The Essentials to Getting a Six-Pack

Summer is already here and the desire to take the shirt off and show an impressive six-pack is almost irresistible. Aside from the fact that in many cases that six-pack is carefully hidden behind a layer or two of fat. Fear not, with the proper attitude, methods and supplements you can get great results in as little as a few weeks. So let’s get down to the essentials in building a solid six-pack.

Even though this rule is pretty simple (consume fewer calories than you burn), you will be surprised how many people do not follow it. You cannot burn fat, unless you are in a caloric deficit. You might be eating a lot of healthy foods, but that doesn’t mean you will burn the excess fat.

I am not talking about meticulously calculating the calories you consume every single day. Rather, structure a few meal plans that you can rotate and every now and then change some of the foods. The idea is for you to have a general idea of how many calories you consume and make sure that you burn more.

Not long ago a small bunch of “fitness pros” came up with something known as IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros). In other words, those people are taking the above-mentioned rule almost literally – it doesn’t matter what you eat as long as the total amount of calories is under your calorie expenditure. So, you could eat as many cheeseburgers a day as you want, as long as you are still in a calorie deficit.

While this idea holds some water, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that something just does not feel right. The truth is that while you will still lose weight this way, the ratio of spared muscle to burned fat won’t be that favourable. You are also not going to maximise your full fat-burning potential.

So, make sure you consume a good amount of protein to spare muscle mass, low amounts of simple sugars so not to spike inslin levels and reasonable amounts of fat, as it is a calorie-dense nutrient.

Going on a nutritional regimen that includes no junk food and sweet stuff is unrealistic. It is recommended that you have a cheat meal (something that you won’t normally eat as it is considered junk food) to boost your metabolism and keep you sane. So try seeing a cheat meal as a necessary evil.

Now having said that, it is called a cheat meal for a reason. You shouldn’t turn it into a cheat day, as the amount of calories you are going to consume in that one day can completely wipe out your week’s efforts. Some people have one bad meal and then go like “I’ve already ruined my day, so I might as well keep eating whatever I feel like today”. There is no logic behind that. It is similar to getting a flat tire and then slashing the other three, just for the sake of it.

There are thousand of fat-burning supplements on the market, so making the right decision might be a daunting task. Most of all, even if you decide to look at the ingredients profile, something that very few people do, most ingredients probably won’t make much sense.

This is why I would suggest always checking whether the claims are scientifically backed. For example, there are studies showing that a key ingredient in Six Pack Toner (Ficus Carica) can lead to up to 6.2% abdominal volume reduction and 2cms abdominal circumference reduction.

The bottom point is that by combining a well-structured diet along with effective supplements you are ultimately optimising the fat-burning process, allowing you to burn much more fat than you otherwise would. At the end of the day, it is all about efficiency.