The quest for a six-pack can be a detrimental measure of your fitness progress – here’s why you should be focussing more on your overall performance and sleep quality, rather than stomach definition. Over the past decade, we’ve seen a switch from idolising size 0 waifs to worshipping at the altar of #strongnotskinny – with beauty standards changing from visible collarbones to visible abs. The fashion for looking visibly ‘strong’ has led to many of us embarking on high octane gym plans – tracking macros, lifting heavy and pursuing a level of training previously reserved for semi-pro athletes. But it took having a body confidence crisis after months of following a rigorous routine for me to realise that abs really aren’t the ultimate sign of fitness at all. “A visible six-pack may be a goal for many people – but visible abdominal muscles are in fact not a reliable indicator of physical fitness, they are an indicator of low body fat (around 10% for men and 14% for women) which is simply unachievable and not necessary for most people,” Hannah Lewin, Digme, Fitness instructor “It is possible to reduce your body fat and have visible abs via extreme dieting without ever-increasing your fitness levels.” This obsession over strength isn’t genuine; it’s another impossible beauty standard levied at people of all genders and which has very little to do with actual performance. Just look at some of the top athletes in the world. Tennis players such as Heather Watson are fitness personified; it takes another level of power, strength and stamina to play hours of tennis a day. Despite her gruelling training regime and success on the court, Heather doesn’t have the same body aesthetic as the bikini models you sometimes see on the ‘gram. At the height of their careers, footballers like Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney were taunted by fans for not having rippling abs – despite that the fact that they were two of the fittest men in the UK (proving that this is a damaging beauty standard for all genders). But we do all have abs, even if you can’t see them. Don’t be fooled into thinking they’re muscles which don’t exist unless they’re popping out of your body. “You use them to sit up and get out of bed in the morning!” Laura Hoggins, PT and author of Lift Yourself, reminds us. The way we metabolise fat and build muscle is largely down to genetics. Most of us straddle two of three body types: mesomorph (predisposed to building muscle – someone like Serena Williams), ectomorph (burns fat easily and finds it hard to build muscle – Kate Moss) and endomorph (predisposed to storing fat – Kim K). No, a six-pack is not a measure of how fit you are…. Are the young taking fitness too far? With steroids, fat-burners and supplements becoming staples in the diets of gym-going fitness junkies, and six-packs becoming the ultimate measure of fitness, we ask experts on how truly healthy the trend is. Have a healthy diet well-rounded exercise “Many gym trainers push fat-burners and supplements on their clients as they get commissions, and that is their major source of income as otherwise their salaries are low. But recently, two six-pack wielding ‘fitness-enthusiasts’ passed away due to cardiac arrest. So you don’t need fat burners, supplements, protein shakes, and steroids for general fitness. A healthy diet and a well-rounded exercise routine is the key. Six-packs have no functional value, and to get them, you have to go against nature — it is the worst thing you can do to yourself,” says fitness expert Wanitha Ashok, adding that one must not blindly follow actors who need to get six-packs within a given point of time for their projects. DO YOU REALLY NEED A SIX-PACK? Actor Anish Tejeshwar, who has been admitted twice to the hospital with low platelet count while training to get his six-pack, says, “For a six-pack to show, we have to go without water and salt for 48 hours, and work out at the same time. This affects the digestive system in the long run. So I would say eat well and diet well. If you definitely want your six-pack, go for natural food. The results will take time to show, but it will not compromise your health.” Actor Dhananjaya adds, “Actors need to sport six-packs, but a regular guy doesn’t have to, unless he’s going for a competition. Also, as this is our profession, we can give it the time that is needed, but not everyone can. We go to doctors to know of any underlying conditions, and then start exercising.” MAINTAIN A CERTAIN BODY FAT PERCENTAGE Mr India runner-up Rahul Rajasekharan says, “People are obsessed with looking fit and not being fit and don’t know where to draw the line. We model and actors are also guilty of it. Men and women into fitness need a minimum of 7%-11% and 15%-20
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