How To Get Six Pack Abs
How to get six pack abs fast.
That’s all we really want to know.
We don’t need the overly scientific BS, confusing formulas, restrictive diets, endless cardio, steroids, or other performance enhancing drugs…
All we really need is the truth about what works for genetically average, drug-free dudes like us.
With all of the different theories and opinions out there coming from multiple sources, one can only expect to get confusing and conflicting information when it comes to six pack abs…
It seems like everywhere you look these days, you find website after website promising to reveal the next secret or long lost truth to getting six pack abs.
While some of these sites are legit, most are just trying to scam you out of your hard earned money.
When trying to develop six pack abs though, it is so easy to get caught up in flashy advertisements and hyped up marketing promises. I know this from experience.
The flashy videos, professionally written sales copy, and celebrity testimonials practically make it impossible to figure out what works and what is a scam.
With literally thousands of so called gurus promising you the world, revelaing the “truth” about how to get six pack abs, translating the nonsense into a language you can easily understand is a daunting task.
Just putting the words six pack abs into Google brings up over one million results! Most people don’t have the time to sift through all of that junk to pick out a winner.
With that being said – I’m going to spare you the bullshit today and get straight to the point. You’re here because you want to get ripped.
You’re here because you’re sick of busting your ass in the gym 3-4 times a week with nothing to show for it.
Sick of Googling lame “ab workouts” you find on obscure training blogs online…
Sick of watching cheesy ab workout tutorials from “overnight experts” on YouTube…
Sick of getting rejected by hot chicks and having to watch them date some ripped poser instead…
You want to command respect with a look that gives you the confidence to rip off your shirt at the pool or during a pick-up game of hoops…
A look that will turn heads. A look that will get you noticed. A look that will make all of the ladies toss their hair as they double take and say “WOW LOOK AT THAT GUY…”
Below you’ll find a comprehensive tutorial on exactly how to get six pack abs. It’s a fully comprehensive guide which outlines quite a few helpful tips that can be applied immediately to your training, nutrition, and mentality to help you start getting results.
How To Get Six Pack Abs
By Jamin Thompson – Last update August 12, 2013
The Definitive Guide To Better Abs
Six pack abs are arguably of the ‘sexiest’ human body parts, but unfortunately, they are also one of the hardest to develop. That being said, if you’re reading this article today it probably means you’ve been struggling to get your abs to come in.
Using the best practices outlined in this article will help you get ripped faster, maintain size, and hopefully get you laid a lot more than you’re getting now. (That is the main reason you’ve been trying to get ripped so bad, right?).
This guide will provide a holistic view on six pack abs development, and I will cover most of the basic principles you need to know as well as several more advanced concepts as well. Of course I can’t cover every single technical aspect of abdominal development in this tutorial alone, but this post will cover all of the basics and give you a solid foundation to get started. Check out the table of contents below to jump around to the parts that interest you most.
Updates To This Six Pack Abs Article
This article will be kept up to date with the latest research & best practices when it comes to nutrition, training, and six pack abs development. As new research trumps the ‘old way’ of doing things and the science evolves, I’ll update this article accordingly.
The goal of this article is to combine all of the most relevant info I’ve written & compiled about six pack abs, here and on other sites, for your easy reading pleasure. Be sure to subscribe to my Hardbody Newsletter to receive an email notification when I update this article.
The Foundation
The Mental, Emotional, & Physical Components
There is a prevailing assumption out there (promoted by many trainers and sites) that “abs are made in the kitchen” and that “abs are 80% diet and 20% training” – I could not disagree more. While I do agree that diet & nutrition play a HUGE role in six pack abs development, the most important “percentage” that is often left out is the belief in yourself that you can do it. Without that underlying belief, you’re doomed from the start.
The first thing you need to focus on is the mental aspect of your training. Are you mental and emotionally ready to go after your goal(s)? It won’t be easy and you will be faced with numerous challenges, roadblocks, and temptations along the way that can prevent you from ever being successful. Your ability to remain mentally tough, focused, and continue the journey with discipline & perseverance can not be understated.
With that being said, here is my new and improved breakdown:
These are only rough percentages, but I truly believe that 70% of physical development comes down to mental toughness and emotional intelligence. These two aspects are the foundation that will hold everything together.
Without mental toughness, you’ll never be able to drag yourself to the gym when all you want to do is chill on the couch and eat Doritos. Without mental toughness you’ll never be able to stick to your diet/nutrition plan and most likely never reach your goals. Without emotional intelligence you’ll probably cave in when the going gets tough, or when your friends and family try to discourage you. Mental toughness and emotional intelligence work hand in hand to help you develop the athlete mentality, which is the level of mental ninja you need to reach if you’re going to ever achieve true greatness.
The Success Formula
These days it seems all everyone wants are compliments, puppies, hugs, smiles, and quick fixes.
Nobody wants to get down n’ dirty and work hard to get what they want anymore.
People now want instant gratification and overnight results.
They want to enjoy the sweetness of the fruit without suffering through the pain of any labor.
It’s become an epidemic of grand proportions.
It’s out of control, and it must stop NOW.
When I was an athlete at Clemson University, our coach used to pound the ill effects of instant gratification into our heads on a daily basis.
He would say “gentlemen, if you seek instant gratification, you’ll never become champions. You must have a passion to do, and a patience to wait. Trust in the work you’re putting in – it will pay off in the long run”.
