Most people, especially guys, start working out to look good. There’s nothing wrong with this goal; looking better helps boost confidence and self-esteem. The only problem comes from the information surrounding six-pack abs. The amount of work required to get it as well as potential health risks are often underplayed. Before setting the goal to get this lean, you should first know if this is a goal you should be pursuing and just how much it takes to get there.
Six-pack abs take a lot more work than people think. It’s important to know just how much dedication it takes to get there, and how being healthy doesn’t require having a six-pack. Despite being such a lofty goal, there are some benefits in the pursuit of this level of fitness.
Why People Want a Six-pack
There are two obvious reasons anyone would strive for a chiseled six-pack: to look really good and because it symbolizes good health. Although the former is completely personal preference, it’s debatable whether a six-pack can be considered a “symbol of good health.”
Looking Good
Everyone has seen or even know people with a killer physique and wish to obtain that level of fitness. However, it’s important to know that studies show most people do not find super low bodyfat percentages as attractive as being decently lean.
Studies have asked women to compare groups of men with varying bodyfat percentages. These bodyfats would range from 40%+ (someone whos obese) to 3% (like a competitive bodybuilder. Keep in mind that most people see a six-pack at about 10-12% bodyfat. The studies conclude that most women rate the “pretty lean” individuals with about 16-20% bodyfat as the most attractive.
A Symbol of Health
When we think of people who are really fit, strong, and healthy, most people think of abs. To a degree this makes sense. Abs require low bodyfat, good nutrition, and high activity; everything that coincides with good health. However, it’s possible for people to get themselves at six-pack levels of bodyfat while experiencing many internal health issues. Some of these include:
Eating disorders
Eating disorders include the well-known ones like anorexia (not eating at all) and bulimia (binge and purge). Both of these cause daily calories to get low enough to lose bodyfat, but does not allow important nutrients to get properly digested and absorbed. A less obvious disorder that may manifest is a fear of eating outside of your diet. This causes people to eat the exact same foods at the same amount and times of day. Such anxiety not only limits social relationships, but it also runs the risk of some malnutrition since they’re not getting a good variety of foods each day.
Hormone imbalance
Vital hormones like testosterone, leptin, ghrelin, cortisol, etc. rely heavily on bodyfat levels in order to function properly. Bodyfat helps with the proper regulation of these hormones throughout the day, and having low bodyfat for too long can interfere with the proper function of the body in the long-run.
Poor social relationships
Similar to eating disorders, people will also sacrifice their social relationships in order to keep their workout and nutrition consistent every day. That means saying no to any social gathering like parties or hangouts that may interfere with their regime. Although everyone has to make some social sacrifices for good health, removing all social interaction can be very harmful for mental health despite the advantages it has for physical health.
Important Note
It’s important to note that not everyone with a six-pack – or those trying to get one – will have these unhealthy behaviors. The purpose of this section is to show that having a six-pack does not automatically make you a healthy person.
What it Takes to Get One
Getting a six-pack is hard work. In fact, a recent survey found that there are more millionaires in the world than people with six-packs. What makes chiseled abs so hard to obtain? Most people think it takes crazy hard workouts and super restrictive diets, but that’s not actually the case. The reason six-packs are so hard to get – the answer nobody wants to hear – is because it takes years of consistency. This means working out X amount of times a week every week for years, and eating X amount of calories each day at the same time.
Six-Pack Workouts
YouTube is flooded with videos showing the workout you should do every day to get six-pack abs. They usually include a bunch of unique core exercises to make you “feel the burn” for as long as you can take it. Although the models for these videos are shredded, and doing this workouts for a few weeks will produce some results, these videos are not the answer to getting abs and keeping them long-term.
Any proper strength training routine combined with good nutrition (discussed later) will get you to six-pack abs. A proper routine has two absolutely vital elements:
- Consistency
- Progressive overload
Consistency is obvious; whatever plan you make, you just have to stick to it week after week. Progressive overload is much more complex. This is the process of slowing making each workout harder than the last by either adding weight, reps, exercises, etc. Despite being so vital to everyone’s fitness journey, it’s one of the most underutilized workout tools for the average gymgoer.
The easiest way to progressively overload is to slowly increase workout volume each week. You can calculate workout volume using the following formula:
Volume = (Weight) x (Sets) x (Reps)
Do this for every exercise you do, add up the total, and that’ll give you your total volume for the workout. As mentioned, adding weight, reps, exercises, etc., each week can increase workout volume over time. Keep track of the weights, sets, and reps used for each exercise to easily see if you’re volume is progressively going up each week.
As you can see, you’re not obligated to go to the gym 6-7 days a week. Most beginners will see a lot of progress with as little as 2-3 days. Maybe you can work up to 6 days after months of consistency, but starting with 2-3 and focusing solely on workout volume is the easiest and most reliable way to start.
Nutrition
Six-pack nutrition suffers a similar fate as six-pack workout; the internet is filled with crazy diets that promised to get you shredded in a week. The reality is much more boring than this. Real six-pack nutrition requires being in a sustainable calorie deficit for long enough to see bodyfat go down.
A calorie deficit means eating less calories than you burn every day. How many calories this requires 100% depends on the person, but there are plenty of online calculators to help get an idea what works for you. Here’s an example from ACTIVE, which estimates your daily calorie burn based off your metrics. There are a variety of different diets out there such as keto, carnivore, vegan, paleo, etc., but they all come down to this. Choose the diet you can realistically maintain every day for years. There are very subtle advantages between the diets, but if you’re looking to get a six-pack, they all come down to eating less calories than you burn.
Bodyfat Percentages
How shredded do you have to be to see your abs? This also depends on the person to a degree, but there are generally ranges for men and women:
| Average US Male | 25-35% |
| Men with Six-Pack | ~12% |
| Average US Female | 35-45% |
| Women with Six-Pack | ~18% |
It’s important to note that women naturally need more bodyfat than men, so even though they see visible abs at 18% instead of 12%, it’s just as hard (if not harder) for women to get down to that range.
As you can see, the average man and woman needs to lose about half the fat on their body to see a six-pack. You can measure this using a variety of bodyfat tools such as bioelectrical impedance, which is found in the bathroom scales that also measure bodyfat.
Don’t Let This Discourage You
Those who’ve set their fitness goals on getting abs should not be discouraged by this information. Although it may seem that getting a six-pack is now either an impossible or unrewarding goal, there are still benefits to going through such a treacherous journey.
Pros of Getting a Six-Pack
Mastering Your Body
The exercises and nutrition it takes to get a six-pack 100% depends on the individual. Despite all the YouTube videos and online articles claiming to have “the secret to abs,” there is never a one-size-fits-all solution in fitness. Here’s a list of some of the many variables you have to understand about your body in order to see six-pack success:
- What foods your body can digest well
- What macronutrient profile (carbs, fats, protein) you can sustain with good energy
- What exercises develop your core the best
- How often to train core and to what intensity
There are many more individual variables that come into play, but those who achieve six-pack bodyfat have gone through so much trial and error with each variable that they know exactly what works for their body. Having this much mastery of how your body works is incredible for lifelong fitness and longevity.
Self-Discipline
As mentioned earlier, consistency is what separates pro bodybuilders from the average joe. Their workouts can look exactly the same as yours, but the fact that they’ve committed to the gym for X amount of days a week for years on end makes them completely different.
The amount of self-discipline that develops from this endeavor can easily be applied to other aspects of life such as work, school, and other long-term pursuits. All of these pursuits share the same characteristic of delayed gratification – you don’t reap the reward until much later
To learn more about developing self-discipline with exercise, check out another one of out articles.