All over Social Media, you'll find ad after ad after ad of programs and promotions on how to develop 6 pack abs and getting down to such a ridiculous amount of body fat and telling everyone that yours is the straw that stirs the drink. Mainly Hollywood is obsessed with image and will do anything to make someone look good (or look like shit depending on the circumstance) to the point where photoshopping is the norm, we as a society on social media thrive on making certain things look like a million bucks but what is the reality?
Youtube, Instagram, Twitter & Tik Tok have become the go to places for How-To videos that last ranging from 20-30 seconds to well over an hour and very few or a fraction can really tell the difference to what is bullshit and what is legit. For the most part, unless you plan on being a star to millions and don't care about the consequences, you can convince plenty of people (if done right) on how to get abs so good looking that heads will turn. This is not realistic and certainly not the true way to go about it.
Having a six pack does have its benefits and it's helped some reach Olympic levels of greatness but the reality is, in order to maintain it, it can get harder and harder as we age. Having powerful muscles or even sleek looking abs didn't get everyone who had them anywhere, some of the greatest athletes had a six pack but never reached levels of legendary status. Even some of the best known fighters with a six pack don't even have a winning career record. Having a six pack can do wonders for some but for the rest, it's not worth achieving if it costs your health and well being.
The late Karl Gotch used to talk about the difference between counterfeit muscles and conditioned muscles; he said that the counterfeit muscles the majority of the time (mainly in bodybuilding) were the ones that looked amazing but that was it, those muscles were mainly stiff, couldn't take a hit, very immobile and didn't have a chance in hell on lasting very long in realistic situations. Conditioned muscles didn't always look like a million bucks but could go the distance if needed, can take a punch, durable, had less chances of getting injured and had great flexibility.
Does this mean you shouldn't build six pack abs? Here's where the truth lies....It isn't wrong to develop awesome looking muscles or in this case washboard type abs however, it is more important to find the balance of developing a physique but also having the conditioning to go with it. Sometimes conditioning the abs is far more worth it than to simply just build a look. some of the old-time strongmen of the vaudeville era didn't just look incredible, they had strength and fitness to go with the physique and can do things most couldn't dream of at the time. Otto Arco, Maxick, Zass, Sandow and others had physiques that even to this day would make people's jaws drop but unlike many bodybuilders and "influencers" today, they also had strength and conditioning that is so legendary, it's hard to believe.
So if you plan on developing a strong six pack but also give it a good look, use fitness and eating habits that are realistic and achievable through progressive training. Build a core that can take a hit and can go, you don't need to do 1000 crunches or do 100's of sit-ups to make that happen, work exercises that challenge the core muscles like an Ab Wheel or better yet a Power Wheel, do Isometric holds that target the core along with the whole body (Fist Planks, Side Planks, Superman Holds, Iso Crunch, Hollow/Arch Body Holds, V-Up Holds ect.). Condition the core first, than work on building a look for it cause if all you care about is the look, eventually sooner than later, you're increasing your chances of developing injuries that you may not be able to come back from.
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