Follow Cam’s journey to carving a set of visible abs, and pick up valuable tips on how to get 6 pack abs you can be proud of in just 5 months, too.

This is Cam …

A YouTuber who has been on a journey to transform his body. After his wife told him this: 

Cam:

"So, basically, she called me fat."

For the next few months, I’m going to see if I can use everything I know about how to get 6 pack abs — all the best science-backed training and dieting strategies, basically — to help Cam ditch the dad bod and get 6 pack abs for the first time in his life.

Step 1: Establish Starting Point

Anatomically, everybody has a 6 pack. 

It’s just a matter of whether it’s visible or not. And that, in turn, depends on whether you’ve achieved a low enough body fat percentage. For men, your abs will typically become visible at around 15%, and for women, it’ll be around 22%. 

That’s why … when it comes to how to get 6 pack abs, the very first thing you need to do is know your current body fat percentage. 

I had Cam undergo a DEXA scan, the most accurate test for body composition and found that he was starting at 25% body fat (160 pounds body weight).

Of course, you might not have access to a DEXA scan or want to pay for it. Good news: you can simply get an estimate of your starting body fat percentage by stepping on any digital weight scale that also measures BF%. 

So, how can Cam get from 25% BF to 15% BF? 

Here’s the plan: when it comes to how to get 6 pack abs, you can’t simply rely on exercise alone. Instead, you’ll need to prioritize dialing in your diet. And for that to happen, you’ll need to establish your current daily calorie intake. 

In Cam’s case, I got him to track everything he ate using our BWS+ app — he ate about 2,600 calories daily on average. 

That’s not terrible. 

It’s close to what someone his size would need to maintain weight. But it wasn’t low enough to start losing fat. To shed around 1 pound of fat weekly, we need about a 500-calorie deficit daily, bringing his daily “budget” to about 2,100 calories.

But rather than completely overhauling his diet, I wanted to focus on strategic food swaps. The goal was to cut calories without making it feel like he was sacrificing the foods he loved. 

Eat Ice Cream, And Still Get Six Pack Abs

Cam LOVES ice cream. As in, he loves it so much that it could be called a weakness. 
Thankfully, I had a secret weapon up my sleeve that made it possible for him to lose weight while indulging in “ice cream”: the Ninja Creami.

Now, I want you to think about your diet weaknesses and find ways to tackle them. 

If, like Cam, it’s ice cream, consider getting yourself the Ninja Creami (or an alternative). If it’s overindulging in calorie-dense snacks like potato chips and your typical store-bought cereals, consider replacing them with less calorie-dense options like strawberries, carrots, or puffed wheat. 

Check out this article for more examples of food swaps you can make to lose fat faster.

Alright. With our game plan for Cam’s “How to Get 6 Pack Abs Diet” in place, it was time to start training. 

Step 2: Implement A Well-Structured Training Program

Step 2 of how to get 6 pack abs? 

Implementing a well-structured training program that doesn’t just focus on ab exercises. Why? See, when you’re in a calorie deficit, your body looks for energy, and without proper training, it can burn muscle along with fat.

The result? A “skinny” look instead of a lean, muscular physique. 

A well-structured training program that targets all your major muscle groups helps prevent that. In Cam’s case, since he hasn’t trained or dieted properly before, he’s actually in the perfect position to build muscle and lose fat at the same time (i.e., body recomp). 

I aimed to broaden his back and shoulders to create a V-taper look that would complement his six-pack abs and achieve a truly aesthetic transformation. 

As for how I’ll achieve that?

By setting him up with the BWS+ app, which created a personalized training plan designed to prioritize growth in his back and shoulders.

Fun fact: when we tested Cam’s pull-up on day 1, he maxed out at just 3 reps … so that was definitely why the app had Cam doing:

• 3 sets of band-assisted pull-ups
• 2 sets of slow negatives

With that in place, I had a feeling Cam could get to 10 pull-ups by the end of his “How to Get 6 Pack Abs” challenge. 

By the way, if you’re also struggling with pull-ups, here’s how you can get from 0 to 10+ pull-ups in a row.

