How to Build Six Pack Abs!

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"How can I build six pack abs?"

This is probably the most common question I hear from people in and out of the gym regarding their body.

Building strong and defined abs requires a great amount of effort and discipline on your part. To get six pack abs you need to do two things: Build muscle and lose fat. In order to do this we need to create a workout routine and diet plan geared toward building strong abdominal muscles and burning body fat so we can see those muscles.

The first part to this six pack abs guide is building the ab muscles. We want to build the abs before we burn the excess fat because we can use the calories from out stored body fat to build the new muscle. Muscle also burn extra calories so as we build stronger muscles your body will burn the extra fat more efficiently.

Less is more!

Many people have trouble building abdominal muscles because they don’t train the muscle correctly. Why would you do 500 sit-ups a day if doing 300 did nothing? The key to building six pack abs is not to do as many reps as you can but instead increase your overall workout intensity with heavier weight and correct form.

During your workouts it is important to concentrate of correct form. If you are using your body’s momentum you are limiting the amount of work your abs actually has to do. You want to concentrate on slow controlled movements so that you are minimizing momentum. I like to focus my concentration on the part of my body that the exercise works.

You should be adding enough resistance to your ab exercises so that you can get at least 10 reps, but no more than 15. Your core muscles will respond better to heavier weight and fewer reps.

How often should you train your abs?

"The more you train, the stronger the muscles will get." Right? … No! It is a common misconception with people that training your ab muscles daily is the best way to build muscle. You should train your abdominal muscles like any other muscle group. It is best to train your abs only 1-2 a week. Muscle fibers need to time to repair otherwise they will never grow! Abdominal muscles are no exception to the rule.

Best Ab Exercises

The best exercises are the ones that work best for you. Everyone is different so stick to the exercises that work for you. The most important thing to remember is that any workout if performed repetitively will eventually become less effective than in the beginning. So keep changing up the routine and you will notice the best results and hopefully get six pack abs.

We have an entire collection of free ab exercise videos that are great tools for figuring out how to properly perform various exercises. Check out our full collection of Abdominal Exercises.

Mix up your workouts!

It is important to keep changing up your workouts and exercises every couple of weeks. This is because your body eventually gets used to the same resistance and no longer needs to build more muscle to cope with the stress. I like to add new exercises to my routine anyway to keep it fun and interesting.

You can also mix up your ab workouts by increasing the amount of resistance. Try to make it a goal to reach 15 reps after each time you increase the resistance. Doing so will allow you to concentrate on progression and the short term goals will keep you motivated.

Don’t be tempted to stick to your favorite exercises, mix it up by finding new exercises that utilize different parts of your abdominal muscles. It is easy to stick to workouts that are easier, for obvious reasons. Try to find exercises that push you to the point of exhaustion. It is this progression that will force your body to build muscle and burn fat.

Burn the excess fat!

Now that we have figured out how to build up the abdominal muscles we have to burn the fat to see those six pack abs. To do this you need to get control of your diet.

It is important to remember to:

• Eat 5-6 healthy high protein meals a day. Eating 5-6 meals a day will help speed up your metabolism and provide you with the nutrients you need to build muscle. Protein is easily used as energy and is vital for building muscle. Try to get roughly 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight a day. So a 200 pound male would need around 200 grams of protein per day.
• Avoid simple carbohydrates like refined sugar, it provides you with only a little burst of energy and is easily stored as fat in the body. Instead try to get the majority of your carbohydrates from complex carbohydrate sources like whole grain bread, brown rice, vegetables, and oats. Complex carbohydrates keep you fuller longer and give your body a longer supply of energy.
• Drink plenty of water. Water is involved in almost every single process in your body. Water is really important, it is essential during the fat burn process. I like to carry a bottle of water around with me and sip on it throughout the day. You should aim for 50-60 ounces per 100 pounds of body weight. So a 200 pound male would want around 100-120 ounces of water. That is around a gallon of water per day!
• Essential fatty acids are important; they help increase your metabolism and they also assist in the fat burning process. Essential fatty acids are found in fish fat, flax oil, olive oil, virgin coconut oil, nuts and seeds, natural nut butters, avocados, etc. Because most of these sources are also high in other fats I would recommend supplementing fish oil or flax seed oil.

I hope you found this guide to building six pack abs was helpful for you. For more information regarding proper nutrition check out the nutrition guide.


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