How to Get Six Pack Abs

It will take dedication, time and patience to get a six pack. You need
to do two things: lose fat and build muscle. You get this by dieting
and exercising consistently. You can have the most toned and
muscular abs, but it will not show if there is a layer of fat over them.
This article will discuss ways in which you can accomplish both of
these goals.
Part1

Building Ab Muscles

Do sit ups. Lie on the floor, feet on the floor, knees up and
hands crossed on your chest. Have someone hold your feet
down, or wedge them underneath something heavy. Sit all the
way up, lifting your lower back off the floor along with your
shoulder blades. Keep your back straight (no hunching). Lower
yourself down. Repeat.

 Once this becomes relatively easy for you (i.e. you can
do a quite a bit with ease) start adding more challenges.
Find an incline bench. Do weighted sit ups. Hold a weight
on your chest while you do these. As these become
easier, hold heavier and heavier weights.

Do crunches. Lie on the floor (with or without a mat) with your

arms in front of your chest or with your hands lightly touching
your temples (never behind your head). Bend your knees.
Raise your shoulders (upper torso) towards your knees, using
strictly your abdominal muscles.
It is very important to not lift your entire back off the floor,
as this can cause back strain. Additionally, the extended
movement does not help you develop six pack abs any
faster.
The most important part of the crunch is the initial flexing
of your abs as you lift your shoulders off the floor. As soon
as you begin lifting off the floor, exhale through your

mouth, ending with a gasp once your shoulders are off

the floor.
Pause for a second once you are at the top of the crunch
and exhale the last bit of air from your diaphragm while
flexing your abs. Lower back down slowly and controlled
while inhaling through your nose, just until your shoulder
blades touch the ground. Do not let your head touch the
ground.
15

Do leg lifts. Lie on the floor, legs straight out, hands at your
sides. Lift your legs straight up (not bending your knees at all)
until they're at a 90 degree angle (or close). Lower your legs
and repeat without letting your legs touch the floor.
For more of a challenge, use a parallel bar at a gym to
raise yourself up using your arms as support and dangle
your legs.

Easy: Just raise your knees to your chest. Keep

your knees bent and your legs underneath your
thighs.
Medium: Raise your legs to a horizontal position
with your legs straight and outstretched. This helps
firm up the lower abdomen.
Hard: If you're truly a monster, try doing leg lifts with
a medicine ball hanging from your feet. Or, hang
from a pull up bar and raise your legs in front of you
all the way up to the bar, keeping your legs straight.

17

18

Do jackknife sit ups. Lie down flat with your back on the floor.
Place your hands on the ground to your sides for balance; you
can pick them up as you get used to the movement.
Simultaneously raise your knees and torso so that your knees
and face meet on an imaginary line extending from your pelvis
to the ceiling. You should be able to kiss your knees at the top
of the motion. Your legs will naturally fold, bringing your feet

towards your hips, much like a jackknife. Lie back down (i.e.
"spread out") and repeat.
Don't let momentum bring you down. Slowly put your
hands and feet back on the ground. Place a weight
between your feet when you think you can handle it.

Try butt-ups. Start in the push-up positions, except with your

elbows and forearms on the floor. With your elbows and
forearms resting on the ground, slowly move your glutes as
high up into the air as possible. Your body will look like a
mountain, with your glutes being the peak. Slowly lower the
glutes back down into the starting position, being careful not to
sag the back below the hips.

Do static holds (planks). Put your body into the push-up

position but with your elbows on the floor, and your whole body
flat. This position is also known as the plank, and it trains your
core (including your abs) to hold the body in place. Hold this
position for as long as possible.
Beginners should be aiming to start off with at least 45
seconds, while seasoned ab workers are known to
achieve over 5 minute static holds.
To perform the side static hold, roll onto one side of your
body and lift into the same position as before. This time,
only one arm should be on the ground, with the other arm
pointed straight up the air and your non weight-bearing
leg resting on your bottom leg. Once again, hold this for
as long as possible.
23

