As we know, the world of gyms and fitness is rife with myths that attempt to distort the true picture of this industry. The main objective of these myths is to make money by exploiting consumers' ignorance. And one of the muscle groups most plagued by lies and myths is the abdominal muscles. People want to be in great shape for summer, and having a six-pack is essential for them. Many wonder how to get defined abs as quickly as possible.
Without lies, without myths, with only the truth, I am going to tell you in this article how to score abs.
The importance of the fat percentage
One of the important aspects when it comes to getting defined abs is body fat percentage. Most people do endless crunches at the gym. You've probably seen many people training their abs five days a week. And that's because abs should be treated like any other muscle.
All muscle groups need to establish an adequate training volume depending on the level and the goal that is sought. It is not the same to have a basic level in terms of strength capacity, muscle mass and experience in the gym, than to be an advanced one. The margin of gains of muscular mass is superior in those novice people. For this reason, they are the first to think that, by training abs on a daily basis, they will have the six pack in about a month.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The real truth is, if you don't have a low body fat percentage, you can do all the abdominal exercises you want, they'll never show. That's because abdominal fat is what hides our abs. Men, in particular, tend to store more fat in the abdomen. There are plenty of people who have great abs, but their body fat prevents them from being visible.
To achieve this, a phase known as the definition phase is implemented. This phase involves creating a calorie deficit through diet and increasing cardiovascular exercise . Combined with weight training at the gym, this phase focuses on fat loss. By losing abdominal fat, the abdominal muscles will become more visible.
How to mark abs if you are a newbie
One of the main drawbacks of a muscle-definition phase is the reduced amount of muscle mass. Many people, as soon as they start to gain some muscle mass, begin a cutting phase. Typically, these phases end with a drop in gym performance, increased fatigue, greater hunger, and limited potential for improvement. During this phase, when we're in a calorie deficit, we don't see any progress at the gym. We also can't gain muscle mass because a calorie surplus is necessary.
For all these reasons, beginners are advised against focusing on a six-pack. While defined abs might look good for summer, having great abs is useless if the rest of your body lacks muscle mass. To make your abs visible, you need to lower your body fat percentage to around 10-13% , depending on your genetics. If you get to this low body fat percentage without a good amount of muscle mass, you'll look excessively thin. Furthermore, you'll be harming your health, as body fat plays a crucial role in hormonal balance.
Losing muscle quality and tone due to excessive definition makes us look much worse physically. Not only will we look worse, but our health will also suffer. The definition phase for abdominal definition should only be undertaken once you already have significant muscle tone.
How to dial abs in the volume stage
What is not taken into account is doing crunches in the volume stage. This bulking stage is also known as the muscle gain phase. It is the stage in which we build muscle from a slow but progressive growth. To establish a phase of muscle mass gain we need a caloric surplus in the diet. That is, eat more calories than are expended continuously and sustainably over time. In this way, we gain weight while that weight is muscle mass, water, glycogen and fat.
Yes, you read that right, gaining fat is inevitable if we want to gain muscle mass . One of the main mistakes people make at the gym is not doing abdominal exercises during the bulking phase. This is because, during this phase, your abs aren't very visible since they're covered up. Therefore, they often do abdominal exercises during the cutting phase. The problem with this is that during the cutting phase, there's no muscle growth. This means that no matter how many abdominal exercises you do, your muscles won't grow. This phase is only useful for losing excess fat.
If you haven't established a good abdominal routine during your bulking phase, you can be sure your abs won't grow . Abs need to be trained like any other muscle group. This is where training variables come into play: volume, intensity, and frequency. Depending on your fitness level (beginner, intermediate, advanced), you can train a greater number of abdominal sets per week.
A general recommendation is the following:
- Newbies: between 6 and 9 sets a week, divided into two sessions (frequency 2).
- Intermediates: between 9 and 15 sets a week, divided into two sessions (frequency 2)
- Advanced: between 16 and 22 sets a week, divided into three sessions (frequency 3)
If you train your abs with this range of sets at 15-25 repetitions, during the bulking phase, you will be able to have abs when you do the definition phase.
I hope these tips help you get defined abs. If you have any questions about training and nutrition, send me a direct message on Instagram: @German_entrena. I'm a personal trainer and sports nutritionist, and I hope to help.