^^^Horrible goal for most people.
Horrible in the sense that the work, the CONSTANT work it requires to attain never mind keep them, is far more than is realistic for what most are willing to do.
Unless you have a full time job that requires heavy manual labor or you walk 20k steps daily due to your job, living day to day life with abs with minimal effort is going to be extremely difficult.
You may be able to do it, but you will likely be hungry constantly, be grumpy constantly, have low or no energy constantly, and pretty much hate most aspects of what maintains abs asks of you. Constantly.
A far better goal would be to carry yourself confidently due to how you treat and take care of your body.
Your genetics, your diet, your exercise, and your daily movement outside of exercise are going to largely determine your set point that you’re able to maintain without constantly living with a singular goal.
The fact that most of us spend most of our days stationary means abs are going to require a TON of constant ongoing effort and strain, since most of the time, we’re onboarding calories at a rate that far exceeds the rate that we’re expending calories. Again, without a full time manual physical labor job…it’s very very tough, barring genetics that have you predisposed to being super lean with minimal effort.
Everyone’s body is different, everyone’s effort level required to “get there” is different, but in my decade of coaching, I’ve found that most that get abs, won’t hang onto them long, it’s just not worth the ongoing general life detriments.
A MUCH better goal, in my opinion and experience, would be something like these (in no particular order):
- “To carry myself with pride”
- “To be confident at the beach”
- Somewhere near 13-15% bodyfat, which for most, represents taking care of themselves as their standard operating mode (diet/exercise/movement outside of exercise), but still being able to enjoy life here and there.
Best way to get there?
- Weight train at least 3x weekly
- Walk at least 10k steps daily
- Know your intake levels, know your maintenance levels, and know how to diet down efficiently before returning to maintenance
TL;DR version:
- Abs require a crazy amount of effort and near singular focus
- One doesn’t need abs to be in extraordinary shape. Look around in public next time you’re out.
- 13-15% BF is an awesome range to shoot for, most will be happy with their physique there, will be able to do most of what they want without their fitness dictating yay or nay, and they’ll not have to say no to everything and everyone always.
