The Ab Guide: Getting That Visible Sixpack

[hepennypacker52]

Getting That Visible Sixpack

Without a doubt, the most misunderstood part about getting that "sixpack" is actually how to get it. Most people believe that doing 1,000 crunches a day, 6 days a week, will get them that sixpack they've always dreamed of. This is wrong. It also leads us to:

*Ab principle #1: Making your abs visible is all about how low your BF (bodyfat) percent is*

What's this mean? It means that no matter how many situps you do, or ab machines you use, if you have a high BF% you will not be able to see your abs.

Diet

Your diet is very important in the process of shedding fat off your body. It's just common sense that you can't stuff twinkies down your pie hole and lose fat at the same time. To lose weight, you must go on a weight loss diet, that's also common sense. How much (or little actually) do you need to eat? This brings us to:

*Ab principle #2: You must eat less than your maintenance caloric intake*

If you want to find our your true maintenance caloric intake, you'll have to monitor your diet for a couple weeks. Record everything you eat, and all the macronutrient values (protein, carbs, and fat) of what you eat. Measure your weight before the start of the week, and at the end of the week. If you're weight stayed the same, find the average amount of calories you took in each day, and that's what your body needs to maintain your current weight.

Ok, so how much less should I be taking in each day? Start off with reducing your maintenance calories by 200. Check your weight after a week. If you're losing weight as much as you want to weekly, keep that amount of calories. If you barely lose anything, reduce total calories by another 200. Keep doing this until your satisfied with what you're losing. You shouldn't have to go below 12 x bodyweight, assuming that you're doing cardio.

Now what macronutrient ratio's should you be using when trying to lose weight? Make 20-30% of your total calories come from fats, good fats of course, try and stay away from eating too many saturated fats. You should also be taking 1.3-1.5g of protein per pound of bodyweight. The rest of your diet should come from carbs.

*A note on carbs: simple sugars should be avoided when trying to lose weight, with the acception of post-workout to restore glycogen. For pre and post workout nutrition, refer here: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hreadid=272067*

*Ab principle #3: Protein consumption should be 1.3-1.5g/lb of bodyweight*

*Ab principle #4: Avoid simple sugars, accept post workout*

*Ab principle #5: Have 1 cheat meal every week*

Eat absolutely whatever you want, this is your meal to enjoy after the good week you've had following your strict diet. Give yourself this meal, it won't mess you up. What will mess you up is after a couple weeks of following a totally strict diet, you just go on an eating binge and gain back all the fat you just lost.

*Ab principle #6: Don't go on a low carb diet*

I'm not going to go into details with this, but we all know what you will lose weight on a low carb diet, but it's not weight that you will actually keep off for a long time.

That wraps up the basics for dieting for fat loss. Now on to cardio.

Cardio

Cardio is essential when looking to maximize fat loss, it won't be the "holy grail" that will make you lose 20lbs fast, diet and proper weight training will do that for you, but it will help, plus cardio has great health benifits. There are different ways of approaching cardio.[list][*]High intensity cardio. The most popular of these is HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). Here are some good links to HIIT:

http://www.wsu.edu/~strength/hiit.htm

http://www.musclemedia.com/training/hiit.asp

http://www.sportsci.org/jour/0101/cf.htm
[*]Low intensity cardio. When you do high intensity cardio, it usually takes about 20 minutes, while doing low intensity cardio takes longer. But in reality, the amount of calories burned is almost the same, no matter if you run it, or walk it. Some very overweight people can't handle HIIT, they could run into serious medical problems. Low intensity cardio is the perfect answer for them. Start off low and gradually build your time walking up, or increase the pace a little. Some links on low intensity cardio:

http://www.janatrains.com/default.as...l&articleid=20

http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/shane2.htm

*Ab principle #7: Perform high intensity cardiovascular exercise 2-3 times weekly*

There's no need to kill yourself doing cardio 6 times per week. Three HIIT sessions is plenty of cardio to burn fat.

*Ab principle #8: Perform low intensity cardiovascular exercise 3-6 times weekly*

There's no problem with taking a long walk every morning, but for someone extremely overweight, 3 times a week would be a better starting platform.

Training the Abdominals

Doing any type of ab workout won't get you a sixpack, we've already covered that. But it still is good to train the abdominals with resistance, because:

• The abdominals are a muscle, and they shouldn't be neglected, just like you wouldn't neglect your chest.
  
