How To BUILD More Visible Abs (3 Science-Based Steps)

If you want to make your six-pack pop and get your abs to show even at a higher body fat percentage, then one of the ways you can achieve this is by actually growing your abs. If you choose the right abs exercises and get stronger with them over time, your abs will respond with growth and hence improve the overall look and visibility of your six-pack. Research agrees with this: a recent 2017 paper analyzed the effect of 10 weeks of regular abdominal training on abdominal growth in twenty-eight collegiate male soccer players. And after the 10 weeks, they experienced a significant 2.1mm increase, 1.9mm increase, and 2.7mm increase in the thickness of their upper, mid, and lower abs respectively. In this video, I’ll show you how to get abs to show through fat through proper ab exercise progression. I’ll cover three evidence-based steps you need to follow when it comes to how to grow abs fast, so you achieve your desired shredded abs.

The first step to get your abs to show is to choose the right exercises. While there are many abs exercises to choose from, not all are equally effective in helping you grow your abs. According to the 2017 paper mentioned earlier, it was found that subjects that performed only static or isometric abs exercises like the plank, experienced no abdominal growth after 10 weeks. Therefore, static exercises like the plank wouldn’t be your best bet for growing your abs when compared to dynamic exercises that take the abdominal muscles through their full range of motion. More specifically, though, you'll want to opt for dynamic abs exercises, such as the Swiss ball crunch, reverse crunch, and the hanging leg raise.

The second step to follow when it comes to how to grow abs fast is to perfect your form. And this is critical because if you don’t, you’ll end up shifting the load to other muscle groups – such as the hip flexors – instead of working your abs. When it comes to the weighted cable crunch, you should choose a weight you can control and lock your hips into the starting position with your knees bent at roughly 90 degrees. Then, exhale and tighten your abs by thinking about drawing your belly button in towards your spine to create more stability. Only then should you crunch the weight downwards by bringing your shoulders down towards your hips by flexing your spine, as this is precisely what the abs are responsible for doing. And as you crunch down, don't let your hips sink back into your heels. Keep them locked in the starting position. All the movement should come from the flexion of your spine.

Then for bottom-up movements like the reverse crunch, again you need to avoid aimlessly swinging and just using momentum, as this makes it a hip flexor exercise with little stimulation of the lower abs. Instead, you need to first again exhale and tighten your abs by drawing your belly button while moving into posterior pelvic tilt such that your lower back is flat against the bench. And then from here, think about raising your pelvis off the bench and curling it towards your belly button while visualizing your lower abs working to do so.

The final step in how to get abs to show through fat is to ensure ab exercise progression. And just so you have a systematic way of doing so, what I'd recommend is stick to a rep range of roughly 10-15 reps for your sets of weighted abs exercises and overload it based on that rep range. So, for example, let's say you have 3 sets of the weighted cable crunch to do. Once you can comfortably complete all 3 sets of the exercise with 15 quality reps, then you're now ready to overload it further by simply increasing the weight to the next increment. And then again with the new weight, once you build up the abdominal strength to complete 3 sets of 15 quality reps, you can proceed to bump up the weight even more and repeat the process.

So, I hope you were able to see that you'll be able to effectively increase the thickness and growth of your abdominal muscles through the three outlined steps. But keep in mind that you'll also need first to strip off excess belly fat to reveal all your hard work. And this is where nutrition and eating the right foods in the right amounts become critical.

For a science-based step-by-step program that shows you exactly how to work out and how to set up your nutrition to effortlessly drop fat week after week, take the quiz below to discover what fat loss program is best for you:

Filmed by: Bruno Martin Del Campo

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10-WEEK CORE TRAINING ON SOCCER PLAYERS

[avirals]

1. Do dynamic exercises
2. Perfect your form
3. Overload

[ak-intelligence]

I love your personality.
You're not arrogant and cocky when you speak.
Instead, you focus on educating your followers and I find your videos very helpful.
I'm targeting my abs and obliques for that hourglass figure.

