While working on all muscle groups is important, many people focus quite a bit on their abdominal muscles. It's easy to understand the reason why. Abdominal muscles lose tone easily, especially as you get older, and great abs are one of the preferred signs of being in really good shape.

So how do you get them, especially if you had them once and now they're gone?

A combination of diet and exercise is a great place to start. But saying that doesn't mean much. What kind of a diet and what kinds of exercise?

You can pick a popular diet if that helps you keep on track or you can work on what you eat and how much of it you eat. In many ways it's not so much which diet you use as it is which diet works for you and will allow you to make the overall lifestyle changes to keep the weight off. It won't do you a lot of good to drop the diet once your goals have been reached. You want something you will continue to be comfortable with and enjoy.

If you go it on your own, you want a diet low in fat. You don't need to go to extremes, but fatty foods are higher in calories and are generally going to be less healthy for you. You do need some fats, but you can choose foods with the fats that are better for you.

Eating more fruits and vegetables is a generally good idea. These foods are typically nicely filling but have relatively few calories for their bulk. They also provide many essential vitamins and minerals for your overall health.

Diet alone is obviously not enough for making your abs look fantastic. You have to work on them. Pick an exercise routine that will allow you to work on your abs. It needs to be something you can stick with.

However, once again doing this alone is not enough. You have to work on your body as a whole. While exercising a particular group of muscles will help that group more than others, your abs are not going to look their best if you ignore the rest of your body. Exercise all muscle groups for the maximum benefit.

Do not neglect cardiovascular exercises either. This gets your heart rate up and burns more calories.

It takes time to burn off that ugly layer of fat and show your abdominal muscles. You have to be dedicated and prepared to wait a few months or longer to really see those muscles, depending on your original physical condition. But you can do it if you really want to.