How to Get Abs - From a Former Personal Trainer

As a former personal trainer, one of the most common requests I would get from clients was to “tone up” and reduce the fat around their waists. In order to accomplish this, I noticed a lot of people doing endless crunches in hopes of adding definition to their abdomen. Unfortunately if you are one of these people, you likely haven’t seen any results, because crunches are truthfully pretty useless, especially if you’re not adding weights. Another common misconception is that hours of cardio will shave off all that extra weight. Once again, this is only partially true, because the main weight loss quality that cardio has is to create a calorie deficit. This means that it will absolutely not contribute to any kind of definition unless you reach an incredibly low and unsustainable body fat percentage. So how do you get abs? Here are four basic steps to getting those abs to show.

Ditch the crunches

Yes, crunches can help add a little bit of definition to your abs, but this is only accurate if you already have a very low body fat percentage. If you are doing body weight crunches, the only thing you are accomplishing is minor endurance training for your abdominal muscles.

If you truly want to develop visible abs, there are two things you need to do: lose the fat around your stomach and add weights to your ab exercises. I hate to say it, but you will never have visible abs if there is too much body fat surrounding your abdomen. We all have abs, however if they are covered by fat then they are hidden. While it won't hurt you to do ab exercises, let your main focus be fat loss. Once you have lost enough fat around your abdomen, you can start adding weighted abdominal exercises (cable crunches, weighted leg lifts, weighted sit ups, etc.) to make them look pretty.

Start lifting weights

I know you may be shocked, but weight lifting will absolutely help you lose fat around your abdomen, which will inevitably make your abs more visible. We all have abs, they’re just hiding under a pouch of fat. In order to lose fat, you need to lift weights. Squats, Deadlifts, and other exercises that target the largest muscles of your body located in your legs. The more muscle you have, the more fat you will burn. In addition, working with compound exercises such as squats and deadlifts will help strengthen your core, making it easier to do all kinds of fun ab exercises when you're ready.

"Lower Abs" are a myth

News flash - the "lower ab workout" videos you've been watching are a lie. There is no such thing as "upper abs" and "lower abs". Your abs consist of one muscle, the rectus abdominis. In order to get definition in your abdominal region, you need to train that full muscle and engage your entire core in the process. If leg lifts for example are performed without engaging the core, you really aren't working your abs at all. Instead, you are working your hip flexors and truthfully, wasting your time. You can not target a five inch area of your midsection; it is impossible, so keep it simple and work on the whole thing. In order to really see your abs, you need to eliminate the fat covering them. This can be done through consistent exercising, and if you want to speed up the process, you can even add a little assistance using medical tools, such as CoolSculpting. CoolSculpting is a treatment that will freeze your fat, eliminating it permanently. This Miracle treatment is great for someone who is generally in good shape, and wants to speed up the process of losing that last bit of excess fat. Skinly Aesthetics is one of the many medspas to choose from to get your body in shape.

Hydrate & avoid salty foods

Water weight literally looks like fat on your body. Unfortunately far too many of us do not drink enough water causing our bodies to store extra water weight when we are dehydrated. In addition salty foods from processed store bought packages as well as restaurant foods, will likely contribute to stored water weight, making you look bigger than you actually are. A quick and easy hack to get your abs to start showing if you’ve already lost some weight around your abdomen, is to restrict your salt intake, resulting in a leaner looking physique.

Be patient

Abs are not created overnight and you can’t expect to see them very quickly unless you want to fall into a vicious cycle of yoyo dieting and unsustainable lifestyle choices. Abs take time and the best way to form a healthy habit with your body is to allow it some time to make the necessary changes needed to adjust in a healthy way.