[jeffdunehew]

New drinking game: Every time Jeremy says "according to a recent paper in...." take a drink!

JK, don't drink. It's bad for your workouts according to a recent paper in 2018


;) love the videos Jeremy!

[TraceguyRune]

I got sick with the flu, and realized something while looking in the mirror in the mornings. My abs are more defined while I'm coughing.

[taiya]

I literally just thought of abs excercise videos then this appear lol

[jsd]

Do one for calves how to get em as big as possible 👨‍💼chicken leg squad where you at

[DryBonesandSilver]

And of course, I've been doing the weighted ab crunch incorrectly for months now. Thanks for the enlightenment Jeremy!

[MFmadlib]

Great vid Jeremy... honestly I’ve loved the core focus lately. I wouldn’t mind to see it continued ... I’ve followed u for about a year now / dropped 40lbs... joined the built with science team and program and now abs are visible and easily I’m in the best shape of my life. These videos are helping me get the super lean looking mid section now. Thanks for all the info man, you have no idea how much this has all helped me. from 230-185lbs !

[ColdComrade]

At 2.5 months of progress I stopped going to the gym because of a minor shoulder injury that I didn’t want to make worse. I feel like I lost my progress and gained the fat I worked so hard to lose. After watching this video, I feel like I can make a comeback and I lose belly fat even faster than before. Thanks for the great info

[Drovlara]

Really appreciate you summarizing the video in the description. Helps when I don't have enough time or patience to watch the full video, but want the information that the video contains.

[KhaliDP]

I love your videos man. That Workout a and b was amazing. You deserve more Subscribers. There’s no time wasted in your vids. Straight to the point. Thanks for spreading the knowledge bro 🤘💯

[jethrodolphanongos]

Wow! The way things are explained is suprisingly articulate backed up with research. Great job.

[christianchristensen]

Great video! Although in the AB-wheel exercise, the ABs do perform an isometric contraction just like in the plank. The exercise itself is indeed a dynamic exercise, but as the spine maintains the same position throughout the movement, the AB's don't chance muscle length. I haven't read the article, but I think the reason, the participants didn't experience muscle growth is due to the fact, that the plank in itself isn't a very challenging exercise, whereas your body changes moment arm through the AB-wheel exercise making it much tougher.

[atown]

I have been following your programs for a month now mostly trying to strengthen my back and chest and I can’t thank Khoi enough for what your programs have done for me. I’m down 11 lbs and have never felt better. It’s now to start working my abs to get some definition now. Thank you!

[Euquila]

it feels so wrong drinking a beer and watching this

[marsvin]

Just discovered your channel and i have to say this is whoit out a doubt the BEST workout channel in the web. Sience, straight to the point and here to help us normal people! Dang this is Incredible!

[nicolasflores]

I was JUST searching for an ab video right now. It's unbelievable, I go to recommended and my favorite youtuber has one, I click in it and realize you just uploaded it !!!

[larsnystrom]

This is good - and it works.

I prefer hanging leg raises over his reverse crunches. But, of course, I started with easier variants. Slow is best: 2 seconds up. 2 seconds down. I also do twisting hanging knee raises for the obliques.

Cable crunches (with breading out, and pulling the stomac in, as Jeremy says) is a perfect complement. I think of them as for the transversus, in addition to for (upper) rectus abdominus.

If you have problems with doing hanging leg raises without pendling, as many do. Then you are probably lowering the legs to fast. Skowing it down stops pendling, and also makes the exercise much more effective.
I haven't seen this "trick" described in any of the many YouTube videos.

Also, the upper back should be kept vertical. Remember that the legs is just a weight, and lifting and curling up the pelvis to activate the abs should be the main focus of the exervise.

[Skyshr]

I only have dumbbells and weight plates at home. I'd like to know how to use them to do weighted ab exercises during lockdown.

[oneyear-oneplanet]

Gained 10 pounds in only 7 weeks because of your videos 🔥🔥 keep it up and thank you for the amazing content 🙏🏻