24

Train your oblique muscles. It's not as important to work on

your oblique muscles at first, but eventually you'll want to start
working these too. These are the muscles on either side of
your stomach. There are multiple ways to do this and anything
that includes twisting your torso against a resistance counts.
There are twisting machines at gyms; you can twist while you
do sit-ups; you can do side bends; you can twist side to side
with a medicine ball in hand, etc. Be aware though, that many
beginners tend to have weak obliques compared to their abs (it
simply isn't used as much in daily life) so go easy on the sides
at first.
Do bicycle crunches. Lift your feet off the ground while
doing the crunches by alternating each leg in the air.
Bring your left knee up toward your right shoulder and
then your right knee toward your left shoulder.
25

26

Find new ways to crunch, bend and twist in your daily life.
Some possibilities include:
Use a stability ball. Do your crunches on the ball to
introduce instability to your workout, which will improve
your balance too. There are also lots of core exercises
that has a pathway. Do this as often as you are
comfortable or at times when it won't look weird. You can
bend forward from the hips or, if you're really into it, bend
at the knees too and really "sink" out of the way.
27

28

Do an ab roller exercise. Hold the ab roller while kneeling

down on the floor. Slowly push the ab roller out away from your
body, extending your arms. Go down as far as you can without
touching your torso to the ground. Yours arms should be well
outstretched above your head.
Try a barbell ab rollout if you don't have an ab roller. Use
an Olympic barbell loaded with 5 or 10 pounds on each
side. Get into pushup position, with your hands on the
barbell instead of on the ground. Slowly lift your hips and
bring the barbell back towards your legs, until your legs
are perpendicular to the ground and your glutes are all
the way back. Go back down slowly and repeat.
29

30

10

Do pull-ups hanging from a horizontal bar. You will be

amazed at the number of muscles around your stomach
working with pull-ups. Do 5 pull-ups with your palms facing
away from you and 5 pull-ups with your palms facing towards
you. This will also build your lats and biceps at the same time.
Add complex core-movements to your workout. That will
boost your overall body constitution tremendously. For
example, combine push-ups with rows. Go into a push-up
position on two dumbbells. Now don't do a push-up, but
instead start to row alternating dumbbells. See how much
power you need only to hold balance? Combine
exercises! Be creative. Tension is your friend.
31

32 11

Do Push Ups. Check out the various types of push ups like
the standard push ups or knuckle push ups or even the

diamond push ups, which ever you feel comfortable with, you
can google them and do which ever one you wish to do.

33 12

Do Dragon flags. It is also known as reverse crunches, andit

is the most extreme form of abdominal exercises, Bruce Lee
and Sylvester Stallone have done this great workout. Lie on
your back on a bench or bed, place your hands behind your
head and hold onto the edge of the bench or bed. Balancing
on the back of your shoulder blades and not applying full
pressure on the back of your neck, tighten your abs like
bracing yourself for a punch along with your legs and butt.
Raise your legs and lower back off the surface and bring it
down to 45 degree angle, not letting your butt touch the
surface. Do not bend your hips when raising or declining.

34

13

Train your entire core. To build really great abs it's helpful
understand what abs do. Their full name is "rectus
abdominis."[1] The "rectus" bit is Latin for "straight, proper,
upright." Contrary to popular opinion, the abdominals' primary
job is not to curl you up into a ball, but rather to work together
with the back muscles to maintain correct posture and
stabilization. Some of the best exercises for abs are ones that
force your entire core to go into overdrive to support your
spine. Some exercises that do this are squats and deadlifts.

Part

2
Losing Fat

Understand what it means to lose weight. In order to burn

fat, you need to use up calories. Since there are about 3,500
calories in a pound, you need to burn about 3,500 more

calories than you bring in with food or drink in order to lose one
pound.[2] It sounds simple, but it's actually quite hard.
Don't have unrealistic expectations. A vigorous, hour-long
workout will only burn 800 - 1,000 calories. Luckily, being
active helps, and if you burn between 600 and 800 more
calories than you take in per day, you can expect to lose
about one pound per week. You'll start seeing results in
your abs quite quickly.
Understand this before you start trying to lose belly fat:
There is no way to target fat loss in any one area of your
body.[3] (This is also called "spot training.") Just like your
body deposits fat in many different places, it burns fat in
your entire body, not just from your abs or your thighs.
2

