Want 6 pack abs? Of course you do. Every guy does. But every guy doesn’t know how to achieve the 6-pack look. In fact, most guys go about it totally the wrong way when trying to get the 6 pack look.
They key to getting a flat stomach with 6 pack abs is lowering body fat. It’s really that simple, 6 pack abs are more about diet and cardio than they are about ab exercises and ab workouts. In this post I’ll post up some common mistakes made by those looking to get a 6 pack and some tips on how you can get one.
Common mistakes make when trying to get a 6 pack:
- Focusing to much on ab workouts. You can train your abs 3 times a week from all different angles with some of the best ab exercises out there, but if you don’t have the low body fat percentage your abs are not going to show!
- Dropping the calories way too much and losing muscle. Some people do understand that you need to have a real low bodyfat percentage to see those abs, but they go about achieving it all the wrong way. Drastically reducing calories will lead to muscle loss before fat and you’ll end up looking skinny and drawn.
- Too much cardio and not enough weights. When it comes to muscle mass, you use it or lose it. You’ve trained hard to build your upper body and legs and if you don’t train them hard you’ll lose muscle mass. The goal is to get the body fat down, but not sacrifice muscle mass.
Tips for getting those 6 pack abs:
- First of all, tune your diet in. You need to work out exactly how many calories your body needs every day and consume 500 less than that figure. You don’t need to go any lower than that.
- Track your bodyfat percentage, weight and muscle group sizes. This is essential so you can see where you’re going wrong. You can use the information to adjust your calorie intake, change your workout, and change your diet to suit your results. You should also always keep a training log.
- Don’t train your abs too often. Abs are like every other muscle group, you can over train them. Train abs maximum of 2-3 times per week, and if they’re sore from the previous workout don’t train them again.
- Pick an ab workout that compliments your current workout. Don’t sacrifice time on your other muscle groups for your abs. For example, if you were using our 4 day split bodybuilding workout, a simple ab workout on Monday and Thursday would suffice.
- Vary the rep range of your ab exercises from 10 to 20. Most people don’t like to go that low rep range for abs, but I believe you need to build a bit of muscle on your abs to really get them to stand out.
- Use supplements wisely for meal replacements, post training nutrition, overall wellbeing. I recommend at a minimum any serious weight trainer should be using whey protein, simple carbs, creatine and a good multivitamin (I’m not talking supermarket multis either!). Some might recommend fat burning supplements for fat loss, but I have not used them before so cannot recommend them either way.
- Hit the cardio first thing in the morning, and if you’re real keen, last thing at night. These are the 2 best times for actual fat burning. Don’t do anything high intensity, keep your heart rate at about 75% of your max for 40 mins each session.
For anyone that’s wondering, you should see your abs at around 10% bodyfat. Anything lower than that and you’re going for gold!