For those in the Northern Hemisphere, summer is still many months away. But as the saying goes, summer bodies are built during the winter. If you’re bulking now, you should plan to get your abs popping come beach season.
Enter coach and content creator Jeff Nippard, who, on Jan. 15, 2024, published a YouTube video detailing how to “mathematically guarantee” that you lose enough body fat to reveal your abdominal muscles come summer.
The latest exercise science research and best clinical practices drive Nippard’s three-pronged approach to body fat loss. Here’s a breakdown:
[Related: What To Eat After a Workout — Finding the Right Nutrition Sources]
Editor’s Note: The content on BarBend is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. When starting a new training regimen and/or diet, it is always a good idea to consult with a trusted medical professional. We are not a medical resource. The opinions and articles on this site are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional.
Jeff Nippard: How To Get Abs By Summer
Like any personal trainer worth their salt, Nippard acknowledges that cutting weight until you can see visible abs is a multifaceted task. According to Nippard, workouts, nutritional habits, and dietary supplements of choice all play a role in the appearance of your body.
Step 1 — Training
“It’s popular these days to say that ab training is a waste of time, but I disagree,” Nippard says, citing the fact that enhancing the hypertrophy of your ab muscles will make them more visible to the naked eye regardless of how much body fat you have.
To that end, Nippard suggests simplifying your ab workouts to just two movements: the cable crunch and the hanging leg raise. His suggested ab workout routine looks something like this:
- Day 1: Cable Crunch 3 x 10-12, Hanging Leg Raise 3×10-20
- Day 2: Cable Crunch 3 x 10-12, Hanging Leg Raise 3×10-20
Nippard recommends avoiding circuit training or exclusively using bodyweight ab exercises, arguing that many of these moves involve more than just the target muscle. This idea is supported by real science — one 2009 study alleges that using stabilization-challenging tools like BOSU balls during your ab workouts won’t make them any more effective at developing your abs. (1)
Nippard also briefly touches on cardio, recommending low-intensity cardio sessions such as using the elliptical or even walking a few times a week. Some studies have shown better fat loss outcomes in participants who did both strength training and cardio. (2)
Step 2 — Nutrition
No matter how you slice it, you won’t have visible abs without dialing in your nutrition and maintaining a calorie deficit with the proper macronutrients. That said, figuring out the exact amount of calories to eat to lose weight fast isn’t always easy (the same goes for protein, carbohydrates, and fat).
Nippard recommends the following shorthand techniques for identifying the correct amount of nutrition to help bring out your abs:
- Calories: Multiply your current body weight in pounds by 10 to 20 to find your calorie deficit target.
- Protein: Multiply your target body weight by .8 to 1; that’s how many grams of protein you should eat each day.
- Fat: Eat at least 50 grams per day.
As long as you hit your protein and dietary fat targets, any “leftover” calories below your quota can go towards whatever you want.
You may want to opt for some dietary carbs, even if you’re trying to lose fat; carbohydrates power your workouts in the gym, and studies show that going low-carb isn’t necessarily more effective for losing fat than any other type of diet. (3)
Step 3 — Supplements
The third prong of Nippard’s approach to fat loss involves supplementation. Dietary supplements are meant to do just that — supplement an already-existing meal plan.
With that in mind, Nippard recommends a few key supplements that might help improve your rate of fat loss or make the experience more bearable overall:
- Whey Protein: Nippard touts whey protein supplements as a convenient, practical way to help you hit your daily protein goals. Studies also show that higher protein intakes help mitigate or prevent muscle loss during diets. (4)
- Creatine: Nippard cites creatine as a safe way of boosting in-gym performance while dieting. Creatine has been extensively studied and has been shown to aid in muscle recovery. (5)
- Caffeine: You may experience a benefit from adding caffeine in, according to Nippard. Caffeine has a small thermogenic (energy-burning) effect, which appears to be true, as one meta-analysis concluded that caffeine might “promote body fat reduction.” (6)
While Nippard didn’t recommend any other supplements, to be extra thorough, you may want to add in a couple more. First, during periods of caloric restriction, you may potentially experience some nutrient deficiencies. A good multivitamin might be a wise pickup. Further, depending on your eating behaviors, adding a fiber supplement could be helpful. Dietary fiber has been shown to help suppress hunger and control cravings. (7)
Your Takeaway
Nippard’s approach to fat loss isn’t anything groundbreaking. It’s been long understood that to shed body fat, you must move more, eat less, and recover well. That said, Nippard’s 3-part plan is concise and efficient and may help you get visible abs by summer.
References
- Willardson, J. M., Fontana, F. E., & Bressel, E. (2009). Effect of surface stability on core muscle activity for dynamic resistance exercises. International journal of sports physiology and performance, 4(1), 97–109. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.4.1.97
- Morze, J., Rücker, G., Danielewicz, A., Przybyłowicz, K., Neuenschwander, M., Schlesinger, S., & Schwingshackl, L. (2021). Impact of different training modalities on anthropometric outcomes in patients with obesity: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 22(7), e13218. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13218
- Barber TM, Hanson P, Kabisch S, Pfeiffer AFH, Weickert MO. The Low-Carbohydrate Diet: Short-Term Metabolic Efficacy Versus Longer-Term Limitations. Nutrients. 2021 Apr 3;13(4):1187. doi: 10.3390/nu13041187. PMID: 33916669; PMCID: PMC8066770.
- Areta, J. L., Burke, L. M., Camera, D. M., West, D. W., Crawshay, S., Moore, D. R., Stellingwerff, T., Phillips, S. M., Hawley, J. A., & Coffey, V. G. (2014). Reduced resting skeletal muscle protein synthesis is rescued by resistance exercise and protein ingestion following short-term energy deficit. American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism, 306(8), E989–E997. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.00590.2013
- Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, Ziegenfuss TN, Wildman R, Collins R, Candow DG, Kleiner SM, Almada AL, Lopez HL. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017 Jun 13;14:18. doi: 10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z. PMID: 28615996; PMCID: PMC5469049.
- Tabrizi, R., Saneei, P., Lankarani, K. B., Akbari, M., Kolahdooz, F., Esmaillzadeh, A., Nadi-Ravandi, S., Mazoochi, M., & Asemi, Z. (2019). The effects of caffeine intake on weight loss: a systematic review and dos-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 59(16), 2688–2696. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2018.1507996
- Borkoles E, Krastins D, van der Pols JC, Sims P, Polman R. Short-Term Effect of Additional Daily Dietary Fibre Intake on Appetite, Satiety, Gastrointestinal Comfort, Acceptability, and Feasibility. Nutrients. 2022 Oct 10;14(19):4214. doi: 10.3390/nu14194214. PMID: 36235865; PMCID: PMC9572413.
Featured Image: Jeff Nippard on YouTube