Back to the BWS+ app: I had Cam log his body weight, track his calories, and reps for all his workouts on the app. So, not only was I coaching him in person, but it was also like he had a little pocket version of me that he could carry around.

If you’d also like to have me as your personal “in-pocket coach” for personalized guidance on everything you’ve learned so far about how to get 6 pack abs, you can try the BWS+ app completely free for 2 weeks by clicking on the link below:

Click the button below to try the BWS+ app for 2 weeks, for free, no strings attached:

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Step 3: Track Progress

A cannot-miss step in your how to get 6 pack abs journey? Regular check-ins on your progress — so you know whether you’re on the right track. 

For Cam’s one-month update, it turns out that while his weight on the scale was moving in the right direction, he’d need to lose more weight than he anticipated to achieve the 6 pack abs he wants based on his current muscle mass. He’d need to drop all the way down to 139 pounds. 

This might sound surprisingly light for someone of his height (5 foot 9).

But the truth is, most of the shredded physiques you see online at heavier bodyweights are often the result of performance-enhancing drugs, genetic advantages, or decades of smart training. 

For example, my good friend Lee is incredibly muscular. 

But to achieve competition-level conditioning, he diets down to just 129 pounds.

So, as I’m working with Cam, I’m curious to see just how far he’s willing to push before the diet wears him down. 

This is something you’ll have to consider the deeper you go into your how to get 6 pack abs journey, too. There may come a point where more effort just wouldn’t be worth it. But more on that later. For now, you may be wondering …

How To Get 6 Pack Abs: Isn’t Cardio A Necessity?

We’ve covered diet and training. But isn’t there something we’ve overlooked — and is a necessity when it comes to how to get 6 pack abs — thus far: cardio?

Well. In actuality, you should think of cardio as the cherry on top:

• The weight tells your body to keep your muscles
• The diet does most of the hard work losing the fat
• The cardio is simply there to speed up the process

That’s why, in Cam’s case, rather than forcing him to do grueling cardio sessions in his how to get 6 pack abs journey he’d never stick to long term, I wanted to find something he enjoyed. 

Basketball. 

I even had him wear a special mask to measure how many calories he burned in a session.

Turns out, Cam burned over 300 calories in just 25 minutes of gameplay, which isn’t bad at all. 

But here’s the thing. If Cam wanted to rely on cardio alone to lose the same amount of fat he’s been losing through his diet, he’d need to play nearly an hour of basketball every single day. 

So, when it comes to fat loss, a combination of both is key. 

Meaning? You should find a cardio modality that you enjoy (it doesn’t have to be basketball!) and can stick to in your personal how to get 6 pack abs journey, and pair that with your dietary changes; this will give you the best results. 

Cam’s Progress In 90 Days

In 90 days, Cam lost 11 pounds and shaved 3.5 cm off his waistline.

But while his progress has been incredible, he hasn’t exactly reached the end of his how to get 6 pack abs journey yet. That’s because while we can see some abs, he’s not quite at full 6 pack abs yet. 

He’s sitting somewhere around 18-20% body fat. And that’s perfectly fine. Getting lean is a marathon, not a sprint.

And here’s a reminder: depending on your starting BF% and body weight, you may also find yourself in this strange, not-quite-at-six-pack stage at the 90-day mark. The key is not to give up. Try to keep pushing through to see just how lean you can get. 

At this point, you could take things up a notch with step 4 of how to get six pack abs.

Step 4: Implement Science-Based Ab Exercises

There are over 500 different ab exercises, but only 2 actually helped me build my six-pack abs. So, of course, I got Cam to try them, too. 

They are the reverse crunches for the lower abs and the crunches for the upper abs:

• Reverse crunches (lower abs): Start by lying on a bench. Bend your knees towards your body and think about raising your hips and crunching your knees toward your chest to round your spine. Go as far up as you can then slowly control the way down.

• Crunches (upper abs): Think about folding your chest towards your pelvis into a C shape. Your spine should extend out to stretch your abs, and then your abs should contract to fold your chest over your pelvis. Just try to get your shoulder blades off the ground — any higher than that, and it’ll just be your hip flexors taking over.

For more information on how you can regress or progress on these 2 ab exercises, check out this article. 