• Having a good "core" will also help and provide more safety for the big compound movements (ie squat, deadlift)

*Ab principle #8: Train abs with resistance, with 8-15 reps*

*Ab principle #9: Do not do ulta high rep ab work*

You won't do yourself any good busting yourself with sets of 1,000 crunches. Keep reps low, like any other exercise, with about 8-15 reps, and use resistance.

What exercises do you do? You can do a search anywhere and you'll find a bunch of ab exercises, but I'll give a sample one:

Swiss ball crunches
Hanging leg raises
Side bends

For each exercise, do 3 sets of 8-15 reps. Add weight when and if possible. Perform 1-3 times a week. It's nothing too complicated, and very easy to make your own ab workout.

This wraps up ab training and how to get those visible abs. And don't forget:

*Ab principle #10: Stay motivated, and be consistent!*



Here's all of the principles again:

*Ab principle #1: Making your abs visible is all about how low your BF (bodyfat) percent is*

*Ab principle #2: You must eat less than your maintenance caloric intake*

*Ab principle #3: Protein consumption should be 1.3-1.5g/lb of bodyweight*

*Ab principle #4: Avoid simple sugars, accept post workout*

*Ab principle #5: Have 1 cheat meal every week*

*Ab principle #6: Do not go on a low carb diet*

*Ab principle #7: Perform high intensity cardiovascular exercise 2-3 times weekly*

*Ab principle #8: Train abs with resistance, with 8-15 reps*

*Ab principle #9: Do not do ulta high rep ab work*

*Ab principle #10: Stay motivated, and be consistent!*

[Losing]

Thanks!!
Wish the links worked though.

[primestacks]

I'm currectly on the Dave Palumbo diet and it's basically a low carb diet. I have been on it for 2 weeks and I'm seeing great results...

Why is a low carb diet bad?

[Holly2710]

I think they were saying that low carb is only temporary, not something you should stick to year round. To get a six pack, it usually takes a long term diet. I believe in going low carb to an extent, no keto diet for me though :P

[im_Jvo]

I think they were saying that low carb is only temporary, not something you should stick to year round. To get a six pack, it usually takes a long term diet. I believe in going low carb to an extent, no keto diet for me though :P

Yeah, I don't know what the big deal is with people being against low carb diets. As long as they are done properly and the carbs are cycled in appropriately it can be one of the most effective fat loss diets. I have been on a CKD for a month now, and have went from ~ 11 % body fat to 6.6 % as of today, and have put on a noticeable amount of lean mass as well. If they are structured and done right, they are super effective!!

[6pack2be]

Just what I wanted to know. Thanks. Here we go now. haha

[LivinUnlucky]

Awesome guide was wandering about this thanks for posting it

[pwicks83]

cardio for some people is good but not for everyone. I haven't done to much cardio at all and I have a full 6 pack showing. I think your better off with a high protein diet, compound lifting and weighted ab exercises. Don't get me wrong this article is great buting cutting calories isn't always needed.

[Drop_Dead]

"Ab principle #3: Protein consumption should be 1.3-1.5g/lb of bodyweight"


Good article for the most part. I think consuming that much protein is just ridiculous though. I went from 268 pounds down to 205 without losing any significant amount of muscle or strength and I was and still am only getting about 130-150 grams of protein a day.

If i followed the original post's guidelines I would need 266.5 to 307.5 grams of protein a day! That's insane!


I could agree with 1.0 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass but what the first post in the thread suggests is just nuts.

[silva14]

Yeah, I don't know what the big deal is with people being against low carb diets. As long as they are done properly and the carbs are cycled in appropriately it can be one of the most effective fat loss diets. I have been on a CKD for a month now, and have went from ~ 11 % body fat to 6.6 % as of today, and have put on a noticeable amount of lean mass as well. If they are structured and done right, they are super effective!!

What is the CKD low carb diet? can you please explain the details and what you have got out of it?

[UTGTi]

agreed with dropdead. 1gram/lb of body weight should be sufficient. i've tried over consuming protein for a LONG period of time and all I felt like was ass. It never felt right until I tried to consume around my body weight. I also don't agree with only 8-15 reps. yea, abdominals is a muscle group but it's constantly being used while walking, running, lifting, where as chest or biceps are basically useless in regardes to most high intensity sports. Legs and core are the key, I think it'd be safe to increase the reps up to 20-30. 8 is way to low imo. the article is good though, I'm no professional but that's my .02

[AudiRS6]

I'm currectly on the Dave Palumbo diet and it's basically a low carb diet. I have been on it for 2 weeks and I'm seeing great results...

