How to Get Six Pack Abs
1 Do sit ups.
Lie on the floor, feet on the floor, knees up and hands crossed on your chest. Have someone hold your feet down, or wedge them underneath something heavy. Sit all the way up, lifting your lower back off the floor along with your shoulder blades. Keep your back straight (no hunching). Lower yourself down. Repeat.
Once this becomes relatively easy for you (i.e. you can do a quite a bit with ease) start adding more challenges. Find an incline bench. Do weighted sit ups. Hold a weight on your chest while you do these. As these become easier, hold heavier and heavier weights.
2 Do crunches.
Lie on the floor (with or without a mat) with your arms in front of your chest or with your hands lightly touching your temples (never behind your head). Bend your knees. Raise your shoulders (upper torso) towards your knees, using strictly your abdominal muscles.
It is very important to not lift your entire back off the floor, as this can cause back strain. Additionally, the extended movement does not help you develop six pack abs any faster.
The most important part of the crunch is the initial flexing of your abs as you lift your shoulders off the floor. As soon as you begin lifting off the floor, exhale through your mouth, ending with a gasp once your shoulders are off the floor.
Pause for a second once you are at the top of the crunch and exhale the last bit of air from your diaphragm while flexing your abs. Lower back down slowly and controlled while inhaling through your nose, just until your shoulder blades touch the ground. Do not let your head touch the ground.
3 Do leg lifts.
Lie on the floor, legs straight out, hands at your sides. Lift your legs straight up (not bending your knees at all) until they’re at a 90 degree angle (or close). Lower your legs and repeat without letting your legs touch the floor.
For more of a challenge, use a parallel bar at a gym to raise yourself up using your arms as support and dangle your legs.
Easy: Just raise your knees to your chest. Keep your knees bent and your legs underneath your thighs.
Medium: Raise your legs to a horizontal position with your legs straight and outstretched. This helps firm up the lower abdomen.
Hard: If you’re truly a monster, try doing leg lifts with a medicine ball hanging from your feet. Or, hang from a pull up bar and raise your legs in front of you all the way up to the bar, keeping your legs straight.
4 Do jackknife sit ups.
Lie down flat with your back on the floor. Place your hands on the ground to your sides for balance; you can pick them up as you get used to the movement. Simultaneously raise your knees and torso so that your knees and face meet on an imaginary line extending from your pelvis to the ceiling. You should be able to kiss your knees at the top of the motion. Your legs will naturally fold, bringing your feet towards your hips, much like a jackknife. Lie back down (i.e. “spread out”) and repeat.
Don’t let momentum bring you down. Slowly put your hands and feet back on the ground. Place a weight between your feet when you think you can handle it.
5 Try butt-ups.
Start in the push-up positions, except with your elbows and forearms on the floor. With your elbows and forearms resting on the ground, slowly move your glutes as high up into the air as possible. Your body will look like a mountain, with your glutes being the peak. Slowly lower the glutes back down into the starting position, being careful not to sag the back below the hips.
