Our body adapts differently to exercise and nutritional changes, therefore there's no exact answer to "How Long Will My abs show".
Ways to Get Abs
Good news, in fact, everyone has Abs. It is merely whether our abs are covered by body fat. Abs are You often hear of abs training, but in fact, you should not be just working out your abdominal area, but focus on burning fats as a whole.
As mentioned in our previous article on Calorie Deficit vs Calorie Surplus, we cannot choose where our body burns fat from. If we want a particular area to lose its body fat, we can only choose to burn more calories as a whole and hope that the area rids itself of the fat quickly.
Abs Timeline (Depending on Body Fat %)
The fact is this is not going to happen overnight. The Key is to be consistent! On average, results will come after 6 weeks! The first step is to reduce the amount of body fat in order to reveal your muscled midsection. A healthy rate of losing body fat is about 1-2% per month.
The ideal body fat percentage that men and women need to have before abs are visible, is 6 to 13% and 14 to 19% respectively. The table below from Greatist will give you a better idea about fat percentages:
If you are committed to getting some abs, the first step is to measure your fat percentage. We will also give you an estimate on the time it would take for you to achieve your goal of having abs.
Current Body Fat % | Estimated Time for Men for Abs to Show | Estimated Time for Women for Abs to Show |
30% and above | 10 months to 2 years | ​1 to 2 years |
​16-20% | 3 to 6 months | 1 to 3 months |
11-15% | ​4 to 6 weeks | ​A few weeks / Abs already visible |
10% and below | Abs visible | Abs visible |
It is really a good idea to consult a personal trainer before beginning any nutrition and diet plan, due to the fact that it really needs to be customised for your body.
Diet for Abs
A healthy diet for six pack abs means having good nutrition as well! A weekly diet for abs should consist of 40% complex (good) Carbs – think you good ole oats - with 30% Vegetables and 30% lean Protein.
Complex carbohydrates are those that contain other nutritional items such as fibre as well. Some common diet plan for abs (female/ male) are Brown rice, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, quinoa, spinach, broccoli, chicken breast etc.
A good exercise routine coupled with a good diet plan is the way to go!
Exercise for Abs
100 or 1000 sit ups a day doesn't work as abs training in this case. It's recommended to focus on losing overall fat and increase body muscle mass!
The more muscle you have in your body, the more calories you will burn!!
It's recommended that your exercise routine for six pack abs include both Weights training and Cardio in your weekly routine. We will need both to achieve best results!
Weights training we can do it at home if you have dumbbells, otherwise in the gym.
Some common dumbbell exercises for abs include dumbbell Russian twists and weighted sit ups.
Cardio we have lots of choices. Running, Sprinting, HIIT, Boxing, Muay Thai, aerobics and more! Most importantly do choose the one you enjoy most! So you won't get bored easily!
Do note that when your abs are showing - It's good news!! But how strong is your core? Be sure that you have worked out your core. A strong core helps to stabilize your spine and gives your better posture. It also helps to prevent lower back pain, that may come when you have just focused on working out your core! Some best core exercises for abs actually include planking, deadlifts and plank twists.
It's not just about looking good.. we will need to feel good and be healthy too! 😊
In Summary…
Top three things for you (tldr):
Getting your abs shown involves losing fat around the belly area
We can’t choose where to shed our fat so it means we need to lose weight/fat as a whole
Remember to train up your core to ensure that your abs are well-supported
When in doubt, feel free to reach out to us! Together, Let us Witness your Fitness!
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