When people find out I am a personal trainer it isn’t long before someone wants to know how to get a six pack fast. Everyone of course is at different levels of fitness but I always answer that whether you are trying to lose weight, run a marathon or get ripped, it is my advice to set yourself a goal and then within that goal work out some smaller but achievable targets that will help you reach your goal and that you can actually measure.
So for instance, the long term goal in this case is to get a six pack within six months.
Behind this big goal, you need to create some targets that will be the foundation for reaching your main goal. First off you want to create a caloric deficit. It doesn’t matter if you swim for five hours a day or run 100 miles. If you eat more calories than you burn, you will still gain weight and be fat. There is no way around this, no magic pills, no electric shock belts, nothing. Accept it and move on.
You also need to pump up your intensity (and metabolism) with the proper six pack abs workout. You want the workout to be simple to execute so that you don’t have to over-think it and you want to keep the intensity high.
For a third goal, I believe you should increase the demand of each workout. You want results and you want to transform your body, always remember your long term goal. To do this you want a workout that will stress your body like never before.
If you do the same workouts all the time, your body will adapt. Sure you will burn some calories but as your body adapts, the results will get hard to come by. So the three foundational goals you want to set yourself if you are serious in your quest to get solid abs are:
- Create a calorie deficit
- Increase the intensity of your workout yet keep it simple
- Increase the demand of each workout
When it comes to your abs workout you cannot follow mine, or any other trainers recommendations regards to amount of weight, amount of reps etc. without a one on one assessment because everyone is at different levels of fitness. Things like the amount of reps, sets, tempo and rest between sets can be given as a guide but you know your body better than anyone else does so you find your own level. It is the intensity of the workout that will bring the results so as long as you are pushing yourself, you will get the stomach you crave.
To build muscle, burn fat and get a six pack stomach you need to get your heart pumping, your sweat running and your muscles burning and shaking like never before. You don’t want to be “trapped in a box” so to speak when it comes to your workout.
Focus On Heavy Weights
When you go to do the bench press, is it easier to lift a weight that you might warm-up with (say the bar) or something heavy (1 or 2 times your bodyweight)? Obviously it is the warm-up weight.
This is because your body is used to it and it isn’t very taxing to do it. Put on a heavy weight though and your body is going to “call all hands on deck” and fully work to try and lift the heavy load. After the set, your chest might be burning and twitching and you might be breathing heavily and sweating.
This is the intensity you want and the heavy weight will give your body the stress it needs so that it will hold onto the muscle it has as well as build new muscle. The holding onto muscle part is real important since we will be trying to create a caloric deficit. You want to burn as much fat as possible but keep as much lean muscle as possible.
To get quick results you want to increase the weights as the weeks go by. As you progress and increase the weight, you are sending your brain the message that your body is under more and more stress and that it really needs to hold onto the muscle it has.
Work Your Cardio
When it comes to cardio I am a firm believer that it is a must for achieving strong, sexy six pack abs. That said, I don’t believe in doing it for hours each day. I think that cardio should be high intensity but short, simple and to the point.
My Perfect Six Pack program focuses on performing cardio on the three days you aren’t lifing weights. For me, that is typically Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. So on my program your workout schedule would look like this:
- Day 1: Weight Training
- Day 2: Cardio Workout
- Day 3: Weight Training
- Day 4: Cardio Workout
- Day 5: Weight Training
- Day 6: Cardio Workout
- Day 7: Rest
The cardio workouts should be split into sets that utilize conditioning, speed and power. Now there is no magic formula for a cardio workout so I simply give my clients the baseline for the workout and then it can be morphed into what makes sense for them. I only ask that that anyone following my program keeps to the principle of high intensity.
If You Want To Know How To Get a Six Pack You Need To Know What Foods To Eat
Say goodbye to takeaways like chinese meals and pizza if you really want solid abs. Stick to healthy, high protein meals such as chicken or fish with plenty of fresh vegetables. There is absolutely no point in developing your abdomen muscles if they cannot be seen because they are buried under your body fat.
For a full diet, weight and cardio regime which shows you exactly what you need to do, download my Perfect Six Pack program and get started right away. Click on the cover to get started