The sad fact is that 99% of the population will probably never become champions…only a select few. The 1%. It’s not because the 99% doesn’t WANT to become champions…they just may not want it BAD ENOUGH to do what it takes to achieve it. I’m not trying to get political here; I’m just making a point. Numbers don’t lie.
You don’t really have to do any complex statistical modeling to figure out that there are more failures than successes in society these days. You literally see it everywhere. People failing in the gym, failing at work, failing in their relationships, and failing at life.
You don’t have to look far to find them…just check your Facebook mini-feed or Twitter timeline right now and I’ll bet you’ll see tons of people complaining about their “situations” or how “person X did them wrong” or how “it’s everyone’s fault but theirs”…
I hate preaching, I really do…but whatever happened to planting a seed and then working hard to see the fruits of your labor? Since when did getting cut n’ jacked become easy? Since when did making millions of dollars become easy? Since when did making relationships work become easy? Since when did LIFE become easy??
Most of the things you see people bitching about now days all require patience and hard work. Getting shredded is HARD. Making millions of dollars is HARD. Making relationships work is HARD. Life isn’t fair, it’s HARD. Nothing worth achieving is ever easy…it’s always HARD.
There is an intellectual attribute called deferred gratification (also known as impulse control, self-control, will power, or low time preference in economics). This attribute is considered a positive trait in sociology and it denotes a person’s ability to wait in order to attain something that he or she wants.
Many psychologists agree that this attribute is an important component in a person’s emotional intelligence level. In fact, good impulse control has been noted by several studies as being psychologically important for success in life/school/work; and people who lack the trait (people who need instant gratification) usually fail to reach goals and aren’t as successful in their lives as those who exhibit such traits.
The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment shows compelling evidence that backs this up.
There is a saying: “all that glitters is not gold”. To a certain extent this is true. Flashy supplements, fad diets, designer tv workouts, and dangerous drugs are prime examples of glittering fake gold. Instant gratification is a deadly virus that will kill your goals, dreams, and aspirations faster than you could ever imagine. Avoid it at all costs.
When it comes to getting results in the gym or in life, the formula remains quite simple.
In fact, here is a formula to follow that will put you on the path to success instantly…
Got all that?
Relax, I’m totally joking. The formula for success isn’t complex or difficult…it’s actually quite simple. It’s so simple n’ easy, an average idiot like me can even figure it out!
Here is my simple success formula that’s been proven to work inside as well as outside the gym: Belief + Strategy + Effort = Success
Got all that? Good!
Of course there are other variables that go into this equation such as patience, perseverance, determination, focus, etc but the basic 3 fundamental components will always remain the same.
Believe In Yourself
Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a premise or proposition to be true. Before you can achieve anything, you’ve got to believe that what is inside you is greater than any obstacle in your way.
If you’ve read this site for a while you’ll know that I HATE cliché, super cheesy quotes so I’m not going to sit here and tell you that “if you believe it, you can achieve it” or “what the mind can conceive and believe the mind can achieve” because these types of sayings just aren’t practical. You will never be able to shoot fire out of your eyes, fly, toss city busses with one hand, or do anything else ridiculous like that…
What I’m saying is that you should just have 100% confidence in yourself that you can achieve any ATTAINABLE goal that you set for yourself.
Sure, there will be people who will say you can’t do it and others who may hate, put you down, and try to discourage you…but a strong belief in yourself will force others to eventually believe in you as well. Start a movement.
Have A Strategy
Complex strategies and formulas usually just create frustration and confusion (see the formula above if you’re not sure what I mean). However, even the most simple strategy will screw you up if you don’t follow it correctly. For example, you don’t ‘ready, fire, aim’ you ‘ready, aim, fire’.
It’s quite simple, your strategy must give you a basic outline that will help you get to your desired outcome. There are usually several components that go into your fitness and health strategy: a nutrition plan, a workout plan, and a supplementation plan. Each one should work hand in hand to help you reach your desired goal.
Put Forth Effort
This part is completely up to you. You get out what you put in. If you work hard, you’ll see better results. If you slack off, your results will probably suck. If you don’t already know this, you’re probably reading this post from your high chair or playpen. Perhaps even a nursery.
I posted the picture below on Facebook a while back and it received a tremendous response. Over 1000 likes in less than an hour. It’s proof that whatever your situation, whatever your excuse, there is always someone else that has it much worse than you who is kicking serious ass and not making excuses.
Click to view full image
This picture tells us that:
1) These guys may not have much but that doesn’t stop them from working hard and pursuing their goals.
2) If you really want it you’ll find a way. Do what you can with what you have. You can always make good out of a bad situation.
3) Anyone can gather whatever resources they have and pursue fitness and health.
4) You don’t need to use expensive supplements, eat six meals per day, workout at the finest gym, jump on fad workouts, or follow expensive nutrition programs to become a monster in the gym – but that a couple of plates, a barbell, and a strong will can take you a long way.
5) The next time you complain about anything at your plush air conditioned gym you should feel like a true asshole.
Remember, always keep it simple. Belief + Strategy + Effort = Success.
Train With Passion & Intensity
Unless you truly love going to the gym and giving it your all you’re never going to truly reach your full physical potential. If you’re going to “try hard” sometimes and “slack off” other times you’re pretty much wasting your time – just stay home and use a silly workout DVDs instead (it’s a lot easier and less pressure that way).
