Abs Development 101

Six pack abs have to be the most desired body part for those who are seeking to improve their bodies. This is especially true for men. There are many misconceptions around six pack abs and how you can achieve them. I hope to dispel some of these myths and give the clear, unbiased facts on how you can develop six pack abs the right way. It is important to have the right expectations when going into training to avoid disappointment and maintain motivation. So let’s get into it.

Anatomy of Abs

If you want to develop abs, you first need to understand how abs are built. Abs are actually the result of several different muscle groups. There are four main muscles that make up the abs, called the rectus abdominis, the external obliques, the internal obliques, and the transverse abdominis. These four muscles are connected to the lower spine and pelvis. All these muscles work together during movement and daily life. Raising the arms above the head, bending to pick up something off the floor, and even just standing up from a chair will activate these muscles. The rectus abdominis are the muscles that commonly get all the attention. These muscles are the ones you see when you look in the mirror and see your six-pack. The rectus abdominis is a long, flat muscle that extends vertically down the front of the abdomen. It is the most superficial of the three ab muscles. The external obliques are located on the sides of the abs, and the internal obliques are located more towards the back. The transverse abdominis is the deepest and helps with core stability. These muscles are important in both movement and posture. 

Common Misconceptions

There are a few common misconceptions when it comes to abs and the first is spot reduction. This refers to targeted or isolated fat-loss. In short, this doesn’t work. You can’t spot reduce your way to a six-pack. While it is true that the abdominal muscles are one of the most targeted muscle groups when it comes to spot reduction, it is not possible to spot reduce specific parts of your body naturally. 

The second big misconception is that ab exercises get you abs. This goes along with the idea of spot reduction. The truth is that everyone has six pack abs but some you can see better than others. If you have ever been in an anatomy class and worked with cadavers that have had their skin and fat removed you will see they all have a great six pack. Ab exercises can strengthen and alter the form of your six pack but they don’t create one out of nowhere.

How to See Your Abs

If you’re having trouble seeing your abs, you’re not alone. In fact, even experienced trainers have a hard time getting their clients to see their own abs. The reason is simple — the ab muscles are covered by a layer of fat. It’s not until you burn this fat off that you can see your abs.

If you’re looking to get a six pack, you’re probably thinking that you need to do some insane ab exercises or work out 8 hours a day. The real secret to getting a six pack is to get lean. The first step is to focus on your diet. The less body fat you have, the more defined your abs will appear. If you have too much body fat, you’re just going to look fat, no matter how many sit-ups you do. You should shoot for under 14% body fat to see your abs fairly well. Of course the lower you are the more defined they will be. And diet is so important because in a workout you may only burn a few hundred calories out of the thousands you eat every day. One piece of pizza can negate all the calories burned in a workout. So focus on putting yourself into a slight caloric deficit and keep it up consistently. You will probably need to start tracking your calories to do this at least at the start. 

However, resistance training is still useful in that it increases your basal metabolic rate through increasing muscle mass. So it is more useful than cardio in that aspect. It will cause your body to burn more calories while resting which will allow you to burn more fat throughout the day even if your diet didn’t change.

Increasing your steps and general activity would be a good idea too if you want to see your abs. This will increase your overall calories burned in the day and low intensity exercises will use fat for fuel. It burns slower so that’s what is used when you are resting or walking while carbs are consumed more for high intensity exercises.

But in short, you don’t need to be a pro bodybuilder to get a six pack. You just need to get lean by keeping your body fat percentage low.

How to Train Your Abs Effectively

Though diet and body-fat percentage is the biggest part of the equation, abs training can still be useful for taking your abs to the next level. We’ve seen the guys that only have a six pack because they are skinny versus those that actually train them. The trained bodybuilders will have more formed, shapely abs that are physically bigger and deeper as well. Just like any muscle, your abs can grow and get stronger.

However you train your abs differently than most muscles. Similar to the calf muscles, they can really take a beating. It will require more repetitions and training sessions to get them sore. There are people that even train abs every day. They simply recover faster than most muscles. I would shoot for at least 3 times per week with maybe a day of rest in between. They can be trained circuit style as well where you aren’t resting between ab exercises.

You also want variety. Hit your abs from every angle. In order to hit all three muscles of the abs you need to know their functions. Crunching movements or spinal flexion will recruit the rectus abdominis. Bending at the side will recruit your obliques. And deeper stability movements such as planks or vacuums will hit your deeper transverse abdominis. Make sure you incorporate all of those movements into your workouts: crunching, twisting, and stabilizing. That way you will develop all the angles of your abs.

Also, some make the mistake of never adding weight or resistance to their ab training. This would be like only doing bodyweight exercises. Though you can get in good shape and look good as well, there is more potential for growth and shaping with added resistance. Your abs muscles grow with added weight as well. So twist with a plate or perform a weighted cable crunch for example. Make sure you are incorporating both bodyweight and weighted ab exercises.

Conclusion

So in short, there are many different muscles that make up your abs other than the most prominent rectus abdominis. You should work all of those through a variety of movements. However, the most important thing is getting your body fat low enough to uncover your abs that are already there. Your diet is the biggest thing to focus on. Everyone has abs. We just have to uncover them for ourselves.