How To Get Six Pack Abs
Everyone wants to have six pack abs, but the majority of people will never have them. It’s not your genetics that are to blame. Everyone has the potential to have six pack abs. To understand why, a little common sense is all you need. Every human has abdominal muscles, and then a layer of fat over them. The key to getting six pack abs is to remove that layer of fat that’s covering up those muscles. So how do you do this?
I would estimate that 90% of the equation for seeing six pack abs is diet. The other 10% is exercise. Unfortunately, most people have this backwards, and rely on exercise to get those six pack abs to come in. The common thought is that if you do enough sit-ups or crunches, your abs will start to show through. I’ve explained why this is a fallacy in the localized fat loss myth.
Real body transformations come through diet manipulation. You can workout until you’re blue in the face, but as long as you have that layer of fat covering your muscles, you will always just look bulky and smooth. The good news? It’s much easier to lose fat than it is to build muscle. I should add one caveat to that – physically it’s much easier to lose fat than to build muscle. Psychologically it’s a whole different story. However, if you’re willing to give yourself 16-20 weeks, nearly anyone can bring their body fat levels down into the single digits. That being said, here are the key fundamentals for bringing in those amazing six pack abs.
Six Pack Abs Diet
If you want six pack abs, your diet is going to be key. You are going to need to provide an optimal fat burning environment so that fatty acids have a chance to be released. How do you do this? You place a strong emphasis on keeping insulin levels low. There are several ways to do this. One way is to eat plenty of low glycemic foods. If you want a great database of foods and their corresponding glycemic index (GI), see this glycemic index database. Low glycemic foods cause a slower release of glucose which results in favorable insulin levels for releasing body fat. You cannot release body fat when insulin (a storage hormone) is high. If you want those six pack abs, you need to take control of this powerful hormone, and learn to harness its positive muscle building qualities, while minimizing its fat storage capabilities.
How else can we get six pack abs through our diet? Again, let’s focus on controlling insulin levels. Besides eating low GI carbohydrates, you can also keep insulin levels low by minimizing your intake of carbohydrates. While eliminating them or keeping them very low will keep insulin levels low, I do not recommend such low levels. You need to eat carbohydrates to lose weight. Carbohydrates are an important fuel source for the brain and nervous system, and they are also needed for the complete metabolism of fatty acids.
To sum up the six pack abs diet, there is no cookie cutter approach – only principles you should follow.
- Eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.
- Eat enough carbohydrates to fuel your workouts, but no more.
- Eat low glycemic carbohydrates to keep insulin levels low to provide an optimal environment to release fatty acids.
- Get in enough essential fatty acids (EFAs).
- Make sure you are getting enough vitamins and minerals to support optimal body function.
- Eat enough calories so that your body won’t think it’s starving, but low enough to stimulate fat loss. See how many calories should I eat?
These guidelines will work for everyone as long as they stay consistent. Consistency through diet is the key to getting six pack abs. However, also understand that everyone holds their fat differently. Not only that, but people also have different types of fat in some areas that are harder to get rid of than others – stubborn fat. Yes, it is real, and it is a pain in the ass to get rid of. I talked about ways to get rid of that stubborn fat in how to get rid of love handles.
Six Pack Abs Workout
Once you start getting your body fat percent levels down into the low teens and single digits, you’re going to have six pack abs. Now is the time you’re going to notice the greatest benefits to doing abdominal workouts. Start working out those abs too soon before you lose enough body fat, and you will actually notice your midsection is getting bigger. This happens because your abs are growing, but your body fat is staying the same – resulting in a larger waistline.
This is not to say you shouldn’t do any core workouts. However, exercises that isolate the abs really aren’t needed until you get down into low body fat percentage levels. It’s at this time that you can start doing those sit-ups, and they will really begin to bring out the definition.
Just because you aren’t doing direct ab workouts, doesn’t mean your abdominals aren’t getting any exercise. If you are working out like you should be and using big compound movements, your abs get a great workout by playing a vital role in stabilizing the core. When you are doing squats, it takes a large amount of core strength to stabilize the body while you have a bar with weights sitting on your back. Make sure you are doing the 3 big compound movements – bench press, squats, and deadlifts, and combinations thereof. If you need a better understanding of these exercises, and need help understanding the proper form to complete them, please see the best 3 exercises for building muscle.
Now don’t get me wrong, you can certainly do targeted ab work anytime you want, and it can only benefit you. My point is that those little isolation exercises will get you better visual results if used at a lower body fat. What are some of these six pack abs workouts? Check out my favorite exercise directory, and you will see just about every abdominal exercise you can imagine.
What’s your favorite six pack abs workout? At what body fat percentage did you see your abs start to show?
About Coach Calorie
Hi Tony,
This is a very helpful article. I never knew about the importance of keeping the insulin level low. My goal is to have nice abs. Now I know what I need to do.
Thanks,
Evelyn
Thanks Evelyn. I’ve found that fat loss has a lot to do with manipulating your hormones – insulin being a big one.
Love this website!a lot of very helpfull hints…….
