<\/p>\n It\u2019s been over twenty-seven years now since I have been working as a personal trainer<\/a> and over the course of my career, both as a personal trainer<\/a> and natural bodybuilder<\/a>, the most common question that I have been asked is how do you go about getting a six pack. Well, for starters you already have a six pack. Like the Zen koan about the fish that spends it\u2019s life searching for water, many are unaware that every human being already has a six pack- whether you can see them prominently or not is a different story. There are four main abdominal muscles, the transversus abdominus \u2013 which is the deepest muscle layer and it works to help stabilize the trunk and maintain internal abdominal pressure. The rectus abdominus \u2013 slung between the ribs and the pubic bone at the front of the pelvis. This muscle has the characteristic bumps and bulges that are commonly referred to as \u2018the six pack\u2019 and the external oblique muscles which flank the rectus abdominus and allow the trunk to twist. Then there are the internal oblique muscles which also flank the rectus abdominus.\u00a0So if everyone already has a six pack, the question then becomes why can\u2019t we see it on everyone. The answer is simply a matter of body fat. Most men in relatively good shape have a body fat percentage<\/a> of around 15% to 18% and most women have an average body fat level of about 22% to 25%<\/a>. Now even at these levels, (which are\u00a0 quite low for most of the general population here in the United States)[12] most people would have a layer of fat around their midsection that would hide their abdominal muscles. The muscles are always there, all you need to do is to reduce your body fat to levels where they can be seen. Athletes, who typically have lower body fat percentages than the general population often have prominent six packs and those in robust health following non-Western close-to-the-land diets will tend to have visible six packs if they don\u2019t overeat.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here in the West, it\u2019s a lot more complex as a combination of poor lifestyle choices, and the superabundance of high calorie and processed foods makes it such that most citizens of Westernized countries are overweight. Thus, their abdominal muscles are hidden under layers of fat tissue. Get rid of those layers of adipose tissue around the midsection and you will see your abs peeking out, but doing so isn\u2019t that easy. Based on genetics, gender and fat distribution, a rare few can see some semblance of a six pack at 15-20% body fat, some have to diet down to around 12% body fat to clearly see their abdominal muscles while most have to go even lower to clearly see their abs, which in itself is a Draconian task! (See my articles on Body Fat Distribution<\/a> & Body Fat Percentage<\/a>) And that\u2019s it. No yoga class, magic machine or even the most effective abdominal exercise such as a hanging leg raise<\/a>, can do anything for you as it\u2019s just a matter of reducing body fat in the abdominal area, which can not be done through exercise, no matter how many crunches or situps you do. The six pack has become one of our modern Holy Grails and having a well defined abdominal region significantly increases your social standing in our very visually oriented society. So there is a lot at stake in terms of marketing how to get a six pack to a population whose members are mostly overweight and are eager to change the way they look, resulting in the same cacophony of contradicting information circulating that exists in the realm of nutrition.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pose the question of how to get a six pack to many of the self appointed fitness gurus, and social media mavens, and you\u2019ll get a range of different answers. Some are insightful while others are way off the mark. As an aside, I have also found it fascinating to see that those who strongly advocate their ideas of what you need to do to get a six pack don\u2019t always sport a six pack themselves. Some may have a picture or two of what they looked like when they did have a six pack in days gone by, but the photos are usually dated or show the way they looked for a very brief period of time when preparing for a bodybuilding\/figure\/bikini contest or photo shoot. As great an accomplishment as this may be, it in no way reflects what they look like all year round. That said, few members of the general public are interested in having a six pack for only a few fleeting weeks out of the year. People want to walk around with a six pack and being ripped and defined<\/a> all the time, and it\u2019s a reasonable expectation given how much time and work it can involve. Few are aware of how long it takes to achieve muscle definition and get ripped<\/a>, and extreme exercise and dieting will only get you a six pack temporarily, if at all, and it will go away just as fast as it came. (See my article: How Long Does It Take To Get Muscle Definition<\/a>.) Finding credible role models who can at least give some indication of what you should be doing to get a six pack is hard. First of all you have to sort out information being put out there by people who happen to be young and genetically blessed with low fat stores around their midriff. Having a six pack in your teens and early twenties is not an accomplishment, and it takes no effort whatsoever as people can store fat in different parts of the body<\/a> due to genetic factors. Yet many with natural six packs speak with authority on what they \u201cdid\u201d to get there. In our society it\u2019s very much the same way those born into affluent families and who had access to sizeable amounts of capital to help start their businesses talk about how easy it is for lower income individuals to become successful entrepreneurs. It\u2019s just as absurd as it can take years of really hard work and constant attention to diet to be able to have a six pack later in life or to get a six pack when you start out being a bit on the heavier side.