I started this blog as a record of how I achieved my six pack abs at the age of 54. I also want to look at why people do what they do and show you some really interesting and yet predictable things about people.
Browsing this blog.
I’ve organised everything in categories in the right panel so you can follow things like six pack pics, food program (diet that is), training, challenges, bad days etc. It makes it easy for people new to blogs (like me:).
The ‘progress’ section in the column on the right >>>>>>>
is the one to watch for updates. And the photo’s of course so you can see my six pack develope (or not).
First things first, Have you ever wondered why you don’t have the six pack you have always longed for. Well it’s simple really. You’re not prepared to “do what it takes to have what you want”.
I always say to my kids, (7 kids that is).
“Anything you want in life you can have, But you have to really want it. The proof that you really want it is that your doing something RIGHT NOW to get it”.
Want a six pack? Get down and give me 20 crunches (kind of a sit up) right now! No I mean it right now. Tell you what give me 10.
See there in lye’s the problem. People are all talk. “I want this, I want that”. With no real motivation or plan to get it.
Now you’re probably thinking “well it’s ok for this guy to talk he has a six pack and it’s easy for him to say”. Well here’s the kicker. I don’t have a six pack. Not even close. In fact when I tell people I’m getting a six pack by the time I’m 54 they laugh. Some laugh really loud. But you see I have these kids who love me and believe in me so by 2010 I will have a six pack. I will also turn 54 in 2010.
But there’s more.
2010 dads calender
Yes you heard me! I’m having this calender made for 2010 to celebrate my 54th birthday that I’ll be selling for charity. Now if I don’t look good with a six pack, I’m going to look really bad. How’s that for a motivator.
I’ll share my progress and “how I did it plan”.
(AND I’ll keep my blogs brief! I promise. I’ll let the comments speak)
Over the coming months I’m going to be sharing my struggles with achieving my goal for 2010 and I’m sure a lot of you will help in keeping me motivated to get my six pack. Believe me you won’t want to see the calender of me half naked (or maybe even totally:) if you don’t.
Six pack starting point
Now you probably think I’m some kind of above average guy who won’t find it hard to get a six pack in 3 years but you would be wrong.
I’ve had 2 heart attacks. I put it down to my love of McDonald’s and junk food in general. So I won’t be able to go as hard at it as most of you.
I have a belly. That may be a problem I’ll need a lot of work on. May pick up the courage to post some pictures later. For now just trust me, it’s not pretty.
I’m 200lb. That may be an even harder obstacle to overcome. But remember, “anything you want in life you can have”.
I’m really busy and enjoy my food A LOT. Of all the problems I see this is going to be my biggest struggle. But we will see.
Ok that’s it and here goes!
Now how many times have you said this; “tomorrow is day one and I am so read”. I mean why not today? Ok I’ll do a couple of sit ups tonight and I let you know how it went tomorrow.
Six pack at almost sixty 
September 20, 2013 at 1:07 am
hello I am just about to turn 60 I have a six pack and I am very proud of it. people think I am nuts because I am all ways doing sit ups and crunches. I started when I was 57 I have never been to a gym. I just eat no shit food I eat tuna every day for lunch I do at lest 400 sit ups a day. not every second day every day I think the trick is to love what you are doing or you will get bored and just stop if I listened to my doctor and people around me I would be still sitting on the couch eating donuts . what I am trying to say if you want a six pack stop making every excuse you can think of. get up throw the donuts in the bin and just start .good luck.
September 22, 2014 at 12:17 pm
Hi Charlie,
What you opted for is absolutely possible. I am 59 and I had been doing power yoga for the past 4 months and I am quite proud to be in my shorts standing in front of the mirror. I do my work our usually in the morning for about 60 minutes. I really look forward to my yoga classes.
July 25, 2015 at 10:16 am
I’ll turn sixty next year an hope I can join yah 🙂
June 26, 2013 at 5:54 am
hey i believe u can do it because i am 14 i have a six pack almost eight and i am a girl. i know what u r thinking” she has a lot of energy and time on her hands and shes young so its easy” u would be surrprised on how wrong u r. i dont have a lot of time on my hands between school, piano,church, youth rallys, dance and many family activities. i only have a lot of energy because i am ADD [i am also OCD] but i have bad ashthma so its difficult for me to do things like other people [like running i can only do endurance and anything that uses a lot of lung strength. then agian it is easy for me because no matter how much i eat i dont gain any thing and i love eating. all i did was crunches, sit ups, russian twists, mountain climbers to achieve my abs. i hope when i am older i am as driven and determained as you r [hopfully as fit too]
May 21, 2013 at 6:26 am
I enjoy the knowledge on your website. Thanks.
January 13, 2013 at 5:43 pm
Hi ,
I have a blog that publishes inspiring stories of people who have been able to successfully develop six packs, or are trying to get a ripped body. You can see it at http://www.howtheygotsixpackabs.com.