Now I’m not saying you have to turn into one of those gym freaks who practically kills himself every time he trains, all I’m saying is for the duration of your workout, have laser like focus, train with intensity, and try to love every minute of it. Of course there will be bad days where you don’t feel like training at all (we all have them), or you may feel sick, tired, sore, whatever – but if you always give 100% effort that’s all you can ask of yourself. Do that, and the rest will take care of itself.
Don’t Over Analyze Everything
One of the worst things you can do to sabotage any chance you have at making progress is to be a serial program hopper. If you’re constantly stressing and over analyzing every last minor detail of what you’re doing, reading too much conflicting info on the internet, and always looking for the next best thing, you’ll start doubting and second guessing your current program without even giving it a chance to work.
People that do this usually stay flabby and weak and make no progress whatsoever. For example, in the 3 hours that it took you to Google and read articles about what’s the best angle to do incline bench presses, for example, you could have prepared a few healthy meals in advance plus got a good workout in.
Trust me, if you don’t believe in your program and your heart isn’t 100% in it, your time in the gym will become a complete waste. Trust the work you’re putting in, and focus on your current game plan. Execute that game plan, make small tweaks when necessary, and go from there. Eliminate all unnecessary distractions and energy draining “analytical research”.
Get Your Mind Right
There’s not much worse than living a life of worry; a life of mediocrity; a life of weakness. A life of regret.
Unfortunately, many people live life on their knees – spending the majority of their time being mentally bullied by stress, worry, fear, hate, and regret. It’s an epidemic, especially in modern culture.
It’s like people have everything they ever wanted, but don’t have anything they ever wanted.
Here’s a typical scenario:
It usually all starts in the morning when they wake up. They get up cranky and complain about how long the drive is to work or how long the Starbucks line was while they waited an agonizing 12 minutes for a tall latté with crushed ice and light foam.
Then they get to work and complain about how much their kids suck, how much their spouse sucks, how much the job sucks, how much their freshly purchased latté sucks, and how much life sucks…
Then they drive home from work and complain about the commute AGAIN, then get home and complain to the spouse who sucks about how much the people at work suck.
Then they may drive to the gym and complain about how much their workout sucks, how bad the members at their gym suck, how bad the equipment sucks, or how bad their belly fat sucks.
Then they drive home and complain about how being tired and sore sucks, how not getting enough sleep sucks, how being hungry at night and not being able to eat junk food at night because they want to lose the belly flab sucks….while they sit on the couch and watch 2 or 3 hours of late night TV.
They may want to get a better job, have better relationships, make more money, have a better body, or become a better athlete, but for some reason things just don’t seem to go their way.
Life friggin sucks.
The only thing that keeps them from literally blowing their heads off each day is the small glimmer of hope they derive from the opening line of all of their favorite quotes: “IF ONLY”…
If only I didn’t have kids.
If only I knew how to do it.
If only I were younger.
If only I could eat healthier.
If only I could stick with it.
If only I were smarter.
If only I had somebody to help me.
If only the economy was better.
If only I had more time.
If only I could afford it.
You get the idea. It’s always “If only SOMETHING….”
Today was another day in the books. It came and went, and multiple opportunities that you need to take advantage of, opportunities that you have been meaning to take advantage of, opportunities that could help you improve your situation were probably wasted yet again.
Maybe you just don’t care. Maybe you’re cool with being mediocre. Perhaps you thrive in the middle of the road.
Perhaps you enjoy being a whiny little bitch who complains about everything. Maybe you think it’s fun and exciting – even cool.
Maybe you like to watch successful people do what they do and secretly hope they fail.
Maybe you like showing off your belly fat at the pool. Perhaps you enjoy being stuck with an awful spouse, bad kids, and annoying coworkers.
Maybe it’s your goal to be so pitiful your friends, family, and finally your spouse all abandon you.
Maybe your ‘American Dream’ is having a bad body, terrible job situation, awful relationship, and a hard life filled with regret.
Or not….
Here’s how I see it. The reason most people are depressed, unhappy, lonely, miserable, and unsuccessful isn’t because they are less talented or skilled, they are just weak minded. They lack balls. And they care too much about the wrong things.
They focus the majority of their time and energy complaining about bullshit and hating on others instead of using it for personal achievement and advancement.
This is one of the main reasons I believe we have “The 99%”…you know…those “less successful” people who can’t stand “The 1%”.
Without getting into politics, this success disparity phenomenon transcends well beyond finance and economic wealth distribution. We see it literally everywhere. In sports, in school, at work, in relationships, the list goes on and on.
The funny thing about the whole situation is that the majority of the 99% (or let’s even make it 95% for the sake of this discussion) just don’t have what it takes to commit to success…and then consistently maintain the discipline, strength, focus, and resolve it takes to see it through to the end until they reach a goal.
I like to call this highbrow natural selection. Only the strong minded survive. The weak minded will get eaten as prey and their fur used as winter coats to keep the strong alive & well.
The success pie is HUGE, but the path of mediocrity won’t take you to the pie shop of success. You may be able to look inside the shop, but you won’t be able to afford anything inside…and trust me…that’s some good pie.
Now you may feel as if you’re close to the next level but you just can’t break through. Is it your genetic ability holding you back? Is it a mental hurdle? Is it social conditioning? Are you just not working hard enough?
The honest answer is that it’s probably none of the above. It’s all attitude.
Sure, there will always be areas or your life where being average is, well, actually cool. I have zero desire to be a top Paleontologist or Graphologist in the world because those areas don’t interest me. There are also other areas of my life where I am perfectly fine being less than stellar. Yard work and house chores are prime examples. I’ll probably never be selected to anyone’s dishwashing fantasy team because I suck at doing dishes. I am perfectly fine with that.
On a more serious note, there are probably areas of your life where you’ve simply plateaued. You’ve hit the wall. And it sucks. You’re still good, and you’re getting by, but you’re restless, annoyed, and borderline frustrated.
There is always an easy out. You can always choose the easy path, the path of the least resistance, the path of mediocrity. Or you can forge your own path. Nothing worth doing or achieving in life will be easy. Nothing.
So now let me ask you: Do you have what it takes to stop worrying, panicking, questioning, calculating, re-calculating, analyzing and pondering…and start doing? Do you have what it takes to commit 100% to yourself and your goal of getting six pack abs?
Are you willing to take a few risks and make sacrifices to finally get what you want out of life and reach that goal? Do you realize that if you continue living in fear, unable to pull the trigger, that you will continue to live on your knees?
Are you going to continue down the path of mediocrity, failure, and misery and let life pass you by – or are you going to get up off your knees, take the life’s balls out of your mouth, and start kicking ass?
Set Goals & Stick With Them
At the beginning of the year, most of us will sit back and assess ourselves and our achievements, or lack thereof.
Listen, last year, last month, last week, etc is history.
It came and went.
Maybe you achieved your goals.
Maybe you didn’t.
Maybe the economy kicked your ass.
Maybe your boss or wife had you by the balls.
Maybe you even lost your job or got divorced.
Maybe you suffered chronic illness or endured severe hardship.
Maybe you completely lost focus and gained some unwanted belly fat.
Maybe this year/month/week you want things to be better.
A better job, a better relationship with your partner, to lose weight, to get healthier, to get ripped, to be a better parent, to go back to school, to start your own business, to make more money…
Or perhaps you are simply searching for truth, love, and contentment in life…
Whatever your goals are, now is the perfect time to go after them…and quite frankly, it doesn’t matter if you didn’t achieve a single goal you set for yourself in the past.
Leave it in the past.
Life is too short to spend it full of regret and looking back at the past feeling sorry for yourself over dashed dreams and “what could have been”…
Right now is here. It’s a brand new day. It’s a chance to take control of your life, to do things your way, to achieve new goals and live on your own terms.
Why let life slap you around for another day without deciding to do anything about it…the time is now.
So where do you start?
Many people disagree with this, but I believe that in order to achieve success in any new chapter (aka a new year) we must think beyond simple resolutions. We must think long term. And build our futures from there.
What did you accomplish last year?
Are you a better person today than you were on this date last year?
What are your goals for the future?
What are the overall goals for your training program? Your career? Your life?
How will the resolutions you set this year help you accomplish those goals?
Do you even know the answers to these questions?
If you don’t like the answers you came up with, perhaps it is time to re-assess your direction in life and get more serious about your future.
The late Jim Rohn once said, “I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps it’s because escape is easier than change.”
Don’t set weak, emotionless “resolutions” this time around…
Don’t set fragile, generic goals this year that you only partially commit to…
This isn’t a Pac-Man video game where you get three lives, you’ve only got one life to live; so setting goals for that ONE LIFE should be taken very seriously.
That’s right. ONE life.
If tomorrow wasn’t promised to you, if you only had a few months, or weeks to live…what would you do today? Forget what happened last year. Forget any past mistakes or hardships. What would you think about, right now? What would you pour your heart into? What would you sacrifice everything for?
We only get one chance to live our lives, one opportunity to leave a legacy. One chance to make our mark on the world. And then we die. Then it’s gone.
We must always be on a relentless pursuit of constant self-improvement…on a focused, and dedicated commitment to greatness. Every second. Every hour. Every day. Every year.
And if you screwed around last year, last month, last week, etc, it’s not too late to change.
Ever since I was a little kid, my mom pounded this simple message into my head “Always work on trying to improve yourself, always work on getting better. Then work on being better than that. Try to be better than you were yesterday, and work harder at it today than you did yesterday. Always try to be better.”
So every day, every year I work on being a better person. Becoming a better man than I was the day or year before.
Your “better” could be anything…a better parent, a better brother, sister, friend, employee, better abs, whatever. Just get better at it.
Call it what you want, reinvention, evolving, personal development, progress, whatever…
I think doing the opposite would be the same as dying…
In my opinion, there isn’t anything worse than going through life and staying the same. Or even worse, going through life and regressing…
I’m a different person than I was five years ago, and I’d like to believe that I am a better person today than I was back then. I know I will also be a different person five years from now; hopefully a better, more refined version of my current self…and I wish you the same.
In biology, moulting, also known as sloughing, shedding, or for some species, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body, either at specific times of year, or at specific points in its life cycle.
My favorite example of this is the snake, and I like to think of the passing of each year and growing as a person sort of as a snake shedding its skin.