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n On the other side, having a six pack without doing much of anything isn\u2019t\u00a0a marker of how healthy you are, and over the past few\u00a0decades, large studies have provided evidence that what you can do in terms of your level of physical fitness correlates strongly with lower all-cause mortality and a lower risk of certain cancers, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, more so than how you look. [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11] Nor is having a six pack at a younger age any indication of what you will look like in your 30\u2019s and forties as most men and women in Westernized societies who are naturally athletic looking end up being just as overweight as everyone else in middle age.[1] I can\u2019t tell you at my age how many people I warned would lose all semblance of their six pack as they got older based on their diets and it\u2019s sad to see people who were ultra fit looking morph into men and women who look like they never set foot in a gym before, and that\u2019s usually what happens. If you live long enough you will realize that most of the athletic types you knew in high school look nothing like an Adonis in their late 30\u2019s and 40\u2019s.\u00a0 The skinny kids with the six packs don\u2019t tend to keep those trim waistlines as they age either as low muscle mass means it\u2019s even more likely you\u2019ll be overweight as time passes unless you really focus on eating healthy. However, these types represent a large portions of the role models for fitness and the six pack abs look on social media.\u00a0Being in the field of online marketing myself and being around several prominent social media \u201cfitness personalities,\u201d I know that one of the important strategies for keeping your followers happy and engaged is to create the illusion that you are just like them. Market research shows that many people today are put off by messages of strict dieting and so posting photos of themselves eating junk food goes a long way with being able to \u201cconnect better with their audience.\u201d This might help them keep and gain more followers and thus their revenue from product placements and ads on their channels and accounts, but it also makes it very hard for the poor man or woman with average genetics trying to figure out how to get their midsection toned as most people cannot get to the level of definition required for them to see their six packs while eating junk food regularly. I would love to say that it\u2019s possible, but for a long term body fat reduction I have yet to see the cheat meal approach help the majority of the population transform their bodies and stay that way. Keep in mind as well that weight gain is a cumulative and insidiously slow phenomenon. So when you see that younger man or woman with a six pack chowing away at whatever their heart desires, what you are often looking at is the slow process of them getting to a point where they won\u2019t see their abs anymore. At that point many then turn to drugs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Every year before the advent of summer I have seen a number of trainers begin their cycles of anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, ephedrine, clenbuterol, diuretics and thyroid medications designed to help them get a well defined six pack and an overall well muscled appearance. Many of them are very open about their use with others in the field and the results are dramatic to say the least. Many Hollywood actors and actresses follow the same path in order to sport\u00a0ripped and rippling midsections in the movies after only a few months of working out. Both groups have a serious financial stake in how they look and are willing to take serious risks to attain their goals and for me, that\u2019s their personal choice. The problem is that they then go on about how hard they trained and how much they dieted without any mention of the drugs involved creating the illusion that you can look like them by just training hard and watching your diet.\u00a0It\u2019s a real issue as natural bodybuilders and physique competitors can diet their behinds off for 6 months to a year to look not even nearly as ripped as some actors we see onscreen. Keep in mind that we are talking about men and women who pretty much dedicated their lives to working out and dieting for the purpose of being cut and muscular, yet an actor who never really set foot in the gym before surpasses them within a few months. You\u2019ll also often see very\u00a0thick and deep abdominal muscles actors, actress and performers that very look different from those of a natural athlete. It\u2019s a look that comes directly as a result of drug use and is unattainable for those who don\u2019t naturally have that type of abdominal musculature. So it\u2019s a slap in the face to anyone who knows what it takes to get there naturally to see so many celebrities claim that their transformations are just the fruit of old fashioned diet and hard work. Even more alarming are the personal trainers using drugs who tell their clients that their six packs were all from hard work as well, conveniently omitting what really got them there, and that many of them don\u2019t diet that hard as they don\u2019t have to in order to get the same results.