Six Pack Abs: The Three Biggest Mistakes

Many people think that doing tons of crunches or going on a starvation diet will get them those sexy six-pack abs that girls adore and guys respect. And yet, of the people that implement this so-called “conventional wisdom,” nearly just as many people fail. Is it because having a six-pack is something that only a select few are worthy enough to achieve, like the genetically gifted or the extremely strong willed?
I’m here to tell you that it’s probably not your willpower (or alleged lack thereof) that’s keeping you from reaching your fitness goals. Yes, willpower is definitely important, but even with all the willpower in the world, if you’re using the wrong methods you will never get the results you want and deserve.
People quit their cardio routines and stringent diets not only because they’re difficult to sustain, but after all the hard work they’ve done, they end up with little or no results to show for it. Why stick with something that doesn’t work for you?
If you’ve tried working out the “regular” way and have yet to make any progress, you might have been making three of the biggest mistakes possible when trying to get six-pack abs.
Mistake #1: Doing tons of sit-ups and crunches

Sit-ups and crunches are direct abdominal exercises that are meant to build the muscles in your core. But crunches alone do not burn the fat that covers your core. You can do as many crunches as you want, but at the end of the day, if there’s still a layer of fat on your stomach, you will never see the abs underneath. In fact, without fat loss, crunches and sit-ups can actually make things worse.
If you’re building up your core muscles but not stripping away any of the fat that covers them, your stomach will bulge out even more due to the extra muscle underneath. 
The solution? Total-body exercises that engage multiple muscle groups at once and stimulate fat reduction over your entire body. You might be thinking, of course, that’s where tons of cardio comes in. WRONG.
Mistake #2: Doing lots of cardio

Yes, you read that correctly - running on a treadmill for an hour or more every day is actually a big waste of your time. Have you ever watched the “calories burned” display on your treadmill? After 30 minutes of jogging at a moderate pace, how many calories do you typically burn? 1500? 1000? 

As it turns out, an individual who weighs 150 pounds will burn 225 calories in 30 minutes if they walk on a treadmill at a very brisk pace. If you really work your butt off and run a 7-minute mile for 30 minutes, you’ll burn about 500 calories. The question then becomes: is 300, or even 500 calories a day, really going to help you get rid of all the fat that’s covering your abs?
Sure, it’s better than nothing. But consider the fact that one McDonald’s cheeseburger has around 300 calories. Burning just 300, or even 500 calories on the treadmill is not even close to matching all the calories you’re getting from breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

The take-home point: cardio by itself just doesn’t burn enough calories to truly be effective for fat lossâ€"at least for the degree of fat loss needed for a six-pack. Where does that leave us?
Would decreasing the amount of calories consumed help at all? Yes, but not in the way you might think.
Mistake #3: Going on a diet
When most people use that phrase, they’re usually talking about changing their eating habits temporarily, until they lose fat. Once they see the results they want, they revert back to their original eating habits. And those are just the people who actually see results; many people work for years and still can’t get their abs to show.
What’s the problem? First of all, the conventional “dieting” concept is flawed at a fundamental level. If unhealthy eating habits lead to you being out of shape in the first place, how can you expect anything different when you resume those same habits after going on a “diet?” You can't.
Secondly, dieting in this way may actually cause you to pack on more fat in the end. When you abnormally decrease your caloric intake with an over-restrictive diet, your metabolism slows down. It wouldn’t make sense for your body to metabolize food faster when it’s not getting enough food in the first place. You might lose some excess fat at first, but eventually, with too little calories, your body begins to hold on to any of the energy resources it has (i.e. fat).
When you switch back to your old habits, you’ll gain weight a lot faster now that you have an even slower metabolism than you started with. Is that what we’re trying to accomplish here? Absolutely not.
So what IS the solution to all of these problems â€" the pointless sit-ups, the inadequate cardio, the counterproductive diet. 

Summarized simply, you need to
:
1) Increase your overall muscle mass by doing compound exercises like the squat, dead lift, and bench press, among others. Increased muscle mass will help you achieve step 2.
2) Increase your metabolism. Your body must burn extra calories in order to maintain all the extra muscle you packed on. This means your body will break down food much faster too, keeping it from being stored as fat. But in order to gain muscle you must also...
3) Eat the proper foods, but don’t avoid food altogether. Lean meats like boneless, skinless chicken breasts are packed with protein for muscle development but have very little fat. If you still have a sweet tooth, a handful of grapes or strawberries will do you a lot better than a doughnut. 

When used in the right way, steps 1-3 can help you achieve the body you’ve always wanted, and faster than you’ve ever thought possible. You won’t even have to spend hours in the gym either; you will get optimal results just by working out four times per week for 30 minutes each session.