Most of us know that when it comes to how to get a six pack, we need to get to a low enough body fat percentage for them to start peeking through. The same is true for any muscle. But in addition to that, by training our abs in the right way, just like any other muscle, they will respond with growth. And as a result, your six pack abs will be even more visible and better looking as you start chipping away at the fat covering them. But… How to train abs properly? Well, in this video, I’ll cover 3 common ab workout mistakes – relating to the way that you train your abs – that you need to fix. Doing this will help you actually target and grow your 6 pack abs much more effectively.

The first mistake you’re making with your ab training is letting your hip flexors takeover the movement. Which is obviously detrimental for our overall six pack abs development as well, but can also create a problematic imbalance between our hip flexors and abs strength that can potentially lead to back issues and pain down the road. One way to address this is by simply changing your focus during your abs exercises. Ignore what your legs or upper body are doing during the movement, and instead focus on your pelvis. For bottom up abs exercises like leg raises or reverse crunches, simply focus on curling your pelvis towards your belly button. And for top down abs exercises like cable crunches or sit-ups, simply focus on bringing the rib cage forward and down towards the pelvis.

Going beyond this though, another solution is to tweak your current abs training to help take the hip flexors out of the equation. For example, during sit-ups, one solution is to perform what’s called the Janda sit-up. In addition to this though, during moves like the reverse crunch, most people are unaware that the range of motion of the abs during this movement is actually quite short. So stopping this short on the way down is a very easy way to again shift more tension to the abs and minimize the involvement of the hip flexors.

The next mistake you’re making when it comes to how to get a six pack is failing to initiate and maintain what’s called a posterior pelvic tilt during your abs exercises. This subtle movement of tilting the pelvis by contracting the glutes and abs is another key function of the abs, and has been shown to not only significantly boost activation but also helps to further prevent the hip flexors from taking over during our abs exercises. So, realize the importance of this and apply this subtle tweak to all of your abs exercises. For example during the reverse crunch, initiate the posterior pelvic tilt by contracting your glutes and abs before you go to perform each rep and maintain that position as you go through each rep. The same applies for moves like hanging leg raises, sit-ups, ab roll-outs, and even planks. Make this change and you’ll not only instantly feel a much greater contraction in your abs, but also less involvement of other muscle groups like the hip flexors and lower back that we want to keep out of the movement. In turn, helping you build that 6 pack abs!

The last of the ab workout mistakes is treating your abs like some kind of special muscle. What you want to do is, when you do add direct abs work, approach it like any other muscle group. A lot of people will make the mistake of training their abs several times a week with high rep ranges, short rest periods, and will leave them for the end of their workouts when they’re already pretty fatigued. Instead, treat them like your other muscle groups. Provide them with adequate attention and volume but also with adequate rest, and as they get stronger overtime, overload your abs exercises with additional weight or difficulty instead of simply sticking to the same routine over and over again. By training them in this fashion, they’ll respond with growth the exact same way that any of your other muscles would.

All in all though, realize that while ab training does help to build your six pack, you need to combine this with a proper nutrition plan designed to then reveal your hard work and to get your abs more visible. Focusing all your efforts on training while remaining oblivious to the importance of your nutrition will get you nowhere. But for a step-by-step program that shows you exactly both how to train (e.g. how to train abs properly) and how to eat week after week so that you can not only build muscle but then also strip off the fat covering it to reveal that hard earned muscle, just like several of our members have done with their Built With Science programs, then simply take the analysis quiz to discover which science-based program would be best for you:
https://builtwithscience.com/bws-free-fitness-quiz/gender?utm_source=Youtube&utm_medium=Video&utm_content=Description%20box&utm_campaign=Train%20for%20six%20pack%20abs%20Nov%208%2F2020

Filmed by: Bruno Martin Del Campo

MUSIC:
Music by Ryan Little - Body Language - https://thmatc.co/?l=A37F6F3E