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This unfortunately misleads the public into thinking that you can get those great abs too if you follow their diet and exercise routine. The same holds for almost all the bodybuilders, men\u2019s physique, figure competitors and bikini competitors who compete in non drug tested shows like the NPC and IFBB and muscle related fitness models. Many social media fitness personalities and personal trainers rely heavily on drugs as well for the coveted washboard-like midsection, while again proclaiming that their hours of cardio and good eating is the reason they look the way they do. Some don\u2019t even bother to lie about how they eat, posting photos of them scarfing down just about any manner of junk food, with the message that you can indeed have your cake and eat it too, while the use of illegal fat burning drugs like ephedrine and clenbuterol in conjunction with human growth hormone and some form of testosterone are the real reason they can eat whatever they want and still be ripped.\u00a0What is most disturbing is the number of recreational users who risk their health with these drugs simply to look good for the beach or for their social media photos. It is a sad and growing trend in the fitness industry as it creates a culture who have no clue how to get into shape without using drugs and so are often unable to help anyone else do the same.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n You turn on the television and something in you wants to believe them. The well sculpted models using some newfangled invention that they swear will get you a six pack within a matter of weeks. Perhaps summer is coming or you are just tired of not seeing what you want in the mirror and so you buy the machine, using it faithfully just as they did on the infomercials- and yet nothing happens. Your belly remains just that- a belly. It doesn\u2019t transform into a chiseled work of art and you can\u2019t understand why. Undaunted, but a bit lighter in the purse, you go to the gym. You just want to get your abdominals looking sharp and all the gym advertisements are filled with beautifully built people with the midsections of a Greek gods. Given how great they look, it should only be a matter of time until that membership pays off and you\u2019ll look just like them. You do everything you read about- thousands of crunches, sit ups and leg raises. You hit every ab machine in the gym every day you are there, take every ab class and put in your time doing cardio to burn off the fat. At first you fell that you are making progress, you feel the burn when you train and are confident that the six pack of your dreams are just around the bend. But nothing happens. All that has happened is that you have spent good money on machines you don\u2019t use and a gym membership that is becoming more and more of a reminder of how hopeless your quest has become.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The weeks turn into months and the months turn into years, and still those blocks in your stomach remain elusive. So you decide to do more. You train longer and you do more exercises for your abdominal muscles, perhaps training them every day. Maybe even twice a day, yet your midsection still looks more like a spare tire rather than a carved piece of granite. What could be the problem? Why can\u2019t you get the same abdominal definition as the people in the magazines? Why is there still a layer of fat where rippling muscles should be after all of your hard work? The answer has nothing to do with six packs and everything to do with economics.<\/p>\n Unless you were one of the fortunate few who had an accomplished mentor to steer you in the right direction from day one, you probably got most of your information on getting a six pack from television, books, magazines, or the Internet. However it is important to reflect on what these sources have to gain by your heeding their advice. From the eye catching before and after pictures to the authoritative pitches by celebrities and fitness gurus there is usually one common denominator behind it all and that is profit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n There is a very useful Latin phrase, \u2018cui bono?\u2019 which translates as \u2018who stands to gain?\u2019 \u2013 and this is precisely the question you should be asking when confronted by any information on how to get your abs to show. There are always new and improved machines and new and improved exercise programs, all sold by well muscled trainers, athletes and celebrities and there will always be new ones coming out of the woodwork. The math is pretty simple- these programs, routines, exercises, extreme diets and classes aren\u2019t going to produce an army of six pack sporting citizens, but rather a slew of frustrated individuals. Individuals who are not going to lay the blame on the machine\/diet\/DVD or trainer for failing, but who instead will place the blame squarely on themselves. Disheartened and filled with a sense of failure, they thus become the perfect consumers for another round of products and services- in the hope that this one will finally help them break through and get them a six pack. It is a cyclic system that sells you hope but not much of anything else and it works as long as the general public remains confused and unsure about what they need to do to get into shape.