Eating For Ripped 6 Pack Abs

If you’re looking to lean up for the summer here’s some nutrition tips that will not only help you achieve your body fat goals but may well be the major factor between developing a totally ripped, thick, edgy set of 6 pack abs and ones that are just moderatley lean.

You see no amount of hitting the gym or cardio work is going to kick it if your nutrition and food intake isn’t right. Working out how to eat for lean muscle mass gains is one of the most important aspects of bodybuilding however it’s also one of the most commonly misunderstood, so here’s a breakdown of how it works and what you should be aiming for.

5-6 Smaller Meals Per Day

Firstly if you’re still consuming your meals in 3 sittings (or even worse 1-2 sittings) you’ve got to stop. Say goodbye to old habits and start eating 5-6 smaller meals per day. Timing is key so sit down and plan your day from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed. Split your day into even sized blocks and consume your meals on time.

You should be eating every 2-3 hours and the meal portions should be of a moderate size. Not too small but not too large. The trick here is to never let your body go hungry, because if you do there’s a high chance you may binge out on a high sugar soda or even worse a twinky!.

Portion Size

Most people I train are very quick to grasp the 5-6 meals per day concept. However this doesn’t seem to apply to the problems associated with portion size. Your meal sizes need to be right otherwise you may simply be eating too many calories or even worse not getting enough.

Most nutritionists and bodybuilders work on the basic principle that each meal consist of a fist sized portion of carbs and an equal fist sized portion of protein. If you combine this with some water (always drink plenty of water) and 2-3 almonds or a half teaspoon of olive oil for your fat quota and you have a pretty balanced meal. The variety of food available to you is huge however there are certain types of carbs and fats you need to avoid. We’ll look at that next.

Bad Carbs

If you’ve got the above locked down you’re doing great but to get ripped, thick edgy muscles you need to get your carbs right. White bread, white rice, white anything has to go out the window. Replace these with good carbs, wholemeal bread, potatoes, brown rice, grains and fibre filled vegetables like carrots, cauliflower, lettuce, beetroot and the rest of natures glory. Not only are these carbs slow release but they’re packed with healthy nutrients our body needs.

I’m always amazed to see people eating 6 times per day and even getting the portion sizes right but then getting the types of carbs wrong. I can’t stress how important it is to get the carbs right and the best way to figure out if a product is suitable for your needs is to read the nutrition label on the back.

Flip over the packaging and look at the carbohydrate stats, most products will list the overall grams of carbohydrates per 100g as well as the infamous “Of Which Sugars” heading. This heading is criticial because those sugary carbs are pretty much fat once they hit the body. We don’t need those fats and a simple test to see if you can eat the item in question is if it carries more than 10g of sugary carbs per 100g you gotta ditch it.

If you think this is being too picky. Think again, we had a client who for years couldn’t achieve the look he wanted until he fine tuned his carbs. That was the only thing he changed and he went from a bloated looking muscular belly to a ripped tight six pack body.

Bad Fats

Fats are evil right ? Well they are and then again they’re not. The simple fact is that we need fats for many of our digestive and cell processing capabilities. Fat’s are essential but we just need to strip out certain types of fats. Again a quick look at the back of a food product can help. Saturated fats are the real evil and if your product has over 10g per 100g of saturated fat then you’re better off chucking it in the bin.

For my own training I use almonds, olive oil and peanut butter to bridge the fat levels. Olive oil especially is great for your heart, joints and many other bodily functions and all you need is a 1/4-1/2 teaspoon mixed into your salad, or even cooked meat. For example one of my favourite meals is grabbing two fillets of salmon and lightly frying them in 1/4 teaspoon of olive oil. A Tasty meal with great protein content and filled with Omega 3 oils for a health heart. Who said eating for health had to be disgusting!

Final Words

Eating correct is essential for any type of body transformation and if you follow the above tips there’s no reason why you can’t achieve your goals for a leaner, healthier, more muscular body. Just get rid of those sugars man! and don’t forget to keep checking those food wrappers, it’s a good habit and one that you’ll thank me for afterwards.