Remember all those infomercials about the Ab Buster, Blaster, Basher, or whatever it is? You know, the ones with those trim, tight, and flat stomached models doing a few reps and showing off their mid-sections.

The implication, of course, was that these people got their outstanding abs by using whatever machine it was they were hocking. Forget it.

I’ll tell you straight that the biggest issues in getting the abs to come out in top condition are as always intelligent training, diet, and supplementation. To get the abs up to shape, you'll want to do about 30 minutes of cardio work 3 or 4 times a week.

Be sure to eat small frequent meals every 3 or 4 hours to keep your metabolism running on high. You don't want to wait until you're hungry to eat--this eventually leads to overeating.

Remember that the key element in ab training is not how many reps and sets you can do but how hard you can contract the abs on each rep. Make sure your focus in performing your ab movements is on trying to almost push your lower abs into your upper abs and vice-versa.

Supplementing wisely is another key to developing great abs. You should remember that effective fat loss supplements generally fall into two categories: stimulants that actually help the body burn fat more effectively; and supplements that metabolically aide the body in disposing of excess carbohydrates (glucose).

The famous ECA Stack (Ephedra, Caffeine, and Aspirin) and the newer YNCA (Yohimbe, Norephedrine, Caffeine, and Aspirin) are without a doubt the most important and effective fat-burning stimulants. For best results, stick with proven products such as Xenadrine RFA-1, Hydroxycut, Dymetadrine Xtreme, Adipokinetix, Lipokinetix, etc.

If you don’t tolerate these products well, then you can try using some of the solid non-stimulant based products available. I’ve always been a big fan of glutamine for both adding lean muscle and getting leaner. Two of my new favorites in this category are ProLab’s Metabolic Thyrolean and Syntrax’s Triax II. The feedback on both has been outstanding.