20 Best Way to get Six Pack Abs fast

How to Get Six pack Abs: Step by Step Guide

To get 6 pack abs you need a proper plan and most importantly you have to be consistent to it. You can build upper abs fast as compared to lower abs. To get those lower abs you need strong dedication and discipline.

However, there is no shortcut to get six pack abs overnight, also it is not difficult as many people think. All you need some simple changes in your regular routine which could be difficult for many people.

The best way to get six pack abs is regular exercise and the most crucial thing is your diet. Your body shape depends on what you eat whereas exercise is still important part to get shredded abs.

In this article you will know everything what are the most common 6 pack abs mistake, how to fix them and workouts that will help you to get abs.

Here are the four parts of the article that will help you understand step by step.

• Common mistakes
• Six pack abs exercises
• Effective routine for 6 pack abs
• Clean and healthy diet

Part 1 - Six pack abs common mistakes

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1 Only doing crunches - Many people think that if they want six pack abs then crunches is the first thing that comes to their mind. But the fact is there are many other exercises which target your overall core muscles. Doing more crunches can hurt your back. Moreover this exercise is not effectively target your core muscles compared to other exercises.⁽¹⁾

2 Lack of sleep - You need enough sleep if you want to get abs. It is important part of a healthy routine or any fitness program that also help you lose weight. If you are sleep deprived then it will affect your weight loss routine, moreover, sleep deprived people tend to gain more weight than people who get enough sleep.

• To get six pack abs you need calories deficit diet. Sleep deprived people tend to eat more as it affect your hunger regulating hormone leptin and ghrelin.
• Possibly you may consume more calories resulting you might weight gain. So try to get at least 8 hours of sleep for better result.⁽²⁾

3 Not tracking your diet - Your abs are hidden under the layer body fat. If you are not tracking calories consumption it can affect your fat loss, because to lose weight you need calorie deficit diet. when you're stay calorie deficit your body burn fat, it uses stored energy that comes from body fat.⁽³⁾

• This is a simple rule; to gain weight you need calorie surplus diet whereas, to lose weight you need calorie deficit diet.
• You can include exercises in your routine that burn at-least 300-500 calories per day.

4 Focusing on spot reduction - You have to know that spot reduction doesn't work. If you believe that doing only crunches help you burn your belly fat then it's not true.⁽⁴⁾

• You have to lose your overall body fat to get well defined six pack abs. The best way to lose your overall body fat is compound exercises, it targets multiple muscles and burn more calories than crunches.
• It also increases your muscle mass which improve your metabolism and help you get rid of excess body fat. So, stop focusing crunches only and start doing some compound exercises.

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5 Not eating healthy - If you are working hard to get those shredded 6 pack abs but, not following a healthy diet then, you will never lose your excess body fat. There is a saying, abs are made in kitchen well its true. Healthy diet is most important part of fitness routine, without it you will never get 6 pack abs.

• Stop consuming liquid calories such as sugary drinks such drinks are filled with calories which provide no nutritional value as well as increases your calories consumption. Such drinks also don't satisfy your hunger.
• It is better, if you replace your sugary drinks with plain water or fruit juices. Include green vegetables in your diet because it is loaded with healthy nutrients such as antioxidants and minerals.

Part 2 - Six pack abs exercises

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Exercises will help to tone and build muscles in your body. You don't have to be train your abs daily just train your abs 2 times a week like you workout on your other muscles. It would be better if you add abs day in your workout routine where you have to focus only abs workout.

7 Start with plank - Plank exercise help to tone your abs and build strong core muscles. Start with pushup position or lying on your stomach, bend your elbow to 90 degree that will put weight on your forearm.

• Engage your core and keep your back straight and natural. Look at the floor to reduce neck stress but keep your neck relaxed
• Hold this position for 20-30 seconds or as long as you can. While doing plank make sure focus on your breath which also good for improving your mood and concentration.
• If 30 seconds are not challenging for you then try to increase duration of your plank hold or you can add weight.

8 Try plank variations - Side plank are great exercise for oblique and abs muscles that are not targeted by abdominal exercise such as crunches. Side plank will help to sculpt your oblique and abdominal muscles. It does not stress or your neck or back muscles like crunches.⁽⁵⁾

Lie your right side, Extend your legs and stacked from hip to feet, bent your right forearm under your shoulder.

• Contract your abdominal muscles and your elbow must be bent, slightly raise your hips to make straight line from your head to feet.
• Hold this position for 20-30 seconds and focus on your breath. Make sure repeat this position with other side.
• You can make it more challenging by adding more seconds; try to hold this position for 60 seconds. You can also try single leg side plank by raising your one leg.

9 Hanging leg raises - It is very challenging exercise that build amazing 6 pack abs, not only this, but it is great for improving your grip strength. To start this exercise you need a high bar or pull up bar. Grab a bar with overhand grip, your hands should be shoulder width apart.

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• Hang on bar with your hands and extend your leg until they are completely straight. Engage your core muscles and slowly raise your legs while keeping your knees straight.
• Raises your legs until it above your hips then hold this position for 3-6 seconds to feel the burn in your abs. Lower your legs slowly in controlled manner but keep your core engaged and repeat.
• If hanging leg raises are difficult for you then you can start with hanging knee raises as it is easy to do compared to hanging leg raises.

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10 Toes to bar - Another very challenging exercise that target your whole body including your abs. To perform this move you need enough strength in your lats and flexibility in your quads and legs. This is similar exercise like hanging leg raises but here you need to raise your leg until they touches to bar. This is not an easy exercise.

• Grab a pull up bar with overhand grip, extend your leg, engage your core and raise your leg slowly until your toes touches to bar.
• Hold this position for 3 seconds then lower slowly to starting position and repeat.

