To crunch or not to crunch? That is the question...

The science behind visible abs

For many people abs are the grail. For people who have them, they are a trophy of hard work, discipline, and determination. Many people like to look at and admire them. But getting and keeping them is tough work!

Abs and body fat percentage

Ab visibility is first and foremost to do with body fat percentage. To get that chiselled-by-the-gods look sought after by many men, they need a body fat percentage of around 10-14%. Women need a body fat percentage of 16-20%. 

Women can have visible abs at a higher body fat percentage than men simply because women's biological makeup means they tend to store more essential fat in certain areas of the body - notably the chest, hips, and thighs. 

Exercise and visible abs

So - do you need to be doing hundreds of crunches a week to have the visible abs so sought after in this day and age? 

Doing exercises that work out your core will strengthen your ab muscles and help them grow. So doing crunches (and other exercises which are just as good at working out your core as crunches, such as the standard plank and its variations, mountain climbers, and leg raises) will, to an extent, help you get abs. 

However, simply doing these exercises is not enough on their own to get that visible six pack. Doing these exercises will help strengthen and grow the muscles, but if a person's body fat percentage is higher than 10-14% in men, and 16-20% in women, those abs will be invisible, covered by fat deposits. 

It's important to remember that a person can have a very strong core, be fit and healthy, can even have a six pack, without the muscles being visible. Having visible abs is a vanity pursuit as much as it is a signifier of strength, health, and fitness. 

Genetics and visible abs

Genes also play a big role in people's fat distribution, and even the shape, size, and organisation of their muscles. What we describe as a "six pack" is actually typically composed of four pairs of muscles in most people - and genes can determine how large, and exactly how, these muscle pairs are organised. 

Ab visibility still depends on the amount of fat in front of them (the less fat in front of them, the more visible, and the more they will protrude, from under the skin). But studies also show a link between our genetics, and how fat is distributed across our body too. Moreover, studies also suggest that genetics influence different rates of metabolism across individuals. Metabolism, or metabolic rate, is the process, or speed at which, our bodies convert food into energy. 

Some people may also function better at a higher body fat percentage in their everyday lives. Due to genetics and other environmental and lifestyle factors, some people may feel more tired than others maintaining the body fat percentage required for abs to be visible. Although in many people, visible abs are a sign of good health, reducing body fat to extremely low percentages can be harmful and even dangerous. 

Sometimes, very low body fat percentages can disrupt hormonal cycles and impact fertility rates. In women, these disruptions to hormonal cycles often present through menstrual cycle irregularities. 

Nutrition and visible abs

Because abs being visible depends on body fat percentages, whether or not the muscles show depends on people's eating habits.

Maintaining a body fat percentage that enables abs to show requires a calorie equilibrium, meaning people need to burn as many calories as they consume. 

It's also important for maintaining an active lifestyle that enables muscle maintenance or growth to be consuming the right sorts of nutrients. In other words, fruit and vegetables, lean protein, high fibre carbohydrates, and healthy fats. 

We'll cover nutrition, muscle maintenance, and calorie deficits, in separate posts, as to cover it all in just a few sentences here does these detailed topics a disservice. But to put it simply, what you eat has a big impact on whether or not your abs will be visible, regardless of how many crunches you do. 

In conclusion?

Exercise, diet, and genetics all play a role in determining whether a person has those sought-after six pack abs, the holy grail of every fitness enthusiast's efforts. 

A person could do all the crunches in the world and have a massive six pack, but without the right body fat percentage, those abs won't be visible. Your body fat percentage is determined by what you eat and what you burn - in other words, your caloric expenditure. If your abs are already visible, you just need to keep doing what you're doing. If you want to build muscle, you might need to be in a surplus. And if you want to burn fat, you'll need to be in a deficit. 

It's important to remember that having visible abs is not necessarily a sign that someone is in great health. Nor is lacking visible abs a sign you are unhealthy. Above all, pursuing ab visibility is a vanity project - staying fit and healthy should be everyone's main priority, above developing any one muscle in particular.