The 10 Best Ways to Get Six-Pack Abs as a Footballer
Let me guess…
You’ve had a long-range goal to get Six-Pack Abs… But for some reason or another, you haven’t been able to get there.
Perhaps you’ve researched “the quickest way to get six pack abs or how to get a six pack easily”
or tried
-1,000 sit-ups per day “like Cristiano did?”
-Starving yourself and eating as little “fat” as possible?
Not surprisingly, those quick-fix methods didn’t enhance your overall well-being or bring you closer to your six-pack goal.
In this article, I’m going to bust through all the “myths, hacks and shortcuts” and share the 10 best ways to get six-pack abs you’ve always wanted!
First… There’s no quick method to developing a six pack.
Six pack abs come at a cost: it takes commitment, time, hard work, consistency, patience and sacrifice.
You need to look yourself in the mirror after you read this article and ask if you are willing to give it all to achieve the abdominal perfection you’ve always wanted.
Can You Actually Get Six Pack Abs?
Getting a six-pack is not easy, but it’s not impossible or as “extreme” as you may think.
The best news of all is that you don’t need to do 1,000 crunches per day and/or starve yourself.
What you’re going to need to do is be patient with yourself and take a long-game approach, without being harshly judgmental toward yourself.
You don’t need to completely cut out ice cream, you don’t need to train every single day of the year and you don’t need to push yourself until you can’t feel your abs anymore.
The best part about it is that it won’t take extreme measures. But you must promise yourself that you’ll remain realistic and won’t be in a rush.
There’s no reason to rush anyway. This health and fitness mindset “thingy” lasts a lifetime.
Why wouldn’t you want to maintain a consistent long-term commitment while enjoying every single moment of your training and eating with the reward of optimizing your health.
Achieving greatness requires your commitment, time and hard work.
As you well know… Great feats don’t come easily!
Performance > Aesthetics
Before diving into my top ten tips, you need to understand that as an athlete, aesthetics shouldn’t be your number one goal.
No one cares if you have six-pack abs if every time you touch the ball, you lose it.
No one cares if your biceps look good for the girls, but you can’t run for 90 minutes…
If you are a footballer or an athlete or someone who works a 9-5 job, your number one training goal should be to improve your performance, increase your success on the field, while reducing your risk of injury and decreasing any type of pain that you may have now or in the future.
Every time you head into the gym, your number one goal should be to perform better on the field, not only to look good at the beach.
If you follow these 10 best ways to get six-pack abs, you’ll approach health and fitness from a holistic perspective and not the narrow-minded, “all I want is six-pack abs” aspiration.
Of course, you want to look great and attract attention in a positive way. But, it shouldn’t be your number one goal.
Looking Good Makes You Feel Better
Let’s think about it, if you look better in the mirror on game day in your jersey because you have been putting the work in on the field, in the gym, and in the kitchen, you will almost always perform better.
If you think you look strong in the mirror, you will instantly have a release of “feel-good” hormones that almost always will help you perform better with real inner confidence as the foundation.
Aesethics and looking good will come as a result from:
-Training Right.
-Eating Right.
&
-Sleeping Right.
Here are the 10 Best Ways to Get Six-Pack ABS:
1️. Learn to be Disciplined in the Kitchen:
-You will need to cut out processed and packaged foods and select nutrient-dense, whole foods.
-You will need to cut added sugars as much as possible.
-Your goal when cooking or eating meals should be to FUEL your body properly with the goal of performing better on the field and during your workouts.
-You should be fueling your body to recover better and return quicker from your workouts so you can continue to improve your performance on the field and/or in the gym.
-You need to find a diet that works for you. A diet consisting of a selection of delicious, health-building food that you’ll want to follow for a lifetime. What good does the ketogenic, low-carb or vegan approach provide if you can’t maintain it consistently over a long period of time.
2️. Drink Plenty of Water:
-For Men, the Recommended Daily Allowance is about 2.7 liters.
-For Women, the Recommended Daily Allowance is about 3.7 liters.
