How to Build Bigger Abs

Getting a strong, toned belly is a common fitness goal. A clear six-pack not only makes you look great but also shows strength and hard work. While having fit arms, a nice butt, and strong thighs are cool, abs usually get the most attention. In this guide, we'll show you everything about building bigger abs. You'll learn how to lose belly fat, do specific ab workouts with easy instructions, exercise at home, eat the right foods, set workout schedules, and follow important rules to keep making progress.

By doing targeted ab exercises, eating a balanced diet, and training regularly, you can build bigger abs and get the strong core you want.

Whether you're just starting or looking to improve your routine, this guide has what you need to build awesome abs.

The Six-Pack Abdominal Muscle Group: What You Are Working Towards

When you picture yourself with a deeply etched six-pack, what you envision is the rectus abdominis (1). It is a flat band of muscle fiber that extends vertically from underneath your ribs down to your pubic bone.

This flat band of muscle fiber is split into a left and right half, segmented into three parallel areas attached via connective tissue. Due to how these six bands are bound together, this is what causes that “set” of abs that you desire.

If you have any subcutaneous fat, which lies underneath the skin, it does not matter how toned your abdominals are if it is hidden underneath layers of fat.

To unearth your abdominals, we must eliminate both your subcutaneous and visceral fat stores by lowering your body fat percentage.

Once this is done, you can work on making your abdominals bigger and bulkier.

Should You Focus on Subcutaneous Fat to Reveal Your Shredded Abs?

Although many fitness tips and guides like to tell you to focus on shredding down the fat that you can grab with your hands (subcutaneous fat), we would like to offer a different approach when looking at cutting down on body fat.

In 2015, a paper published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that people who had “normal-weight central obesity” were far more likely to have a higher mortality rate than those who had a body mass index that indicated obesity (2).

This means that individuals who look overweight on the outside may be healthier than someone who looks thin and have a healthy BMI but have a lot of internal fat around their organs.

This is because research indicates that subcutaneous fat can act as a protective measure by preventing the accumulation of triglycerides in one’s liver. It helps reverse glucose intolerance that comes from a “junk-food” diet (3).

So, what does this mean for you?

Rather than focusing on the fat you can grab, you should be focusing on removing the visceral fat that you have around your organs, as the visceral fat is the primary determinant of whether you have obesity-related diseases such as heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes (4).

When you choose to focus on eliminating the visceral fat, you, in turn, will also eliminate how much subcutaneous fat you have, as both works in tandem with one another.

Type Of Exercise Routine For Fighting Both Visceral and Subcutaneous Fat

Research studies indicate that you should commit to high-intensity intermittent exercise training, which induces greater subcutaneous fat loss than moderate-intensity training.

This is because high-intensity training is more likely to provide higher energy expenditure and, therefore, will have more calories burned during training (5).

Typical examples of this include the following circuits:

1. Do a walk and then sprint as fast as possible

This one is super simple: you will walk to a designated spot and then sprint as fast as possible back.

If you want to put time into it, do a thirty-second walk followed by a thirty-second sprint. Repeat four or five times until you are exhausted.

2. If you are at a higher level of fitness, you can do a jog and sprint

Very similar to the line sprint you may have done in high school, where you jog yourself to a certain point and jog back, increasing the speed as you go.

For this, you will jog one way to your indicated destination and sprint back. Repeat for four to five rounds or until tired.

3. Infinite pushups and infinite squats!

Let’s put it this way; these are not simple.

For the infinite pushups, do ten at a time, rest for thirty seconds, and then do another ten. Do this for ten rounds or until you get exhausted and can no longer hold proper form.

For the infinite squats, do ten air squats, rest for thirty seconds and repeat. Make sure when you do the squats, you are going below the parallel.

4. Perform a sit-up and then jump

This one is pretty simple: you will perform ten sit-ups and then get up and jump as high as you can for ten reps.

Rest once you’ve done the ten sit-ups and ten vertical jumps, and repeat. If you want to make this more challenging, you can add pushups or squats as the third exercise.

5. Infinite burpees

As the name implies, do ten burpees and rest for thirty to sixty seconds. Repeat until you are exhausted or can no longer hold proper form.

6. Sprint, push, and squat

Perform a fifteen-second sprint, drop down, do ten pushups, and follow them up with ten squats. Rest for thirty seconds to a minute, and then repeat. Do this until you are exhausted.

Other common exercises you can do together to help whittle down your subcutaneous and visceral fat include squatting and rear lunging, squat, planking, and doing pushups, side-to-side lunge hops, plank pike jumps, and deadlift balance exercises which you can view here.

Beyond exercising, for visceral fat specifically, we recommend that you reduce your stress levels, cut back the amount of sugar you are taking in, and eliminate foods that may be causing insulin resistance.