11 L-sit for six pack abs - L sit is another challenging isometric exercise, it is great for building strength in your core that also helps you get shredded six pack abs. When you do L-sit it works all your major muscles of upper body (biceps, shoulder, chest, core, oblique, and hip flexor) working on all those muscles definitely improves your isometric holding strength and flexibility.

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• L sit can be done on the floor or you need parallettes bar, you can also do this on dip bar.
• Place your hands on bar and engage your core, slowly lift your leg and make L shape. While doing this keep your back, head, arms and legs straight.
• Hold this position for 20 seconds to work on your abs. If this is too difficult for you then you can do tuck L sit.

Part 3 - Best Routine for six pack abs

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12 Do high intensity interval training for fat loss - As you know abs are hidden under the layer of fat, when you do hiit you may lose your body fat much faster because of the following reasons:

• It boosts your metabolism which helps to burn your body fat, because higher metabolism increases energy expenditure even when you are resting.
• It burns more calories in short amount of time compared to steady state cardio.
• Hiit keep your metabolism rate higher after workout and brings your body to fat burning zone.

You can do HIIT twice a week if you want fast results. Make sure your workout length should not be more than 20 minutes.⁽⁷⁾

13 Shed your fat with cardio exercises - Cardio exercises are good for burning overall body fat including your belly fat. There are many exercises you can do such as skipping rope, jumping jack, jogging and sprinting. Make sure do 5 minutes of warm-up. A good cardio workout should be 15-20 minutes.⁽⁸⁾

• You can do interval cardio training such as 5 minutes of jogging then 30-60 seconds of sprinting. This increases your cardio workout intensity and help to burn more fat.⁽⁹⁾
• Besides this you also try this, skipping rope 30-60 seconds then 40 seconds rest then do jumping jacks for another 30-60 seconds and repeat 5-8 rounds.

14 Do variety of abs exercises to get six pack abs - Different exercises target different muscle, So stop doing only crunches it does not matter how many crunches you do per day. To get 6 pack abs you need exercises that work your overall core muscles.

You can include these exercises in your abs routine.

• Mountain climbers, Planks
• Bicycle crunches and lying leg raises
• Flutter Kicks and Russian Twists
• Do each exercise for 30-45 seconds then take 30-40 seconds rest and continue with other exercise, You can do 3 sets.

All the above exercises you can do at the end of your workout because these are the basic abs exercises which can be done at home or anywhere.

15 Rest and sleep is important part of fitness routine - Over training will not help you to get six pack abs or never speed up the process. Your muscles grow and get stronger while you rest, because it recovers your muscle tissue. Over training also affect your performance and increases the risk of injury.

Sleep is definitely crucial part of any fitness program. When you get sleep enough it helps to improve your overall health and fitness including your mood and energy level. Sleep also play important role in muscle recovery, moreover it also reduce your stress level. It also helps to control your hunger regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin. If you want to get six pack abs then try to get plenty of sleep.⁽¹⁰⁾

Part 4 - Clean Diet For six pack abs

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Only exercises or workout are not enough to get 6 pack abs. What you eat, is the most important part. There are many foods you have to avoid if you want abs. However eating clean and healthy with proper workout plan is the only thing that helps you burn your fat faster and get you shredded abs.

16 Cut down sugar and processed foods from your diet - Refined sugar is definitely bad for your health because of their calories and zero nutritional value. Consumption of sugar increases your calories intake and these excess calories turn into fat. Studies show that added sugar in diet increases risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity. If you want to see your six pack abs then you should not eat refined sugar and processed foods.⁽¹¹⁾

Try to avoid eating unhealthy snacks and fried foods; as such foods add more calories in your diet.

17 Add high quality protein to your diet - Protein is the building block of muscles. It helps to grow your muscles, repair muscle tissue and maintain your muscle mass. Muscles are crucial part of human body which help to burn fat, means higher muscle mass improve your resting metabolic rate which burns calories.⁽¹²⁾

• Add high quality protein in your diet such as fish, chicken, eggs, full-fat dairy, beans, soy foods, nuts and seeds. These foods loaded with high nutrition and help to shed your fat faster.
• However, your daily protein intake depends on many factors such as your age, sex, activity level, weight and your goal. You can use this calculator to find out your recommended protein intake per day.

18 Fruits and vegetables helps to cut excess calories from diet - Fruits and vegetables can keep you full longer duration as they are high in volume and low in calories. The other benefit is they are loaded with essential nutrition which helps your body to function normally.

• Instead of snacking you can eat fruits such as apple, berries and banana to control your hunger.

19 Eat healthy carbohydrates - Whole grain are excellent source of fiber and healthy carbohydrates fulfill your energy needs and fuels your muscle. Complex carbs has higher nutritional value compared to simple carbs. Because of their high fiber you may feel satiated (feeling of fullness) for longer duration which also prevents overeating and support weight loss. Make sure don't overeat them because each gram of carbohydrates stores around 3 grams of water in your body. So try to limit your carbs consumption.⁽¹³⁾⁽¹⁴⁾

20 Stay hydrated by drinking water - Water are calorie free drinks that helps to control your appetite. Water take place in your stomach and reduce your appetite for few minutes. Always try to stay hydrated during your workout or after workout. It helps to boost your weight loss goal when you replace it with soda or sugary drinks.

• Try to drink at least 2 liter of water everyday.
• You can also eat fruits that are high in water such as cucumber or watermelon. These fruits contains more than 90% water and they are loaded with antioxidants and minerals.

Last-Line

Six pack abs is not only doing number of crunches there are many things you need to follow to get 6 pack abs.

Work on your core by doing core exercises also add strength training in your routine which build muscle and burn fat faster

Few simple changes will help to get six pack abs and improve your overall fitness and health.