Six-Pack Abs Workout

Introduction

The most mainstream goal among trainees- The six-pack.

Well, for some of you that may be a four-pack, for others even an eight-pack. We rarely see a 10-pack but there are individuals that have that, and they might not even know about it! In that case, how many times your abs separate comes down to genetics.

And while it is important to understand that you can’t turn a shredded 4-pack into a 6 or an 8-pack, it is for sure you shouldn’t go for a 6-pack of beer, but rather, try to tone up your belly.

In this workout guide, we have prepared for you an exercise, that will surely help you achieve a defined abdominal area, and maybe, if your nutrition is on point, a solid diced mid-section. We are featuring a good selection of exercises for you to target that specific area. So, follow along with us.

Workout Priorities

The priorities of this workout are pretty straightforward- Targeting the rectus abdominis, the so-called six-pack. We start off with a basic crunch to warm up the working musculature and then, we transition to more complex exercises.

And even though this workout prioritizes the abs, we have included an exercise at the end, that will overall, stimulate the core as a whole. That means the abs, as well as the surrounding muscle groups.

So, before we get into the exercise table, it is important to mention here that this workout is suitable for both male and female trainees.

It is recommended to do this workout if you are intermediate or advanced, however, if you are a beginner, you can still give it a shot! Keep in mind though, you will probably have to adjust the numbers of sets and repetitions, in order to avoid excessive fatigue.

Let’s get to it.

The Workout

Exercise Map

Decline Crunch

Execution

• Sit down on the decline bench, placing your feet below the pads comfortably
• Lay down comfortably and place your arms behind your head
• Crunch up, without letting your lower back come off the bench- this way, you avoid excessive tension of the spinal vertebrae
• Instead of going all the way up, just crunch and contract your abs
• After holding the contraction briefly, return back down and repeat

Cable Standing Crunch

Execution

• Set up a bar on the upper pulley of the cable machine
• Stand in front of it and place your feet stably and comfortably
• Grab the bar with an underhand grip at shoulder width, keeping the arms at a 90-degree angle (upper arm parallel to the ground, fists pointing up)
• Tense the abs and crunch down, contracting them completely
• Return back up slowly, keeping the tension on the abs
• Repeat

Standing Wheel Rollout

Execution

• Grab the wheel and stand up straight
• Bend over and place the wheel on the ground
• Roll out slowly, as far as you can, stretching the abs
• Come back up, keeping tension on the abs
• Repeat

Hanging Knee Raises

Execution

• Hang on the bar, grabbing it at shoulder width with an overhand grip
• Look forward and raise your knees up slowly
• Contract the abs up top and hold the contraction for a brief second
• Let the legs come down to the initial free-hang position

Arm Slingers Hanging Leg Raises

Execution

• Set up the arm slingers on a comfortable place, high enough for you to hang on freely
• Place your arms into the slingers and grab on to them
• Hang freely and look forward
• Keeping the legs straight, raise them up along with the hips and contract your abs
• Let your legs go down again slowly and keep the tension on the abdominal area

Workout Tips

Acknowledging Your Level

As we said, this workout is aimed more towards intermediates and advanced athletes. Before doing it, we highly recommend you to do lighter ab work, such as our “Beginner Abs Workout” which you can check out on the hyperlink.

Once you’ve built sufficient strength and endurance and those beginner workouts feel easy, move on to this one. If you’re persistent and still want to try this six-pack abs workout as a beginner, give it a shot and make sure to reduce the sets, reps or even the range of motion for exercises like the wheel roll-out.

Warm-Up

Again, here’s a mandatory reminder for all readers- Do your warm up! Include 5-10 minutes of good skeletal-muscle warm up and some light cardio to get the blood going. Furthermore, start the first 1 or 2 exercises with low intensity and make sure your body is ready to go! You don’t want to injure yourself after all, do you?

Flex Those Abs!

Another reminder which you will often see in our workouts- Flexing. Yes, flexing helps!

It won’t really substantially induce muscle growth, but you will certainly notice a difference in the levels of mind-muscle connection, as well as the development of muscle definition and separations. Give it a shot! If you want to learn more, check out our article where we cover this exact topic = > Bodybuilding Posing.

Note Your Body Fat

While this workout will help you achieve well-developed abs, make sure not to hide that development under a layer of fat which is actually subcutaneous fat. Generally, humans store a lot of fat around the waist line so for most people, it is pretty hard to see the six-pack.

If a visible six-pack is your goal, make sure to combine the ab workouts with a proper diet plan.

Conclusion

So here you go guys, a well-structured, abs-prioritized workout, that also includes some overall core work. This workout will help you build strength and balance in the abdominal area, and the six-pack will follow up soon, if your nutrition is in check.

Now, we know for a fact that every non-advanced trainee would hate to hear that a workout is not up to par with their abilities. And while this is the case with this more advanced workout, there are a couple of things you can do, to make use of the workout, even as a beginner.

1. Modify the training parameters- The numbers of sets, repetitions and if the exercise implies it, the weights used
2. Modify rest times between sets
3. Modify workouts’ frequency

All of this will ultimately allow you to get the advanced workout down to a bearable beginner workout, all while maintaining the exercise choice. If you need ab workouts, specifically designed for beginners and intermediates, don’t hesitate to check out the rest of our Ab workouts category.

See you there!