Can you get Ripped Abs at 40?
Apr 06, 2023Getting ripped abs at 40 and beyond is still one of the main goals men and women want to achieve in their lifetime. It is a bucket list item and to be straight up, I fully support the endeavor for a number of reasons.
Conversely, women are not so concerned with achieving ripped abs at 40 as much as they are interested in having a lean and toned midsection.
The difficulty many have is the continued misinformation regarding the correct process for getting abs at 40.
First, there is the argument regarding whether abs are made in the kitchen or in the gym. I put this to rest a long time ago. Unless you are doing hollow rock holds on your kitchen island, they are most definitely NOT made in the kitchen.
The notion that you are building your core in any significant manner while you stuff a banana in your face is ridiculous.
Your Pilates instructor doesn’t feed you spinach instead of having you work your core during the 30-minute session, does she?
Are you picking up what I’m putting down?
It takes very specific work to develop a strong trunk that is well developed that will give you abs at 40 and beyond.
Now, before you get all bent out of shape and comment how Abs are made in the kitchen, I want you to think critically about that statement.
When we talk about the construction of the trunk and developing all of the skeletal muscle that comprises the trunk, there is no argument in the world that supports the kitchen as the place to develop muscle (with a caveat, of course, more on that in a second).
The role of the kitchen, as it pertains to the process of “getting abs”, is the place where you make the decisions that will ultimately determine if the abs you have properly developed are revealed or displayed. Or whether or not you will develop that lean sexy midsection.
Now, to allay the concerns of the newly certified trainers (We called these FNGs in the army) who have gobbled up the latest social media post on how to get abs in the kitchen… The ONLY connection directly related to building abs and nutrition is the choices you make.
Your nutrition must create the environment and support the development of skeletal muscle and fat loss. We could deep dive into the hormonal responses initiated by food choices that support muscle development and fat loss however you would almost certainly fall asleep.
The point is the food you eat supports the efforts you have made ie. the muscle stimulus you have created in the gym to cause the adaptation… which in this case is the development of your trunk musculature.
So how do you get Abs At 40 and Beyond
Second, people continue to be trained incorrectly.
Many people get confused when I say trunk as opposed to Abs. Most people think of abs solely as the “six-pack” muscles, or rectus abdominis muscles in the front of your body.
The truth is abs are developed in a 360° pattern. Top through bottom and front through the back.
Have you been doing countless sit-ups, crunches, and side bends hoping to flatten your stomach, but you haven’t noticed a bit of difference whatsoever?
Maybe you’ve even resorted to gadgetry from those “As Seen on TV” ab ads you saw on late-night infomercials, just to see if anything would make a difference.
If you have a gadget hidden in the closet or under your bed, please don’t feel ashamed… I’ve made this mistake myself. Because when I turned 40, getting abs was a very personal and quiet goal I had set for myself, and quite honestly I fell for some of the gimmicks.
My goal to get abs at 40 all started because of an off-handed comment my friend’s sister made one afternoon during my annual birthday bash at the lake.
It was pushing 38° Celcius or 100° Fahrenheit. We were all sitting on the dock. And the party? Well, it was a blinder, to be honest. After all, I was turning 40 and we hosted probably 60 people for a pig roast.
“Todd you’re looking great for 40 but you could stand to lose a bit of the gut fat and tighten it up a little…”
BOOM… someone had the jam to out me and confirm what I already knew. I had let myself go. I guess it took a few glasses of sangria for her to have the liquid courage to give me the straight goods.
The truth is, I struggled for years before I finally figured out the secret about getting lean, defined abs. Quite honestly, there were serious feelings of frustration and doubt. I actually mistakenly believed I wasn’t able to get abs.
I believed that getting lean and having abs was only for the young or a pro who worked out every day. (I sure wish someone had let me in the info I’m about to share with you before I wasted so much time and effort on useless information and doing “ab-targeted” exercises.) Sometimes you have to experience things for yourself to drive the point home in a meaningful way.
Here’s the thing about ab exercises that’s so misleading: When you do ab-targeted exercises like sit-ups, your muscles get sore, which makes you feel like you’re doing everything right to get a strong lean midsection.
There you are, crunch crunch crunching away thinking it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be looking beach ready with your rock-solid six-pack.
Yet here’s what happens. You do your routine like it is your new religion and weeks later your belly looks just as round and inflated or as squishy as when you started
It’s ok… the majority of people are STILL in the dark. Despite this poor information you can still get abs.
If you are like me, there is nothing you hate more than wasting time All that time and pain for nothing!
