The Big Picture of Getting Six Pack Abs

The point of this flowchart is to help you grasp the big picture of getting six pack abs.

In short, to get six pack abs, you need to get leaner and develop your abs’ musculature. This is done through training and nutrition. The topic of nutrition is covered extensively elsewhere on the net: I won’t delve in it.

Training-wise, to build six pack abs, you must combine cardio exercise, weightlifting, and abdominal exercises. All three are important, and to really get results you must do all three.

Cardio makes you leaner, which is necessary if you want your abs to show.

Weightlifting makes you leaner, too, by increasing your resting metabolic rate and the amount of calories you burn at rest. Good weightlifting routines for fat loss are also available elsewhere online. I recommend Lyle McDonald’s Ultimate Diet 2.0 (which integrates nutrition and training for superior results: best for serious trainees) and Craig Ballantyne’s Turbulence Training (this one is more beginner-friendly).

Finally, abdominal exercises are needed to define your abs and give them the six pack look.

Simple enough? OK, let’s get serious.

Cardio comprises long, slow cardio and interval training. To get six pack abs quickly, the best approach is to do both. Read about it in my interval training post. The short story is interval training is better than long, slow cardio, so if you’re short on time, do interval training only.

Abdominal exercises can be divided according to which area they put the emphasis on. All exercises activate the whole abdominal region, but each one targets a specific area more than the others. They can put the emphasis on the upper & middle abs, the lower abs, or the side abs.

So where do we go from there? Well, to sum up, to get six pack abs you need good nutrition (covered elsewhere) and effective training (including cardio, weightlifting, and abdominal exercises). Cardio comprises long, slow cardio and interval training, whereas abdominal exercises can target the upper & middle, lower, or side abs.

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