The six pack is one of the most coveted bodybuilding goals around. Six pack abs show that you are dedicated, bust your ass, plus they will no doubt turn heads at the beach and get the girls to notice you (I mean come on, why else would you want a six...
The six pack is one of the most coveted bodybuilding goals around. Six pack abs show that you are dedicated, bust your ass, plus they will no doubt turn heads at the beach and get the girls to notice you (I mean come on, why else would you want a six pack other than to show it off). The big question of the day is how to get six pack abs and it can be answered in three parts. You first need to have ab muscle, you need to have a low enough body fat percentage for your ab muscles to show through and you should participate in full-body resistance training in order to increase your metabolism and turn your body into a fat-burning machine.
The first part of your quest in building six pack abs is to actually build-up your ab muscles. You need enough muscle and ab separation so that when you complete step two (losing body fat) you have abs that will pop! Now the steps below may seem elementary, but let's face it, lifting weights and looking good is not rocket science. It will just take hard work and dedication in order to obtain the six pack you desire.
1. Do Sit-Ups
We all know what a sit-up is and have probably done hundreds of them dating back to Kindergarten. Simply lie on the floor with you knees bent and sit your ass up. Do as many as humanly possible until your abs are on fire. Once that becomes too easy, you can add a decline or even do weighted sit-ups to actually build real muscle in your core and not just tone the muscle you already have.
2. Squat
It seems strange that one of the answers to the question "How to get six pack abs" is to squat and work out your legs, however your abs will thank you if you get under the bar and squat. Squatting will strengthen your entire organism, release growth hormone, aid in over-all muscle building which will then, in turn, aid in fat loss. Squatting, if done correctly can also work your cardiovascular system. If you've hit a solid squat routine, you will definitely be out of breath and sweating.
3. Ab Roller
One of the best ab exercises is not a sit-up or a crunch. It is an ab roller. The ab roller will not only strengthen your abs, it will turn your entire core into a rock-solid unbreakable part of your body. Using hte ab roller is also a nice break from sit-ups and crunches.
4. Volume, Volume Volume
If you want to get six pack abs, you can't be doing sets of 10 and 15 sit-ups and crunches. Set a goal of doing 200 to 500 crunches, roman chairs or ab wheels. The abs are not like the other muscles in your body. They can be worked and worked hard.
5. Training frequency for six pack abs
The last step in part 1 of how to get six pack abs is training frequency. You can train your abs 3x week easily. Plus if you're squatting and performing other compound movements like dead lift or pull-ups, your abs will be indirectly worked as well.
Ah yes, everyone knows the old saying "You can't out-train a bad diet". But how about this one - you can't see your abs if you're a big fat-ass. In order to obtain the elusive six pack abs, you need to have a low body fat percentage (calculate your body fat percentage here). And when we're talking a low body fat percentage, we're talking 10% or lower to really see those six pack abs start to shine through.
Remember though, you don't need to spend hours on a treadmill performing cardio in order to drop the fat. Your two main focuses to lose fat should be strength training combined with a clean nutrition plan. This means limiting your carbohydrates, not skipping meals, cheating in-frequently and eating at maintenance or at a slight caloric deficit.
If you think you need to breathe heavy in order to feel like you are actually performing some sort of cardiovascular work then attempt to use a barbell as part of your cardio training sessions. There are many CrossFit workouts that, if performed properly, will leave you in a heavy-breathing, sweaty pile on the floor and you'll be wondering why you ever thought running on a treadmill would be a good idea.
If you need a sample meal plan in order to obtain six pack abs, I'll give you one...
Sample Meal Plan for Six Pack Abs (3000 calories)
Breakfast Protein Shake (2 scoops) + 1 Banana (380 cal)
Snack 400 Peanut Butter Sandwich on whole wheat bread Apple
Snack 300 Protein Shake with Skim Milk
Pre-Workout: NOXplode - - - PostWorkout: Post-workout recovery drink - or something with 1:1 protein and carbs and about 220 calories
Lunch Turkey Sandwhich on Whole Wheat Bread 250 Apple 80 Granola (low sugar) with Skim Milk 380
Snack Protein Bar
Dinner Lean Protein (Chicken/Salmon/Turkey Burger/Lean Beef) 200 Veggie 100 Sweet Potato 100
Bedtime Snack Fat Free Cottage Cheese 100 Almonds & Sunflower seeds 200
We touched on this briefly above, but one very important aspect of obtaining those six pack abs is to be on a solid full body resistance training program. And by that I mean you train your chest, biceps, shoulders, legs, etc. We don't just plant our ass on a treadmill or do a few curls and then leave the gym. We should be doing a workout program like:
Programs like these will force your body to go into hyperdrive. You will be building muscle and burning fat. You will find yourself extremely hot all the time because your body is working overtime to support your growth and muscle. Strength training is the key to lowering your body fat. Hell, I haven't done a situp or crunch since I can't remember and I have had six pack abs for the last 5 years simply by eating a relatively clean diet and working my ass off in the gym lifting heavy weights.
So you should now know have a good idea of how to get six pack abs. Train your abs. Lower your body fat percentage through a healthy diet. Participate in heavy resistance training. Below we'll cover a few other exercises you can perform just so obtaining that six pack doesn't become monotonous and boring.
Six Pack Ab Training Tip Flex hard at the top of each rep for 1 second.
So why do You want to have six pack abs?
Let's be honest here, you want to know how to get six pack abs for a reason. Maybe it is to impress a girl. Maybe it is because you've never had them or you think you'll get laid more often. Whatever the reason, make sure it is good enough so that you stick to your plan and bust your ass because at the end of the day, there is not a magic six pack ab pill you can take. It takes blood, sweat, tears, determination, hard work and a mental toughness to pull this off.
So make sure that chick is hot or your drive is strong enough to follow through with a 30 to 90 day regimen of ab work, clean eating and hardcore strength training and you won't be disappointed in yourself.
Once You Get The Six Pack
So now that you have obtained the six pack abs, make sure you show those suckers off! I mean you busted your ass to get them. Go to the beach. Hit-up a waterpark or ask your nephew to punch you in the stomach and then say "you can't hurt steel" or my favorite "did you hurt your hand". Whatever the case is, you need to be proud of your accomplishment and walk around with some pride because if you did it right, you won't only have a six pack, you'll have some massive quads and some pretty big guns from all of your resistance training.
How To Keep Your Six Pack Abs
Getting six pack abs was the hard part. Keeping them is a bit easier. Once you get your abs to a place where you like them, keeping them at that state requires a bit less work. Your body has adapted and adjusted. If you keep doing what you're doing, they won't fade away. However, if you begin slacking on your training or your diet, you will notice in a few weeks, your abs don't pop quite as much as they did before. At this point you have two options:
1. Let yourself go 2. Buckle down for a week or two and whip your ass back into shape.
When my abs start to face, I buckle down because hitting it hard for two weeks is much more gratifying than turning back into a fatty with no six pack. All you really have to do to maintain the washboard stomach is to eat about 85% to 90% clean and train 4-5 days per week hard. To be honest I eat about three Oreo cookies per day now and it has no affect on my body and where I want it to be since the remaining 97% of my daily caloric intake is as clean as it can be. The oreo cookies just keep me sane and you need that to keep up your physique over the months and even years.
Finding balance is the key to keeping that flat stomach flat all year long. You don't want to live your life feeling deprived and wanting to dominate a fat burger.
Here are a few great ab workouts to get you started on your journey to six pack abs