Leave the old, less sophisticated, less intelligent, less battle tested, weaker version of yourself in the past.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that you can never take a break on your quest for self-improvement. You can never remain stagnant. You can never get complacent. You should constantly be focused on trying to better yourself. To be better tomorrow than you were today. And leave the old you in the past.
With all of that being said, I don’t think that any of us need to come up with any complex philosophical “resolutions” every year. Instead, I prefer to keep it simple. Just focus on improving a little bit each day. And improvement comes through focus and effort.
I know a lot of this goal setting stuff can sound corny and played out sometimes, and I apologize if you’ve heard all of this stuff before…but if you’ve read this far I know that you “get it” and want to succeed more than the average person does. So if you’re still with me, here are a few tips to help make this go-around better than last time:
1. Avoid making “soft goals” and instead set a written purpose or personal mission statement. Write down your future goals and project yourself into the future. Where do you want to be 5, 10, 20 years from now? How will this year help you get there? Everything you write down must fall under the umbrella of your personal mission statement. Set goals that will back up your ‘purpose’ in life and then let your mission statement be the guiding force as you write out your master plan and goals.
If you have never created a personal mission statement, here is a great example. It is Merlin Olsen’s (NFL Hall of Famer) and one of my favorites:
“The focus of my life begins at home with family, loved ones and friends. I want to use my resources to create a secure environment that fosters love, learning, laughter and mutual success. I will protect and value integrity. I will admit and quickly correct my mistakes. I will be a self-starter. I will be a caring person. I will be a good listener with an open mind. I will continue to grow and learn. I will facilitate and celebrate the success of others.”
2. Eliminate the dead weight, deadbeats, haters, and useless BS from your life. A few years ago I cut all of the dead weight out of my life and now I only associate with hard working, positive thinking winners. From relatives, to friends, girlfriends, acquaintances, business partners, and all of the lazy, negative, blame the world for their problem types…I got rid of them all.
Look, I know it can be tough to cut people you care about out of your life…but trust me…if you surround yourself with negativity, your entire outlook on life and how you see the world will change. These people will drag you down. You will accomplish less WITH them than you can WITHOUT them.
We all become like the people we surround ourselves with. So try to only surround yourself with people who you want to be like. People who are headed in the same direction you want to go. People who have accomplished what you want to accomplish. People who support your dreams, goals, and vision.
Always remember this: there is no force more powerful to drag you down than a group of negative people…and there is no force greater to lift you up than a group of hard working, positive people. Cut the dead weight loose before it drags you down too.
3. Use a support team. It’s impossible to make it to the top or achieve any type of success without a solid support team to help you along the way. From my parents, to coaches, teachers, mentors, etc, I would not be the man I am today or achieved ANY of the success I have achieved in my life without their help and guidance.
My mom has been there for me in more ways than I can even count. Aside from the fact that she spawned me into existence, she has made countless sacrifices to help me succeed. All she does is give, give, give, and asks for nothing in return. I could not be more thankful to have been blessed with such a wonderful mother.
Let’s face it. None of us can do it alone. We all need a support system. With that being said, if your goal is to build six pack abs I strongly encourage you join an online fitness community because the support you will get from the members, who are all pursuing the same goals you are, in a positive way, is priceless. If you’ve never joined an online community before, Jason Ferruggia’s Renegade Inner Circle and Tom Venuto’s Burn The Fat Inner Circle are two great places to start as you will be able to surround yourself with amazing, like-minded people. It’s a fact that people who train with support systems achieve their goals much faster than those who try to do it solo.
4. Make the investment of time and pain. Now that you’ve written down a personal mission statement and come up with a few goals, it’s time to put in the work in order to make those goals materialize.
Never forget that a major goal can only be achieved by: (1) putting in the time, and (2) fighting through the pain, adversity, and hardship. Sure you can have a great plan to get there, but preparation alone (going to seminars, buying courses, ebooks, diets, making resolutions, etc) does absolutely nothing these days as it is easy to pretend to care when things are easy. It’s so easy to fake commit until the journey gets tough.
Of course we all want a better job, a better relationship with our partner, to lose weight, to get healthier, to get ripped, to be a better parent, to go back to school, to start our own business, to make more money, etc…but how many of us will quit at the first sign of difficulty? How many of us will pull the plug when adversity strikes? How many of us will jot down a few goals this year only to “get busy” or “get tired” a few months from now and give up on those goals until New Year’s resolution time next year?
Sound familiar?
Zig Ziglar once said that, “A goal casually set and lightly taken will be freely abandoned at the first obstacle.”
Nothing that’s worth doing in life is going to come easy. We’ve all got to work for what we get. We’ve all only got one life to live, remember? Why spend it living in the comfort zone? Why spend it mired in regret? Don’t fall into the trap of committed failure, partial commitment, self-sabotage, and chronic failure.
So as you write down your mission statement and future goals, keep in mind that until there is a real investment of pain and time, your “efforts” don’t really count. There will be adversity, hardship, and pain to deal with along the way, and it will take time to reach your goals. The problem is that once people reach their pain threshold or go beyond their comfort level…they pull the plug…year after year…which leads me into my next point…
5. Have perseverance. As stated in number 4 above, building six pack abs isn’t going to be easy, and things are going to get tough. That’s inevitable. The question is: will you hang in there long enough to reach your goals? Will you fight through any adversity that comes your way regardless of how much pain or hardship it inflicts upon you? Will you stand your ground when training/dieting/life/etc comes at you with a flurry of body punches? Will you get up and keep fighting when life knocks you down?