Step 5: Evaluate If Continuing Makes Sense 

Chances are, you’ll hit a wall when you drop below 20% BF in your how to get 6 pack abs journey. 

Why? Your metabolism adapts as you lose weight. Research shows that losing just 10% of your body weight can cause your body to burn up to 200-400 fewer calories per day. 

So when Cam first started, he needed to eat around 2,100 calories daily to lose a pound of fat each week. But now, after losing 15 pounds this deep into his how to get 6 pack abs journey, he’ll need to drop that to 1,900 calories to keep the fat loss going. 

But how did he know the exact number? 

He’s got the BWS+ app to thank for that. Its built-in diet coach automatically adapts his nutrition plan weekly as his metabolism changes so he never got stuck. 

Once again, if you’d like to experience the BWS+ app for yourself, you can click on the link below for a 2-week free trial, no strings attached:

Click the button below to try the BWS+ app for 2 weeks, for free, no strings attached:

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That said, as Cam’s weight started dropping into the 140s, he noticed some side effects. He was more tired and had to go lighter (instead of heavier) in the gym. 

What Cam’s experiencing is rooted in our survival. 

Back in the day, having too little body fat meant you couldn’t stay warm and were at risk of starvation during famines.

So, if your body senses your fat levels getting too low, it fights back. 

Here’s how it works: your fat cells produce a hormone called leptin. Leptin signals your body, “Hey, we’ve got plenty of fat to work with. Feel free to use it for activity, and let’s also lower the hunger signals.”

But as you lose fat, your body produces less leptin. 

In response, your body cranks up hunger signals and tries to conserve energy by decreasing your desire to move. 

Which can also start to affect your strength in the gym — as it did for Cam.

Now, the point at which this starts to happen varies for everyone. But for men, it begins at around 15% body fat, and for women, it is around 25%. 

And as you get leaner, these effects intensify. That’s why getting shredded, around 10% body fat or lower, is not only incredibly difficult to maintain but can also become unhealthy.

So after 150 days of Cam’s how to get 6 pack abs journey, we decided to stop his diet. The extra push to get even more visible 6 pack abs just wouldn’t be worth it, especially if it meant he wouldn’t be able to maintain his shape afterward. 

What about you? 

Well, the deeper you get into your how to get 6 pack abs journey, the more you’ll need to keep track of how you’re feeling. If it no longer makes sense to keep pushing just to make your 6 pack abs more visible, stop. 

Now, time to reveal Cam’s final results. 

Cam's Final Check-In

Just so you know, here’s what Cam’s wife told him recently:

“You look hot.”

How to get 6 pack abs TL;DR

• Step 1: establish your current BF% and daily calorie intake. For men, your abs will typically start to get visible at around 15%, and for women, it’ll be around 22%. Get into a 500-calorie deficit daily to lose 1 pound of fat weekly. 
• Step 2: implement a well-structured training plan that targets all major muscle groups to prevent losing muscle along with fat.
• Step 3: track your progress to make sure you’re on the right track. At this stage, you can think of cardio as the cherry on top; your diet will still be the biggest driver of results. 
• Step 4: implement science-based ab exercises to kick things up a notch. 
• Step 5: evaluate if continuing the diet and getting leaner just to get more visible 6 pack abs makes sense.

Transform Your Body With The BWS+ App

Getting 6 pack abs or any meaningful transformation is a marathon, not a sprint. 

But the key is a sustainable plan you can actually stick to long-term. And what’s crazy is I only worked with Cam in person a handful of times throughout his how to get 6 pack abs journey. 

The rest? That was all thanks to our brand-new app, BWS+.

It’s just like having me as your personal coach, guiding you every step of the way with science-backed training, nutrition, and progress tracking. 

And you can try it completely free for 2 weeks by clicking on the link below, and see the difference yourself:

Click the button below to try the BWS+ app for 2 weeks, for free, no strings attached:

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And if you're serious about building your 6 pack abs, check out this article next for a breakdown of the 2 key exercises that really made Cam's 6 pack abs pop.

Thanks for sticking to the end, and I'll catch you next time!

By the way, here’s the article summed up into a YouTube video: