Remember the old saying, its important to learn from mistakes – but nobody said they had to be YOUR mistakes.
I get a lot of questions from people who say they are ‘working hard’ but their visual six pack abs are still not showing.
Sometimes this is from people who say they have made an attempt to get those “visual abs” for over a year!
What could be wrong? I’ve actually pinpointed the top 3 reasons why your six pack abs aren’t showing even though you are working hard. Chances are if you are working hard to get six pack abs with little to no results you are making 1 or possibly all 3 of these mistakes throughout the year!
What you will find is Sometimes “less is more” when it comes to getting six pack abs and many people are their own worst enemy.
The fact that their abs are not showing isn’t because they need to “work harder” – its because they need to “work smarter” and have a better strategy to burn belly fat, boost metabolism, and sculpt visual muscle which will aid in boosting your resting metabolism.
Without further ado let’s dive into the top 3 reasons why your six pack abs aren’t showing!
Top 3 Reasons Why Your Six Pack Abs Aren’t Showing (Even though you are working hard)
1. Calorie Deficit is too Low for Too long
One classic mistakes I see is from people who try to “starve themselves” to get six pack abs.
Extreme dieting can really mess up your metabolism and fat loss progress. When someone doesn’t really know what they are doing and they are going on a 500-1,000 calorie per day deficit they cause metabolic damage after a period of time.
This is why its so important to hire a coach if you don’t know the science behind your macronutrient requirements in terms of keeping your metabolism fast!
With the right macronutrient approach you can go on a calorie deficit, not sacrifice your hard earned lean muscle mass, and keep your metabolism really fast throughout the entire process.
This is what I call the “dieters” sweet spot and is one of the reasons why my 12 Week Shred program has been so successful.
I also recommend that after every 12-18 weeks of shredding you at least do a “mini lean bulk” to reset the metabolism and add some lean muscle mass to your frame.
Adding on more lean tissue to your frame actually speeds up your resting metabolism and will give you awesome results when you go back to shredding!
Nobody said you have to “starve yourself” to get six pack abs and this is a really common misconception. By dialing in your calories, eating foods with lots of volume, and going on a very mini calorie deficit you can actually speed up your results vs. starving yourself!
2. Not Enough Compound Exercises
When it comes to getting six pack abs a lot of people make the classic mistake of doing too many shapers and machine exercises for that “burn” feeling in their muscles. How many people have told you that “high reps” and burnout sets are better than lifting heavy weight to get ripped?
I can see why most people would think this in theory, but the best way to burn fat all around your body and speed up your metabolism is doing compound lifts that work your body’s largest and strongest muscle groups.
Full body compound movements like the squat, deadlift, barbell row, pull ups, and Db. lunges work multiple major muscle groups at once and have a lot more of an impact on your fat loss and muscle building hormones.
By putting compound exercises at maximum intensity at the top of your training priority list, you ensure a few things which all have dramatic effects on your six pack abs:
- You will burn more calories DURING your workout
- You will burn more calories after your workout
- You will be able to maintain all of your muscle mass when you are shredding (and in some cases even build some)
- You will boost your fat loss hormones post workout
- You will boost your muscle building hormones post workout
The compound effect of doing compound exercises over shaper exercises in terms of getting six pack abs is pretty dramatic!
3. Not Tracking your Calories and “Eating Clean”
I hear this one all the time, especially with new clients on my Shred plan. People come to my program or tell me that they have no clue how many calories they are eating but they are “eating clean.”
Let’s say you have a calorie maintenance of 2,300 calories per day, and you are “eating clean” and are actually consuming 2,900 calories.
No matter how “clean” you are eating you are over your caloric maintenance level and this will make losing weight and the fat covering your abs impossible!
You need to understand how many calories your “baseline or maintenance” level is and then eat about 300-500 calories less than this to burn the fat over your abs.
Chances are that if you are not counting your calories you are likely eating over your maintenance level. I’ve met very few people who had no way of tracking calories and were actually eating the right amount to get shredded.
There are just way too many sources of hidden calories that the average person doesn’t know about. Get in the habit of at least using a calorie tracking app like “MyFitnessPal.”
If you need help with an exact nutrition plan to get shredded CLICK HERE to join my 12-week shred plan.
The reason the program works 100% of the time is because I figure out exactly how many calories you need to consume and all you have to do is hit this number every day to get six pack abs. Simple as that!
If you want those abs to show you need to track those macros! The good thing is you can fill those daily calories many different ways, as flexible dieting is the way to go!