Is it just me or guys are just flummoxed by abs and start baby-dreaming that they need them just to impress that shy lil girl at the back of their class? You know who are...Anyway, let's start. 6 Pack Abs. You know whenever I speak of abs I remember this quip I saw at a Coffee Shop that waffles are actually pancakes with abs. Yeah I know, I got to change my coffee shop choices.
Abs or as some of you might know: Abdominus is the lower region in our torso, just below our glorious pecs. This region is also referred to as the core and hence, it is crucial for successfully performing any form of physical activity. Be it a Romanian deadlift or just twisting from side-to-side infamously bird-watching.
Needless to say, even I have come across those musclehead meatballs who claim that "You do not NEED to train abs". Upon asking their reply was that abs are automatically stimulated whilst training back or legs and hence are not necessary to train separately. I mean that's like saying that you don't need to train legs just cause you are walking all day. Abs, just like any other muscle need to be trained in order to make them strong and aesthetic. For example, when you are performing a deadlift, your lower back plays a crucial role in the stability of the exercise and hence prevention of injury. Hence the lower back, a part of the core needs to be trained, to make it strong and efficient.
Now the Abdominus muscles can be roughly divided into 3 categories:
1) Rectus Abdominus
2) Obliques (External and Internal)
3) Transverse Abdominus
Roughly speaking, the Rectus Abdominus helps in your top-down movements, Transverse Abdominus on your bottom-up movements and the Obliques in turning or twisting. So here are my top exercises for the above:
1) Transerve Abdominus: 1) Seated Ab-Circles
2) Lying Leg Raises
3) Leg Flutters
4) Laying Knee Raises
(Notice the above are top-down movements)
2) Obliques: 1) Russian Twists
2) Drunken Mountain Climbers
3) Starfish Crunch
4) Plank knees-to-elbow
(Notice the above require your body to twist)
3) Rectus Abdominus: 1) Reach-ups
2) Crucifixes
3) V-Ups
4) Toe-touches
(Notice the above are bottom-up movements)
Now of course there are a plethora of exercises which can be done to efficiently train your abs. Now the ones I have provided above are bodyweight calisthenics exercises and hence you can't excuse yourself from it. Furthermore, in case some of you are wondering, why I mentioned Transverse first and Rectus last, is because the lower ab exercises or the ones which focus on the Transverse muscle are top-down movements are hence require your abs to sustain the weight of your legs, which are the heaviest, hence training lower abs, in the end, can be pretty taxing and might ruin your gains. My favourite way to train abs is through HIIT (High Intensity Intensive Training). This method can be used to train abs for short bursts of 7-8minutes. Now provided those 7-8minutes will be absolute hell but it seems achievable due to the short time span. Furthermore, HIIT training also burns those extra calories since you are working out much more intensively and your heart rate is through the roof.
Now onto nutrition. Keep in mind that we humans have a tendency of storing fat in our bellies which is the place the abs are located. Hence, needless to say, you need to be at a <15% BF for your abs to be visible. Now in order to lose that body fat, the primary thing you need to do is to be on a caloric deficit. Personally, I can stick to my caloric deficit by performing Intermittent Fasting. I fast for 16 hours and eat during the rest. This helps me stick to a caloric deficit but doesn't necessarily have to be the method for you. However, keep in mind that hitting your nutrition goals, while staying in a caloric deficit is easy when you consume whole foods, which are nutrition-rich and clean. Jeff Cavaliere once said that he hated the concept of dieting since it's temporary. So if you wish to be lean year-round and flash around that 6-pack abs, apart from training you need to be consistent with your meals as well.
Finally, let me tell you a very important thing. "Justin lost 6kgs in 2 months but I can't do that, why?" Now, why the hell do you care what Justin did? This is about you and your progress, your lifestyle. Work hard, be consistent and have realistic and pragmatic goals. Genetics play a crucial role in bodybuilding. Now personally speaking I do not have amazing genetics and hence I can never have 6 pack abs, no matter how hard I try. However, I can have 4 packs and maintain a low BF percentage and still remain aesthetic. So, whether you can have 4, 6 or 8 it doesn't matter, you have to work your a*rse off in order to get to that aesthetic physique and maintain it.
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