Do cardio workouts. You need to lose some of that extra fat

over your abs. Even if you work out and get gigantic ab
muscles, if there is still a layer of fat over them no one will ever

get to see them. Cardio workouts are workouts that raise your
heart rate for a given set of time. Some examples would be
running, jogging, bike riding, dancing and rowing. Try cardio
workouts often (3 to 5 times per week) for at least an hour at a
time.
Try interval training. Interval training is short burst of
furious activity followed by longer periods of low activity.
Researchers think that interval training helps burn fat
better than exercising at the same intensity for longer
times: One study found that participants who practiced
interval training on their bikes for only 20 minutes a day
lost on average 4 more pounds, over 4 months, than
participants who cycled at the same speed for 40 minutes
a day.[4]
4

Eat smaller meals late at night. Meals later on in the day

tend to get stored as fat not because your metabolism is

beginning to shut down, but because late-night meals are often

overly caloric snack foods such as pizza or ice cream that
aren't worked off before you go to bed.[5][6][7] Your metabolism
works even while you sleep; the fact is that most people eat
sweets and starches before bed rather than kale and spinach.
Try eating a larger lunch or snacking healthily before
dinner. Fresh fruits or vegetables are excellent choices
for curbing appetite while offering healthful benefits. A
handful of nuts might do the same.
Try drinking a large glass of water or tea right before
sitting at the table. Your stomach will feel more full,
allowing you to comfortably eat less.
6

Eat breakfast. Many people skip breakfast because they don't

have time for it. The harm of skipping breakfast from a weight
loss perspective is twofold: it causes you to get hungrier later
on, and it fails to jump start your metabolism.[8] Eating a
healthy breakfast will keep you from eating more later on and

put increase your resting metabolism by as much as 10%

for the rest of the day![9]
Try eating lean protein in the morning. Skip the bagels
and cream cheese. Instead, try:
Egg-white omelet with spinach, turkey, and chipotle
peppers.
Greek yogurt with blueberries, bananas, and flax
seed.
Leftover salmon with whole-grain toast.
Avoid eating:
Sugary cereals.
Simple starches such as potatoes (hash browns,
etc.) and refined wheat (white bread, etc.).
Smoothies. Low fat drinks don't always translate to
lean physiques.
8

Lift weights. The more muscle your body has, the more

calories your body burns, even at rest. [10] Plus, resistance

training is important to limit the amount of muscle mass lost
whilst reducing your calorie intake. If you only do
cardiovascular exercises (running, playing basketball, football)
without weight training, you may lose the muscle mass,
including the muscle in your abs.

10

Keep metabolism steady. While there isn't any scientific merit

to the claim that eating six meals a day instead of three will
help you lose weight[6][11], there are foods that you can eat that
will slow down your metabolism. Avoid these foods to keep
your metabolism steady:[12]
Refined carbohydrates, such as white bread, pasta, and
rice.
Sugar, which is absorbed quickly, but which brings your
metabolism to a crawl.
High-fat foods, such as fast food and fried food.

11

12

Drink more water every day. To find out how much water you
need to drink as a minimum per day, halve your weight (in
pounds) and that is how many ounces of water you need to
drink.[13] So a 150 lb person would need to drink a minimum of
2.2 liters a day. It sounds like an absurd amount of water, but
you get water from the food you eat, and you can drink teas to
make up some of the quota.
Drinking too much water (several liters, especially while
sweating) can dangerously dilute certain salts and
minerals. If you are exercising heavily and sweating a lot,
you will need to replace your salts as well as fluids.
Supplement your water drinking with a sports drink or
potassium rich fruits such as bananas and apples.
13

14

Switch out refined grains for whole grains. In a scientific

study, people who ate all whole grains (in addition to five
servings of fruits and vegetables, three servings of low-fat
dairy, and two servings of lean meat, fish, or poultry) lost more
belly fat than another group that ate the same diet, but with all
refined grains.[14] A diet rich in whole grains changes the
glucose and insulin response in your body, which hastens the
burning of fat.

15

Get the right amount of sleep. Doctors are beginning to dive

deeper into information suggesting that hormones that control
appetite are affected by sleep, or lack thereof.[15] In one study,
scientists compared individuals who got 5.5 hours of sleep per
night, and individuals who got 8.5 hours of sleep per night. The
individuals who slept 8.5 hours per night were able to lose
more body fat than those who slept only 5.5 hours per night.[16]

16

10

Control your stress. Stress, along with sleep, is helpful in

pushing you toward your weight-loss goal.[17] Participants in a
study who slept at least 6 hours but no more than 8, and who
had the lowest levels of stress, were more likely to lose weight
than participants who reported higher levels of stress.[18]

Community Q&A
Will it work if we don't it every day, like only doing it 5
days or 4 days a week?

wikiHow Contributor

It can, but during those days off, still maintain the same diet as
the days you are working out. On the days off, consider doing
another type of exercise, from cycling and swimming to gym
cardio workouts and running.

