How to get abs: what actually works

What it takes to get visible abs

Everyone has abs. The six-pack muscle is the rectus abdominis, and it shows when the layer of fat on top of it is thin enough. That is why getting abs is two separate jobs: losing that fat and growing the muscle so it stands out more.

The body fat percentage at which abs start to show varies from person to person, because every body stores fat its own way. For reference, in adults aged 20 to 39 the healthy range is 8% to 19.9% body fat for men and 21% to 32.9% for women (Gallagher et al., 2000). Women naturally carry more fat, so they should not compare themselves with the same numbers. Find out where you stand with the body fat calculator.

Why ab exercises do not burn belly fat

In one trial, 24 sedentary adults did 7 ab exercises, 2 sets of 10 reps, 5 days a week for 6 weeks, on a diet that kept their weight stable. They did not lose weight, body fat percentage, belly fat, waist size or abdominal skinfolds. What did improve was endurance: in the final test they did 47 curl-ups in a row against 32 in the group that did not train (Vispute et al., 2011).

The idea of burning fat in one area is called spot reduction. A meta-analysis of 13 studies with 1,158 people compared the fat over a trained leg or arm with the untrained side and found no difference (Ramirez-Campillo et al., 2022). Training a muscle does not burn more of the fat on top of it: fat comes off your whole body when you eat less than you burn.

How to lose the fat that hides your abs

Run a moderate deficit. Aim to lose 0.5% to 1% of your body weight per week (Helms et al., 2014). In athletes, those who lost about 0.7% per week kept more lean mass than those who went twice as fast (Garthe et al., 2011). See how to work out your calorie deficit.
Eat enough protein. While losing weight, 1.6 to 2.4 g per kilo of body weight per day (Hector and Phillips, 2018). Work out yours with the protein calculator.
Keep lifting. It is what tells your body to hold on to muscle while it loses fat. The guide to losing fat without losing muscle explains it in detail, and the fat loss routines give you a ready-made plan.
Get enough sleep. On the same diet, adults who slept 5.5 hours a night lost 0.6 kg of fat in 14 days, against 1.4 kg when they slept 8.5 hours (Nedeltcheva et al., 2010).

How to train your abs so they show

Losing fat uncovers your abs; training them makes them stand out more. The general rules of muscle growth are a good guide: more sets per week bring more growth (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), and training a muscle twice a week works better than once (Schoenfeld et al., 2016).

Pick 2 or 3 different exercises. One that bends your trunk, like the cable crunch or the crunch; one that lifts your legs, like the hanging leg raise; and one where you hold still against the movement, like the ab wheel rollout or the plank.
Train them twice a week. At the end of your workout, on two separate days. Start with a few sets and add more over time.
Keep making them harder. When an exercise feels easy, add weight or move to a harder variation. It is the same progressive overload you use with any other muscle.

Find more options among the ab exercises.

How long it takes to get abs

It depends on how much fat you have to lose. The math is simple: your lean mass is your weight minus your fat. If you keep it, your goal weight is your lean mass divided by (1 minus the body fat percentage you are after). The difference from your current weight is what you need to lose.

Two examples at 0.75% per week
Starting point	Goal	Weight to lose	Approximate time
Man, 80 kg (176 lb), 20% body fat	15% body fat	About 4.7 kg (10 lb)	About 8 weeks
Woman, 65 kg (143 lb), 30% body fat	25% body fat	About 4.3 kg (9.5 lb)	About 9 weeks

Example: the 80 kg man at 20% body fat has 64 kg of lean mass. To reach 15%, 64 divided by 0.85 gives 75.3 kg, about 4.7 kg less. At 0.75% per week he loses about 0.6 kg a week, so about 8 weeks. At roughly 7,700 kcal per kilo, that is a deficit of about 660 calories a day. It is an estimate: as you get lighter, your body burns less and progress slows down (Hall, 2008).

Questions

How many crunches a day do I need to get abs?

No daily number takes fat off your belly. In one trial, 140 reps per session, 5 days a week for 6 weeks, did not change belly fat (Vispute et al., 2011). You get more out of training them twice a week with added load and losing the fat with a deficit.

Can you get abs in a month?

Only if you are already fairly lean. At 1% per week, in 4 weeks you lose close to 4% of your weight: about 2.8 kg (6 lb) for a 70 kg (154 lb) person. If you need to lose more than that, it will take longer.

Why can't I see my abs if I am skinny?

A low body weight does not always mean low body fat, and an untrained muscle shows less. Measure your body fat with the body fat calculator and train your abs with added load twice a week.

Does cardio help you get abs?

It helps you burn more calories and adds to your deficit, but it does not burn belly fat in particular. Adding cardio to strength training did not reduce muscle growth or maximal strength in a meta-analysis of 43 studies (Schumann et al., 2022).

Sources

This guide is for information only and does not replace advice from a health professional.