If you are like most athletes, you have more than one goal in mind, but almost everyone agrees they want rock hard abs.

Unfortunately, crunches aren't enough. Yes, you should be working your abs and, yes, you can even work them every single day. But, if there's a layer of fat (aka, 'Jelly Belly') there, you'll never see those sleek, beautiful muscles.

You've probably heard that spot reducing is about is effective as spitting in the wind, but when you work your abs every day in an effort to reduce the belly flab, spot reducing is exactly what you're trying to do. Basic physiology reminds us that "he body cannot be "forced" to use fat in a particular area by exercising the muscles directly under that area."

What this means is that, while you continue to work your abs, you should also make an attempt to lose body fat which happens when you burn more calories than you take in.

Deal with Your Diet

The first key to losing body fat and gaining muscle is with your diet. Here are some great tips for changing your diet. Summed up, they are:

Eat more often. Eating several small meals throughout the day will boost your metabolism which will help you burn more calories.

Eat Fewer Calories. Creating a mild caloric deficit is where you burn the calories. It helps if you monitor your portion sizes and eat the appropriate percentages of carbs (somewhere between 50 and 60%), protein (20 to 30%) and fat (20 to 30%).

Drink More Water. Sometimes your hunger pangs are actually your body's plea for water.

Deal with Your Exercise Routine

Once you've reduced your calorie intake a bit, it's time to start working out. Diet without exercise will lead to some weight loss, but at some point you'll reach a plateau and stop seeing results. Exercise can get you past your plateaus while preserving your muscle mass. To burn even more calories, start a cardio program. Shoot for at least four days a week, 30 to 45 minutes at a time, and make sure you get your heart in the zone.

Do Your Ab Exercises

Now we get to the nitty gritty. Is there any one ab exercise that's best? Not really. The point is to contract your abs, preferably against gravity (which is why crunches work best when lying on the floor). One of the best ab tools you can invest in is an exercise ball. Exercise balls are great for crunches, twists, rolls...just about any ab exercise you can think of. Because you must stabilize your body on the ball you use many more muscle groups when doing regular crunches.

The whole point is to work your abs. Your core (abs, lower back, hips) are important in every aspect of athletic movement. Too many athletes pass up core training, and somewhere down the road the body will break down in areas that are not trained properly. Squeeze out those reps, you just might end up with a nice set of six-packs!