How to Start Sculpting Six-Pack Abs in Just One Month

A month is a tight deadline for achieving six-pack abs, so if you're planning to go from zero to washboard in 30 days, you'll want to adjust your timeline. That's because, in general, ab muscle definition shows up at 14 to 20 percent of body fat for women and 6 to 13 percent of body fat for men.

Those numbers also depend on genetics. Some people have thicker skin and tissue covering the muscles that make up the abs, so they need extremely low body fat levels to be visible. Expect to lose about 1 percent of body fat per month safely, says the American Council on Exercise.

Attaining such low body-fat levels requires serious dedication at the gym and a lot of self-discipline when it comes to diet. If you're at an average body fat level of 25 to 31 percent as a woman or 18 to 25 percent as a man, it'll take longer than a month of such discipline.

But that doesn't mean you should abandon your goal. With a streamlined nutrition plan and consistent workouts, you can set a solid foundation for getting six-pack abs in four weeks. And be patient! Even if you don't get the abs of your dreams, you can make strides toward better health and fitness.

Steps that bring about weight loss, such as reducing caloric intake and avoiding refined sugar and highly processed carbs, certainly help you get closer to six-pack abs in 30 days or more. However, you'll have to adopt stricter measures to get super lean.

• Eliminate most processed foods, such as canned soups, packaged bread, snack bars and frozen meals, from your eating plan. Skip sweets and refined grains, such as white rice, pasta and breakfast cereals.
  
• Eliminate beer, wine and hard alcohol from your diet, as well as sugary sodas. These are all sources of empty calories.
  
• Limit your intake of fruit and dairy, too, as their calories can add up and some of the natural sugars in them contribute to bloating, which undermines your six-pack goal.
  
• Eat 4 to 6 ounces of lean proteins, such as flank steak, eggs, chicken breast, tuna and white-meat turkey, at each meal. Avoid sugary sauces and high-sodium processed meats, including sausage and hot dogs.
  
• Load up your plate with watery, fibrous vegetables, such as broccoli, lettuce, kale, spinach, peppers and cauliflower. A salad is a healthy meal choice, as long as you veer away from fried toppings, croutons, cheese and mayonnaise-based dressings. Stick to olive oil, vinegar and citrus juices for seasoning.
  
• Limit your grain intake to just a half-cup serving of whole-grain options, such as brown rice, oatmeal or quinoa, at one or two meals per day. Nuts, hard-boiled eggs, deli meat and whey protein serve as snacks.
  

Plan ahead by packing your work lunches, carrying a cooler with six-pack-friendly foods for snacks. Considering saying no to happy hour; eating out isn't impossible but can be a challenge when you have such dietary limitations.

To lose body fat and reveal a six-pack, targeted abdominal exercises help (see below for examples) — but they aren't enough on their own. Regular cardio, such as jogging or cycling, promotes heart health and helps you burn calories, so you can lose fat more easily.

Aim for 30 to 60 minutes of cardio most days of the week. Every two or three workouts do intervals, which involve going all-out for 30 to 60 seconds, then taking it easy for a minute or two, and repeating that cycle for the duration of the session.

To really become lean enough to display a six-pack, though, you also need strength training. The more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn daily during workouts and at rest. The process of building muscle also causes your body to make hormonal shifts that promote fat loss. Add muscle to your whole body to benefit the most.

Strength-train four to six times per week, targeting different body parts each time. Here's what a sample schedule might look like:

• Monday: upper body (rows, pull-ups, push-ups, chest presses, biceps curls and triceps dips
• Tuesday: legs (squats, deadlifts and lunge variations)
• Wednesday: core (bird dog, bicycle crunches, Paloff press and hanging leg raises)
• Thursday: rest
• Friday: upper body (rows, pull-ups, push-ups, chest presses, biceps curls and triceps dips
• Saturday: legs (squats, deadlifts and lunge variations)
• Sunday: core (bird dog, bicycle crunches, Paloff press and hanging leg raises)

During each strength workout, do 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions of each exercise with a weight that makes it challenging to finish all the reps with good form.

Train all the muscles of your core, not just the superficial rectus abdominis (the "six-pack muscles"). Crunches, Boat pose, forearm plank and side plank are good beginner exercises.

Once you've mastered these — after about two weeks — add moves such as bird dog for the stabilizing muscles of the back, bicycle crunches for the obliques, Russian twists for the deep transverse abdominis and lying leg raises and reverse crunches for the rectus abdominis.

Adequate rest between workouts and at night are other important steps toward encouraging fat loss that reveals six-pack abs. Allow at least 48 hours between sessions working a given muscle group with weights. Adults should aim for seven to nine hours of quality sleep per night.

If you've got a month full of work deadlines, family emergencies or moving, your six-pack ab goal may take longer to achieve. Stress encourages the release of cortisol, a stress hormone that actually encourages your body to hold on to fat, especially around your middle. Separate yourself from as much life drama as you can over the month to keep your mind and body calm.