The human body has eight distinct muscle groups: chest, triceps, back, shoulder, hips and abdominal muscles. Strong and well-defined 'abs' are essential for any sexy physique, and body builders spend their whole lives dedicated to achieving those perfect abdominal muscles. However, few will say that it was easy. However, with the right training and nutrition, those sexy abs are yours!

Let us first throw some light on the anatomy of abdominal muscles. Composed of four separate muscle groups (namely 'Rectus Abdominis', 'Transversis Abdominis', 'Internal Obliques' and 'External Obliques'), the abdominal muscles can be made prominent by following a well designed workout regime and nutrition program. It is disheartening to admit that most of the people don't have a clue about how can one develop well defined 'abs'.

This may not be what you want to hear, but doing hundreds of crunches a day might not help you loose the required percentage of body fat needed to get toned 'abs'. If you don't loose excess fat, all the crunches and stomach workouts in the world won't help you. There is no easy way to get washboard abs, you have to earn them with hard work and proper nutrition.

If you want to get razor sharp 'abs', you need to train them daily without any excuses. You must also drink plenty of water if you want your 'abs' to be in good shape. Losing belly fat is perhaps the first and the foremost step towards developing washboard 'abs'. How can you lose belly fat? Cardio-exercises win hands down when it comes to losing excess fat. Cardio-exercises like jogging, running, rope-skipping, cycling and swimming have excellent results.

The best and most efficient abdominal workouts are the ones that exercise all four parts of the abs. These workouts should be performed daily to maximize results. Exercises that isolate the abdominal muscles are more effective than compound exercises.

Building six pack abs involves very tough training. The following are considered common exercises for stomach abs: barbell rollouts, barbell side bends, leg pull-ins, bent-knee hip raises, crunches (oblique and cable) and abdominal sit-ups. Leg raises and oblique decline crunches are among the best stomach abs exercises.