How do you get a six pack?
- Thread starter vejichan
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Blytheryn
Musical Adam West
Sure, do some crunches, raises, and other good ab stuff, but you won't ever see those abs until you're under 12% body fat. Find out how many calories you need to eat every day for maintenance and slash 500 off that number. I'd say start by just eating less and then adding some cardio to burn off more calories when you have gotten a bit underway 
KnightBrolaire
SSO's unofficial pickup tester
abs are 90% diet and 10% work. Best way to get rid of a beer gut is cut fast food/alcohol/most frozen foods (excluding fruits and vegetables) if those are a staple in your diet, and then start slowly tapering your calorie count while increasing the amount of exercise. If you don't work out already, start walking a couple miles a day, join a gym, do some lifting (compound lifts like deadlift, squat and power clean are really good for weight loss if you go high rep/lower weight). You can always start with body weight versions of the squat and do burpees instead of deadlifts too.
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KnightBrolaire
SSO's unofficial pickup tester
actually abs depend on your genetics. some guys can see them around 15%-20%.Sure, do some crunches, raises, and other good ab stuff, but you won't ever see those abs until you're under 12% body fat. Find out how many calories you need to eat every day for maintenance and slash 500 off that number. I'd say start by just eating less and then adding some cardio to burn off more calories when you have gotten a bit underway
Blytheryn
Musical Adam West
Wish I did...
Lorcan Ward
7slinger
All you need to do is make changes to your diet. For breakfast eat porridge. Swap all drinks out for water, some milk and fruit juice is ok. Cut down heavily on alcohol and take aways. If possible try to rule out take aways completely. Snack on fruit. Cook and buy smaller portions of food. Lots of little things like this. Losing weight by dieting is very easy to do once you get into a routine. The biggest mistake people do is try to completely change up their diet and cut out everything on Day 1 so take small steps.
Crunches, and most flexion based "ab" exercises, are in general a pretty shit way to build your core muscles in general. They tend to be bracing muscles and the best way to really work them is to use them to brace.
Nothing builds abs like heavy squats, deadlifts and standing over head presses.
But having the strongest core in the world won't mean shit if your abs are covered by fat. There is a *ton* of misinformation about how skinny guys have to get to have abs (as mentioned it is entirely genetic) but if you've got strong developed ab muscles they will show up over 12% unless you are incredibly unlucky,
Best to simply focus on being strong and healthy and let your body look like your body looks.
Example of a guy with fat over 20% and pretty visible abs:
I have a friend who stores fat like this, whereas I store *all* of my fat on my waist. Fucker always looks better then me, even when my BF% is lower than his!
Nothing builds abs like heavy squats, deadlifts and standing over head presses.
But having the strongest core in the world won't mean shit if your abs are covered by fat. There is a *ton* of misinformation about how skinny guys have to get to have abs (as mentioned it is entirely genetic) but if you've got strong developed ab muscles they will show up over 12% unless you are incredibly unlucky,
Best to simply focus on being strong and healthy and let your body look like your body looks.
Example of a guy with fat over 20% and pretty visible abs:
I have a friend who stores fat like this, whereas I store *all* of my fat on my waist. Fucker always looks better then me, even when my BF% is lower than his!
blacai
Well-Known Member
^this. Just eat healthy and perform heavy lifting. Your core will be stronger.
Specific abs workout is just a waste of time and will hurt your back, neck...
Leviathus
Psychotic Monster
Just go down to the store and buy one then...
Mathemagician
Well-Known Member
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Echoing what everyone is saying, you have to "eat right".
As a start, realize that the average person needs ~2,000 calories per day.
And needs about 1gram of protein, per pound they weigh.
So, start counting the calories as well as the #of servings in EVERYTHING you ingest. Milk, soda, beef, chicken, turkey, slices of bread, soda etc.
For example a common theme with sodas and candy bars is to show: 150 calories and elsewhere on the label "2.5 servings per package/bottle" so in reality it has 150 X 2.5 = 375 calories.
And 375/2,000 = .1875 = nearly 20% of the total calories you should be eating in a whole DAY. It's a fucking waste.
A whole chicken breast is like 200-250 calories. And it's meat. Mmmmmm.
An entire BAG of broccoli or other veggies, will have like 110 calories TOTAL, and you'll be so damn stuffed you won't want to eat again for hours. Combine this with a chicken breast and bam ~400 calorie meal that leaves you full and has a ton of good stuff for your body to use.
Cheap protein is obviously tuna, and any decent whey protein isolate. Mix t with milk and yogurt and some fresh fruit slices and blend. Boom, easy drinkable ~300-500 calories breakfast every day that will leave you stuffed.
Your body uses carbs first to create energy, then sugars (which carbs have inherently) THEN burns fat to create energy.
So you need to be taking in less carbs over all and increase your lean protein, vegetable, and complex carb intake (rice and whole grains).
As an easy aside, giving up fast food and sodas, and just making the exact same thing at home is a good way to "steal recipes" you like and still save a ton of calories because it will be healthier when you make a burger with a little bit of PAM olive oil than using butter/grease like the restaurant does.
I hope you're committed, because getting fit is actually pretty straight forward. It's just "boring" to some people. But like, any meathead can do it, so why can't a smart hard working person do it? They choose to not pay attention to what they eat.
Also, maybe go to the gym 3 times a week for 30-45 minutes. Early on it really doesn't mater what you do, just sweat and don't cave and stuff your face when you feel hungry after the first few works outs, you'll adjust.
