Having a defined six-pack remains an ever so elusive goal for many people. Building muscle is difficult, yet it seems easy in every other part of the body in comparison to the abs. For those who do manage to crack the code and develop a six-pack, they become seemingly revered by everyone around them. This post will help you uncover the truth about why having visible abs is so hard and reveal to you the best way to get a six-pack.
In fact, there are many misconceptions as to how to actually get abs, and the truth is that you’ve probably been misled all along. I certainly was, and as a result, I wasn’t able to make much progress in that regard for years. Having finally figured out what it takes to get a six-pack, I want to share with you what I’ve learned so you don’t end up wasting time and energy on things that simply don’t work.
What You Should Know About Your Abs
Before we cover how to get six-pack abs, there are some things we should clarify about this muscle group.
First of all, the number of “packs” you have is genetic. You’re born with a certain number of bands of connective tissue that run sideways along your ab muscles, which creates the appearance of a four-pack, six-pack, or eight-pack, and this number can’t be changed. No matter how you train your abs, it’s impossible to turn a four-pack into a six-pack, or a six-pack into an eight-pack.
Secondly, having abs is hard not because ab muscles are more difficult to develop than any other muscle in your body, but because fat in the stomach is the hardest fat to lose. For most people, especially men, the body stores a lot more fat in the stomach as compared to other parts of the body. This strong inclination to store fat here means that it’s also where the body is most reluctant to give it up from, which is why burning away that fat to reveal the abs underneath is such a challenge.
The Truth About Training Abs
Now that we understand the difficulty in burning away stomach fat, what’s the best way to do it? Even though there aren’t any exercises that can change the composition of our abs, which ones can effectively burn off stomach fat so we can see whatever packs we do have? Besides, with the plethora of ab exercises you can find online that promise to get you a six-pack, surely there are some that actually work?
Unfortunately, you’re not going to get a six-pack if you’re focusing on exercise alone. That’s not to say that ab exercises don’t do anything, it’s just that they don’t really address the heart of the issue. Strength exercises help you build muscle, but as I previously mentioned, achieving visible abs isn’t so much about building muscle as it is about burning the fat covering them. Despite what influencers and coaches might advertise to you, strength exercises don’t directly burn fat.
I cover this topic in more detail in my post about how to effectively lose weight, but burning fat requires being in a caloric deficit over an extended period of time.
It’s All in the Calories
Instead of prioritizing ab workouts as the means to obtain a six-pack, you should focus on being at a caloric deficit and decreasing your overall body fat percentage. As your body gets leaner, your abs will naturally become more defined.
There isn’t really a way to increase definition specifically in the abs, because you can’t target fat loss in your stomach. You don’t have control over the areas from which your body burns fat. The only thing you can do is continue to maintain enough of a caloric deficit until you achieve your desired level of overall muscle definition and leanness.
Admittedly, this process is very tough. Like I said earlier, for many people, stomach fat is very hard to get rid of, as the body would much rather burn fat from other places first. This means that it may take significantly longer for your abs to be as defined as other parts of your body.
Not only does it take longer, it’ll also require a lot more effort. As you become leaner, your body will fight harder to hold onto whatever remaining fat it has. Even if you maintain the same caloric deficit, your rate of fat loss may slow down, at which point you might need to tweak your diet and further reduce your caloric intake.
However, if you’re able to persist, your body will eventually have to give up the fat in your stomach and at last, you’ll have the abs you’ve always wanted. This might all sound a bit abstract, but if you want to get a sense of how long this process might actually take, check out my post How Long Should a Diet Last?.
Time to Scrap Ab Exercises?
So if watching our calories is the real answer to getting abs, do we still need to do ab exercises?
Even if they won’t make your abs chiseled and shredded, ab exercises are still important. Training your abs improves your abdominal and core strength, which is always beneficial regardless of how good your abs look. In my post 6 Tips for Achieving Proper Weightlifting Form, I mention that having a strong core will help you more effectively train other parts of the body.
In addition, although ab exercises won’t reveal your six-pack, they can certainly enhance it if you have one. Similar to how training any other muscle increases its size and strength, working your abs out effectively will further increase their definition and make them more developed.
That being said, it’s important to understand what effective ab training actually is. Ab circuits that take you through tens of different exercises and hundreds of reps are very popular within the online fitness community, but that just leads to a lot of fatigue and junk volume. There’s really no need for that.
Instead, like with any other muscle group, you should pick a few exercises that target both the upper and lower abs, then focus on achieving progressive overload by gradually increasing the weights you use and the number of reps do.
Is Having a Six-Pack Worth It?
Now you know what it really takes to get a six-pack, but like I said, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. Maintaining a caloric deficit over the span of months requires focus, patience, and lots of dedication. On top of that, once you do have abs, the work isn’t over. If you want to keep your abs, you’ll have to continue to monitor your calories, or else your stomach will quickly gain back the fat you lost.
While no one balks at the idea of having a six-pack, for some people it’s simply not worth the sacrifice and stress. Some people would rather be a bit less lean, but have much more freedom to eat what they want on a daily basis, which is totally fine. That’s why before you do anything, I would heavily suggest considering if getting a six-pack is something you truly want and are willing to commit to.
After all, having abs isn’t the sole determinant of whether or not someone is considered “fit”. Yes, a six-pack looks good, but you can still very much be in great shape and in great health without one, so it’s definitely not something that everyone must aspire to have.
