How to Get Six-Pack Abs

Last Updated on April 8, 2020 by Iryna

I can say having six-pack abs was always my dream, the ultimate goal, the success measurement of the work done. But hey, this one is not that easy to achieve. Or is it?

Before having a child, I was moderately active in sport and was comfortable with my abs.

No, I didn’t have a six-pack, not super flat tummy, just regular looking abs. I think it’s easier to have nice-looking abs when you are in your twenties and without kids…

After pregnancy and delivery, my abs started looking differently, I would say chubby, jelloishy, and even with regular visits to the fitness club, I am far from my pre-pregnancy belly look.

What does it take to have nice, fit abs? Is visiting a fitness club enough? What kind of exercises are best to target belly fat?

I am an inexhaustible optimist, I still have a hope I can achieve nice-looking, flat abs even at my age and even after having kids. So, let’s figure out what it takes to get six-pack abs.

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Types of Belly Fat

There are different types of fat, surrounding our belly.  They have different functions and purposes.

Subcutaneous fat is located right under your skin, you can grasp it with your fingers. It helps to keep the body’s temperature stable.

Also, it acts as a passageway for the nerves and blood vessels from the dermis to the muscles and helps to protect the bones and muscles from damage. Subcutaneous fat is normally harmless.

Visceral fat is stored deep around the organs to protect them. It’s not visible from the outside, but it affects health more than subcutaneous fat. Visceral fat is associated with an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and metabolic syndrome.

Subcutaneous belly fat is more difficult to burn off than visceral fat. It’s stored when extra calories are influenced by the hormones cortisol and insulin.

To lose subcutaneous belly fat, you need to have a healthy diet and balanced hormones.

It is possible to lose both subcutaneous and visceral fat. While subcutaneous fat loss might be the goal for people who want to have fewer inches around their waistline, losing visceral fat can improve health.

Men and women gain and lose fat differently.

Men have fat accumulated mainly around their abdomen, while women have it mostly around hips and tights. It’s believed it happens that way due to the reproductive function of women.

Muscle burns more calories than fat, and as men tend to do more heavy lifting and get muscle, they tend to have a faster metabolism, too.

Other benefits of the trained midsection, aside from appealing look,  are strong torso, improved posture, decreased low back pain, and reduced risk of injury.

To obtain a lean midsection you will need a combination of good nutrition, cardiovascular training, and abdominal exercises. Plus take into consideration some other tips mentioned below.

Get Enough Sleep

When I still was staying home with my child, I’ve noticed, the days I was sleeping enough hours and without much interruption by my toddler, my abdomen looked smaller in the morning.

It looked like I was losing weight while sleeping. But when I was in bed past midnight, with consistent waking up and roaming between our bedroom and kids bedroom, I had a lack of energy, enormous and indiscriminate appetite, bloated belly.

All I was thinking about was getting a nap during the day. But mostly, no matter how hard I was exercising, my weight wouldn’t improve much.

“Sleep is important for pretty much every one of your physical systems,” says Janet K. Kennedy, PhD, a clinical psychologist and founder of NYC Sleep Doctor.

“Sleep deprivation leads to deficits in cognitive functioning, whether it’s reaction time, decision-making, or memory.”

Getting enough of the good quality sleep is essential not only for your brain. “Sleep is involved in the repair and restoration of the body. The rest that happens during sleep really rejuvenates your body for the next day,” says Kennedy.

It is recommended to go to bed before midnight to get enough of the hormone melatonin, which is responsible for our positive mood and anti-aging.

Melatonin is a hormone, produced in the pineal gland of the brain that is responsible for regulating sleep cycles. Those people that work night shifts may look much older than their age.

You can experiment yourself and compare how you look after a few days of going to bed past midnight and before midnight.

I find I see more wrinkles on my face, it’s puffier, and I look like an old lady sometimes if I go to bed after 1 or 2 am. Yikes!

Drink Plenty of Water

You probably heard about the importance of drinking water for your body, as two-thirds of us is water. The same is relevant if you are working on getting six-pack abs.

Water helps to remove toxins and excess of salt, your body gets less bloated to show off your six-pack. When I drink sufficient amount of water (around 2l per day), I even see my wrinkles on the forehead begin to smooth, skin begins to glow.

Reduce Stress

Mental health matters for people trying to get six-pack abs. Consistent stress causes the body to continually release a hormone called cortisol, or “the stress hormone”.

In small, short-lived bursts, cortisol is important for our bodies.

Cortisol can help control blood sugar levels, regulate metabolism, help reduce inflammation and assist with memory formulation. It has a controlling effect on salt and water balance and helps control blood pressure.

But prolonged exposure to cortisol can lead to weight gain, particularly around abdomen and face, thin and fragile skin, acne, facial hair and irregular menstrual periods for women.

Healthy Diet

Carbohydrates and sugar are linked to diabetes, visceral fat, and metabolic issues. You may want to replace them with higher-protein options.

For example, whole carbs like quinoa, brown rice, sweet potatoes, and fruit will fuel your workouts so that you burn more calories.

Protein-rich foods like fish, eggs, lean meats will help you recover from workouts so that you build more muscle.

Unsaturated fats from almond butter, walnuts, avocado, and olive oil work to help your metabolism function at its best and your body absorb all of the nutrients it needs.

So, to get your six-pack, you need to eat more lean protein and fiber, limit alcohol and processed foods.

Exercise

Subcutaneous fat is one way the body stores energy. In order to burn subcutaneous fat, you will need to burn energy in the form of calories. The most effective types of exercise for this purpose are:

Aerobic exercise and cardio. This type of exercise includes most fitness routines that increase the heart rate, such as running, swimming, jumping rope, and even my favorite Zumba!

If you do Zumba quite actively, you can burn between 350 and 650 calories for an hour. Not bad, ha? The more intense the routine and the longer it is performed, the more calories your body will burn.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT helps to increase the fat-burning power of aerobic exercise. It involves short bursts of activity followed by periods of lower activity.

For example, part of HIIT training may include running for 1 minute, then walking for 2-minutes, then another 2 minutes running or doing some other intense exercise.

Strength training: During strength-based exercises, for example, in weightlifting, you can burn little or no fat at all.

But we know that people with more muscle burn more calories, even when they are not exercising. So having more muscle will help you to improve metabolism.

I personally love plank exercise. It involves all the muscles of my body, including the belly.

Summary

It’s not that easy to get the six-pack abs and complex approach is needed, as in most parts of our life, like regulation of your sleep, water intake, stress level, diet, and exercise.

And don’t forget the part we can’t control – genes, they affect our possibility to gain and lose weight (I was always jealous of those people who don’t exercise, eat whatever they want and still look slim).

BUT it’s all achievable and doable, even it may take years to lose belly fat and see your six-pack sticking out.