ABS abs abs!!!

The 'winning recipe' for abs get told so many times over - and we see Men's Health covers painted in headlines about the 'perfect abs' - all the time! It's probably the most requested query, the most wanted group of muscles, the most adored part of any guy's body. Your stomach is either that of washboard abs, or you have a very unwelcome layer of fat. See, for most of us guys, unfortunately, this is where our fat gets stuck first. Not our bums, not in the neck, or thighs, no, no, always, straight for the stomach area!! Sure it frustrates us, because, very often, no matter how hard you train, or which supplements you take, you just can't get that perfect 6-pack. Or 8-pack. Lol. Even big muscled guys struggle with this - because, as you might know, getting bigger means you have to add weight first, then go through the strenuous experience of cutting the extra weight down again, and ripping open the muscles to appear sculpted.

My personal experience? Fix your diet first - consume foods that don't contain bad fats - watch out for good fats - and keep it lean when buying food.

80% of what I look like is based on what I eat.

Once you have that right, then you have to follow a few simple guidelines too. And Men's Health UK has set out a few of them:

http://www.menshealth.co.uk

• 07:00 Wake up to water

• Drink at least half a litre of chilled H₂O as soon as you wake. Muscles grow faster when hydrated and German scientists found drinking this amount at dawn boosts your metabolism by 24% for 90 minutes. Providing more energy for them to ‘bags' those early sun loungers.
  

• 07:15 30 crunches

• Keep your knees bent and feet an inch off the floor.
  

• 08:00 Pack on protein with microwave omelettes

• Blend two eggs with a tablespoon of diced onion and nuke for 2½ mins.
  

• 10:00 Grab a snack of raisins or a banana

• ...with a black coffee. Carbs and caffeine refuel your muscle glycogen levels 34% faster than carbs alone. It's not called an espresso for nothing.
  

• 12:00 Attack fat with a lunchtime cardio session

• Run at 40% of your max to warm up for 2 mins, then 95% of your max for 30 seconds. Drop to 40% again for 90 seconds – repeat these intervals 7 times.
  

• 13:30 Fill up with a salad

• ...of black beans, peppers, tomatoes, onion and sweetcorn, along with a simple home-made olive oil and lemon dressing. This encourages fat-burning while avoiding the trans fats found in shop-bought options.
  

• 16:00 Have a drink at your desk

• Sadly not a beer: it needs to be a 250ml whey powder smoothie, taken 90 minutes before your evening workout, so you digest it fully but still fuel your muscles.
  

• 17:30 Get in 30 mins more cardio

• ...then crunches and a plank combo move, says Matt McGorry, Peak Performance trainer (peakperformance.com). "A front, left-side and then right-side plank forces you to contract all your abs for long intervals."
  

• 21:30 10 close hand push-ups

• You've got time for 3 sets. Don't slack now.
  

• 22:30 Hit the sack to unveil your pack

• University of Chicago scientists found staying up late causes muscle cells to become insulin resistant – leading to fat storage around your belly. After a full day's workout your stomach muscles need ample time to grow for show.