How many calories should i eat to get abs? If you’re serious about getting a killer 6 pack, then you need to take the time to find out how many calories you should be eating. It’s 25% nutrition and 75% exercise. But what about the calories? What does it mean? How many is enough, but not too much? Before we dive into the number itself, let me outline what you should know before moving forward.
Building abs is a multi-faceted task. It involves building muscle, reducing body fat and increasing your metabolism. First you need to decide what your calorie budget will be because you need to make sure the amount of calories that you consume equals, or exceeds, the number of calories that you burn. Here’s an equation to help you:
How Many Calories Should I Eat To Get Abs
Every trainer in Hollywood is aware of a secret, and you should be as well:
Alan Aragon, M. S., the Men’s Health Weight-Loss Coach, claims that losing 10 pounds of fat is the quickest method to appear as though you have gained 20 pounds of muscle. That’s because every muscle becomes more defined as you get closer to getting rid of the lard that covers your six-pack, making you look buff all over.
I’ve spent a lot of time attempting to shed my remaining 10 pounds of fat because of this. Unfortunately, I’ve discovered that objective to be frustratingly elusive, like many males. That is, until I sought the assistance of Aragon, whose diet and exercise regimens have helped NBA players, Olympians, and competitive bodybuilders achieve their ideal physiques.
By following Aragon’s instructions, I reduced my body fat by 50%, to a lifetime low of 6.8%, and sculpted all of my muscles, even those in my belly. It’s your time now. Combine this exercise program with Aragon’s straightforward 5-step nutrition plan (found here). You’ll ultimately eliminate your stomach for good and cause every muscle to contract.
Calculate Your Calories
When it comes to calories, Aragon has a simple rule: Eat for your target body weight. Let’s say you weigh 220 pounds but would like to tip the scales at 180. You’ll adopt the calorie intake of a 180-pound man.
The formula:
If you only exercise for an hour a week or less, multiply your ideal body weight by 10. You should eat that many calories each day. If you exercise for longer than that, the multiplier will increase by 1 for each extra hour. Therefore, if your goal weight is 180 pounds and you work out for 3 hours each week, you would multiply 180 by 12 to reach your daily calorie goal of 2,160. As long as you don’t consume more than your daily allotment, you can spread those calories out over however many meals you like—three, four, five, or six.
Numbers-Based Eating
You could, of course, just think about calories. However, if you consume the appropriate nutrients in the right amounts, you’ll see faster benefits without feeling deprived.
Protein
Since protein is the building block for muscular growth, you probably don’t need to be convinced of its benefits. But it also encourages weight loss and suppresses appetite.
Eat one gram for each pound of your desired body weight. 180 grams of protein will be consumed if you want to weigh 180 pounds. Protein contains roughly 4 calories per gram. Therefore, multiply the number of grams by 4 to determine the number of calories you will consume from protein. This amounts to 720 calories.
Fat
This vitamin was regarded as a diet devil for many years. Recent research, however, demonstrates unequivocally that an excess of calories, not fat, causes belly bloating. It turns out that while fat makes you feel full, it may actually prevent you from overeating. The net result is that you stop eating earlier and feel fuller for longer.
Eat 0.5 grams for every pound of your desired body weight. 90 grams if your target weight is 180 pounds. And since there are roughly 9 calories in 1 gram of fat, there are 810 calories from fat. This will account for around 40% of your entire calorie intake.
Carbohydrates
Foods high in carbohydrates not only have a pleasant flavor but can also be nutrient-dense. Therefore, you only need to watch how much of them you eat rather than completely eliminating them. And since both protein and fat keep hunger at bay, eating the appropriate proportions of each will make that goal much easier to achieve. One of the main reasons Aragon prioritizes protein and fat over carbs with the remaining calories is because of this.
