs. Low body fat is 95% of the flat abs game. And if you reach a low enough body fat, abdominal exercises may help you to build a little shape, but they will not help you flatten the midsection. In the next post we’ll look at the other component of our flat abs workout plans, interval training.