The greatest warriors and athletes in history all had the remarkable ability to do one thing better than everyone else…they were able to persevere and sustain the durability of commitment. They refused to quit until the job was complete. They indignantly repudiated the idea of surrender.
This is a brand new opportunity, and your future is in your hands. Go forth, and conquer. Never quit. Fight the good fight.
Dale Carnegie once said, “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
Process Over Product
Learning not to focus on end results and teaching myself to love the process was one of the greatest lessons I learned from my coaches during my time as an athlete at Clemson.
Process Over Product Translation: the only two rewards though competition are the Process (the learning and internal rewards of the experience) and the Product (the material or outer rewards from the completion).
The four scenarios are:
1. To give your whole heart and win.
2. To give your whole heart and lose.
3. To not give your whole heart and win.
4. To not give your whole heart and lose.
Here are the rewards from each of these scenarios:
When you’re training, you always want to avoid the “No Product, No Process” scenario and get both the product and the process. The athlete who always gives his or her best, even in a losing cause (or failure), is the one who always chooses to pursue the “Process, No Product” scenario instead of the “Product, No Process” scenario (I want to win, regardless of whether I do it the right way or not).
Here are the four scenarios listed in rank of best to worst:
1. Achieve the Process and the Product. (best outcome)
2. Achieve the Process and not cash in on the Product this time. (aka tough training sessions)
3. Get the Product but sacrifice the Process in getting it. (won’t work forever)
4. Get no Product and get no Process. (worst outcome)
When you train and/or compete, always strive to achieve #1 or #2 at the very least.
Learn to love the process, the battle, the pain, the grind. If it doesn’t break you it will make you…and most things will only break you if you let them. So whatever adversity you are currently facing…make the commitment to overcome it.
Feel the pain, appreciate the pain, and then eliminate the pain. Remember, life without pain has no meaning, and there is no coming to consciousness without pain. Once you overcome pain, that’s when a true re-birth can occur and this is the first step to reaching your goals.
Committed Failure
We discussed goal setting earlier in this post – and we all know that any type of success requires a commitment. That’s a no brainer. So obviously we should all be excited about making one right?
Not exactly.
We have been conditioned our entire lives to avoid all things involving risk, and making a commitment is usually a HUGE risk. When we put forth a 100% effort and succeed, there is no greater feeling in the world. However, when we put forth a 100% effort and fail, the effects can be devastating.
This is the reason most people only partially commit. They simply want to protect themselves, their feelings, and their egos. We see this partial commitment syndrome everywhere, in marriages, in the office, with parenthood, in the gym, etc. The list goes on and on.
Outside In vs. Inside Out Training
There are two types of commitment – (1) commitment through obsession (external) and (2) commitment through inspiration (internal).
You can be successful regardless of which method of motivation you choose, but only one type will allow for much more self-satisfaction than the other.
Allow me to explain:
Athletes who are motivated by obsession can definitely become success stories, but these athletes never truly enjoy the process. Their journey to the top is usually filled with anguish and emotional torment.
They often feel relieved after a win (i.e. they finally develop six pack abs), and their achievement is never really fulfilling. Wins typically bring a feeling of relief rather than elation. Competition instills fear and creates anxiety because the thought of losing is simply too big of a threat. Plateaus, losses, and setbacks bring discouragement, anxiety, stress, and depression. And even worse, this athlete usually fears competition in the future because of these negative emotions.
I see this happen quite often with bodybuilding and fitness competitors. Many of these competitors obsess so much about winning that when the show rolls around, after all of the dieting, training, and prep…the fear of both failure and success absolutely consume them. They simply crack under the pressure and stress of the moment.
This scenario typically happens when an athlete needs to validate who they are by what they accomplish. This isn’t always necessarily a bad thing, but athletes with this mentality need great coaches and mentors around them constantly to keep them on the right track.
This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to train for the RIGHT REASONS. It’s great to push for results, but sometimes when you train with a “results first” oriented mindset, your results aren’t nearly as satisfying in the end. This sort of success feels more like a relief than a feeling of excitement. I call this sort of training “outside-in” training.
On the flip side of that, athletes who are internally motivated see competition and winning much differently. They are very fulfilled after a win and they are able to find happiness and satisfaction in even the smallest of successes. Even tiny accomplishments brings pleasure, joy, and growth. As this athlete continues to grow and develop their fulfillment levels are compounded even more. Plateaus and failures will disappoint this athlete, but only make them more eager to compete again.
These athletes train simply for the love of the game (see the ‘Train With Passion & Intensity’ section above). These athletes train to EXPRESS and not to IMPRESS and as a result, inspire even MORE success. This is what I like to call “inside-out” training.
A 100% commitment is a ballsy move, but in order to achieve your true goals, this is a risk you must take. We all go to the gym, we all try to eat clean, and we all want to be rewarded for our efforts, but that effort will only take you so far.
In order for you to reach your true potential, you first need to be internally motivated. You’ve got to WANT it. You’ve got to have that burning desire to want to improve and get better. And nobody can create that for you. Either you have it or you don’t.
Secondly, you have to do it for the right reasons.