The calculation is as follows: Add the calories from protein and fat, then deduct that number from the daily calorie allowance. That leaves you with 630 calories if you’re 180 pounds. You can consume up to this many calories from carbohydrates. To find out how many grams of carbohydrates you can eat, divide your total daily calorie intake by four. Carbohydrates, like protein, supply roughly 4 calories per gram. It weighs roughly 158 grams in this instance.
Develop Your Menu
Build your diet on entire, naturally occurring foods. The primary foods you should eat are meat, eggs, dairy, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and grain goods produced entirely of whole-wheat flour. Notably absent from the list are common junk items like candy, baked goods, and sweetened beverages.
As you plan your diet, refer to the food choices below as a guidance. You can mix and match the items anyway you wish as long as you stick to the calorie, protein, fat, and carbohydrate recommendations for your desired body weight. Although the calorie and other nutrient levels mentioned are approximate, you can estimate your intake using these range values.
How Many Calories Should I Eat to Get a Six Pack?
To calculate the number of calories needed to maintain your current weight, multiply your weight by 15.
The key to figuring out how many calories to consume to acquire six-pack abs is to be aware of your optimum weight and follow a diet that promotes lean muscle growth. With this knowledge, science can precisely identify the kind of exercise routine that will give you the shredded and toned torso you want.
Tip
Multiply your weight by 15 to see how many calories will maintain your current weight. If you need to lose weight, plan on shaving off 500 to 1000 calories per day to safely lose one to two pounds per week.
The Six-Pack Abs Secret
The muscle that gives you a six-pack, the rectus abdominis, is actually what allows you to bend, twist, and stand straight. To aid the muscle in doing its function, it has connective tissue that is intertwined or crisscrossed. This muscle provides you the rippling appearance of six-pack abs when there is no extra abdominal fat.
How do you obtain it now that you are aware of what it is? It takes the appropriate diet and workout routine to achieve the desired six-pack, not just 100 crunches a day. In actuality, according to the American Council on Exercise, food is more crucial than exercise. Low body fat and the appropriate activities to build muscles work together to give you a toned midsection.
Calculate Your Body Fat Percentage
Your body fat percentage needs to be low to get six-pack abs. Your Body Mass Index, or BMI, is the finest measurement tool for that.The CDC states that this figure for people should fall between 18.5 and 24.9 in order to be considered normal or healthy weight. Your weight (in kilograms) divided by your height yields this result. (in meters). Your BMI should be around the lower end of this range if you want a ripped midsection.
To calculate your BMI, bring out a calculator or enter your data into the online BMI calculator. Once you have this knowledge, you can determine how much weight or body fat you need to reduce in order to have a flat, toned stomach.
Calories Needed for Lean Abs
Knowing your BMI allows you to determine how much weight you need to lose in order to achieve six-pack abs. If your BMI is already at the low end of the range, all you need to do is concentrate on eating enough calories to maintain your weight and perform targeted stomach workouts. You must burn more calories than you consume if you want to reduce your weight and lower your BMI. It’s time to pull out the calculator once more. You didn’t realize that getting abs meant so much math, did you?
You must multiply your present weight by 15 in order to determine how many calories you should be consuming, advises Harvard Health. If you are moderately active, which means you get at least 30 minutes of exercise each day, then you would need to consume this many calories in order to maintain your present weight.
According to Harvard Health, a safe pace of weight reduction is one to two pounds per week. To lose weight, you must reduce your daily calorie intake by 500 to 1000 calories. For instance, if you are a lady weighing 160 pounds, you would need to consume 2,400 calories daily to maintain your weight. To lose weight at a safe rate, you would need to consume 1,400–1,900 calories each day. Harvard Health advises against eating less than 1,200 calories for women or 1,500 calories for males per day unless you are under a doctor’s care.
Reduce your calorie intake while increasing your exercise level to lose weight until you achieve your desired weight and BMI. Use a food diary to record everything you consume, a calorie-counting software like My Fitness Pal, or Fooducate to keep track of your diet and calories.
