Get a Six Pack in a Month
Getting a six-pack might seem as hard as climbing Mount Everest, but with the right exercises, healthy diet, and a bit of determination, you can actually get the six-pack of your dreams in just one month. Scroll down to Step 1 to find out how you can get that six-pack you've always wanted.
Contents
Steps
Creating a Workout Regimen
- Find your body fat percentage. In general, you can begin to see a six-pack when your body fat percentage drops down to 13% (for guys) and 17% (for gals). Of course there are always exceptions to the rule. For most people, to get a six-pack (and be able to see it) you’ll need to reduce your body fat percentage. There are several ways to determine your body composition--the easiest is to use your gym’s body analyzer equipment. Click here for more ways to figure out your body composition.
- Example: Let’s say that you are man who weighs 76 kg and has a body fat percent of 18%. Your target percentage is 12%. You must therefore lost 6%. To calculate how much weight you need to lose, use this equation. (Fat % to lose) x (original weight) = how much weight you need to lose. For our example man, his equation would be (0.06%) x (76 kg) = 4.56 kg to lose.
- Perform ab-specific exercises. Perform your ab exercises five days a week. Each exercise should be three or four sets long, with as many reps as you can possibly do in each set. If your repetition count for each set is over 30, add additional weight, such as a medicine ball, to make each exercise more challenging and your rep range is decreased. You should perform:
- Lying, straight leg raises on a bench. This exercise targets your lower abs.
- Elevated feet ab crunches. This exercise targets your upper abs.
- Lying twist, which targets the obliques.
- Perform high intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT includes all of your cardiovascular training. While most people think that you can get a six-pack by doing a whole lot of crunches, you actually have to lose a good deal of body fat to be able to achieve that dreamed-of six-pack. That’s where the HIIT comes in. Running, cycling, and swimming are all great ways to work up a sweat. An example HIIT session is:
- Ten 100m sprints paired with 100 m walks. This means you would sprint 100 m and then walk quickly back to where you started. You would repeat this process 10 times and the session would last about 30 minutes.The goal is to keep your heart rate up for 30 minutes straight. You would do this five times a week and pair it with your ab training.
- Create a workout plan and stick to it. You should try to do your cardiovascular workout in the morning and your ab workout in the afternoon or evening. Once you have figured out what works best for you, pair it with a great diet and stick to it for the duration of the month.
Changing Your Diet
- Develop a clean diet. A clean diet is one that avoids processed foods. Instead, it is comprised of whole, unprocessed foods that make up a well balanced macronutrient died. Processed foods can cover a whole range of things--the processed foods that you want to stay away from are the ones that are heavily processed. For example:
- Potato chips, fast-food hamburgers, and frozen premade meals are all on the heavy side of the processed food spectrum.
- Eat balanced meals. To really promote your six-pack abs, you will need to eat a balanced meal comprised of lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, non-fat dairy, and healthy carbs. Your meals should focus more on the proteins, with fruits, veggies, and a small amount of carbs to supplement your protein. However, breakfasts and post-cardio workouts can be higher in carbs.
- Eat six small meals a day. Rather than trying to skip out on meals to lose weight, you should actually be eating six small meals a day. Each meal should be less than 400 calories. As stated above, you should have a balanced diet, so try to get a good amount of protein, fruits, veggies, and whole-grain carbs each day. If you don’t want to cook during each small meal, you can drink protein shakes as a snack. A six-pack meal plan for one day would look like this:
- Breakfast: one egg and spinach scrambled with non-fat cheese. Two slices of whole-wheat toast on the side.
- Snack 1: Two scoops of low-fat frozen yogurt with no toppings.
- Lunch: Shrimp pasta pomodoro--pasta, mushrooms, olives, shrimp, seasonings, veggies.
- Snack 2: One cup of tomato soup.
- Dinner: Braised chicken with vegetables.
- Snack 3: Protein shake.
- Drink lots of water. It is important to stay hydrated during this month of high-intensity workouts. Drinking water also helps you to keep from bloating--when you become dehydrated, your body retains water which causes you to bloat. Drink cool, fresh water throughout the day to stay hydrated, happy, and bloat-free.
Tips
- Create a ab-oriented prize to keep yourself on your workout plan and diet. Maybe it will be a vacation on the beach, buying a new outfit, or flaunting your new abs at that pool party your ex will be at.
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