When I read your blog, I was really impressed by your quest for fitness. Congratulations for everything you have been able to achieve!
I wanted to take this opportunity to ask you if you would be interested in an email interview of this nature – we would discuss topics like your background, how you developed six pack abs, the issues you faced, etc. Your story would be really inspiring and motivating to my readers, and therefore, I urge you to positively consider this interview request.
I would of course be happy to provide a link back to your blog or Facebook page. Please let me know if you would want to go ahead with this email interview, and I would send out the questions to you.
Thanks in advance…
Warm regards,
How They Got Six Pack Abs Team.
November 28, 2012 at 11:49 am
I believe alot of people try this very same thing and face defeat because it is simply to much for them pyshically and mentally until I read something about losing weight and martial arts.It talks about a lifestyle not a fad or diet but a lifestyle.Once you start you got to keep the pace and its not hard.I am consider obese at 6 feet and 230 lbs with a ripple or two as well but I have been working out all my life and now 50.I was told to eat a balance meal and cut sugar and carbs,exercise at least 45 minutes a day three times a week and all the rest will follow.I eat lots of protien but me I workout about an hour and I eat,eat,and eat every two hours,drink at least two gallons of water and on days with wieghts and off days martial arts or cardio.Now today Im at 212 lbs now.I believe if you eat right and exercise the carb and calorie counting will fall in place and Im not getting stressed counting calories,fats,protien ect.It is a good tool but eventually if your not where you want to be will be self defeat.The way I do it as a lifestyle not to lose weight for that wedding day or a diet but if you do it as a lifestyle you are doing it on your terms and the end result you will be healthy and lose weight,and all the muscles you want will appear before your eyes.I know mine has,good luck John.
September 9, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Well, first, I am very glad you are okay. I may not have started from the positiion that you have, but I am sure that you can do this if you really want to. What you have said, though, is key: you have to be motivated. The first thing I would ask you is how does your doctor feel about your pursuit of this goal? There’s a big difference between getting slim and throwing on abs. If it’s okay with your physician, then what I would do first is count your calories. To lose the weight fast, you need to run a deficit. You could probably go for two to three pounds a week (if you still have some fat around your middle) and be okay.
The key here is nutrition. I’m not going to call it diet. I have been swapping out breakfasts and dinners during the week for Naked Juice protein shakes. They are really good, they have 32 grams of protein, and they are made with real fruit juices, so you get a whole bunch of fruit servings with each drink. For lunches, during the week, I eat sandwiches, Silk Chocolate Milk, a single 100 calorie pack of nuts (Almonds mostly), and somewhere in there I throw in oatmeal. Occassionally, I will also snack on chicken breast. I have worked it out to where my consumption is around 1800 calories a day, which is tolerable. At night, make sure there’s no pasta, and very little carbs. That’s why I have the protein shake. Oh, and eat yogurt too.Very good at keeping your intestinal health and slimming you down.
Supplements. Two to add if you are not already taking them: Fish Oil and CLA. Even if you were not working out, you need to be taking fish oil or eating salmon at least twice a week. It’s good for your heart. Stay away from the fat loss pills, especially the ones that are thermogenic. They will mess up your blood pressure, and exacerbate your heart rhythm.
You do not have to lift heavy, and with your heart, I would stay away from that. Work out five times a week and make sure that you are doing a pushing and pulling exercise on the same day. I do pushups (I can no longer bench because I hurt my shoulder) and curls two days a week, triceps and back on two others, and very light shoulder exercises one day a week. On each of these days, I try to do at least 400 crunches: flat, inclined, leg raises, etc.
Now here’s the hard part. You should already be running somewhat of a deficit with your nutritional plan. But you have formulated that plan so you are getting enough calories from protein to maintain your lean muscle tissue, you are eating just enough carbs to help process that protein and keep you running, and you have cut out all unecessary fat. If you are eating margerine or butter, use olive oil instead. It’s good for your heart. So with this in mind, you need to get on some cardio equipment.
Start slowly. When I started all of this almost 50 days ago, I was almost 200 pounds and just a hair under six feet. But when I flexed my abs, I could still see a couple of ridges. By my standards, though, that’s fat. So I started the first week and tried to do two hours of cardio. Split it up if you need to. But each week you need to up your intensity and increase the time that you are on cardio equipment. If you are not sweating and breathing, you are not working. But make sure you ask your doctor about this too. At this point, after 50 days, I’ve worked my cardio up to five plus hours a week. Four torturous hours on the stair mill, and one break night on a recumbant bike. My calorie deficit between working out and cardio is at least 4000 per week. So, given my nutritional plan and my workouts, I am probably blowing out 6000 calories a week. This is not all fat. A very tiny bit might be muscle tissue, and some of it as well is blood and tissue bourne glycogen. If the doctor approves it, you need to aim for one hour sessions, and when you get off the equipement, you need to look like someone has thrown you into a swimming pool. Be very careful here, though. Make sure you have a heart monitor when you do any of your exercises, and ask your doctor what your tolerances probably are.
