Today, I'm going to answer a question that was submitted by
a reader.
“I just want to know how to get a six pack quickly and easily to impress the girls,” he wrote. “Please help me!”
Other than liposuction, there's no quick and easy way to get a six pack. It boils down to a combination of good nutrition, regular exercise and — if you have a lot of fat to lose — a hefty dose of persistence.
To see your six pack, you need two things:
A well-developed rectus abdominis.
Low levels of subcutaneous (under the skin) fat.
Rectus abdominis, which is the six pack muscle, extends down the stomach from your ribs to your hips. When you lie down on your back and lift the shoulders from the floor, rectus abdominis is the muscle that's doing most of the work.
The six pack look is the result of bands of connective tissue that "cut" into rectus abdominis. The more developed the rectus abdominis muscle, the deeper the grooves.
The Machinist vs. Batman
You’ve probably been told on more than one occasion that to see your abs, you need to have a low level of bodyfat. But that’s only part of the story. You also need to BUILD rectus abdominis in order to get a real six pack.
Here’s what fat loss troubleshooter Leigh Peele has to say on the subject:
“Although it’s true that you need to achieve a low level of body fat in order to see abdominal definition, you’ll still need to do more than just lose fat. If you don’t believe me, I invite you to watch the Christian Bale movie The Machinist. Bale lost 63 pounds to play the cadaverous lead role, and he doesn’t have a six pack. He looks like he’s about to croak."
"If you want to see Bale with a six pack," Peele adds, "you’ll have to watch American Psycho or either of his Batman movies, all movies for which he did an enormous amount of training to prepare. If you want a six pack, you’ll need to build up those muscles, too. Think of it like a sheet on a bed. If that sheet is lying on the mattress, it’ll look flat. But if you slip a bag of potatoes underneath the sheet, you’ll see the bumps.”
But at the risk of repeating myself, you will NOT get a decent set of abs with abdominal exercises ALONE. You MUST reduce your bodyfat so you don't have a layer of blubber hiding your six pack. Don't waste your time trying to trim the inches from your waist by crunching them away.
Judging by the sheer number of e-mails I get from people wanting to know the “best” exercises for burning fat from their stomach, this is a fundamental truth that most people don't want to hear.
No matter how well developed your abdominal muscles are, you won't see anything if there's a layer of fat filling in the gaps.
You don't need hours of abdominal exercises. But you need to combine BOTH proper diet AND training to develop a decent set of abs. And it's really not that complicated.
I've covered what to eat and how to exercise so many times you're probably fed up with me going on about it, so lets take a closer look at how to develop rectus abdominis.
Assuming you're following a decent resistance-training program, which is going to hit at least some of the muscles making up your "core," these are the exercises that will build and strengthen rectus abdominis and help you get a six pack.
Plank-type movement (i.e. static plank, ball rollouts)
Reverse crunch-type movement (e.g. hanging leg raise, reverse ball curl)
Twisting movement (i.e. cable woodchops, an isometric resisted twist, such as the dumbbell row, would also do the job)
Crunch-type movement (e.g. Swiss ball crunches, cable crunches, regular crunches)
My favourite ab exercises
These are my favourite ab exercises, mainly because they give me that satisfying "ache" in my abs the following day. I'll start with the hardest exercise first (rollouts), with the easiest one (usually a crunch variation) at the end.
Two-Point Rollout
With a Swiss Ball, loaded barbell or a Power Wheel in front of you, kneel down on the floor. Take your knees off the floor and straighten your legs. In this position, only your toes should be in contact with the floor. Push the ball forwards as far as possible, pause for a second, and then return to the start position. Studies show that rollouts are a great way to work rectus abdominis [1].
Reverse Ball Curl
To perform the reverse ball curl, make sure that you have something stable to hold on to. Lift your hips off the ball and curl your knees towards your face. Hold this position for just a second before returning the hips to the starting position. Keep the knees at roughly 90 degrees and avoid straightening or bending the legs.
I should point out that this can be a very difficult exercise to get right. Even just balancing on the ball is a challenge for most people. So don't worry if it takes a few weeks of practice to get the hang of it.
Ball Curl
Begin this exercise by lying on a Swiss Ball. Roll back so that your upper body is arched over the ball. Don't roll too far or you're liable to fall off. Raise your upper body, pause for a second in the top position, and then slowly return to the starting position. If you're new to crunches on a ball, start with your hands on your thighs. To make the exercise harder cross your arms across your chest or place your finger tips behind your head.
I normally train my abs 2-3 times per week, doing 2-3 sets per exercise, 8-15 repetitions per set (using extra resistance where necessary to make the load challenging) and taking 45-60 seconds of rest between sets.
Assuming you don't have any back problems, a program based on these simple principles will work for most people. I'm guessing it will work for you too.
About The Author Christian Finn holds a master's degree in exercise science, is a certified personal trainer and has been featured on BBC TV and radio, as well as in Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Fit Pro, Zest and other popular fitness magazines.
Reference 1. Escamilla, R.F., Babb, E., DeWitt, R., Jew, P., Kelleher, P., Burnham, T.,
Busch, J., D'Anna, K., Mowbray, R., & Imamura, R.T. (2006). Electromyographic analysis of traditional and nontraditional abdominal exercises: implications for rehabilitation and training. Physical Therapy, 86, 656-671
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