Why is a low carb diet bad?

For one, carbs are GREAT for you. They give your body fuel and are MOST important pre-workout. If you don't get enough carbs you could easily hurt yourself trying to lift weights. Thats why it's basically retarded to cut out carbs, just stick to a well balanced diet and give it plenty of time. Who cares if it takes you a year or two to get a six pack. Whats important is your very healthy, alert, focused and feeling great. Why be tired and fatigued all the time?

I'm sure your results in losing weight and toning up are quite awsome, however, you surely are losing muscle/strengh during this process and you will feel it in the gym.

[JustNavid]

For one, carbs are GREAT for you. They give your body fuel and are MOST important pre-workout. If you don't get enough carbs you could easily hurt yourself trying to lift weights. Thats why it's basically retarded to cut out carbs, just stick to a well balanced diet and give it plenty of time. Who cares if it takes you a year or two to get a six pack. Whats important is your very healthy, alert, focused and feeling great. Why be tired and fatigued all the time?

I'm sure your results in losing weight and toning up are quite awsome, however, you surely are losing muscle/strengh during this process and you will feel it in the gym.

Please, STFU .

Do some research in these diets, and you will then laugh at your own post. Also look into keto! which is a no carb diet (<30g a day)

[jdavis6618]

Durrrr....****ted my pants momma. This whole article can be summed up by saying "lose weight until your bodyfat percentage is 10 or below." If you really want to get fancy, tell them how to lose the weight-use more energy than you take in.

[avio]

Low carb diets didn't work for me... I felt like **** all day and miserable, my motivation to go to the gym died out... and I just felt lazy all day.... maybe they were just too hard but I might give it another go soon at the end of this month for the month of June.

[nickb9]

Low carb diets didn't work for me... I felt like **** all day and miserable, my motivation to go to the gym died out... and I just felt lazy all day.... maybe they were just too hard but I might give it another go soon at the end of this month for the month of June.

I know how you feel mate - you do get used to it after a while, but in the meantime, plenty of caffiene and NOxPlode should do the trick!

[Ion26]

If you have no muscle it wont matter how low your bodyfat is, you won't have an aesthetic six pack. You want your abs to pop, not just be flat...

Abdominal exercises are very important. Look at how some people have visible abs at 15%BF and others need to be at 10% to see anything...

[HRodriguez93]

Thanks!!
Wish the links worked though.

They resurrected an article that died in 04. Wtf.

[forsaken7]

This is the most retarded thing I've ever read.
I'm sub 10% body fat (huge veins throughout my abs...absolutely no fat on my stomach cant even pinch it)
and used to have an 8 pack...
but I don't have abs anymore.

would you like to know why?
because I didn't do any ****ing ab exercises for two years...and now i have ****ty abs because there is no damn muscle there..and now I have lordosis

this article is ****. if you want abs, do your ab exercises heavy, and get your bf % down. You can have low bf and have ****ty looking abs if u dont have any muscle there.

[mitsukibody]

Good read

[ironpump22]

The whole post is great except for 1 part.
When you list suggested ab exercises you include "side bend"

This exercise gives limited benefit as far as abdominal development goes and should be avoided, especially doing it with weights. The motion of a side bend puts undue stress on your spinal column and can be extremely bad for your back and posture. It also aggravates scoliosis which is present in both mild and severe forms in a large portion of the population.

Just a warning for those who are looking to do ab/core exercises, do not add side bends in your repetoire--purely from a kinesiological perspective.

Great post otherwise though!!

[charlievanriper]

ya Okay

[TheReporter]

this is an out of date article

[aksel114]

i think i am more like most of the peoples working hard for six pack abs: the diet is damn hard to follow!

[LulzYeah]

Would abs muscle grow just like other muscles do?

[canadiancoops]

this is an out of date article

yep - avoiding sugars, dont do low carb, must cheat once a week, cardio is essential

Basically eat under maintenance and do weighted ab exercises and you'll get to see those bad boys

[Jack3dBassplayr]

I fapped

[FastRidesOnly]

thanks for the article

[AmericanIronGym]

Awesome write up.

[NickShelters]

Diet diet diet.