The Six-Pack Abs Diet
Let’s speak about what you should be eating now that you know how many calories you need to consume to get six-pack abs. Not all calories are created equal. In fact, keeping a low carb diet will burn 250 more calories per day than a high carb diet, per a November 2018 study published in the British Medical Journal. You can cut calories by substituting zucchini noodles for ordinary noodles or eggs for a breakfast bagel. By doing this, you’ll burn more calories throughout the day and lose weight more quickly.
You must both lose weight and gain lean body mass or muscle if you want to flaunt those six-pack abs. According to a January 2016 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, eating protein is the best approach to do this.The greatest strategy to lose body fat while gaining muscle is to incorporate protein-rich foods like chicken, fish, and beans together with weight training and cardio exercise.
Eat Your Way To Great Abs
A Simple Guide To The Best Way To Get Abs
Many people constantly strain their muscles with crunches and sit-ups in an effort to get a washboard six-pack. Unfortunately, the lack of belly fat rather than the strength of the stomach muscles is what gives the washboard abs appearance. Instead, follow these easy advice to show off your six-pack:
Reduce Calories
For your abs to be visible, you have to start by getting rid of the fat. This is done simply by burning more calories than you take in. If you cut your calorie intake by 250-500 calories per day, this should promote a gradual fat loss of around 1-2lbs per week, and you will be on your way to the ultimate 6 pack in no time.
Quality Protein
Many people fail to realise the importance of protein when trying to develop lean muscle and consequently great abs. Your muscles can utilise between 0.8- 2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day. So, a 70kg man should aim for 56 – 140 grams of protein per day. Protein feeds your muscles to help rebuild after a tough workout in the gym. Find it hard to eat all that protein?
Essential Fats
Although too much fat isn’t healthy, some fat in your diet is a key part of a healthy balanced diet.. High-fat, cold-water fish such as salmon or mackerel are rich in the long-chain Omega 3 fats. Foods like avocados, nuts and olive oil contain primarily monounsaturated fat, which is another type of ‘good’ fat, and can be eaten on a regular basis.
Quality Carbs
Once your protein and fat intake is taken care of, the next step is to adjust carbohydrate intake. Consider eating more fruit, vegetables and fibre-rich foods. Helping you achieve you your training goals to get a 6 pack.
Eat Little And Often
We suggest having five smaller meals a day, ensuring that its a healthy well- balanced diet. Another popular approach is to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and for convenience protein supplements are ideal as a mid-morning and/or mid-afternoon snack.
Weight Training
2-3 days a week should be dedicated to resistance training of some kind. You can maintain the muscle that you’ve worked so hard to develop by engaging in resistance exercise. Maintain your focus on powerful compound movements like the deadlift, squat, bench press, and shoulder press. A protein-rich meal or supplement should be had after your workout, and you should try to arrive at the gym and leave within 60 minutes. Your training objectives will be supported by the protein in the dietary supplement while you maintain and grow lean muscle.
Cardio
Cardio is the most popular and effective “fat-burning” activity, but it must be performed properly to encourage fat loss while protecting muscle. 2-4 times a week, perform one of these exercises. Low-intensity exercise (such running or cycling) should be done for 30 to 60 minutes at 70 to 75 percent of your maximal heart rate. High intensity interval training (HIIT), which includes 10 x 100-meter sprints followed by 2 minutes of brisk walking, may be something you want to attempt if you’re physically fit. HIIT boosts your cardiovascular fitness and raises your calorie expenditure after workout. Make sure you include a warm-up and cool-down period of 5 to 10 minutes in between each HIIT workout.
Ab Exercises
To obtain the definition of a six pack, you need to enhance your abdominal muscles in addition to doing activities that burn fat. Exercises like basic crunches, planks, reverse curls, and oblique crunches are the greatest ways to prepare your core for this. Perform 2-4 sets of each exercise with 8–15 reps each set. (using extra resistance where necessary to make the load challenging).