<\/p>\n Today in our society people want results and they want it now- a microwave mentality that applies not only to how people approach matters of health and fitness, but also just about every facet of modern life. If people want something, they want it now and you are willing to pay for it, a weakness that the fitness industry and media use to their advantage. People will always buy that fitness magazine because they are certain that if you do the same \u2018secret exercises\u2019 that the celebrity\/athlete\/model\/bodybuilder is doing, you will eventually look like them.<\/p>\n People will always tune in to that special report on the new way to lose inches off of your midsection. News programs have devolved mostly into thinly disguised forms of entertainment, where ratings take precedence over the reporting of credible information, ratings that help them sell advertisement time at higher prices, which thus net the networks higher profits. In the final analysis, most of the information you come across about getting a six pack comes with a vested interest in making a profit and not some altruistic and compassionate desire to help you realize your goal. Unfortunately you can\u2019t make much in the way of profit with the principles that are really needed to get a six pack. There is no instant gratification and it doesn\u2019t come with a need for fancy machines, DVDs, supplements, books or magazines. Most importantly, you can do it without spending the better part of your life doing abdominal exercises.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Reality Of\u00a0 Six Pack Abs- Proper Diet & Exercise<\/span><\/p>\n So how do you go about reducing your body fat in a way that doesn\u2019t yield only fleeting results? The natural way to do it is simply a combination of: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n That\u2019s one tried and true way of doing it and one that I have seen work without fail. No magic machines, no magic pills, no DVD\u2019s and most certainly no special exercises or even cardio. I can say so with some authority since I haven\u2019t done that much in the way of\u00a0 crunches, sit ups and the like after my tenth year and I never did any cardio- nor did any of my clients. When I did train my abs in the early years of my career it was never more than two exercises for a total of six sets, which took no more than three to five minutes to complete. As a natural bodybuilder I was told very early on that you rely on diet only to get into shape and not cardio- as too much in the way of muscle mass is always lost in the process and because it doesn\u2019t really work. (Read more about cardio as an ineffective method for fat loss here.) In fact during the height of my bodybuilding career I didn\u2019t do anything for my abs and still won shows and almost every photograph of me in circulation is what I look like having not done any direct ab work for over a decade. I\u2019m not a genetic freak by any stretch, I never used drugs, nor am I possessed of a special body type that allows me to get away with doing so little as I have been able to replicate the same results with my clients who competed successfully in fitness, figure and bodybuilding competitions- regardless of their initial body type- and without doing any cardio or hours of ab exercises. It\u2019s not what the fitness industry wants you to hear, but it\u2019s the truth and isn\u2019t thanks to anything but a consistently clean diet and intense weight training.<\/p>\n In my workout DVD which was filmed to document my training philosophy and show what you could do without having to resort to drugs or supplements, there are no shots of me training my abdominals. I was asked on many occasions why I didn\u2019t include a segment on abdominal training and the reason that I didn\u2019t is because I don\u2019t do any ab work.\u00a0 The last thing that I wanted was for people to think that if they did some special exercise that I did that they would get similar results, when nothing could be further from the truth. Today at 43 years old I still have a deeply etched six pack, and I haven\u2019t done any direct abdominal exercises since the mid 90\u2019s but I do have to watch what I eat to keep it!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If It Won\u2019t Give Me Six Pack Abs Do You Need To Do Ab Exercises?