The fitness goal of each individual is different. For a 19 year old the goal could be huge muscles, for a bodybuilder the goal might be quality muscle , for models its thin waist line and sexy looks and for many it could be strong mid section . But there is one aspect of fitness which is common to everyone. The six pack. No matter what your goal is but you want a six pack abdominals. The moment one speaks about a perfect body, the first thing that comes into the mind is the Six pack. So I thought of bringing all the important aspects of developing the six pack under one article.
Why is it so tough to get the six pack?
Most people are going in a completely wrong way, or they are going in the right way, but the approach is incomplete. They think that abs exercise alone will bring six pack. Abs exercises do develop ab muscles and strengthen them but do not burn fat from abs alone. With abs workout you could achieve great abs, but it won’t be visible with a layer of fat over the abs.
The reason is, fats are subcutaneous – Fats are stored underneath the skin and right above the muscles covering up your definition. In order to make your six pack visible, exercise alone can not help you. So here are some of the factors you must consider while working your way towards the six pack abs.
Calories and diet:
In order to make your six pack visible you need to reduce your fats under skin. So the first thing that should be done is “Go on a negative calorie diet”. If you don’t consume lesser calories than what you expend, you may never loose fat under your skin. So first go on a negative calorie diet with a balanced nutrition. Negative calorie does not mean starvation.
Once your body gets clear signals that you are starving, your metabolic rates will decrease. The major fat burning hormones like thyroid and leptin will also decrease and cause the catastrophe in your diet. This explains why loosing the last 5 pounds of body fat is so tough. It’s because by that time you would have entered into the starvation mode.
So simply don’t starve. Plan your diet properly. Reduce your calories about 5-15% lesser than your requirements. Plan at least one high carb day a week to boost up your metabolism and to avoid your body from going into the starvation mode.
Body fat reduction and workouts:
As said earlier, if you carry a lot of fats under your skin then it is tough to see your abs. One must understand that spot reduction of fat is absolutely impossible. When you do your abs training, Mother Nature decides from where to pull out the fats. For most of the people, abdominals are the last place from where the fats are pulled out. So in order to develop the six pack, one must pull out all the fats under the skin.
As I said earlier, doing abs workout alone won’t work. Similarly doing cardio alone will also not work. A proper fat loss program or a program towards six pack is incomplete without any of the three factors – Diet, Cardio & Weight training.
Cardio – Increases your heart rate to burn fats all over your body
Weight training – Will increase the lean muscle mass all over your body and increase your metabolism and give that balanced look.
Abs exercise – Targets the ab muscles and develops the muscle in the abdominal area.
Abdominal muscle:
Ab muscles are also yet another muscle group in the body. They also need time to recover and to grow. So don’t train them daily. Train them like any other muscle so that you provide nutrition and rest for growth. Training them day in and day out on a daily basis can actually be negative for you. Training them daily can actually shrink your ab muscles, and make them look very skinny and make your abs look very weak.
Genetics:
Dorian Yates has a different abs look and Arnold has an entirely different look on the abs. Why? Arnold had one of the best arms in the world, but Boyer Coe had a split on top of his biceps which Arnold did not have, Why?
It is because of genetics. The muscle shape and arrangements are entirely dependent on your genetics, so try to aim for achieving your genetic potential on the six pack rather than imagining your abs as Dorian or Arnold. Who knows, even you can be an inspirational bodybuilder tomorrow decorating the gym walls and inspiring young upcoming bodybuilders with your strong abs pose.
All the best!!!