How to Get a Six Pack

How do I get a six pack has got to be one of the top questions asked on How to Box - so here is the answer...

You have probably noticed a lot of boxers with unbelievably ripped abs and you want a set too. Their six packs are literally bursting out there for all to see. And let's be frank, nothing says lean and healthy and is more attractive than a nice set of abs. Taking off your shirt can be a traumatic experience or it can be a moment to stick out from the crowd. It's no wonder that so many ab machines and gimmicks get marketed each day. Nice abs = big business.

Boxers, like bodybuilders, are masters at cutting fat off their body. They need the absolute maximum amount of muscle they can get and still remain in a certain weight class. That means there is no room for fat on their bodies. That plus the punishment of being hit in the stomach repeatedly means boxers naturally want to develop a really nice set of six pack abs (abs of steel).

I've got good news for you. You already have a six pack. If you didn't your stomach and guts would fall out all over the place. Take your fingers and push on your stomach. Feel the resistance? Your abs are in there somewhere and you were born with them. They are naturally formed into that six pack (actually eight pack) you want so bad.

Now, the hard part - but not impossible part. The only way to expose your six pack is to remove the layer of fat that is suffocating them. That is where boxing and more importantly - boxing nutrition can help you. You need to teach your body to eat up all that fat and expose your six pack. Doing 1000 crunches, 1000 situps or 1000 leg raises a day by itself is not going to give you a six pack -- eating right --> will.

I'm not saying exercise is not important. It speeds up fat removal, and ab exercises are important for shaping your six pack. But first you need grab all that fat, rip it off your stomach and expose your six pack so you can see what you are shaping. Unless you plan on cutting it off which I do not recommend :), you need to persuade your body to use the fat it has stored on your abs, your butt, your hips, or wherever else that last doughnut ended up.

A Word on Genetics

Your genes are going to have something to say about how quickly you get rid of the fat and show off your six pack. On the one hand you have those who are genetically advantaged. In the words of Tom Venuto, who in my opinion is the author of the only book you really need to read on nutrition - Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle:

Tom Venuto: Fat Burning Expert

Quote:

On the extreme right edge of the curve, you have the people who can eat chocolate and donuts all day long, they don't work out at all and they have "six-pack abs.” These are the “genetically gifted,” or as I affectionately call them, “the genetic freaks.”

On the other hand, are those people who are going to have to work really really hard and be really really patient to get their six pack to show. These people are the genetically disadvantaged. In the middle is everyone else - the vast majority - who are going to get their six pack by following an exercise routine and nutrition principles on a consistent basis.

Notice that eventually nearly everyone will show off a nice set of six pack abs if they are consistent in eating and exercising for long enough. There is only a very small percentage (<1%) of people who are beyond hope. Chances are you are not one of them - so don't blame genetics for your inability or lack of will to follow an exercise program or limit what you put in your mouth.

Stop Putting Crap Into Your Mouth

I know that sugary, non-nutritious, and fast foods taste good - and if you want to eat them, that's fine. Just don't complain that that roll around your stomach never goes away. You eat crap and that crap will ensure you never see your abs.

So before you put yourself through another ab workout, ask yourself - how important to you is it that you get a nice sexy six pack? Are you really willing to give up eating french fries, high fructose corn syrup, so called "healthy soy products", and the many other foods that are not going to help you in your quest? Are you willing to eat portion sizes that are actual portions and not what two or three people should eat at one sitting? Are you willing to track calories and ensure you are eating the optimal amount each day?

If you answered no to any of those, then unless you are one of the "genetically gifted", stop kidding yourself and realize you aren't going to see your abs anytime soon - because you really don't want to see them.

So, How Do You Get A Six Pack?

Let me make this really easy for you:

1. Start the 12 week boxing training plan or some type of consistent exercise program.
2. Read the entire boxing nutrition module that you get as part of the 12 Week Boxing Training Plan or with a free Silver Account on How to Box and use the information to put together a meal plan that burns the fat and builds the muscle. If that seems hard to you, consider a meal planning solution.

The nutrition section of How to Box explains boxing nutrition in general, but the principles, if applied are literally going to transform your body. You will lean how to control your weight so that you can box in whatever weight division you want and a nice side effect of that will be that your six pack will become more and more visible as the days go on. Stick to it and you too can have a six pack.