How to get abs

Intro

Looking to turn that one pack into a six pack, improve your power, lower back health, and heart health. This article is for you. We will show what is necessary for you to built rock solid abs.

You always hear that abs are made in the kitchen. That’s only partly true. Abs are definitely made in the gym too. Of course, what you eat dictates how you look in most cases, but you won’t get there with just switching your fries to broccoli. We all remember that skinny guy. Yes, the one with the visible ribs. Yeah, he doesn’t have abs.

Abs are made in the kitchen:

You always hear people say that abs are made in the kitchen. Are they though? It’s a very important part of it, that’s true. Your diet needs to be in check. You will need to eat enough protein to build abs and you need to eat the correct foods to show them. The amount of protein you need to build up muscle mass is around 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. But the kitchen is only going to one part of your journey towards a chiseled physique. You have to hit the gym too.

Abs are made in the gym:

You don’t want to be that skinny guy walking around shirtless all the time, thinking he has abs. He’s just skinny. Lack of fat does not mean you have well developed abdominal muscles. Now that you are eating enough protein it’s time to trigger those abdominal muscles to grow as well. I always noticed that you do need to do some specific work for your abs but if you’re already doing the big lifts (squats, deadlifts etc.), you’re training your core as well. When doing those types of lift you will have to engage your core extensively which will result in building massive abs.

Why is it important to have a strong core?

Weak core muscles will cause bad posture. Bad posture causes all sorts of lower back pain that you want to avoid. Having a strong core makes sure the load on your spine doesn’t become excessive.

If your core strength is on point it will make your body not only more durable, but it will also improve your athletic ability and will increase your overall strength. It really is important for everyone to focus on core stability and strength, whether you’re just trying to avoid lower back pain or you’re an athlete trying to set records. You need a strong core!

On our road to ‘how to get abs?’, trying to create a strong core is a good beginning. It will make your body healthier in the long term, stronger and more athletic. It will also make it easier for you to show those abs now that your core is more developed. There’s literally is no downside in strengthening your core and you should heavily focus on it.

How long does it take to get abs?

This completely depends on your body type and from how far you have to come. How to get abs for a skinny person is completely different than for someone that’s overweight for example. The approach towards the same goal will thus be completely opposite.

It would be wise for both, to count calories. For the skinny person it’s important because you need to know you are eating enough. When you’re overweight you need to make sure you’re in a caloric deficit. Both need to know how much protein they are getting in; this is very important! For your abdominal muscles to develop, you have to build them up. Protein are the building blocks here. You simply cannot go without a sufficient amount of protein.

First go to the gym and stimulate the muscle by working out, second eat a lot of lean protein sources. It’s a simple formula that never fails. How much protein you need is a different question and will take some experimenting from your side but it’s safe to say at least 1 gram per pound of bodyweight, which is 2.2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight.

How long it will take exactly is difficult to determine but if you’re losing weight, I would say it’s doable to lose about a pound (0.5kg) a week. You can still be comfortable and function in your daily life this way. I would say it’s a sustainable goal.

When you start to get into the range of 14-15% body fat, you will start seeing your abdominal muscles.

How long does it take to get abs for a skinny person? It depends on how hard you are willing to hit the gym. How consistent are you with your diet, are you eating a sufficient amount of protein every day and are you getting enough calories in total? If you lift heavy, get in the right foods every day, you should see results soon. You are already closer than you think.

An important rule for everyone. Don’t drink alcohol. Not in the weekend, not on special occasions. If you want to crush your goals, don’t drink alcohol. If you want to lose weight and or gain muscle, you can not be drinking alcohol. It’s a lot of empty calories, it will mess up your metabolism and make recovering from training a lot harder.

Being in a caloric deficit

What is a caloric deficit?

Being in a caloric deficit means that you will eat less energy than you will use, thus creating a deficit. The idea is that when you are in this caloric deficit, you will start dipping into your reserves. That’s your fat reserves.

It’s actually quite simple. Being in a caloric deficit will make your fat cells shrink because you start using the fat as energy. Less fat will show more muscle, which in our case will show more abdominal muscles. When being in a caloric deficit it is important to eat enough protein. Protein are the building blocks for your muscles, and they will protect them while being in a caloric deficit. I always lower my carbohydrate intake and increase my protein intake.

As far as being in a caloric deficit, I wouldn’t eat less than 500kcal under my maintenance level. Your maintenance level being the number of calories you need just to keep maintaining the weight you are now. Eating less than 500kcal under your maintenance level will most likely result in crashing and bingeing on the wrong foods.

What I find a very sustainable system is eating 500kcal under maintenance for 6 days a week and eating 500kcal too much on the seventh. Nett I still have a very good overall deficit that will help me to achieve my goal and I still get to feed my body and recharge a bit at the end of the week.

How to find out your caloric deficit:

To know when you’re in a caloric deficit you need to find out first how many calories you need to maintain your bodyweight. These days this is one of the easiest things ever since there are many calorie calculators online. You just fill in your age, sex, height, weight and level of activity and the number of calories you need rolls out. Now all you need to do is be consistently under your maintenance level and eat enough protein, the fat will shred right off.

Can you still build muscle when you’re in a caloric deficit?

Yes, this is possible. It won’t go as fast as when you’re able to eat a surplus of calories though. The protein is more used to maintain what you have built when you’re in a caloric deficit, but it is possible to gain some muscle while shredding fat. Of course, it does also completely depend on what type of training you do. A bodybuilder that dislikes cardio can easily built a bit of muscle while dieting. For a combat sports athlete it’s a lot harder for example. I would even say impossible. But when all you do is lift weights, you shouldn’t be worried about losing your muscle mass when dieting properly.

Don’t look at the pro’s

Stick to the basics and be consistent. This is the only way to get good long-term results. Don’t look too much at what the pro’s are doing. Comparing yourself to a pro athlete is not fair to yourself and most likely sets you up for failure. It’s not always possible when you’re not completely focused on your sport, and you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself. Take a bodybuilder for example, it’s very likely that what he’s showing is not even natural, which is fine by the way. I’m pretty sure they’re not trying to achieve something that’s natural.

If you compare yourself to them, you will most likely set a goal that’s unachievable. An unachievable goal will most likely result in failure overall. So just stick to the basics, go to the gym, eat healthy and focus on core strength and you’ll be fine. You’ll be rocking those abs in no time.

Conclusion

So, we know now that abs are made both in the kitchen as well as in the gym. If you make them only in the kitchen all people will see is that you’re just not fat and they will most likely notice how many ribs a person has.

Having a strong core will get you through life easier. It will promote good posture and thus prevent lower back pain. A strong core takes the load off your lower back, making sure your back will be solid even in the later stages of life. A strong core also promotes a good balance and makes it easier to shift power from upper body to lower body and vice versa. This is important for anyone out there that’s trying to improve athletic performance.

There’s no magic answer to the question, how long does it take to get abs. If you either need to gain or lose weight, it will take hard work and dedication. The good thing is that it is possible for everyone.

For most people it will take being in a caloric deficit. Even for the guy that used to be skinny, started lifting weights and bulked up. He has to sculped down now. Don’t take it too far when going in a caloric deficit. Being consistent is more important and will give you better results than going as low as possible to try and lose as much weight in a short amount of time.

Lastly, don’t look at the pro’s. They are on another level when it comes training. They train to compete for money and don’t always do it the natural way. They also have a lot more time on their hands and get to take naps when you work. It wouldn’t be fair to yourself to set the same goals as a pro athlete.

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