By doing all three of these, you can discourage how much visceral fat your body creates.

What Type of Tick Ab Exercises Are The Best?

This section will explore the five best direct ab exercises you should do to build that fantastic six-pack.

Each exercise will come with a small tutorial/instructional on how to do them correctly.

Top 5 Bigger Ab Exercises

1. The Walking Planks

To complete the walking plank, you start in the static plank position.

After holding for twenty to forty seconds (or as long as you can), move one arm forward, following behind with the second arm.

As you pull that second arm forward, hop or slide your feet up a few inches. Keep your body straight, do not bend your hips, and continue this pattern until exhausted.

2. Mountain Climbers

This exercise is excellent because you can perform it directly on the floor, on an exercise ball, or even on a bench or chair.

Start by positioning yourself in a pushup position with your body straight and arms locked.

While keeping the rest of your body completely still, raise your right knee towards your left elbow and then return it to the starting position.

Repeat and do the same with your left knee towards your right elbow. Continue consistently doing this pattern as quickly as possible.

3. Ab Wheel Rollouts

You can do this with an ab wheel or a barbell loaded up with twenty-five to forty-five pounds of weight.

Kneel on your knees, place your hands in a comfortable position on the ab wheel and then roll it as far outward as possible.

You want to get your body to a nearly horizontal position. Roll back the ab wheel to the starting position and repeat while keeping your abdominals as tight as possible the entire time.

Note: if you do not have an ab wheel, you can replace it with any larger size ball.

4. Side Planks

Like a regular plank, keep your body perfectly still while completing this exercise.

Lay on either your right-hand or left-hand side and rest your hand (or elbow for the modified version) against the ground.

Lift your hips upwards until your body is entirely straight, and hold until exhausted.

5. Standing Cable Crunch

You will need a cable pulley system (cable machine) to complete this exercise.

Stand with your back towards the pulley system, and hold the ends of the cables above your shoulders near your upper chest.

Make a crunching downward motion with your upper body while keeping your lower body stiff, and try to touch your elbows to your sides.

The main thing you want to keep in mind with ab sculpting is that full-body workouts that use compounding exercises will be your primary source for building lean muscle.

This means that you should incorporate indirect compounding movements on the days you are not incorporating abdominal workouts into your primary exercise routine.

These will still cause your abs to work hard, but they will also target multiple muscle groups.

Some fantastic indirect abdominal exercises you should be doing include kettlebell windmills, deadlifts, squats, overhead presses, and tricep pushdowns.

Common Questions Associated With Abdominal Workout

How Frequently Should You Be Working Your Abs Out?

Like every other muscle in your body, your abdominals need time to recover after proper training.

Working your abdominals out every day will end up being ineffective, as it doesn’t give them time to recoup and rebuild and, therefore, not become stronger.

To maximize your results, you want to train your abdominals between one and three times per week at a level of high intensity.

How Many Reps and Sets Should You Do In Your Workouts?

Specifically speaking for abdominals, you want to do anywhere between ten and twenty-five reps per set.

Although this is not a hard and fast rule, it is a good baseline, to begin with, as it doesn’t overwork or cause you to over-perform, which may lead to injury.

Once you can do twenty-five reps per set with ease, try adding on an additional set with an additional 2-to to five extra reps and see how that feels.

If you can do this easily without too much stress on your abdominals, then add in resistance and weights.

Why Should You Consider Weighted Ab Exercises?

Beyond the fact that resistance and weights put extra strain on your abdominals, they also increase your lean body mass, increase your metabolic rate, and decrease your risk of injury as they contribute to greater muscle strength.

According to the Journal of Exercise Science, “both high-frequency training and low-frequency training produce similar improvements in lean mass and strength”, which means you can do either three sets, three days a week, or nine sets once per week.

Some popular weighted exercises you can do include the barbell rollout, weighted hanging leg raise, side-plank cable row, and weighted sit-ups.

Should You Consider Adding in More Time for Static Exercises?

If you choose to do any static exercises from the list above and find that they become straightforward to hold over time, add more time to them.

Increasing the amount of time you hold these forces your abdominals to adapt, respond to stress, and grow.

How Long Does It Take to Get Abs?

The answer to this question depends entirely on your diet, body fat percentage, and whether you can hit that average of one pound of fat loss a week.

Luckily, there is a handy chart you can use to determine how many weeks it will take. Be warned, though. You will need to know your starting fat percentage.

Can You Build Bigger Abs With Minimal Equipment?

Yes, you get a six-pack without joining a gym. Check out our calisthenics Ab workout guide. 

Workouts For Getting Shredded Abs From Home

If you are planning on getting shredded at home and are without the assistance of machines, there are several workouts you can do.

