As long as the male and female genders have desired attention from one another, they have searched for secret ways to building phenomenal abs. A great looking, flat stomach is sexually attractive for both men and women. It is considered a sign of sexual prowess and stamina.

Therefore, there is a secret to building great abs regardless of your sex. Male and female participants must however be willing to work toward definite goals in order to achieve the desired effect, i.e. flat, six packs abs.

Although you read many advertisements for diet supplements that promise flat stomachs and hard abdomens, most of these so called ?fat burners? don't work without exercise. The reasons the advertisements appear in the men's and women's magazines is because the pill companies pay for the publication of the magazines.

So don't be fooled into thinking that you can take a pill, eat anything you want and stay fit and slim. It isn't going to work! The human body burns calories to match the amount of work it performs. If the number of calories that are consumed matches the number of calories burned, then there is no weight gain. However, when you ingest more calories than are burned, your body stores the excess as fat.

With that in mind, the only real way to insure a flat stomach is to burn the calories that are ingested. Therefore, the secret to phenomenal abs is actually no secret at all. You must exercise to get rid of the calories you have eaten. However, one secret to six pack abs is to do exercises for the abs. Here's one exercise that will help:

Slide your feet under the handles of heavy dumbbells.

Place a rolled-up towel under your lower back and hold

a dumbbell across your upper chest. Raise your upper

body as high as possible by crunching your rib cage toward

your pelvis. At the top of the move, straighten your arms

and raise the dumbbell above your head. Keep the dumbbell

above your head and take 4 seconds to lower your body to

the starting position.

Remember however you don't have to over exercise the abs. You don't have to do 100 crunches any more than you need to do 100 push-ups. So convince yourself to work smarter. Take it slow and isolate the muscle group you want to exercise.

Another great secret to six pack abs is: you need to be realistic with yourself. Do

you truly want six pack abs? If you do, you will need to exercise to achieve them. Therefore, it is imperative that you set goals for yourself. Be realistic about the goals you set. Make both short-term goals as well as long-term ones. Set goals you can attain, but also set goals that will push you to attain them. Each day you will need to work toward those goals.

Then too, good food choices make it easier to maintain abs. Eat five or six small meals rather than one or two large meals. Stay away from processed foods and eat foods that will help burn carbohydrates and starches. Sugary products either should be avoided altogether or minimized.

The secret to phenomenal abs lies in exercise and good food choices. You can have a building program for great six pack abs whether you are male or female, but you must set goals to achieve them. Hard work pays off, but do not feel that you must overwork any muscle.