Okay, so after fifty days of this, 20 of which were doubles, I have an unflexed six pack. It is not really deep, and I am still working on that. I do have a flexed eight pack. The journey is difficult, but once you get the results, you get addicted to it, and you push on. Make sure you pay very close attention to your nutrution, or you will become overtrained. This is also bad for your heart, and it will slow your progress and wreack havoc on your immune system.
The last thing you might want to do before you push forward again is go to your doctor, and, while you are asking him for advice on tolerances with respect to your heart, get a blood panel. I did this. Then I did it again a few days ago. Cholesteral was 110. Before it was 170. Blood sugar was 77 from 84. Blood pressure fell 20 points. There are more things in life than a six pack.
Good luck to you.
September 9, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Holy moly I almost had a heart attack just reading it 🙂
But no pain no gain I guess.
I do like the end results on the blood pressure, sugar levels and Cholesterol though.
Don’t mind the cardio or the diet and I like the short drive factor. If you don’t hear from me you’ll know it was to much 🙂
Thanks again and I’ll keep you updated.
September 8, 2011 at 1:31 pm
Wonder how you are doing with this? No posts in a very long time, so I hope that you are okay. I am coming up on my 48th birthday and I have a six pack (unflexed, eight flexed). If you are not there yet, I can share some information with you that can get you there much more quickly than your timeline. It’s not impossible, I just takes a lot of work. If you do have your six, congrats!
September 9, 2011 at 4:34 am
I’m doing great and I’m still working it. I do have a few problems with motivation to tell you the truth but I still look in the mirror and know it’s looking good 😉
I have set my targets a little lower or should I say slower as I tend to worry a little about the heart since I learned Arnold has eased up due to his heart condition but I pace myself every day to keep in great shape.
I would love to hear your story and learn a little bit more about how you keep up the work and your diet program and I’ll blog it for sure.
I’d love to do a six-pack calender for my 60th for the family. I have 5 sons I would like to keep motivated and show them that life is full throttle till the end and shouldn’t stop at a certain age ;)) May be great to get a group of over 50’s in on it as it would help motivate people. Are you up for it? You have 2 years to think about it :))
Thanks for the comment.
June 6, 2010 at 1:18 am
best of luck with this. i’m sure you can do and the right motivation is there. i used to weigh 110kgs, now have a pack… of course, i’m 30 and it’s faster to get, but body is an incredible mechanism and with the right mind, the potential is almost limitless. looking forward to your updates
October 8, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Last March I weighed 245 pounds. I promised my wife I would lose 20 pounds by Memorial day. Instead, I lost 40! Diet and exercise, a lot of exercise! Since then I have lost another 15 pounds and for the first time in over thirty years, I can see my abs. My goal now is a six pack, although from what I’ve read, it is not an easy thing to accomplish especially for a 59 year old guy like me. One thing I have found is that when you’ve lost this much weight you have stretch marks. I haven’t found anything that will fix this yet, but I’m open for suggestions. I have a six month plan to attain my goal. I’ll check back with you for your progress report. Good luck and don’t ever give up!
September 10, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. 🙂 Cheers! Sandra. R.
July 14, 2008 at 8:00 am
Ok here’s the update after a long time away. I’m still over my target weight but I’ve just joined a gym as I’ve figured out that best intentions simply don’t cut it in life. My six pack is under there somewhere and I will dig it out but getting a six pack take motivation daily. And if I am to get this six pack in 2 years then I have to get serious with the training.
I’ll keep you posted. This really is a mind control game and I won’t let my chemicals get in the way.
October 23, 2007 at 10:11 pm
Well, what you think is possible!.. I think!
August 20, 2007 at 11:21 am
Thanks I’M BACK !! After yet another heart attack 🙂
December 27, 2006 at 9:57 pm
update! i’m still routing for you! i must admit i’m pretty sure i’ve put on weight over christmas.. 😦 oh well back to the old regimes eh?
November 27, 2006 at 1:39 am
How’s the six-pack coming Dad? Haven’t seen any updates!
November 22, 2006 at 10:29 pm
Just checking to see how your 6 pack is coming. If you’re serious I’ll do it with you.
Leon
November 17, 2006 at 12:46 am
I’ll have a McDonalds for you and a 6 pack (of beer)
November 12, 2006 at 8:29 pm
Good Luck Dad. I believe in you!
Your Son, Dean
October 1, 2006 at 2:31 pm
Good luck! Motivation is, most definately, the aim of the game.
Mandy
September 29, 2006 at 12:48 pm
thats a long long time frame to achieve ur target
best of luck