Six-Pack Abs Formula
Six-Pack Abs Series, Part 2:
In part one of our six-pack abs series we unpacked some major misconceptions about getting six-pack abs. In part two, we will be covering a simple yet incredibly effective formula to getting six-pack abs fast. In part one, I explained a quote my dad once told me: “If something isn’t working, change it.”
Well in part two I want to cover a very similar quote, something my dad also told me: “If something IS working, DON’T change it!”
The formula I am about to share with you is simple yet brings serious results! So if something works, why change it? If you apply the formula below, it will get you into incredible shape and help to finally bring out your six-pack abs:
Six-Pack Abs Formula
Proper nutrition + Strength Training + High Intensity Cardio= Six-Pack Abs
Seems pretty simple right? Well it is! Let me break this down…
Proper Nutrition For Six-Pack Abs:
There are two quotes that I would like to share, both speaking great truths:
“Abs are made in the kitchen.”
“You cannot out train a bad diet.”
You can be doing everything right in the weight room and during your cardio sessions, but if you are eating junk food all day you will never be able to eliminate the layer of fat around your abs, period.
Stop eating the process junk food and start focusing your efforts on eating whole, natural foods. Take a look at a few simple nutrition rules that you can start to follow right now that will greatly help speed up your results:
1. Focus on getting great sources of protein, healthy fats, and tons of vegetables with each meal.
- Protein: Good sources of protein will help burn fat and build up ripped lean muscle. Protein Sources: eggs, chicken, grass fed meats, wild fish, wild game.
- Healthy Fats: Good fats will NOT make you fat, they will actually help burn fat. Here are some great fat sources you should incorporate into meals: Grass fed butter, coconut oil, almond butter, fish oil, avocados…
- Vegetables: Fill up on tons of colorful vegetables: Spinach, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, brussle sprouts to name a few…
2. Depending on your goals, incorporate healthy carbohydrates on your workout days.
- Some great sources of carbohydrates are black beans, pinto beans, sweet potatoes, and yams. Depending on your goals, you should eat these within 30 minutes of finishing your weight lifting sessions. All other meals should focus on the foods from number one.
(Note: If you are looking to add serious muscle mass or you work out a ton, you will need to be eating more carbohydrates throughout the day to refuel your body. Alternative carb sources are rice, oats, and white potatoes. For fat loss and weight loss however, try staying between 50-150 grams of carbs per day depending on bodyweight)
3. Do not expect perfection.
- Cheat Day: After eating the incredibly healthy foods from above for 6-7 days, you should treat yourself to a cheat day. This will actually help you burn MORE fat by doing this! Every 6-7 days, if you stay strong to eating the foods above, you should carve out a full day where you eat anything and everything you want.
- Cheat Meals: If going 6-7 straight days without junk food is out of the question for you, try incorporating 3-4 cheat meals into your diet each week. Be sure to spread them out over the course of the week. For example, eat all healthy foods on Monday and Tuesday then at lunch on Wednesday, enjoy a cheat meal. Don’t overdo it on the cheat meals though. The ratio should be 85-90% healthy foods to 10-15% junk foods.
(Be sure you do not combine having cheat meals and cheat days. You should choose to do one or the other!)
4. Eat when you are hungry and until you are satisfied.
- As we talked about in part one of our six-pack abs series, you should never starve yourself when trying to get six-pack abs. You should focus on getting incredibly healthy foods and eating when you are hungry and until you are satisfied.
More great nutrition tips:
- Try and eat 4-8 smaller meals per day. Having more smaller meals each day has brought better results in terms of fat loss than eating a few larger meals each day.
- Eating the same few healthy meals over and over is the easiest way to eat healthy. Find 2-4 that you enjoy and stick with them.
- Prepare meals in advance and cook in bulk. This will always ensure you have incredibly healthy foods on hand and will make you less likely to go out and eat junk food.
- Remove all the junk food from your house. If there is no junk food to eat, there is a 100% guarantee you won’t eat it!
Strength Training For Six-Pack Abs:
Strength training does two major things for your body: builds and maintains lean muscle, and helps burn fat. The more lean muscle you have, the less fat you are going to have. Many people do not realize how powerful strength training is when it comes to getting six-pack abs. But the truth is lifting weights and getting stronger is one of the best things you can do to burn away unwanted fat!
Your focus should not be on isolated movements like bicep curls or tricep extensions, but should instead be focused on doing key compound movements that will really help build up the lean muscle and eliminate unwanted fat.
Here is a look at a few of the exercises you should focus on:
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Bench Press
- Overhead Press
- Bent Over Row
- Pull-Ups
- Push-Ups
The exercises above incorporate using multiple body parts and will help tighten up your abs and eliminate the fat around them. The best way to engage in a strength training routine is to use a weight that is comfortable yet challenging. Each workout session should be an improvement off of the last. This means increasing the weight to make the lifts more challenging each time you go workout.
Lifting heavy weights will not make you bulky. In fact, lifting heavy weights will actually add lean, ripped muscle and burn fat. So do not worry about getting bulky. It is very difficult to add serious muscle unless you are focusing on doing that. The combination of tons of food (and I mean TONS) and heavy lifting will help add muscle mass, but for most people lifting heavy weights will burn tons of fat and add the ripped, lean muscle we all want!