When I was an athlete at Clemson, Coach used to help us overcome the fear of commitment by constantly telling us “there is no heavier burden than a great opportunity”…and he would also remind us of what he liked to call The Three D’s of Every Challenge:
He would say “gentlemen, you must first have the Dream; and after that dream, you’ll usually find Disappointment; then, there comes either Discovery or Discouragement. For anything worth working hard for…for anything of value, a breakdown usually occurs before a breakthrough. Your job guys, is to decide on the reaction or response that will yield growth”.
The great Dan Kennedy’s has something he likes to call The 3-Legged Stool of Achievement. Try to picture in your mind a 3-Legged Stool. If any one leg is missing, you can’t sit on it; you topple over. One leg is no more important than the other. All three legs share exactly equal importance. Two without three is no better than one without two or even none. All three are vitally necessary. Their importance is evenly, perfectly balanced. So, one of these legs is: INFORMATION. Another: ADVICE AND ASSOCIATION. The third is: DECISION AND ACTION.
If you want to take your physique, your six pack abs, (or even your marriage, career, fantasy football team, etc) to the next level you need to take action and commit 100% RIGHT NOW. Not timid action. Not tiny action. Not tentative action. Not toe-in-the-water action. Not Google a ton more six pack abs articles action. Make a true commitment to success.
The Black Door
I know I’ve already referenced a ton of what my former teammates and I like to call ‘Coach stories’ in this article…but this one was too good to leave out. Back in the day, Coach used to always remind our team of a story he liked to call “The Black Door.” If you have never heard the story, or may be confused as to how it applies to your life and to getting six pack abs, here it is:
A Persian General has the enemy spy placed against the wall as the firing squad take aim and readies themselves to shoot upon the given order.
He slowly walks up to the spy and says, “I’m going to give you a choice about your fate. You can take the firing squad that is ready to carry out your sentence, or you can take what waits for you behind that Black Door.”
The spy asks, “What is behind the Black Door?” The General replies, “I can’t tell you. It is your choice.”
The spy starts to imagine the possibilities of a long and painful death. Perhaps there are tigers on the other side of the door that will tear him to shreds. Perhaps it will be snakes or another frightening death.
After some contemplation, he confirms to the general that he is ready to take the quick and simple method of execution or the firing squad. And the execution is carried out swiftly.
Afterward, a young corporal who had witnessed the whole thing walks up to the General and asks, “What is behind the black door?” The General replies, “It’s Freedom. But no one has ever chosen it. It seems that most people choose a death that they are familiar and more comfortable with than to risk the unknown.”
We used to have a giant sign in the locker room that said “To get all, you must give all every day in your training, and be willing to risk all every time that you compete.” This means that regardless of how difficult your training is, giving all when you train is always easier than risking all when you compete. So you must train as hard as you can…and be willing to lay it all on the line on when it counts. Win or lose you always give 100%.
As this diagram shows, when you go through the Black Door, you may fail in the process, but you’ll never have to go though the initial passage again.
Gradually, as you see Black Doors for what they are, new confrontations become less intimidating.
Building six pack abs for the first time is an excellent example of a Black Door, and reading through this article right now you may not have a clue of the important life lessons you’ll learn along the way. To you it may just be nothing more than torture training, dieting, and annoying lifestyle changes. But trust me, if you decide to finally make the commitment, regardless of the pain & suffering involved, you will reach that goal eventually.
Never Make Excuses
This tip is another no-brainer but since many people never seem to grasp this simple concept I decided to throw it in anyway.
Here’s the deal:
You may think that your situation is unique. It is not.
You may that you are the only person in the world with your “problems”. You are not.
There is nothing new about anything you are experiencing in your life. Chances are it has happened a million times before and many people have overcome the same situation.
I know a ton of people who have crappy genetics, no time to workout, kids, crazy work schedules, etc who are shredded as hell.
Look, if you’re going to make lame excuses for your lack of success in the gym, you should at least know exactly what your excuses mean. So the next time you fail to reach your goals and decide to provide countless “reasons why” you failed, just remember the 12 clinical names for your excuses.
1) Denial – refusing to accept or perceive some aspect of reality.
2) Projection – shifting one’s negative emotions or problems to someone else in order to maintain self-esteem.
3) Regression – reverting to behavior more appropriate to an earlier stage of life.
4) Repression – “forgetting on purpose” – pushing a distasteful or shameful experience or thought our of one’s consciousness and pretending that it does not exist.
5) Rationalization – providing a substitute reason for an occurrence. It is an attempt to cover up one’s failures or mistakes, to soften the blow.
6) Avoidance – staying away from situations that produce anxiety or bring repressed feelings to the surface.
7) Compensation – trying to make up for failure in one area by success in another area.
8 ) Identification – choosing another person an ideal and then trying to emulate that person.
9) Displacement – is discharging an emotion on something other than the situation that caused it.
10) Reaction formation – replacing a negative feeling with its opposite.
11) Escape – running away from problems through fantasy, books, movies, daydreaming or excessive sleep.
12) Sublimation – transforming “unacceptable” impulses into acceptable ones.
Guilty of any of these? Sure we all are. But now that you know exactly what they are, eliminate them permanently. Lame excuses and defense mechanisms will stop you dead in your tracks and prevent you from EVER reaching your goals. My advice is to avoid making excuses permanently. (pretty solid advice eh?)