Flag as duplicate
Not Helpful 45 Helpful 432


How long will this take if I exercise regularly?

wikiHow Contributor

Six to twelve weeks is a reasonable estimate for someone at a

healthy weight or slightly overweight. You can track your body
fat percentage to see your progress. Most men get welldefined abs at 810% body fat, while women usually reach it
at 12%.
Flag as duplicate
Not Helpful 44 Helpful 350

What should I do as a warm up?

wikiHow Contributor

Stretching and cardio can get your body warmed up. You can
stretch by reaching down to your toes, and then go for a short
jog.
Flag as duplicate
Not Helpful 2 Helpful 34

What kind of food should and shouldn't I eat when I want

to build my abs?

wikiHow Contributor

Fatty, sugary and really salty food are not the best things to eat
in order to build abs. Vegetables, proteins and all kinds of
healthy foods are what you need to eat to get those killer abs!
Flag as duplicate
Not Helpful 54 Helpful 368

Is it good to eat before or after doing ab exercises?

wikiHow Contributor

Do it after so that you don't feel nauseous or sluggish.

Flag as duplicate
Not Helpful 31 Helpful 210

Are there any differences between women and men when

it comes to abs?

wikiHow Contributor

Both sexes can use these methods, but men will generally
have an easier time getting well-defined abs. Women store
more fat in this area, so it takes more effort to burn off that
layer.
Flag as duplicate
Not Helpful 50 Helpful 299

How many of those exercises do you have to do each?

wikiHow Contributor

Usually it's best to time it rather than saying how many you do.
So, for instance, how many can you do in under 5 minutes,
rather than do 30. This way, it'll push you harder to succeed.
Flag as duplicate
Not Helpful 33 Helpful 199

Will running on a daily basis effect your ab muscles?

wikiHow Contributor

Exercising doesn't affect only one part of your body, it affects

your whole body. Running, being an intense calorie-burning
activity, will surely will help. However, treat it as part of your
routine, not the only thing you do.

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Not Helpful 15 Helpful 98


Can I have days where I can take breaks from my
workout?

wikiHow Contributor

Of course! It is advisable to take work out 4 to 6 days a week,

and take 1 to 2 days off. If you plan on taking 2 days off, make
sure that they are not consecutive.
Flag as duplicate
Not Helpful 12 Helpful 75

How many litres water should be drunk?

wikiHow Contributor

There are many different opinions on how much water we

should be drinking every day. Half a gallon which is equal to 2
liters is enough. One tip is that if you feel thirsty, you aren't
drinking enough. Don't wait for thirst to prompt you.
Flag as duplicate
Not Helpful 2 Helpful 21

Tips

Make sure to warm up before exercising.

Everyone has abs; you likely just have fat covering them, so
you have to lose the fat then strengthen your abs.
Try swimming. It is one of the most effective ways of exercising
your whole body, especially your abs.
Unless you are watching your weight for another reason,
ignore the reading on the scale. You may be decreasing your
body fat but your weight may stay the same (or even increase)
as you build muscle. Muscle tissue is denser than fat so it will
be heavier than the same volume of fat. Water weight can also
vary your readings by a surprisingly large amount.

