6 Myths About Your Six-Pack ABS

Everyone digs having a rock hard six-pack, I mean lets face it if someone could give you a six-pack for life would you turn it down? I highly doubt it.

We all know someone with seemingly perfect abs or have seen people streaming all across social media flashing their rock hard midsection. So, the question is how did they get abs?

The truth we all have a six-pack of our own, often times it just hidden under a few layers of fat. Various factors play into why you can or can’t see your abs like gender, stress, muscular development, genetics, and of course body fat.

Honestly, the first step on the road to seeing your abs is killing the myths that surround them. The reality for 99% of the world that didn’t win the genetic “eat whatever you want lottery and still be ripped” is that it takes hard work, sacrifice, and effort both in the kitchen and the gym to see your abs shine through.

So, without further delay let me kill six myths that are holding you back from a six-pack.

Myth #1 – Spot training works for abs

FALSE – there is no such thing as spot fat loss, spot weight loss, spot training or anything related to it. You can do sit-ups until you can’t move but it won’t make an ounce of difference if your body fat doesn’t drop. Add to it many American’s are stressed out and have cortisol levels that shoot through the roof making it harder to lose body fat. My tips: try and chill, don’t sweat the small stuff, eat right, and train your abs and eventually they will shine through.

Myth #2 – You can out exercise your bad eating habits

FALSE – unless you’re the 1% of genetic freaks out there, it’s not possible and trust me you would know by now if you were in the 1% genetic freak club. For the rest of us tracking our macros, eating real whole nutrition food and not overindulging on sweets, junk, and booze is the key to keeping our body lean and burning fat.

Myth #3 – Eating Carbs will make it impossible to see your abs

FALSE – Carbs are not the enemy, overeating in general is. Carbs are important for energy and replenishing muscle glycogen after you train. Like all macronutrients they need to be tracked and part of a balanced nutrition plan. Carbs have their place in your diet, eat them correctly and they will do wonders for your body.

Myth #4 – You must do hundreds of sit-ups and crunches each week

FALSE – You don’t ever need to do crunches or sit-ups if you don’t want to. There are numerous other core exercise you can do that are much more effective in their place. The AB Wheel for example is one of our personal favorites that has been shown to be much more effective in core training.

Myth #5 – You need to take fat burners to get abs

FALSE – The only thing you need to make sure you do is track your macros, eat nutritious food and be at an energy deficit to lower your body fat. Pair that with a killer training program and you are on your way. You are not required to take any supplements to get there, with that being said there are some supplements that have been show to accelerate fat loss when paired with a proper diet and training program. After your nutrition and training are both on point, you can consider adding in a supplement, but again it’s NOT a must to get shredded abs.

Myth #6 – You can shape your abs

FALE – Sorry to say you can’t shape your abs no matter how many exercises you do. Thank Mom & Dad for what you got here; genetics determine how your abs look once they are visible. The splits, lines, blocks, width, symmetry are specific to you. Now you can train to make your abs stronger, and thicker through training so they are more “defined” in that manner, but the rest you can thank your parents for.

I hope these quick 6 myths we killed will help you on your quest to getting a slimmer stomach or ripped 6 six-packs you are searching for.

I have also put together my favorite 10 abs workouts for busy adults here if you want to get working towards that six-pack. CLICK HERE and grab all 10-workout videos here for FREE.

Until next time eat well, train hard & be nice to people.

Jeremy Scott ~ Scottsdale Personal Trainer