Here’s the TRUTH…
Most people think that abs are made to rotate, extend, and flex your trunk. but in reality, it’s the complete opposite.
The role of your abdominal muscles is to prevent your mid-section from crunching, twisting, and bending.
Yep… you heard it right, your abs or more accurately, the muscles in your trunk, are a stabilizing force designed to resist movement in order to protect your spine.
So even though your repetitious side twists, Russian twists or crunches make you “feel the burn”, you’re actually putting unnecessary pressure on the discs in your back, causing much more harm than good.
These isolated ab exercises can cause lower back injuries, like the infamous L5 S1 instability. This is because you are forcing your spine to flex too much, and they do very little to actually strengthen your abs!! Especially when trying to get abs at 40 and beyond and your spine health is already a problem.
The bottom line: Old school methods of Ab-targeted exercises will NOT burn off belly flab OR strengthen your abs in the way you need if you want to flatten your midsection or get a ripped set of abs. Instead, they will make your back weaker, hypermobile and more prone to injuries.
So then what is the secret to ripped abs? Well, you might be happy to learn it’s not secret at all and It’s a lot easier than you might think, once you know what (and what not) to do.
Here are my top three simple, insanely effective strategies (#3 is controversial). If you actually take my advice, I think you’ll be flat-out amazed at how quickly your belly fat will seem to melt away, finally building and revealing those washboard abs and lean midsection.
Alright, let’s get after it…
#1 – For Abs At 40 – Train Your Trunk
I’m no stranger to a flak jacket or what is called Heavy Body Armour. In fact, I’ve relied on it throughout my career to protect my life. Yet having your own “bulletproof” wrapping around your core is almost as important. In fact…
The first requirement for a core that functions at 100% is the ability to create the supportive “stiffness” of the muscles in all 3 Abdominal Fields of Action. This creates a virtual body armor around your midsection. And it provides the foundation for the rest of your core development. Unfortunately…
9 out of 10 civilian men and women have completely lost the ability to create the appropriate abdominal stiffness.
So I created a simple progression of exercises that quickly accelerate your mastery of this Abdominal Armoring™ technique. A new and unique way of using very specific “holds”, fixed-angle contraction and asset stacking that that activates your entire core at once.
#2 – If you want Abs At 40 – Avoid Cardio
Listen, before you freak out at me in the comments section, hear me out! I do long-ish, boring cardio sessions… BUT I have abs.
When I did long sessions when I didn’t have abs, I couldn’t seem to burn the fat in my mid-section.
Long and slow cardio like jogging or biking will burn calories. And technically that means it will burn some fat. However, It has also been shown to reduce the “good” hormones that will burn your fat away quickly.
A different type of “cardio” — often called Interval Training — is actually even BETTER at burning fat AND it has been shown to promote increased levels of your fat burning hormones such growth hormone…
Which means you’ll be able to burn fat faster WHILE you develop a lean midsection. So you finally uncover your six pack abs and flatten that belly…
Now there are a lot of ways to do Interval Training. Here’s a simple one that works wonders…
Pick any exercise that allows you to go hard enough to reach what you feel is 90% of your Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE). In other words, if you went 10% more you’d be at your absolute limit…
Set yourself a timer and do that for 30 seconds. Then perform a very mild activity like walking for 30 seconds. Repeat that cycle 3-4 times if you’re just starting out or up to 8 times if you’re already in good shape.
Now once you develop your abs and it means the world for you to put in a 10 k run then by all means, go ahead BUT NOT BEFORE YOU DO!
#3 – To Get Abs At 40 STOP DIETING!
Look: I’m not saying you can eat whatever you want and still have a six-pack. However…
Strict dieting is going to do you more harm than good.
Drastic calorie cutting and severely limiting your carbs or your dietary fats will immediately have a negative impact on your hormones. It doesn’t matter whether you choose HIgh FAT Low Carb or Low FAT High Carb, you must feed your system with enough nutrients to do the things you are asking your body to do.
You need to eat the right amount to fuel the production of the key hormones that are going to drive your fat loss and your muscle gain.
Going keto? Fine, stay within your 80/20/5 ratios with enough nutrients to sustain and develop lean muscle.
High Carb Low Fat? Fine, nutrient timing is the #1 reason people never seem to develop a lean midsection when eating this way. Make sure you are eating your nutrients at the right time.
The system I created is being used by over 23 thousand men and women to quickly build a strong, lean and muscular core. I have to be honest though…
It’s not a walk in the park. Nothing worthwhile ever is.
