Six Pack Abs are the icing on the cake. They represent the peak of excellence in body conditioning. They do, however, remain elusive for the vast majority of the population. I believe this is due to the mythology that has grown up around them for so long. What is the best way to work them? Is diet important or can sit-ups alone produce a six-pack? How often should I work out? I’ll answer these by providing 5 tips for building great abs.

1. The Mind Link

Think and Feel like a person who already has great abs. Weren’t expecting that were you? Well, the psychological aspect of attaining a six-pack is as important as the physical. This one tip will ensure that you stick to the program and do not lose motivation. For this you should:

• Visualize the body you want regularly, make time for this mental exercise.
• Put posters up in places where you’ll see them regularly.
• Buy some of the clothes that you will want when you have this body and look at them often.
• Write out a time-specific goal i.e. “I will have 10% body fat by INSERT DATE”.**
• Write out this goal EVERY DAY in the present tense i.e. “I have a body fat level of 8%”. Write it repeatedly whenever you have some free time

**Giving a specific body fat level is an objective way of measuring your progress.

If you want to see your abs, you’ll need to get a body fat of 10% or less, remember that figure. You can buy equipment that will measure your body fat quite cheaply. See here

2. Keep it Simple

As for the workouts, these can be quite simple. There are all sorts of ab exercises but I only perform 3 of them.

1. Declined Sit-Ups
2. Crunches
3. Reverse Crunches

The first thing to bear in mind is that the abs are just another muscle. They need to be forced to grow. In order to do this, they need weighted resistance for a maximum of around 16 reps. Your wasting your time doing sit-ups for many minutes on end. I recommend that you get a weight and hold it on your chest and sit-up slowly. At the top of the movement hold and crunch the abs then lower yourself back down slowly. Don’t allow your back to fully rest on the floor. The goal is to do anywhere between 8 and 16 reps to the point where you can’t do any more. I use a sit-up bench for my abs routine, it allows my body to be declined, thereby adding yet more resistance for my mid-section to push against.

3. Use a Fat Stripping Diet

I would rather use the phrase ‘Way of Eating’ rather than ‘Diet’ here because ‘diet’ implies that you will someday finish with this nutritional strategy. If this is what you’re going to do, forget about it. You’ll just yo-yo around for years. You need a permanent change in the way you eat for about 95% of the time, the other 5% you can let your hair down and enjoy the odd treat.

If you have a lot of fat to lose, I recommend ditching the rubbish carbohydrates from your diet. By this I mean bread, potato, pasta, bagels and all refined carb-laden junk. To get your body to start using your stored fat for energy you can cut your carbohydrate to around 30 grams a day to kick-start the process (this level varies for each individual). Carbohydrates that are good include nuts, seeds (flax is great), fibrous vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli), and some fruits like strawberries and avocado. This is a big subject and I will be going into more detail soon. I think I might create a free ebook on the matter actually, subscribe here for updates.

4. Work your abs at most 3 times a week

Any more than this won’t be beneficial. Your abs, like any other muscle, need time to recover. Hit your abs hard, then get out of there and rest.

5. Eat More Fat!

Paradoxically, eating fat is a great way to lose it! In relation to tip 3, when carbohydrate levels are kept low and fat intake increased, fat becomes your bodies primary source of fuel. That’s great news. Factor in some cardio to encourage the release of more fat from your body and slightly reduce dietary fat over time to the same end and you’ll be shredded in no time!

I hope this advice has helped you. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

PS – I’m just finishing up my book titled, ‘Total Six Pack Abs‘ which lays forth a simple yet incredibly effective strategy that means obtaining Six Pack Abs becomes a biochemical certainty. It’s an easy read, it cuts through the BS and best of all, it actually works! Subscribe here for updates on the book.

Mark McManus