If you feel you need to, ease into the changes in your
lifestyle. Start eating breakfast. If you have difficulty with this,
start with a couple glasses of water or a large cup of coffee
right when you wake up. It'll go down easy and prepare your
stomach to get back to work. Cut the amount of dinners little
by little. For the exercises, start slow and increase pace and/or
repetitions as you are comfortable. Attempting lifestyle
changes in a drastic, sudden manner can backfire. Do what
you can but don't sell yourself short.
Make a photo diary of your body but don't take pictures too
often (once a month is fine). Don't study your pictures
intensely since you might not get motivated if you don't see a
difference. If you are consistent in your diet and exercise, you
should see changes monthly. Keep in mind that you won't see
changes in the mirror everyday since they will be very small
improvements.
Keep hydrated. Drink lots of water, and eat healthy. Don't
deprive yourself from food, it will only make you sick.
Be sure to exercise your back muscles just as much as your
abdominal muscles or you might develop poor posture.
Make sure you give yourself adequate amount of rest (8 hrs for
adults, and 8-10 hrs for kids and teenagers). When exercising
you actually break down the muscle and if you give then the
proper time to heal (and eat the proper foods) they will grow
back stronger than before.
Many people's abdominal muscles are off-set, which can give
the illusion of a 5 pack, 4 pack, or even 3 pack depending
upon your genetics, the thickness of your abs, and your
present level of body fat.

Warnings

Do not be ashamed of yourself, if your abs do not show at first.

It takes time.
Don't neglect warm-ups or you may find yourself pulling
muscles!

Don't over work yourself. This will hurt you more than it helps.
Know your limits.
For people who have a few extra pounds around the belly and
start this from scratch, building ab muscles may make you look
larger in the belly for a period of time since you are putting on
muscle beneath your fat at first. You may want to begin for a
significant period of time by doing more cardiovascular
exercises to lose fat all over the body. Doing specific muscle
exercises, unfortunately, does not remove fat from that specific
area of the body. Additionally, focusing solely on the abs can
produce an imbalance in the body and may cause back
problems where there were none before or exacerbate any
existing problems.
Be wary of ab machines shown on TV. Many of these are in
fact rip offs and you are more likely to stay motivated if you
incorporate an abs workout into a regular gym session. You
are less likely to get sick of it!
Most, if not all of these exercises are not recommended for
people with lower back problems. There are many other ways
to properly develop six pack abs without putting so much strain
on your back. If in doubt or experiencing lower back pain, talk
to a physical therapist for proper ways of performing the
routines.
Try to keep a steady eating routine. It will throw your body off if
you skip a meal and starve yourself only to stuff your face
later. Avoid such situations as much as possible. If you go
hungry for an extended period of time your metabolism will
slow down. The body, thinking that no food is available tries to
make the best of what it has and goes into power-saving
mode. Whilst on 'power-saving' mode, the body will
supplement its carbohydrates (being burnt for energy) with the
proteins in your muscles. What this means is that you are in
fact eating back into that six pack just to try to make it show
through.
Fiber also acts like a mild laxative. Be careful if you eat a lot of
fiber. It can also cause some gas if you're not used to taking in
so much fiber. If you increase your fiber dosage by a lot,

increase your water intake too. Excessive fiber with little water
can result in digestive problems.
Be sure prior to starting any exercise or fitness program to be
evaluated and cleared by a physician.
As with any exercise program, consult your doctor before
making major changes in your workout routine, especially if
you have medical problems. Increase loads slowly. Being
eager is great but setting unrealistic goals isn't going to help
you in the long run.
Do not fall for "miracle diets", even ones that sound healthy.
Some diets may help you lose weight or gain muscle fast,
though specialized diets (focusing on a certain food group or
product) are often unpleasant to follow and rarely provide
enough nutrients. You can still eat lots of food and lose weight,
you just need to avoid exceeding the recommended amount of
fat intake per day, as well as get as many nutrients as
possible.
Many people do not really know what a complete diet is.
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of nutrients that you
need, even if you're not following an exercise regimen.
Your diet should contain a wealth of leafy greens (i.e
Spinach), lean meat (fish, lean beef/pork), fruits (as a
source of carbohydrates and sugars), fiber (i.e oat-based
cereal), various other vegetables (such as red/green/
orange peppers, mushrooms, garlic, onion, etc, etc),
tubers such as potatoes (preferable sweet potatoes,
since they contain a larger wealth of nutrients), etc, etc.
Your diet should be diverse, not focused on only fruit
shakes, or fish, etc. Don't hesitate to get a regular flow of
sugar from fruits/vegetables, you should only slightly
reduce your intake when trying to lose fat, or else you'll
find yourself constantly feeling tired, possibly depressed,
etc. The key to dieting is to slightly reduce your intake of
calories/carbohydrates/sugars, they are all still essential,
if you deprive yourself of them, the diet will feel like hell,
and you may develop health issues.