Common Fitness Mistake #6: Crunching Your Way to a Six Pack

Almost everyone who works out has a desire to get six pack abs. They may not always admit it, but aside from a generic goal of getting in “better shape”, most of us want to look better as well. Often part of the “look better” is a desire for a flatter stomach, perhaps with some grooves in it. Not grooves from fat, but grooves etched between the muscles of the rectus abdominis, in layman’s terms, the six pack.

The problem is, their behavior does not match their goal. It’s like trying to put a square peg into a round hole, it just isn’t going to work…unless the peg were smaller. And then it will work. Does my metaphor work? Not really but I thought it was clever to point out that a SMALLER peg will fit in a round hole.

What am I saying? What are people doing wrong? I am saying that getting the waist line smaller by losing fat is the key to a six pack and what people are doing wrong is constantly working their abdominal muscles without thinking about the layer of fat that is covering them.

The gentleman in the picture is not that fat, but he will NEVER have a six pack unless he starts working just as hard in the kitchen as he does in the gym. I see people doing 30 minutes of ab work thinking that is the way to a six pack. Endless crunches, leg raises, plank variations, etc. Those are fine exercises and there is nothing wrong with including them in your program. But without doing a few sets and repetitions of healthy meal prep, the effort is partially wasted.

I say partially wasted because you are still building the muscle and you are still building strength. It is very important to have a strong midsection as it helps tremendously to maintain stability while completing large compound exercises. And since the muscle is built, your six pack will look very nice once you finally shave off the fat.

Please do not make this mistake anymore.

Maybe you knew that you needed to eat right as well but were simply confused by all of the information available. If that is the case, let me help you sort through the mess. Together, we can devise a plan to get you closer to the abs you are hoping for.