From Fight Club to *insert Hollywood leading man of the moment here* getting in the shape of your life seems to come down to one thing: abs. While not strictly an indicator of health or athletic function, the six pack holds an almost mythical status in our gains obsessed society.
And, truth be told, we’ve probably all tried and failed to get one more than once. The thing is, you don’t need to be Jonathan Majors, Aaron Taylor Johnson, or Jeremy Allen White to uncover a six or even (calm down) eight pack, because we all have abs. It’s just about uncovering them.
Clearly, doing so isn’t simple. But, by addressing the common mistakes below, you’ll up your chances dramatically. Want to get a killer core? Read on.
You’re going all out
Killing yourself in the gym then sitting on your behind isn’t the way. “Look to increase your movement throughout the day,” advises Mitch Raynsford, strength and conditioning coach at P3RFORM. “This is known as NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis). Increasing this and not spending the other 23 hours of your day sitting at a desk or sleeping will make a much bigger impact on your weight loss journey than a crazy gym session once a week.”
You’re forgetting the diet
“For the abs to be visible, you need to have a low percentage of body fat, which is roughly around 11% for men and 14% for women,” explains David Wiener, training and nutrition specialist at AI-based fitness app Freeletics. “This cannot be accomplished by exercise alone, and you must combine targeted training with a calorific deficit. However, it is important to recognise that exceptionally low levels of body fat do not necessarily equate to optimum health.” Struggling to lose that final bit? Then cut out those sugar-filled hot sauces you’re using to liven up your chicken. Bleak, but if you’re really that committed, it could make the difference.
Or, you’re not eating enough
“Eating smaller, more frequent meals which are protein rich and contain complex carbohydrates is key,” explains Wiener. “With the right meals, portion control and timing, you can eat every two or three hours, stay full, and still drop fat around your abdomen. Ideal foods include chicken, turkey, salmon, eggs, sweet potatoes, brown rice, and non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach.”
Or, you’re actually starving yourself
We need to eat less to lose weight – that’s a fact. But it isn’t about going from 0-100 in a week. “People go wrong when they restrict the energy (calories) they can have each day too significantly, meaning that although they may see results at first, they do not provide a long-term solution,” Raynsford explains. “Reducing your maintenance calories by around 10-15% instead will mean you are able to see results in a more flexible and sustainable way.”
You’re doing too many sit-ups
Yes, sit-ups build abs. But in terms of burning calories and building a well-rounded core, they’re a fairly low-impact, isolated exercise. Time to ramp it up. “To really target the abs and core as a whole, compound exercises are key,” explains Raynsford. “These are multi-joint movements that target big muscle groups across the body (squats, deadlifts, barbell rows etc.) This leads to a large amount of time under tension which is a key component for the development of muscle strength and size.”
You’re forgetting something else
Working the core is key, but if you aren’t taking a holistic approach and really focusing on the muscles you’re working, you’re missing out. “The core is like a pressure cylinder inside your body, made up of your diaphragm, your pelvic floor, your obliques, your lower back, and your abs,” says Wiener. “The simplest way to engage your core is to brace yourself as if you’re expecting a hit to the torso, and then breathe into your stomach. Once your core is engaged, it will make the workout much more beneficial, and you can avoid making that mistake of having poor form.”
Your technique is twisted
As anyone who’s ever done a crunch knows, core exercises open the door to a whole world of pain. So at least make sure you’e performing them correctly. “Crunches, butterfly sit ups and Russian twists are often done with very poor technique, leading to people flexing their neck forward and swinging with momentum rather than focusing on actually contracting the abs,” Raynsford says. “When isolating the abdominals you want to ensure your transverse abdominals are engage correctly. Try lying on the floor with your knees above your hips, draw the lower back tight into the floor and slowly extend your knees away from you whilst ensuring the lower back remains in contact with the ground. This tension you should feel in the lower abs are your trans abs switching on and a key component of core engagement to increase strength, protect the spine and improve the look of your abs.”
You aren’t eating enough ice cream
Are you a fitness robot, or a human? If it’s the latter, you’ll want to lean in to those cheat days, if only so you don’t lose the will to live. “If you want to have a cheat day that’s fine,” Wiener says. “It’s simply not sustainable to keep up a strict regime, and it could result in you giving up much quicker, and then you will never get a six pack! Instead of cheat days, have a cheat meal and satisfy some of your guilty cravings, rather than overloading with calories all day.”
You’re rushing it
Two weeks to go before that beach holiday? We’re sorry to say it, but uncovering those abs takes time. “Realistically we can only lose 0.5-1% of our body mass each week as true body fat before we start losing muscle mass as well,” Raynsford explains. “With that mindset, some individuals may only be a few weeks off, with others this may be a two-year journey.” In other words, find a sustainable way to do it, and stick with it.
You’re celebrating too early
See a bit of progress and reach for a celebratory beer? Yeah, us too. But hang on a sec before celebrating… “Once you do start seeing results, it's important to keep going, and not fall back into bad habits or routines,” warns Wiener. “It can be easy to relax as soon as you start seeing results, but making sure you keep going will ensure you to gain a six pack, and make it more likely to stay too.”
You aren’t judging yourself fairly
The thinking goes that reducing body fat is about burning more calories than you consume. But, as Raynsford explains, each of our bodies works in different ways. “Body fat percentage differs drastically between individuals as some store more fat around their stomach, others in the chest and other maybe the rear,” he says. “If you are one of the unlucky ones that stores fat around your stomach, you’ll need to hit a lower overall body fat to reveal the abs underneath.” There’s no one size fits all approach, so don’t be disheartened if your naturally slender gym buddy seems to find the process easier.
You aren’t ticking all the boxes
Raynsford has a check-list for unveiling abs. If you aren’t getting the below each day, why not?
- 7-9 hours sleep
- 2-3L of water
- 10,000+ steps
- Maintain a stable 10-15% calorie deficit
- Train each muscle group 2-3 per week
