How to get abs in 28 days


I mean, this definitely sounds super awesome.
Who doesn’t want a set of chiseled abs in just 28 days?
I sure do.

But the reality is getting a six pack is very hard.
It’s definitely not as easy as the big health magazines (Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Shape…etc) or the Hollywood stars make it out to be.
Don’t worry, in this article I’ll explain how to get a six pack.
But first, I want to talk about what you may need to give up in order to see those rock hard abs.
What you give up to have a six-pack
Brace yourself, for I’m about to show you a picture of my abs…
So now that we got that out of the way, before I tell you how to get abs, let me first tell you what you may have to give up to get there.
Rarely drink alcohol →
Alcoholic drinks contain calories, but those calories are known as “empty calories”. Meaning, those calories don’t provide much nutritional value to your body, but are great for adding weight to your body.
Also, alcohol seems to increase hunger levels, leaving you looking for the nearest fast food place to eat.
So, not only does alcohol contain a lot of empty calories, it leaves you feeling hungry and more susceptible to reach for the greasiest food around.
Spend a lot of time carefully thinking about food→
Ok, so you won’t have to agonize about every single calorie that you eat, but you will need to spend some time considering the types of foods you’ll be eating.
I’ll elaborate more on these types of foods in the nutrition section of this answer, but just realize that the leaner you get, the more time you’ll need to spend thinking about the foods you’re eating.
Am I saying that in order to get six pack lean, you have to give up drinking, your social life, and your sanity, by agonizing over food?
Not exactly.
However, what I’m saying is that leaner you want to get, the more sacrifices you’re going to have to make.
Real (six pack) talk
First of all, lets set some parameters about just how lean a person needs to get, in order to have visible abs.
For the guys→ Most guys will start to have abs appear at around 9% body fat. As you creep down to the lower single digits (<8%), your abs should really start to present themselves to the world.
For the ladies→ Most ladies will start to see abs appear around 16–17% body fat. As a lady creeps down to the lower teens, she should have a visible six pack that is worthy of a nod from even the leanest bodybuilders.
A WORD OF CAUTION FOR THE LADIES, WHO WANT TO GET REALLY LEAN: Ladies, before you dive headfirst into getting super, super, ridiculously lean, please know there are some inherent health risks to you. As a female starts to get super lean (less than 14–15% body fat), this can start to disrupt her menstrual cycle, and other important physiological functions in her body.
If you are trying to drop below about 13% body fat, please be careful, and seek the proper medical supervision.
Alright, so now that you know (roughly) what percent body fat you need to achieve, the next question is “how do you get there?”
Well, there are three big areas to focus on: Sleep, Exercise, The foods you eat.
Sleeping is good for your six pack
Getting enough high quality sleep each night is not only good for weight loss, but also overall health.
It’s still unclear whether long-term sleep deprivation is a direct cause of weight gain, however the research is clear that poor sleep messes up the body’s hunger hormones (Leptin and Ghrelin)—which in turn can lead to weight gain.
  • Leptin is the hormone that tells your body to stop eating → When you’re sleep deprived leptin levels go down.
  • Ghrelin is the hormone that tells your body when to eat → When you’re sleep deprived ghrelin levels go up.
So, basically when you’re sleep deprived your body has more of the hormone that tells you to eat (ghrelin), and less of the hormone that tells you to stop eating (leptin) floating around.
Not the ideal equation for leaning out, and seeing your abs.
Ideally, you should aim to get 7–9 hours of the highest quality sleep possible.
This means:
  • Sleeping in a room as dark as a cave
  • Not using electronics AT LEAST 30 minutes before bed
  • Not drinking caffeine AT LEAST 7 hours before you hop in bed
Eating the right foods is good for your six pack
“Abs are made in the kitchen”
The above quote is true.
You simply can't lose weight, or body fat, if you’re eating more calories than you burn.
In order to burn enough body fat to reveal those rockstar abs, you're going to have to create an energy deficit.
This means burning more calories than you take in.
There are 3 main ways to create an energy deficit:
  • #1→ Eat less food than you do now
  • #2→ Exercise far more than you do now
  • #3→ Combine diet changes + regular exercise
Option number 3 is the one you should shoot for.
Eating slightly less and exercising slightly more is the best way to create a calorie deficit. I’ll explain the exercise part more in just a few minutes.
However, for now, the focus is on food…It's much easier to not eat a 500 calorie cheeseburger, than it is to burn 500 calories at the gym.
Which is why in your quest for abs, your first change should be food.
Not that foods are inherently bad or good (they aren’t), but certain types of foods will help you more than others along the way.
Step # 1→ Build every single one of your meals around protein
This can be seafood, chicken, beef, vegan sources, protein powders, eggs, or something else.
What’s important is that you eat protein with every meal.
How much protein?
For men → Anywhere from 0.8–1.0 grams per pound of bodyweight.
For women → Anywhere from 0.8 -1.0 grams per pound of bodyweight.
Did you think I was going to say a lower amount of protein for women?