Benefit: you can eat a TON of food when you make it yourself, because the calorie count is so much lower than eating out. Mexican food with grilled chicken is a weekly thing at my house.
Sorry for the long lost, hope some of this was helpful.
As a start, realize that the average person needs ~2,000 calories per day.
And needs about 1gram of protein, per pound they weigh.
So, start counting the calories as well as the #of servings in EVERYTHING you ingest. Milk, soda, beef, chicken, turkey, slices of bread, soda etc.
For example a common theme with sodas and candy bars is to show: 150 calories and elsewhere on the label "2.5 servings per package/bottle" so in reality it has 150 X 2.5 = 375 calories.
And 375/2,000 = .1875 = nearly 20% of the total calories you should be eating in a whole DAY. It's a fucking waste.
A whole chicken breast is like 200-250 calories. And it's meat. Mmmmmm.
An entire BAG of broccoli or other veggies, will have like 110 calories TOTAL, and you'll be so damn stuffed you won't want to eat again for hours. Combine this with a chicken breast and bam ~400 calorie meal that leaves you full and has a ton of good stuff for your body to use.
Cheap protein is obviously tuna, and any decent whey protein isolate. Mix t with milk and yogurt and some fresh fruit slices and blend. Boom, easy drinkable ~300-500 calories breakfast every day that will leave you stuffed.
Your body uses carbs first to create energy, then sugars (which carbs have inherently) THEN burns fat to create energy.
So you need to be taking in less carbs over all and increase your lean protein, vegetable, and complex carb intake (rice and whole grains).
As an easy aside, giving up fast food and sodas, and just making the exact same thing at home is a good way to "steal recipes" you like and still save a ton of calories because it will be healthier when you make a burger with a little bit of PAM olive oil than using butter/grease like the restaurant does.
I hope you're committed, because getting fit is actually pretty straight forward. It's just "boring" to some people. But like, any meathead can do it, so why can't a smart hard working person do it? They choose to not pay attention to what they eat.
Also, maybe go to the gym 3 times a week for 30-45 minutes. Early on it really doesn't mater what you do, just sweat and don't cave and stuff your face when you feel hungry after the first few works outs, you'll adjust.
Benefit: you can eat a TON of food when you make it yourself, because the calorie count is so much lower than eating out. Mexican food with grilled chicken is a weekly thing at my house.
Sorry for the long lost, hope some of this was helpful.
I'm trying to do the same thing. For me, an app called Lifesum is a HUGE help with calorie counting. It calculates the calories you can eat based on your measurements and goals and also monitores other apps if you track your excercises and adjusts the calorie intake accordingly. Last year I went from 91kg to 79kg with it in 6 months. I slipped a bit and am now back at 83kg but am determined to get a sixpack this time!
MikeH
Bring the gain
Up until this deployment, I have never done direct ab work in my programming, aside from when I have a PT test coming up....in which case I still don't do it and end up maxing out sit-ups anyway. The only reason I'm doing it now is because I've seen a direct correlation to my ability to brace harder for deadlifts and squats, plus hanging leg raises and GHRs have done wonders for my back pain after a heavy deadlift or squat session. And even after all that, I've had visible abs for the past few years. Nothing outrageous, but you know they're there. As stated above, focusing more on your performance and health will yield more positive results. I've never cut more than 8 lbs of body weight, and the only times I've done that were for competition, which ended up hindering my performance. Now I eat a shitload, take in about .8g/lb of protein, about .5g/lb of fats, and as many carbs as I can shove down my gullet. (rough estimates, as I don't track macros because I don't care) Carbs will increase your energy stores, and since I'm now doing both powerlifting and endurance training, increasing my carb intake has helped tremendously. So really, get on a basic program for strength, such as Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, or better yet 5/3/1, do some light cardio twice a week, and you will see a definite change in your body composition.
Drew
Forum MVP
I've had frequent success with this approach, as well.
I'm a cyclist. I ride mostly just to, well, these days to be faster than my buddies, but previously just to stay fit. A (muscle) six pack isn't really a priority to me, and as I understand cardio alone can get you most of the way there (and, all of the way there if you're an extreme endurance athlete, when all it takes is a couple crunches to make them show on your 0.2% body fat or whatever a world class marathon or cyclist has), but for most people on non-insane cardio regimes, it's also going to take some pretty significant dietary changes. Seeing as I ride because I like burgers and beer, I'm out.
Blytheryn
Musical Adam West
No offense, but that's just discarding most of what us have just told you...
MikeH
Bring the gain
Or you could do that and deplete yourself of energy while going catabolic. Your call.
Drew
Forum MVP
If this is the same member I'm thinking of, that's been most of the gear and recording conversations I've had, too.Super solid advice. I also really like (prefer them to Starting Strength and StrongLifts) the programs in Eric Helms' Training Pyramid, and get his Nutrition Pyramid book too. Also, buy Greg Nuckols books, The Art and The Science of lifting. These 4 books will give you a wonderfully solid foundation on one's fitness, strength and health goals. Instead of just giving you a program to work on they will empower you to make your own decisions and explain why.
I really just love everything by Helms and Nuckols. Wonderful guys doing serious research on lifting and nutrition.
blacai
Well-Known Member
-"How can I get a sixpack?"
-people: "Eat healthy and do some sport"
-I have decided to just drink water and chicken salad for a month
-> About SL, SS, 531 ... really good advice
-people: "Eat healthy and do some sport"
-I have decided to just drink water and chicken salad for a month
-> About SL, SS, 531 ... really good advice
TedEH
Cromulent
This has been a quite literal attempt to feed a troll.
