Six-pack abs have been a sign of masculinity since the Stone Age…

In the B.C. era, broadly chiseled hunters and gatherers would leave their families in a vital quest to feed their village.

They were heroes of their home, and the whole village knew it.

The guys with the six-packs, they were the providers.

Today, Hollywood stars have made six-packs a marquee of manliness, and an indispensable element of attractiveness.

With every new super-hero movie comes another swooning set of otherworldly abs…

Each romance picture reveals a surprisingly cut up six-pack underneath a modestly dressed, gentleman.

Even comedies are recruiting stars like the Rock with his rock-solid midsection.

Basically, six-pack abs are everywhere.

So why do they seem so elusive for most?

Why do so many people struggle to reach their six-pack goals?       

If you’ve ever trained for gasp-worthy abs, you probably experienced a little bit of pushback from your stomach…

For whatever reason, no matter how hard you train, your abs seem determined to hide from you, so you chalk it up to genetics, or not enough sit-ups or whatever the case is that some Skinny Jimmy told you…

But let me be a voice of reason and encouragement for you.

Six pack abs training isn’t as frustrating as it appears to be.

Six pack abs are within your grasp, without question.

Most ab barriers only involve a slight tweak to what you’re already doing to chisel out your midsection.

But this slight tweak has considerable implications.

The biggest roadblocks to get the abs you admire are easy to remove and will result in massive improvements.

So check out this list, make some tweaks, and see the results you’ve been looking for.   

Here Are 6 WORST Six Pack Abs Training Mistakes:

1) Neglecting a Testosterone Building Diet

No matter how many crunches you do, you won’t be able to see your abs if you’re crunching down on tacos every Tuesday night… (Unless you’re strategically fasting)

Healthy eating habits are essential for hard abs.

Now, I’m not suggesting you recruit eating plans that require you to starve yourself for a lower body-fat percentage. Those aren’t helpful…

Instead, as a man, you want to eat in order to achieve testosterone-boosting benefits.

The more testosterone you have flowing through your system, the more prominent your abs will be.

Because a recent article recorded in the International Journal of Obesity shows men who have higher testosterone levels have an easier time burning off fat…

By increasing your metabolism… and directly blocking the creation of new fat cells.

Need we say more?

Having more testosterone is a game-changer if you want to see the fruit of your hard work in your six pack abs training.

2) Forgetting Compound Movements

I know this may sound a little backward, but abdominal movements aren’t your best friends when it comes to building a six-pack.

Why?  

Because isolated movements such as crunches, don’t burn as much fat as compound movements do.  

Compound movements build muscle while torching fat and are crucial to your six pack abs training.

These essential movements include push-ups, single-arm planks, dips… you know, bodyweight moves that really fire up your core…

Or if you’re at the gym, movements deadlifts, squats, weighted dips, pull-ups and the Turkish getup are big-time compound exercises.

These movements are advantageous to your abs because when you perform these exercises, your metabolism elevates not only during the exercise, or simply for the breadth of your entire workout; your metabolism actually increases for up to 38 hours after your workout.

In other words, you’ll burn calories long after you’re done performing these exercises, which will chisel up your midsection in the process.

So whether you’re at the office, studying for an exam, or simply spending time with your wife, your body is working on its own terms to hit your abdominal target.

Don’t forget this step to crafting concrete abs: Compound your results with compound movements.  

3) Everyday Abs

When I was in high school, my P.E. teacher was insistent that you could train abs everyday if you wanted to.

And, sure, you could… if you’re okay with a weak set of abs.

See, your abdominal muscles are, um, muscles. And in order to grow, they need to recover from strenuous training just like any other muscle group.

So this step is pretty simple.

Give them some rest.

Instead of cranking out abdominal exercises every day you’re in the gym, set aside two-three days a week to train them… HARD.

Consider this…

Do you ever wake up the day after leg-day and say, “Yeah, I could train legs again today.”

Exactly. You don’t. That is if you’ve trained them hard enough.

Apply the same concept to your six pack abs training. If you wake up the day after you train your abs and say, “Yeah, I think I can do that again today,” then, you didn’t train them as rigorously as you could have.

Give them some rest and try some more challenging ab exercises on your next day of training. If you need some ideas for challenging abdominal workouts, keep reading.

4) Sit-Ups as your Primary Exercise

Abs are a unique muscle group in that you can work them out in a variety of ways and from a variety of angles.

Still, most people are stuck on the sit-up thing.

I’m going to be blunt here.

Don’t just do sit-ups for your six pack abs training. There’s a bounty of other ab-blasting exercises you can perform that will be far more beneficial for your beach-bod.

In fact, if performed incorrectly (like most crunches I see) a traditional crunch is one of the least advantageous exercises you can do and can have serious consequences on your lower back and spine.

Instead, explore more challenging abdominal exercises to get the six-pack that really turns heads.

5) Forgetting Form

Connecting with the statement above… if you want an exercise to be beneficial, you need to perform it correctly.

That means if you’re in the gym cranking out a tornado wind of oblique twists, you’re missing the point.

When you perform any exercise, you want to maintain a mind-muscle connection throughout the movement.

In other words, you want to squeeze the muscle that you’re working throughout the entire motion.

Pro Tip: In the case of oblique twists, turning your body side to side is a complete waste of your time…

Instead, tighten up your abs and slowly rotate your abdomen from one side to another, holding tension in your midsection throughout the movement.

Sure you won’t be able to crank out fifty twists per side like you were doing before, but in this case, less is more.

Apply this same principle to each ab exercise you perform. Slow down. Focus on form. See results. Simple.

6) No Progression

Who goes into the gym and says, “I’m going to perform 3, 8 rep sets of 225lb. bench every time I train chest.”

Right. No one.

Every man that sets his sights on a bench press wants to see a steady progression of growth.

He wants to bench 225. Then 235. One day, 275, and so forth.

But why don’t most people bring that same attitude to their six pack abs training?

Why are they cool with a couple sets of 25 leg raises, every single time they step foot in the gym?

Listen, your abs won’t pop if they aren’t being pushed.

Just like any muscle group, you want to progressively increase the number of reps you perform, or the amount of time you hold an isometric position.

You want to strive for better numbers in order to see better results.

Progression is the key to success. If you don’t put the key in the ignition, you won’t get anywhere.    

See, the secret to getting shredded, six-pack abs isn’t so elusive. All it takes is a simple tweaking of what you’re already doing.

I hope you’ve had some “A-ha!” moments as you’ve read through this list of 6 common six pack abs mistakes, and have pinned the tail on where you’ve gone wrong.

Implement the necessary changes to your diet and training and turn those old mistakes into abdominal milestones.