-Though, depending on your activity levels, and age it could differ, so you should aim for at least 1 gallon per day.
-The more water you drink, the less hungry you will be.
-Good quality water will keep your hunger at bay
3️. Focus on Compound Training:
-Isolated training can be great for trying to improve your weak points, but as an athlete, you want to aim for a more total body approach.
-Upper Body: Pushups, Pullups, Dips, Rows.
-Lower Body: Squats, Deadlifts, Lunges, Hip Thrusts.
-Full Body: Burpees, Push Press, Thrusters.
-The more muscles that each exercise engages, the more calories your body will burn and the stronger you will get.
-Make sure to keep your Core engaged the whole time
How to Engage Your Core:
It is NOT about sucking in your belly.
Think about trying move your bowels when you’re a bit backed up.
Take a breath in, squeeze then push.
But STOP before you push, because you don’t want anything coming out!
4️. Focus on Functional Core Exercises:
-Just because you can do 150 sit-ups in a row doesn’t mean that you have a strong core.
-The main job of the core is to fight against rotation. Your core keeps your whole body stable and ground and resists motion.
-There are many exercises that you can incorporate into your core training.
Try:
-Plank Variations
-Palloff Presses
-Hanging Leg Lifts.
-Do your best to stay away from crunches and ab machines, which can lead to core dysfunction.
Here are some of my favorite core exercises:
5️. Focus on Protein & Veggies at every meal:
-Every meal you eat should be based around 2-3 cups of vegetables and 1-2 servings of lean meat.
-Pick your favorite vegetables and create a stir-fry.
-Or make a veggie omelet.
-Check out my favorite omelet, called the “RicChef Special”:
6️. Do more Low Intensity Steady State Cardio Activities:
-Not every workout has to be super intense. It is not good for you and will lead to burnout, and injury in the long-term.
-Clear your head with long walks, long bike rides, etc that aren’t super-taxing on your body, but still keep your body moving and help to free your mind.
7️. Eat Healthy Fats:
-Healthy fats keep your body full and satiated and helps you stay away from foods you crave.
-Eat half an avocado with your salad.
-Enjoy a handful of nuts (preferably almonds, walnuts, pistachios, cashews).
-Drizzle 1 TBSP of Extra Virgin Olive Oil on your salad.
-Cook in a skillet with 1-2 tsp of Coconut Oil.
-It’s critical to be discerning about your food choices. Even though fats are healthy, they are calorically very dense. Therefore, you need to eat them in moderation and stay mindful of portion sizes. When I was younger, I would eat peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon. But now, I’m a bit more careful.
8️. Become a Master of the Plank:
-The plank is one of the most effective exercises for your entire body.
-The plank is essential to add into your workout routine because it teaches your body to remain stiff and resist rotation. This is key to improving performance and staying away from injury.
-There are many different variations of the plank that you can do to keep the move fun and exciting.
-For some folks it seems boring, but for conditioned athletes, it’s amazingly effective!
9️. Sprint More:
-Sprinting is one of the best “ab-exercises” that you can do.
-Add HIIT Training into your routine.
-Alternate between walking, jogging, and sprinting for 20-3 seconds at a time. Depending on your fitness level and goals, you can tailor the overall duration.
-The most important thing before you sprint is to make sure you are well warmed up.
-Sprinting is a very hard exercise and it is super stressful on the body. Therefore, you need to make sure you warm up with dynamic stretching.
Try this warm-up here:
10. DON’T over obsess about getting Six-Pack Abs:
-The more you pressure your body and mind unnecessarily, the more stressed you’ll be. It defeats its own purpose. What’s the point of that?
-It’s best to manage your health and fitness in a holistic, patient and calm manner. Over time, your desired six-pack abs will come as natural consequence of your training and healthy eating investment.
Take it Step-by-Step
Great achievements take time.
Take every day one step at a time.
Slowly incorporate every tip step-by-step and DON’T rush into anything.
If you are PATIENT, but remain CONSISTENT, the results will come!