Nutrition
Nutrition Basics
Nutrition is (quite obviously) one the most critical aspects of your entire plan, but even though nutrition is important, you’ve got to keep things in perspective. What I’m trying to tell you is: don’t turn into a ‘Fitness Freak’ about your nutrition. You know the types…the OCD people you see on Facebook or at the gym who only eats 12.7 almonds at each meal or weighs everything they eat including protein powder down to the gram.
I can tell you right now that if I had to live like this I would just give up trying to get ripped and live healthy right this second. Life is supposed to be fun…and living life like that would totally suck! That’s why I use the KISS method when it comes to nutrition. Keep-It-Simple-Stupid!
There is no reason to complicate your nutrition to the point to where it takes over your life and you start freaking out if you ate 13 almonds instead of 12.7! Will that 0.3 of an almond really destroy your entire diet plan? REALLY?!?!
What I usually do is just portion out my foods. I’ll have some protein (chicken, bison, fish, etc) that’s about the size of my fist, then about a cup of carbs like oats, brown rice, or yams, a bit of healthy fat, and unlimited veggies. It’s so easy a cave man could do it! Of course, there are many effective ways to structure your nutrition plan but the fundamentals usually always remain the same.
Here are a few basic nutrition tips that will get you on the right track:
1) Breakfast is not the most important meal of the day. I don’t think there is one single “most important meal of the day” actually. They all should work together synergistically to help you achieve your goals.
2) You don’t need to eat 6 meals per day to get ripped. You also don’t need to pound a bunch of protein all day either. The research doesn’t lie – people selling you expensive diet programs and supplements do. I’ve been eating less frequently (as well as eating less meat & grains) and allowing my digestive system to rest & recover. I feel much more energy during the day and stronger in the gym as well.
3) Eating and drinking raw is great, but there are shortcuts you can use that save you a ton of time and energy. Using a greens supplement can help the cause and save you a bunch of time and effort. Juicing is awesome but it can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. I highly recommend using a combo of both – nothing is better than real food, but when you’re in a time crunch nothing beats a quality greens supplement.
4) Focus on optimizing health first (especially digestive health) and physique second. If your health sucks, you’ll never see results. I’ve been obsessed with digestive health ever since I first got sick with intestinal inflammation (“Crohn’s Disease”) over ten years ago – digestive health optimization should be the foundation of every nutrition program.
5) Stick to organic grass fed meat (avoid factory farmed meat), fish that isn’t farm raised, cage free eggs, free range chicken, as well as organic fruit, veggies, nuts, and seeds. If you aren’t sure what a ‘REAL FOOD’ is…here is a surefire way to test it out: just look at the ingredients. If there are more than three or if there is even ONE ingredient that you can’t pronounce or have no idea what it is, chances are that “food” isn’t real and you should probably avoid it.
For example, if you’re buying chicken from the grocery store and you look at the packaging and the ingredients say something like this: Chicken breast with rib meat, water, seasoning salt, sugar, food starch-modified, maltodextrin, spices, dextrose, autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed corn gluten, soy, wheat gluten, proteins, caramel color, polysorbate 80, xanthan gum, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, chicken fat, chicken broth, natural flavors (plant and animal source),extractives of paprika, modified potato starch, and sodium phosphates, etc…you’ll know it fails the eye test. Don’t buy it!
6) Supplements are great, but they should only be used to back up what your nutrition plan is already doing. Right now, my primary supplements include: a greens supplement, omega 3 fatty acids, probiotics, digestive enzymes, and whey protein – I’ll discuss supplements in more detail below.
7) There is more than one way to ‘skin a cat’ so experiment and see what works best for you – then switch it up again. You must constantly evolve and not get stuck in certain “popular” ways of thinking for long periods of time. Learn, evolve, grow, and optimize upon what you’re currently doing. If you continue doing the same thing day in and day out you’ll probably get the same results.
Protein Powder
These days it is so easy to get caught up in the hype and become a protein powder whore. I can’t even lie…those supplement ads can really suck you in! But sadly, protein powder doesn’t even come close to a real steak…or a real chicken breast when it comes to bodybuilding nutrition. Sorry! It just isn’t even close.
Remember, protein powder is just a supplement like any other and should be used as such. Also, keep in mind that protein powder is a processed “food” and typically contains a ton of artificial ingredients, fillers, and potentially toxic substances.
Pro Tip: I recommend using protein powder sparingly, or use a brand that doesn’t contain any toxic ingredients.
Raw Juices
It’s no secret that raw fruits and vegetables are great sources of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and many other powerful nutrients (including phytochemicals which have been shown to even fight cancer). If you have been reading this site for a while you’ll know that I recommend eating roughly 30-50% of your food raw.
Honestly, it is just healthier that way. Raw veggies are full of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, fiber, and bulk because they are “living” foods. As an added bonus, there are 20 active vitamins needed by your body as well as 17 minerals and trace elements and raw fruits & veggies can provide them all. The most efficient way to consume these nutrients is via raw juices so go out, grab a juicer, and get crackin.
Eat Veggies
I can’t stress enough how important veggies are for your health and physique. They contain a TON of nutrients that not only promote health and healing (recovery), but they will also help you with your physique goals as well. Here are a few helpful veggies:
Green vegetables like