Thank you Tanya. Glad you enjoy it.
Squats are probably the best exercise for developing a solid core. The only thing is they’re tough!
When I go out to the gym to do a leg workout it feels like I’m being led away to be executed…I really dread them. Feels great afterwards though.
True Matt. Squats are a great fat burning exercise, as well as any exercise that works the entire body. For more core specific exercises, the further you have the bar away from the ground, the more your core comes into play. Try some overhead squats for the ultimate core workout.
I’ve definitely noticed how effective squats are for abs. It really engages that entire area.
Yes, it takes quite a bit of core strength to stabilize that weight.
Thank you for this article… About this:
“Eat enough carbohydrates to fuel your workouts, but no more.”
How would I know how much carbs is enough (or too much) to fuel my workouts? I mostly do weight lifting for now (adding cardio soon) and I don’t have much body fat to drop. Just looking to build muscles, mostly.
Thank you
P.S.: I just voted for your blog, btw.
Thanks for the vote Karine! As for how many carbohydrates are enough – that is the million dollar question. It’s going to take some experimenting, but a good starting point would be to find out how many calories you are burning during exercise. If you’re doing high intensity exercise and burning 400 calories for your workout, that is 100 grams of carbohydrates (assuming you only burned glycogen). Add in another 100 for daily brain and nervous system function and you have a good starting point.
I like to treat my abs like any other muscle group. I am at 11% bodyfat and can see my six pack. I work them out 3 to 4 times a week and give them time to rest. My ideal goal is 8% bodyfat. Getting it there is more challenging than moving from 20% to 17%. The lower you get the harder it is. I am cutting more calories out and doing more sprints. Any other suggestions?
Have you tried nutrient timing? Try timing your carbohydrate intake around your workout. Maybe only pre and post workout, or just post workout. You could also try some clean carb ups once or twice a week. Refeeds can help keep the fat loss going.
The tips are great. Getting protein and carbs are sometng I don’t do enough of and I am going to try to do that.
Thank you.
I notice you didn’t mention sit-ups- no wonder I don’t have my 6-pack yet- it’s a good thing I read this- lol
Situps are great, but they aren’t going to do anything if you have a layer of fat covering your abs. Seeing abs is a function of your diet.
Great article! At the moment I have more of a sippy cup than a six pack, but I’m working on it!!
Twitter: guyanese_gal
says:
Honestly, I used to have killer abs. I could do those gymnast v-ups. Now I have a mommy pouch mostly because I love my junk food. Basically I was curious to see what you would say. I knew it had to do with eating right so that more fat doesn’t accumulate in your middle and not building muscle to push out the fat that is already there.
This is exactly where my stress weight gain went…to my belly.
It’s my biggest area of concern and wanting to concentrate on it now, this is helpful. I’m doing squats (with a weight ball) – but I’m hearing my knees make all kinds of noises on the way down. I’m not sure it this is all just part of it, or if something else is at play. But, in the spirit of no excuses, I’m keeping on.
is this a good diet for a six pack?
preworkout: protein shake whey
postworkout: protein shake whey with carbs in it already
meal1: 1 whole egg 5 egg whites, oatmeal, and 1 cup 2%milk
meal2: 24 almonds and shake
meal3: chicken breast 1/4 cup brown rice, veggies(mostly broccoli)
meal4: same as ^
meal 5: tuna with veggies and tsp of low fat mayo
meal6: 1cup milk and cheese like an hour b4 bed(im thinking of just buying cottage cheese?)
it adds up to a little less then 2500 calories i workout pretty intense is this any good?
Hey Jason, I think your diet looks good. You’ll have to see how 2500 calories works for you and adjust if necessary. There are definitely some tweaks you can make, but I think this can get you to a body fat where you will see a six pack.
** I’m not sure how much protein that is, but aim for at least a gram per pound of body weight.
its about 160g of carbs 60g fat and a lot of protein like 250g i lift weights in the morning and i have swim practice in the afternoons im at about 13 percent bodyfat
jason recently posted..Body Fat Calculator and Custom Meal Plan Generator
Looks good!
I’ve worked with a trainer in the past, and I love your advice because its the first website that actually lines up with what he taught me. However, he had a belief that females should not have a six pack, he did stress the importance of a strong core, but said that six packs or defined abs on women leads to problems including messing with the menstral cycle.
What are your views on that?
Hi Kaylee, your trainer is right. Low body fat levels in women (and men) can have side effects. However, this does not automatically mean that having a six pack will lead to problems. Each person is different, and the body fat percentage at which side effects occur might be much lower than you expected. If you have a goal of having a six pack, I would continue to work towards that goal and monitor any side effects that might occur.
1 gram of protein is per pound of body weight is a major stretch for me being around 150 pounds. Any suggestions of easy ways to pack in that amount of protein while keeping calories down enough to continue weight loss?
150 grams of protein is only 600 calories. That leaves you 1000 more calories or so to fill with carbs and fat. Try having a whey protein shake post workout with 50 grams of protein and you’ll hit your numbers easily.