How to Get Six Pack Abs

Don't crash diet. Some people will swear that a key to their flat abs is what they eat—or don't eat. Whether they omit dairy, milk, wheat, sugar, or something else, you do not have to drastically change your diet (or limit certain foods or food groups) to lose the belly bulge. Simple, healthy eating habits (not deprivation) will help you drop excess weight from all over the body.

Be realistic. For visible abdominal definition, your body fat percentage has to be pretty low—that's about 8 percent body fat for men, and 14 percent body fat for women. To put this in perspective, "healthy" ranges of body fat are 14%-17% for men and 21%-24% for women. It may be impossible for some people to reach such low percentages without going to extreme measures. Remember that women are genetically predisposed to store more fat around the belly and need minimum levels of body fat to be healthy and menstruate. You'll have to decide if washboard abs are worth going to extremes or not. For most people, simply flattening the stomach and losing a few extra pounds is a realistic, attainable goal.

Train the abs like you would any other muscle. You should strength train all of your major muscle groups, which typically involves 1-3 sets of 8-15 repetitions per exercise. There is no need to do 50, 100 or thousands of crunches each day. In fact, if you are doing your exercises correctly, 8-15 repetitions are all that you need to feel the muscles working and get results. The key is to focus on your form, by deeply engaging your abs throughout each movement. This is commonly described as "pulling your naval towards your spine," or "scooping" the abs inward and it will help you engage more muscle fibers (especially the transverse abs), making each repetition more effective.

Just like you should allow your biceps, for example, to rest 1-2 days between workouts, the same is true for the abs. They also need time to rest, recover and rebuild to get stronger. Aim for no more than 3-4 abdominal training sessions per week.

Vary your program. Every exerciser should add variety to their exercises to keep the body surprised and continue seeing results. Try to change up your exercises (both cardio and strength) at least every 4-6 weeks, if not more often. This will help prevent plateaus and allow you to progress from easier to more advanced exercises as you become stronger.