I Want Abs

It’s January and I’m not the only personal trainer/strength coach that will hear/read a potential client utter these words … it’s what most people want out of a gym (unless they already have it) and what I chased for years (unsuccessfully) but almost found a few times and I am going to share my journey to abs here.

As a young child, I can remember being lean enough to have visible ribs (I’ve somewhat maintained this as an adult) but never did I have defined abs. No one in my family has them either (to the best of my knowledge). I was an active/athletic child through high school but never had defined abs. In college (without the regularity of athletic practice) I took up intramural sports and going to the weight room to lift weights … I still didn’t have abs though I did do A LOT of crunches, sit ups, Russian twists, and other ab exercises.

My ab definition didn’t change during grad school either, though I did think I had some “definition.” I could “feel” the muscles but I definitely didn’t see them in the mirror. After grad school, more of the same. Workouts, gym memberships, crunches, and then I added planks but again no 6-pack.

What was missing? I worked out, I did cardio, but I didn’t have abs. At this point some would double down on the cardio and exercise but they’re missing the two biggest aspects of 6-pack abs: genetics and diet/food intake.

The Role of Genetics in 6-Pack Abs

Genetics determines a lot about how we develop. What color hair we have, our height, and where we store body fat. Think about the body type of your parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, and siblings, it’s pretty similar to your’s. You’re a genetic cocktail of your parent’s DNA, there’s a good chance your body type resembles one (or both) of theirs’. Genetics at least partially determines where a person gains/loses fat from and anecdotally speaking, it comes off the last place you want to lose it first and goes back to the last place you want to gain it first also. For me, when I lose fat it first comes off my chest and last it comes off my stomach/thighs...this is just how my cookie crumbles but that doesn’t mean it’s unattainable. This isn’t something we can change without a (somewhat) drastic decrease in body fat accumulation. I also know (via cadaver dissection) EVERYONE has 6-pack abs, but we’re just keeping them insulated with fat.

The purple area is called the rectus abdominus and this is what EVERYONE looks like once we remove the skin and adipose tissue (fat). A nice 6-pack appearance is inside of everyone … but it’s not unlock-able for everyone.

The Role of Nutrition in 6-Pack Abs

The modifiable factor in “finding” abs is diet/food intake. To get the abs to show we need to remove the layer(s) of adipose tissue covering them. I ignored the impact of diet for nearly 15 years (I’m only counting the college and beyond years, not my adolescent development period) but once I started paying closer attention to what I ate, I started to show some signs of definition in my abdominal region.

Below is a picture of me at the leanest I’ve ever been in my adult life. This was after losing approximately 30 pounds via changing eating habits, strength training, and running (to see more about this transformation, check out the blog I wrote here). The change I made in my eating habits started with a multi-level marketing plan 24 day challenge but I continued to formulate my meals on the same structure. At the time, I thought it was because of the program but the reality is I lost weight because I was living in a caloric deficit (I was burning more calories than I was taking in) and I was taking in a lot of lean meats, fruits, and vegetables, and fewer processed foods.

This was taken in the fall of 2015 and is the closest I’ve come to having 6-pack abs. I was eating 95% (if not more) of my meals out of containers from meal prep and very rarely drinking alcohol/beer … not really having fun with life but I was excited that I could achieve this look. I’m probably around 18-20% body fat in that picture and to get down to where I would have 6-pack abs I’d likely need to be around 15% which is tough to reach and maintain.

The truth is, it’s much harder to get them than many would hope. For more information and an excellent info-graphic on the cost(s) of getting lean check out this great post from Precision Nutrition. Also, the models you see on magazine covers also likely don’t look like that 365 days per year.

from Precision Nutrition

Will I ever have 6-pack abs? Probably not, but I’m now ok with it because I like what I do have. I love that I am strong enough to carry all of my groceries in to the house in one trip, I love that I can lift weights I didn’t think were possible, I love that without training I can have a respectable 5k time, I love that I don’t deprive myself of foods I crave, I love that I get compliments on my shoulders, and I love the process of seeing what I can do with my body.

Does all of this mean you CAN’T have 6-pack abs? No, but it might be harder than you think but maybe during the journey to abs, you’ll find something else in fitness that you fall in love with. The truth is, you can’t out exercise a bad diet, but we can set ourselves up for success by making small incremental changes in our eating and exercise habits.  For more help click here.