The Truth About Abs!!! | How to Get 6 Pack Abs | The Truth About Six Pack Abs
Surely the most desirable thing that people want to achieve from going to the gym is to get a six pack. It’s the stereotypical image we have when we see on the front of magazines, it's what every man (and some women) want which is those 'washboard' six pack abs. Women tend to want more of a toned look to their abs, but this blog post still applies to that goal too!
So the question is... how can you achieve yourself that very image you have in your head of the sexy toned abs that you’ve always wanted? Well the answer might be somewhat surprising...
When thinking about going to the gym and obtaining that desired six pack
the first thought that comes into most peoples’ minds is Ab Crunches. There is a good reason for that which is it is an exercise that can isolate and train the rectus abdominis, which is the muscle group over your stomach which form the 'Six Pack'. Most people then get into their head that if they go to the gym, do hundreds of crunches a day like Patrick Bateman does (Christian Bale in American Psycho) they will then in turn get shredded and obtain the abs that they’ve always wanted! Well that isn’t entirely true...
Wait... So Doing Hundreds Of Crunches Isn't The Way To Get Abs?!?!
While doing crunches will work those 'six pack' muscles and will make them grow, the problem is that you can't see those muscles if a layer of fat is covering them up! That layer of fat over your abs has to be very a very thin layer if you want your abs to show through! No matter how big your actual six pack muscles are, if they are covered by a thick layer of stomach fat then they won’t be seen. Simple as that.
In Fact... Everybody has a Six Pack... Every-Body!!
Yes. That's right.., Everybody Has A Six Pack! This is why skinny people no matter how little muscle they have on their body, tend to have a six-pack showing through as there is such little fat hiding those muscles. This is because everybody actually has a six-pack, it’s just that with the majority of people they are covered up by that layer of fat!
The reason then why Christian Bale has a Six Pack in American Psycho is because first and foremost he has very little fat covering his abdominal muscles. The on top of that he has trained his abs to be as strong and large as possible which makes them look even more impressive and blocky!
Another general myth that affects people's quest of getting abs is they
believe that by doing loads of ab exercises like crunches you will burn stomach fat. This isn’t exactly true.
Yes... doing crunches will burn calories which can in turn help you to burn fat, but the body does not spot reduce fat i.e your body doesn’t ever take fat from one specific area. It will take it from anywhere in the body. So doing crunches is not going to specifically burn stomach fat anymore than it will burn fat from other parts of the body, your arms, your legs wherever. This is why doing crunches to burn fat is pointless as it is a relatively low impact exercise that will burn minimal calories. If you need to burn fat and want to do a workout that burns calories, you should be doing high intense cardio, or weight training doing compound movements. But crunches are a waste of time if your body fat levels are not yet low enough. The best way to reduce body levels though tends to be with diet, check out my blog post on the topic.
Low Body Fat Levels Are Key...
So the first priority when trying to get a washboard six-pack, is that you
need to have body fat percentage of typically less than 10%. This will on the whole be done by controlling your caloric intake in your diet. Once you are below that 10% threshold you will be able to see your six-pack as simple as that. So in one sense doing crunches is absolutely pointless in getting abs. But once your abs are visible crunches will help in getting the abs to grow and therefore protrude out more and give you that rock hard, washboard look. So you really need to control the calories you are consuming in your diet and choose a high protein, high vegetable based diet if you want to get a six pack!
However... I still don't do that many Ab Crunches...
I think the best way in building up your abs is by taking a slightly different approach. Here’s the thing, throughout the year I hardly do specific ab work (like crunches at all), and yet by the time I cut for summer I have always got quite large, muscular blocky abs to show for it.
This is because I focus my whole training plan around big heavy compound movements, which require the core to be strong to support the body. I do exercise like squats, deadlifts, military press, dips, all of which engage the core. Then particularly when you get to heavier weights, the core will really have to be engaged, and those exercises will build a strong core, which of course includes the rectus abdominis. Then what I like to do towards the end of my bulk and going into my cut, I add in some ab workouts 2-3 times a week, just to really isolate the abs and make them pop out from an already strong core, ready for the summer shred.
However, even at this point crunches still aren’t top of my list!! My favourite abdominal exercise out of them all is the ab roller. I think they are great for really stretching the abs at the top of the movement forcing them to grow. It also helps improve overall core strength. I also then like to do hanging leg raises as they
are another great exercise that target more the lower abs, and then Russian twists are my favourite for working the obliques. There are other exercises that you can add to that, if you are looking to really get a crazy physique but otherwise it really is as simple as that, with the main factor actually being the body fat covering up the abs.
The key steps to achieving great abs then is:
Firstly you need low enough body fat to be make your abs visible. This is done best by using a combination of controlling the calories in your diet, mixed with weight training and/ or cardio.
You then want to be weight training all year round doing big heavy movements that strengthen the core, exercises like Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Pull Ups especially (which will also build up muscle and strength all over your body giving you a much better looking physique anyway).
Then to finish off add in an abdominal workout that targets each of the different areas of the abs. My favourite exercises being Ab Rollers, Leg Raises, Russian Twists.
Stick to those simple rules and you’ll have those bulging abs you’ve always wanted! If you’d like to ask a more specific question then feel free to email us at evolvemusclefitness@gmail.com and if you need a training plan then download our Free Training Plan now!
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