High Intensity Cardio For Six-Pack Abs:
After reading part one, you know that long slow cardio is just not going to do the trick when trying to get six-pack abs. Not only do I not want you to waste an hour of your time running on a treadmill, but I want to bring you results; that is why I am telling you to stop the madness.
Eliminate the long slow cardio workouts and start focusing your efforts on high intensity cardio sessions. Yes it is fine to go on hikes and long walks, but never should you go for a cardio workout and jog on a treadmill for an hour (unless of course you are looking for slow results).
Below I will list three great options when it comes to amazing high intensity cardio workouts that will burn tons of fat and bring you results fast. The order below is what I have tested to be the best in terms of results, so lets take a look:
1. Outdoor sprints (grass, track, or hill sprints)
- Simply one of the best workouts you can do when it comes to fat loss. Sprints will not only help with eliminating unwanted fat, but it will also aid in really making your abs “pop” like never before. If you have a park, outdoor track, or hill by your house I recommend jumping on that right away.
2. Bodyweight interval circuits
- Bodyweight circuits are a great way to keep your body guessing while building up good strength and getting a great cardio workout in. Some of the toughest cardio workouts I have been through involved doing just bodyweight exercises. Again, they will help with fat burning and lean muscle gain.
3. Rowing Machine
- The machine I love to hate. The rowing machine is my go to cardio workout in the winter when outdoor sprinting is unavailable. You can get some awesome workouts in on the rowing machine so get creative. I find it best to keep your rowing interval distances between 100-300 meters to start to ensure you are keeping the intensity high throughout. Once you get in better shape, you can start adding meters and sprinting for longer periods of time.
Conclusion
We have just went over three simple aspects when it comes to getting six-pack abs and getting healthy. Proper nutrition, strength training, and high intensity cardio sessions are going to be the key combination when trying to get six-pack abs and getting ripped like never before.
This formula is something that has worked for years, so why change it? If you dedicate yourself to eating properly, and doing the right kinds of exercises and workouts, you will be amazed by the results you will start seeing.
As I said in part one, it is time to stop the insanity and start doing something that will actually bring you the results you desire. If you have been trying to get six-pack abs for years or even months and still don’t have them, something is wrong and needs to change. If you have been trying to lose weight or add muscle for six months and have only seen small improvements, something must change.
Reevaluate what you are currently doing and line it up with what we went over above. This simple formula is results driven and works every time when applied.
I encourage you to take the information and apply it to what you are doing now. If you do that, you will start to feel the difference within days and start seeing results within weeks, not months or years!
It is time to get to work, and start getting the results you deserve…
If you missed Part One of our Six-Pack Abs Series, be sure to go check that out by clicking HERE!
Questions or Comments?
I would love to hear your feedback below!
P.S. If you liked this post, could you please “Like”, “Tweet”, and +1 it!
P.P.S. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the awesome free gift I have for you!
Miss a part in the series? Go HERE to check what you missed!
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Hi Dennis, once again thanks for writing this article, it’s simple and specific and I’m excited to give it a try. I just have a question, I’ve been trying for several months now to get that rip abs I once had when I was in high school yet I always seem to fall short. I completely stopped eating junk foods and rice (which based on your article, may have been a mistake). I only eat chicken, fish, a lot of vegetables, fruits and my whey protein shake. Yes I got a little rip everywhere except my abs and what’s worse is that I lost mass. the “six pack” is somewhat showing but there is still that layer of fat especially on my lower abdominal and that on the side which I cannot seem to get rid of. I guess my question is, when do you time your meals to get the maximum effect? I work nights so I guess it might be different from one who works during the day. Example, when I get home from work around 7 or 8 am, I eat chicken, my veggies, maybe a mango for dessert and my whey protein shake then after I go to bed. Is that advisable? Sorry for the novel = )
Hey Anton,
The advice I always give people is to eat when you are hungry and until you are satisfied. The only time I ever time my meals are after workouts. This is when I will eat the majority of my carbohydrates for the day (I will eat them within 30-60 minutes after a tough workout). Other than that, I always eat when I get hungry. If you are eating the right foods (as were mentioned in the article), you will naturally burn tons of fat. Plus, if you are lifting weights and doing some sprints a few times per week, you will replace that unwanted fat with lean muscle. Keep working hard. Let me know if any other questions come up. Hope this helps.
-Dennis
Thanks Dennis, appreciate the advice.
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I’d like to find out more? I’d love to find out some additional
information.
You can check out the six-pack series (HERE) or my BodyFit Program (HERE)!
You need to look into IIFYM. You’re living in the past on your diet man! There’s no clean/dirty foods. Just eat at a deficit and get your macros in and you’ll get ripped!
Living in the past is an interesting statement. I would much rather eat foods from the past than the garbage that is out there today. Give me some grass fed free range beef any day over the processed fast food of today. Second, I NEVER count calories. Eat the right foods (and as much as you want) and naturally burn fat. I agree that you can burn fat by eating a deficit, but the IIFYM diet is much more of a hassle than what I follow. Every meal I eat is incredibly delicious and nutritious. Plus I am setting myself up for lifelong health, not just short term “look goodedness.” I appreciate the comment!
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