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now make no mistake- there is indeed a need to train your abdominal muscles<\/a>\u2013 as it helps stabilize your entire body and such exercises are indeed recommended for everyone starting a training routine. However, your abdominal muscles get a serious workout during almost any weight training exercise and very much so if you train as hard and as heavy as I do using primarily compound movements. Thus I don\u2019t need to do much in the way of direct ab exercises as they are hit pretty hard as a result of my high intensity training routine. That being said, your abdominals are muscles like anything else and training them every day with hundreds of repetitions won\u2019t do much in terms of getting them to be as strong as possible and can result in overdevelopment. Take a look at the bodybuilders who have blocky, turtle like abdominal muscles as a result of years of weighted abdominal exercises and or drug use. It might look impressive when they flex them, but otherwise those muscles protrude and give a rather pot bellied appearance. Big and thick abs don\u2019t look too great in a T-shirt, and doesn\u2019t present much in the way of a balanced and aesthetically pleasing physique.<\/p>\n The problem is that once you over develop your abdominal muscles by doing too much, it isn\u2019t that easy- if at all possible to reverse it and you are stuck with a thick waist and what I call the Ninja Turtle look- which I doubt is the goal of those who train their abs day in and day out. Now the muscle tension created by training your abs several times a week makes you FEEL like your abs are tighter- but like any muscle the more you train them won\u2019t necessarily make them any stronger or better developed. If anything it can actually hinder your overall progress (read more about how muscles get stronger here<\/a>). As for \u2018core strength\u2019- time spent on an exercise ball will never give you the strength you can gain from a high intensity training program. High intensity weight training can make your core muscles strong enough to enable you to lift a car- which is a far cry from what you could do on your best day if you relied only on the modern incarnation of \u2018core exercises.\u2019 It won\u2019t give you a six pack either.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Importance Of Diet For Six Pack Abs<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What type of diet do you need to follow if a six pack is your ultimate goal? If there were a simple answer to this we would have many more people walking around with six packs than we do now! It requires a good understanding your caloric intake, being able to reduce it to the point where you are able to lose body fat and keep manipulating it so that your body doesn\u2019t stop burning fat or regaining the lost weight. We are designed to gain weight, not lose weight, which is why it\u2019s easier to get a pot belly than it is to get a six pack, but it can be done. There is usually an initial period of discomfort as you begin to adjust and in my experience, long term results are best seen with diets that\u00a0consist exclusively of foods that have been part of the human diet for the past 150,000 years. That means no processed foods, (and that includes protein shakes- which you should avoid anyway if you seriously want a six pack- read my article here), no added salt or sugars, no alcohol, juices or junk food of any kind. It isn\u2019t as Spartan as some might think as humans have eaten this way for hundreds of thousands of years.\u00a0 In terms of exercise- it\u2019s a good idea to also incorporate weight training of a sufficient intensity to increase your overall muscle mass which increase your metabolism slightly and you won\u2019t be flabby everywhere but your midsection. It\u2019s also a good formula for\u00a0sustainable and lasting results as the increased muscle mass and training means you can eat more and still stay lean.<\/p>\n Now paying attention to your diet over a long period of time in combination with a sensible exercise regiment isn\u2019t going to give you any instant gratification. Attention to diet requires a lifetime of consideration, patience and discipline. Traits that don\u2019t lend themselves to today\u2019s microwave mentality but are nonetheless very much what it takes to get in shape and stay in shape. After all, it\u2019s only logical that if it took you years to put on that layer of fat that obscures your stomach, it wouldn\u2019t be realistic to expect it to go away in a couple of weeks. There are legitimate reasons to work your abdominal muscles directly, and that is to strengthen the muscles that support the trunk and allow for movement. These muscles also help support your lower back, so training them is not just a cosmetic undertaking. I hope this article help clear up some of the misconceptions around having a six pack and remember that you don\u2019t need to have a six pack to be fit!!!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n![\"6](\"http:\/\/naturallyintense.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/6-pack-abs-not-from-exercise.jpg\")
The Truth About The Six Pack- Having Abs Doesn\u2019t Mean You Know How to Help Others Get It<\/h2>\n
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The Truth About The Six Pack- How Drug Use Makes It Hard To Know What It Takes To Get There<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Six Pack Abs As An Effective Marketing Tool<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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6 Pack Abs Are A Multi-Million Dollar Industry<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n
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<\/p>\n
\nPROPER DIET, HIGH INTENSITY WEIGHT TRAINING AND TIME.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n![\"Ab](\"http:\/\/naturallyintense.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Ab-shot-Kevin--1024x749.jpg\")
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