Fun fact: The amount of protein you need doesn’t change based on gender.
That’s science….
Step # 2→ Eat lots of vegetables
Vegetables have a lot of fiber, and important vitamins and minerals (micronutrients).
They also help keep you full for longer (thanks fiber) which will naturally help you control calories by eating less (hello six pack).Aim to eat 3–6 servings of vegetables per day.
Two fast and convenient ways to eat more vegetables are:
  • Use steam bags (the microwavable bags that take 5 minutes to cook)
  • Blend vegetables into your protein shake (kale, spinach, and cucumbers are good to start with)
Step # 3→ Drink lots of water
Pretty self-explanatory, but drinking A LOT water each day is important to seeing that awesome abs you have.
Drinking a lot of water will help quench your thirst, and make you less likely to reach for a crazy sugar filled drink; such as fruit juices or sodas. In short, drink lots of water each day.
Exercising is good for your six pack
Exercising is good for your six pack, but the right type of exercise is great for your six pack.
The best type of exercise for seeing your abs should rate high on the intensity scale.
Why should they be more intense?
When getting lean is the desired outcome, the goal from exercise should be two fold:
  • Help you maintain, or even build muscle tissue
  • Rev up your metabolism so you burn more calories hours after you’re done exercising
During low intensity exercise your muscles contract, but the energy demands are quite low.
This means you can do this type of exercise for a long time—it’s why the human body can jog for hours at a time without stopping.
Now, flip the script to sprinting.
During all out sprints your muscles contract, but the energy demand is much higher. Even the best conditioned sprinters can only run full out for a short period of time.
Because low intensity exercise, like jogging is…well, low intensity, as soon as you are done jogging, your body almost immediately stops burning calories.
The energy demands just aren’t high enough to rev up your metabolism.
However, because the energy demands of high intensity exercise, like sprinting, are…well high, the body needs more energy to recover after the workout is done.
Thus, your metabolism is revved up for hours after bouts of high intensity exercise. You may hear this phenomena called names such as, “the afterburn effect”, or “EPOC— Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption”.
They all mean that after hard workouts, your metabolism will be revved up, and you’ll be burning more calories for hours afterwards.
This is good, and the effect you’re looking to create from exercise.
Some other phrases that come to mind, which will help you determine if you’re exercising hard enough are:
  • The burn
  • The pump
  • You feel like your heart is about to explode out of your chest
  • You’d rather walk across shards of broken glass with no shoes on, than do another rep of that stupid exercise
  • You would literally sell your soul to the devil to make this workout stop right now
There’s probably more good phrases as well, but off the cuff, if you’re thinking along these lines, you’re probably exercising at a good intensity level to support burning body fat.
So, what are some of the best “actual” exercises for getting a six pack?
Well, like I said, you’re going to want to keep the intensity high, which in turn will help you shed body fat, lean out, and put eyeballs on those abs.
Some of the best exercises that fit this criteria are:
  • V-ups
  • Sprints
  • Hill sprints
  • Hollow rocks
  • L-sit pullups
  • Hollow holds
  • Kettlebell swings
  • Ab wheel rollouts
  • Cardio bike sprints
  • Hanging knee raises
  • High repetition squats
  • Full tension plank holds
  • Resistance training in general
  • Heavy single arm farmers carries
  • Burst running (alternate periods of jogging and sprinting)
How long should you exercise for?
The above list is just a sample of good exercises that can help you on your quest to visible abs.
There are certainly many more.
In order to maximize fat loss, and increase leanness, you should aim to workout 3–5x per week, for roughly 45–60 minutes each workout.
Remember, the goal is to ratchet up the intensity on most of these workouts.
Trust me, after about an hour of getting your butt kicked by a high intensity workout, you won’t want to do much else.
So, go for consistency in your workouts, vs. working out for 3 hours once a week.
Keeping your workouts hard, and around an hour (or less) seems to be the sweet spot for most people to maximize consistency.
NOTE: Keep in mind that exercising is very helpful in the quest for abs, but changing your diet is FAR MORE IMPORTANT.
Remember, to lose weight/bun fat you’re going to need to create an energy deficit. It’s very hard (almost impossible) to “out exercise” a poor diet.
Final thoughts
Don’t be fooled by claims saying you can get superhero abs in just 21 short days.
Perhaps some folks can, but the reality is that seeing your abs takes a lot of planned hard work, sacrifice, and time.
The leaner you start to get, the more behavior changes you’re (likely) going to have to make. It’s the rare, genetically gifted, person who can do all this without having to change much.
First, make sure you are getting enough high quality sleep each night. That number should be somewhere between 7–9 hours.
Second, you’re going to need to create a calorie deficit. The best way to do this is through planned changes in your diets.
Third, exercising is good, but the right type of exercise is awesome. Remember, the goal is to rev up your metabolism, so you can burn more calories for hours after your workout is done.
If you’re ready to embark on your six pack quest, I applaud you.
You can do it.
Good luck.