Pro Bodybuilder Reveals 10 Steps to Achieving 8-Pack Abs

1. Set a Deadline

Break your main goal (to get flat, ripped abs) into smaller goals, such as losing one pound per week or adding a round to your favorite ab circuit. Then, set a deadline for each one. Losing a lot of weight to cut body fat is a big undertaking, but it’s much less daunting when you take the time to divide it into smaller, achievable checkpoints. Deadlines also make you accountable, providing a schedule to keep and a bit of pressure to improve.

Take it a step further and tell your friends. Making your deadlines public is a powerful motivator because it puts your reputation on the line. In fact, the more attention you draw to what you’re doing, the less likely you’ll be to renege on it. Announce your intentions on social media or tell your work pals. That makes it harder for you to back down, and you’ll find that you have a support group full of people who want you to succeed.

2. Prevent Food Allergies

You could have low body fat levels and still sport a bloated stomach. That’s because inflammation in your digestive tract, as the result of a food allergy, is making it swell. Wheat gluten, soy, and dairy are common allergens, and even if you haven’t noticed a problem with them, minor amounts could still be doing you harm.

If you think you might have an allergy or sensitivity to a certain food, see an allergist for a food sensitivity test to know for sure. At the very least, cut these foods out for a few weeks and see how you feel. Typically, if you’re sensitive to a food, you’ll notice less gas, bloating, and fatigue after a few days or weeks of being free of it.

3. Eat Protein Regularly

You need more muscle to increase your metabolism and burn off the fat that covers your six-pack. On the nutrition front, this means eating protein regularly. Because the body cannot store protein, it needs a regular supply to keep your muscles well stocked. 

Eating small but frequent meals has always kept me more muscular. The protocol that’s worked best for 90% of my clients is to have five whole-food meals and one protein shake per day. If your diet calls for 200 grams of protein daily (a good goal for a 200-pound man), I advise consuming five to six meals with 30–50 grams of protein each.

4. Cycle Your Diet

If you've been dieting for a while and feel like the walking dead, you might need to change tack. The very act of eating less causes a stress response in the body that jacks up cortisol, a hormone that stimulates hunger and signals fat storage. So, how do you lose fat? Of course, you have to eat fewer calories than you burn in order to shed fat, but if you've been stuck in a fat loss phase that's going nowhere for several weeks, it's likely time for a break.

Switch your calorie goal back to maintenance for a few weeks or even to a surplus so you can focus on recovery or building more abdominal muscle mass for a while. This will help reduce your dieting fatigue and set you up for another round of fat loss dieting to get you over the finish line for revealing 8 pack abs.

5. Stock Your Fridge and Pantry With the Right Foods

When you’re at work or someone else’s house, it’s not always possible to eat right. But when you’re in your own crib, there’s no excuse for not having total control. You can’t fight temptation 24/7, so remove all the processed junk food from your refrigerator and cabinets.

Your kitchen should be stocked with a wide range of meats, vegetables, fruits, and starches (rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.). When you cheat, make sure it’s food you have to go out to get, such as ice cream, and finish it that day. Don’t store any leftovers—just remove that temptation altogether.

6. Start the Day Green

An often neglected aspect of abs is getting enough green vegetables. They have essential nutrients that your body wants to make sure it gets, and if you don’t provide the necessary nutrition, you’re going to find yourself rooting around in the cookie jar, looking for it. To ensure you’re fully loaded, make a fresh juice crammed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants with a minimum of calories. That means vegetable juice (not fruit juice, which is packed with lots of sugar and not enough of the fiber that whole fruit provides). Green juice is like a salad in a glass (only tastier, I promise).

This recipe is one of my favorites. Juice the ingredients and pour over 1/3-cup of water and half a cup of ice:

1/2 cup cucumber

1/2 cup celery

1/2 cup spinach

1 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 green apple

Parsley and ginger, to taste

In addition to providing valuable nutrition, you may be unable to get from whole foods during the day, green juice can also act as a detoxifier.

7. Measure Portion Sizes

I’m not going to tell you to turn your kitchen into the set of Breaking Bad, but a little measuring will keep you honest. Measure your proteins in ounces and carbs in cups (most of your fat should come as part of your protein foods; add other fats sparingly). You can use the palm of your hand to approximate three ounces of meat and your fist for a cup of rice or potatoes. The length of your thumb works well for measuring fats; it’s about the size of two tablespoons of oil or peanut butter.

This makes keeping a record of your food intake much easier, and eyeballed estimates will be close enough until you get very lean. At that point, you may want to invest in a food scale to make more precise measurements. The sharper your abs get, the more critical the difference between one cup of rice and one-half cup becomes.

8. Get More Magnesium

I’m going to go out on a limb (not really) and bet that your list of supplements doesn’t include magnesium. But it really should. It’s essential for good sleep, supporting healthy testosterone levels, and heart, muscle, and brain function—all of which impact inevitably impact your ability to achieve 8 pack abs—yet research shows most of us aren’t getting enough of it.

An analysis in the Journal of Nutrition Reviews revealed that 48–60% of Americans don’t meet the recommended daily value for magnesium, which even then is only considered the absolute minimum (a great physique likely requires more). Add a magnesium supplement or a multivitamin to your diet and see how your results improve.

9. Eat a Protein Rich Breakfast

Carbs are vital for fueling your workouts and recovery, but balancing them with protein is key for getting 8 pack abs.

A study out of the University of Missouri last March found that a high-protein breakfast improves appetite control and reduces unhealthy snacking in the evening. I take it a step further and eat nuts along with a protein source like meat or eggs. There’s nothing magic about the meat-and-nut combination, but it’s a filling meal and won’t cause a sharp rise in blood sugar, so your energy will be steady all day. 

10. Train Your Abs Correctly

Tacking on a couple of sets of abs at the end of a workout will not get you the 8 pack abs you covet. That's because you're already exhausted from training and your mind is probably only half in it, looking forward to downing your post workout shake and getting on with the day.

Just like any other muscle group, if you want to prioritize your abs, you should actually do it—put them first in your workouts, structure your sets and reps wisely, choose challenging exercises, progress them by adding weight and/or reps over time, and take your sets close to failure. There's no magic in it, but you need to put in the hard work to see results.

Here are some ab workouts to help you get 8 pack abs:

• 50 Best Abs Exercises of 2025 to Carve Your Core
• 25 Best Lower Ab Workouts to Strengthen Your Core
• Best Oblique Exercises for a Stronger Core
• 20 Ab Exercises With Weights for a Strong Core
• Best Beginner Ab Workouts for a Stronger Core
• Best Ab Workouts At Home: Top Exercises for a Strong Core