Tip Abs Are Built in the Gym Not the Kitchen Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip Abs Are Built in the Gym Not the Kitchen All you need to do is diet and you' ll have abs right Not really It' s a bit more nuanced than what your favorite meme says Here' s why by Christian Thibaudeau January 30, 2018June 4, 2021 Tags Abs, Tips, Training You've heard this phrase a thousand times: "Abs are made in the kitchen!" No, abs are revealed by what you're doing in the kitchen. They're made in the gym, like any other muscle group. This expression comes from two things: You can do a million reps of various ab exercises, but if you have too much fat covering them you won't see a six pack. Some people who are very lean have abdominal definition even if they don't train them (or train at all). So it's pretty easy to jump to the conclusion that the secret to having abs is getting lean, which most people believe to be solely diet thing. But That s Not Quite Right Tell me, what foods should I eat to hypertrophy my abs? Like, really heavy foods? Obviously, abs have to be trained to grow bigger, which in turn makes them more visible. Some people can even get lean and still not see their abs. And others (like me) can have a full six pack even at a higher body fat level. That's because having that six pack is dependant both on having a thinner layer of fat and having separation between the sections of the "pack." And that separation occurs when the muscle bellies of your abs are thicker than the tendinous attachments (the lines between the abs). Since the muscle bellies can get thicker if you train them, but not the attachments, training can give you that separation you need. Some people are born with more natural separation than others and might not need to directly work their abs to have a visible six-pack. And others who have thinner abdominal muscle bellies might not have that separation even when they're super lean. If you're lucky and born with good separation then you might not need to train your abs directly; all you need is to get super lean. But most people will need to work their abs to get that look. Furthermore, the direct ab work will make the abdominal bellies thicker which also means that you won't need to get as lean to have ab definition. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Tip Use GVT to Build Muscle Fast Can you really gain 10 pounds of muscle in 6 weeks with German Volume Training? Many people have. Here's how to do it. Tips, Training Charles Poliquin July 19 Training The 40 Laws of Muscle & Strength Simple, rapid-fire truths about building muscle and getting stronger. Christian Thibaudeau September 20 Training What You Can Learn From Instagram Booty Chicks Glutes are all the rage on social media. But do the exercises we see actually work, or are they just part of the spectacle? Here's a breakdown. Bodybuilding, Glutes, Training Dr John Rusin December 11 Training The Little Black Book of Training Methods A lot of you have been training for years, and as such have experimented with dozens of training methods. Most are probably long since forgotten, like the girl with the braces and padded bra that you dated once or twice back in high school. There wasn't any chemistry and you went your separate ways. Training TC Luoma December 22