Six pack abs or six pack of beer? Why not both?

One of my biggest fitness goals is to have six pack abs.  Who doesn’t want ripped abs?  Even sumo wrestlers have strong abs (under all that blubber). I’m getting really close too.  I can see them in there, they just haven’t quite decided to leave the house and come out to play.  I also love beer.  Last night I indulged in a few of my friend’s homemade brews and they were spectacular!  The question is, can I get my six pack abs and keep drinking that sweet, sweet nectar?  The answer is as simple as it is complicated.  Yes, I can.  But I have to be smart about it.

The reality is, we all have abs.  And the abdominals are by far the easiest muscle group to train (I’ll explain in a later post).  The only difference between people who have a six pack and people who don’t is body fat levels.  Have you ever noticed that there are more or less two groups of people who have six pack abs?  There are the fitness model/athlete/movie star/military types of people and then there are teenagers from lower income families.  What do these two groups have in common?  They maintain the right calories burned-to-calories consumed ratio.

Let’s call the first bunch the effort group.  The reason these people have six pack abs is because they combine a mixture of hard training and good nutrition to get their bodies to burn more calories than they consume on a daily basis.  They maintain a body fat level well under 10% and it shows when they take their shirts off!  The effort group has hard abs and generally the pecs and arms to match (for guys that is).

The second group is called the effortless group. They tend to have six pack abs because they don’t eat food for pleasure.  They eat when it’s time to eat.  They also don’t spend their days on the computer or Xbox as much as they do outside playing sports and the like.  They tend to walk or take a bike to get around instead of driving.  They maintain a body fat level well under 10% and it shows.  The effortless group has softer abs, but abs nonetheless.  They’ve probably never done a crunch in their life though.

So which group do I fall into?  I’m definitely in the effort group.  I eat strategically and I work out regularly.  The reality is that almost everyone who will read this blog will have to be in the effort group in order to join the six pack club.  If you effortlessly have a six pack, chances are you aren’t scouring the net for fitness blogs.  If you’re like me, you have to fight genetics and American food culture to get some real results.  So how will I get those results and join the “club” while still drinking my precious beer?

Remember how I said that both groups maintain a low body fat level by having the right calories burned-to-consumed ratio?  Well that applies to everyone whether they eat fish and veggies or beer and pizza.  Both groups can get six pack abs.  The problem is the second group tends to consume a lot more calories than they burn because the calories per serving are higher in the foods they consume.  If I drink one 12 oz. Blue Moon I’m now adding 171 calories into my system.  For me, beers are like chips–you can’t have just one!  So if I drink a six pack of Blue Moon (over the course of a weekend) I now have an extra 1000 calories floating around in my system.  That’s just not gonna cut it.  You know how hard it is to burn an extra 1000 calories?  Try jumping rope for well over an hour.  That’ll get you close…haha.

So then what?  No more beer?  This is madness!  No… THIS IS SPARTA!  Okay, it’s not Sparta, but then again those guys all had six pack abs!  The trick is to drink with some conscious strategy in place.  If you’re drinking to get drunk, drink bourbon and diet.  Bourbon has about 64 calories per serving and can tear you up (grassroots expert here). And diet soda doesn’t have any calories.  If you enjoy a nice cold brew during the game or hanging out with friends, grab a Michelob Ultra, Beck’s Premium Light, or best of all Miller’s MGD 64.  The first two beers have under 100 calories and the Miller has 64 calories (what a clever name!).  So drinking three MGD 64’s is the caloric equivalent of having one Blue Moon.  Although Blue Moon is one of my favorites, sometimes I prefer the refreshing taste and lack of guilt that comes with drinking a good light beer.

So there you have it.  You can drink beer if you drink in moderation.  Some drinks carry more “weight” than others, so you have to be careful how much you consume.  If you’re pounding a six pack a day, chances are that having six pack abs won’t happen anytime soon.  But if you only drink a six pack of light beers on the weekend, you’ll still be able to work the front door at Abercrombie in no time!

To read more articles by Zack Pennington, check out his blog at www.road-warrior-fitness.com