Workout One – For Beginners

Choose two of any of the following exercises: planks (side planks work, too), sit-ups, standing bicycle crunches, spider plank crunch, or the dead bug.

Do one to three sets of ten to twenty reps each. If you choose to incorporate the planks, hold these for twenty to sixty seconds per rep.

Once you can do twenty reps each with ease, add in another set or continue until you can hold the plank for forty-five seconds per rep for one to three sets.

Workout Two – For Intermediates

For those who want a little more challenge, choose three of the following exercises: reverse crunches, planks (or side planks), seated leg raises, fingers to toes, or scissor kicks.

Do two to five sets of ten to twenty-five reps each per set. If you choose to incorporate the planks, hold these for one to two minutes per rep.

If these get too easy for you, add in little rest between each set and use slow negatives to increase each rep’s intensity.

Workout Three – For The Advanced

This is where you can begin to do supersets when you perform two sets of two different exercises back to back.

Choose two out of the four exercises: a sit-up to stand up, walking plank, knee ups, or leg swings.

Do three to five sets of these at ten to forty reps per set. If you choose to do the walking plank, hold between each movement for one to two minutes.

Beyond these ab workouts, make sure to perform cardio either on your off days or on days where no resistance training is done. If you want low-intensity cardio, then choose to go for a walk or jog on the treadmill at home.

If you want to do high-intensity interval training, choose to go cycling or running. You can also do a combination of walking, jogging, and sprinting in burst intervals.

Is the Bill Pearl Workout Effective for Building Bigger Abs?

Many fitness enthusiasts swear by the effectiveness of the Bill Pearl workout for building bigger abs. By incorporating a variety of targeted exercises and following a consistent regimen, many have seen significant results in strengthening and sculpting their abdominal muscles with the Bill Pearl workout.

What Should You Be Eating For Better Abs?

When it comes to chiseled and ripped abs, you can ultimately shape your body composition through exercise alone or diet alone, but if you genuinely want to make your abs pop, you are going to need to combine both diet and exercise to remove that last 2-3% body fat.

How do you do this?

By cutting out processed foods, removing sugars, and loading up on sustainable and whole foods like protein, fiber, and diversified carbohydrates that are low in calories and starch.

Below, you will find five mandatory tips for getting it right in the kitchen.

Tip One – More Meals

Although you should experiment and find out what works best for you, it is recommended that you eat smaller meals throughout the day rather than three large meals.

By eating a nutritious meal every few hours (we’re talking 2-4 hours), you will be able to stabilize your blood sugar, always have nutrients pumping through the body, and be able to control cravings for sweets.

This also means that your body will not cannibalize muscle because it won’t go without a fuel source for long periods.

Tip Two – Eat Before You Get Hungry

It is straightforward to wait until you get hungry to eat, but you want to head off hunger by eating beforehand. When you stay ahead of your hunger cues, you are far less likely to overeat.

Tip Three – Figure Out Your Protein

This is extremely important as you need protein to build muscle. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn when working out.

The more calories you can burn, the higher your calorie deficit, and the more fat you will either burn away or keep off.

To determine how much protein you need, determine your optimal weight and multiply that number by 0.8g. This will tell you your daily amount of protein, and you can diversify that across your meals.

Beyond this, make sure that every single meal has protein with it. Muscle burns calories when at rest, unlike fat, which means you need protein to minimize how much muscle mass you lose (or keep).

Tip Four – Diversify Your Carb Intake

Although it may be straightforward to stick with familiar carbohydrates that you like, it’s better to keep your body guessing.

This means that you can indulge in a few simple carbohydrate sources like your morning cereal or the occasional candy bar, but you should not consume more than two-three grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight.

Do not make the mistake of thinking that you are safe with carbohydrates because they do not have a high amount of fat.

Your body does not discriminate with calories, so whether those come from carbs, fat, or protein, if you are in excess, it will get stored as fat.

You should consume foods like green vegetables, which have a negative calorie balance, and complex carbohydrates from whole grains.

Tip Five – Drink Water

If your body does not have enough water, not only will your muscles not get enough glycogen or amino acids, but your training efforts will all be for naught as your body will not be able to convert the protein you are consuming into muscle.

In addition to this, you must have enough water to make the uptake work for your body to turn carbohydrates into energy.

Beyond this, having enough water prevents dehydration and is needed for almost every function in your body to work optimally.

Bottom Line

To learn how to build bigger abs, you need to understand your body and work hard. Eat a healthy, balanced diet, do plenty of exercises, and take one or two days to rest each week.

Think of it as a lifestyle change, not just a short-term goal. By staying dedicated and consistent, building bigger abs is easier than you think. With the right habits and effort, you can achieve the strong, chiseled core you desire.