Can you get six pack abs in just 30 minutes?  Sure, and I’ll show you how.  But let me tell you what inspired me to write this.  On Thursday, for some reason, several of my clients were at the gym at the same time on their own.  It was pretty cool to see several people working so hard and writing down their progress on their workout logs.  But was more gratifying is seeing people that came into the gym before them and still being there after my clients left.  I can almost see them thinking, “wait a second, that’s not fair”.  Sure it is.  “Nuh-uh”, they say.  “Uh-huh”, I say.  “No way”, they think.  “Way”, I think.  Yeah OK, this could go on for a while.  Let’s move on…

Let’s compare and see how you can use a 30-minute six pack abs workout.  We’ll have client A, and let’s call her, “Alice”.  We’ll have client B, and let’s call her “Beatrice”.  Why “Beatrice”?  I don’t know.  I’ve never met a Beatrice, and through this article I finally can.  It wasn’t originally on my bucket list, but now it is.  Looky there… and now it’s crossed off.

Wow.  Anyway, Alice hops on the treadmill for 10-15 minutes to “warm-up” and then proceeds to randomly do sets of crunches, tricep pushdowns, leg extensions, those silly inner/outer thigh machines and even more crunches.  In between sets she talks to her friend Sally about Kim Kardashian filing for divorce.  It probably went a little something like this:, “Oh Sally, girrrrrl, guess what I saw on Entertainment Tonight?  Kim Kardashian filed for divorce.  I’ve been telling you in the last 17 workouts that they weren’t going to last.  Mmmmm hhhmmm.”  Ha-ha, silly Alice.

The next thing you know, an hour and a half goes by, she has barely broken a sweat and her clothes continue to feel tight.  She only has about 10 lbs of fat to lose before she sees her six pack, but she gets frustrated and gives up after numerous silly workouts and Kardashian talks with Sally.

Beatrice, however, knows how to do a 30-minute six pack abs workout because she’s an awesome Mom of 3 kids and doesn’t have a lot of time.  How do I know she’s an awesome Mom?  Because her name is Beatrice – any woman with this name is a legend to moms.  She consistently does 3-4 30-minute workouts per week and she covets the six-pack.  Her diet is nothing special.  She eats whole, natural foods 90% of the time with the occasional reward meal.  Whenever she hit a plateau, she just simply adjusted her nutrition and never gave up.

It’s that simple.

Here is a sample workout program she does.  Feel free to use this yourself.  Print this and take it with you to the gym.  Tell your gym buddies that you want to be like Beatrice, but you have to say something cool like, “I’m going to rock the six-pack like my girl Beat-Beat”.  That’s like… a cool nickname for Beatrice.

What about the warm-up? (you probably didn’t think this, but you’re welcome).  For one thing, Beatrice won’t be hopping on the treadmill for 15 minutes.  Instead, she gets blood flowing much faster and wakes up the nervous system using a variety of bodyweight exercises.  So instead, she does this circuit twice, resting for 30 secs between circuits:

Six Pack Abs – The Warm-up

1) Jumping Jacks (20)

2) Prisoner Squats (12)

3) Arm Crosses (15)

3) Push-ups (10)

4) Plank (20 secs)

5) Waiters Bow (10)

6) Band Pulls (15)

7) Leg Swings (12 ea leg)

 

30-Minute Six Pack Abs Workout

1A) Deadlift (8)

1B) DB Incline Chest Press (8)

Rest 1 minute and repeat 2 more times

 

2A) DB Row (6 ea arm)

2B) Stability Ball Leg Curl (12)

Rest 1 minute and repeat 2 more times

 

3A) Decline Push-ups (keep those abs embraced) (15)

3B) Ab Wheel or Stability Ball Rollout (10)

Rest 1 minute and repeat 2 more times

 

Metabolic Workout Finisher

 

Do the following superset resting only when needed.  In the first superset, you will perform 8 reps.  In the next superset, you will perform 7 reps.  Continue in this fashion until you complete 1 rep of each exercise.

4A) Burpee (8, 7, etc down to 1)

4B) Inverted Row (8, 7, etc down to 1)

Let’s grab our lab coats and analyze this 30-minute six pack abs workout…. or we can just analyze it wearing normal clothes.  Whatever.

Beatrice was able to warm up in just a few minutes by incorporating a bodyweight circuit instead of hopping on the treadmill.   This better prepares her body for the main workout, and it’s much shorter.  Hey, even the warm-up burns more calories than hitting the treadmill.  Bonus points…

The main workout hits all major muscle groups, burning more calories both during the workout and after, especially compared to the silly chaos that Alice was doing.  The first superset is the toughest when you go from a deadlift to a chest press.  Good times, but remember, this workout is short.  You can do this.  The rest periods are short as well (1 minute), so conversations are held to … well… pretty much nothing.  Remember, you’re there to burn calories and get out so you can hang with the kids.

The workout finisher is a fast paced “afterburner” if you will, designed to set your body up to burn calories for hours and hours to blast belly fat.  A burpee supersetted with an inverted row hits so much muscle at one time, burning tons of calories.  Also, you’re doing a lot of volume in very little time with little rest, setting up your body to be a fat burning machine well after the workout is over.

Alright kids, you know the drill.  Let’s gather around in a big circle and discuss what we learned:

1) Beatrice is a cool name after all

2) You can achieve six pack abs with 30-minute workouts as long as you stick to a solid nutrition program

3) Use big, “calorie-expensive” moves to burn a lot of calories in a little bit of time, and use the right intensity

Boom goes the 30-minute dynamite.

Finish Strong,
Mike Whitfield
Certified Turbulence Trainer