There's nothing wrong with wanting that chiselled-ab look. While many want this look, few obtain it; this is due in part to the prevalence of misleading material out there indicating you need to simply do this or that for shredded abs. Some sources say you need to do sit ups a certain way, some say you need to eat some foods and stay away from others, and some say to use a supplement. The truth is, none of this advice is correct, and if you really want to know how to get abs, below are five tips to help you get there.

Lose the Belly Fat

The first and most valuable step to getting a six pack is to lose any excess belly fat. The obvious reason for this is with too much belly fat, your abdominal muscles remain hidden underneath. To do this, avoid targeted fat loss or 'spot reduction' diets or workouts. Research has shown that fat loss has to be a whole-body process. The key to this is figuring out the appropriate fat content for your body type and managing your caloric intake based on that. That target range is at 15 percent body fat and below for men, and 25 percent body fat and below for women.

Strengthen your Core Muscles

The core muscle group refers to the rectus abdominis, obliques, and rectus transversus. To fully strengthen your core muscles, all these muscles have to be worked equally, or you will end up with one section of your core overdeveloped, and another underdeveloped. Choose abdominal exercises for each muscle type and alternate for optimum look and strength.

Train your Abs Frequently

Once you have found the ideal ab exercises that work all the abdominal muscles, alternate and work them frequently, optimal training frequency is key, and generally, two to three ab workouts a week is optimal, with some additional compound lifting; this is a good formula that prevents overtraining and damage to muscles from not having enough recovery time in-between.

Make Sure your Training is Progressing

Like any training routine, the goal is to improve, so as you meet certain benchmarks, training routines and limits need to be altered. For compound lifting, gradually increase the weights once a comfortable exertion level is met at each stage. Your reps should also be gradually increasing with your weight amounts.

Best Ab Workout Exercises

There is no shortage of ab exercises out there, but there are some known to be better than others. Here is a list of some of the ideal ab-strengthening exercises that are sure to get you well on your way to getting shredded abs: air bicycles, captain's chair leg raises, and cable crunches.

Who doesn't want to look good when that shirt comes off? It is hard to sift through all the contradictory information out there concerning how to meet your fitness goals. Finding a workout routine that works for you and is sustainable is key to success. By reducing your belly fat, training your abs frequently, progressing your training, and doing effective ab exercises, these five tips will help you establish the perfect ab workout to help you get your first six pack.