If you had to ask teenagers and kids about the one thing that they’d want the most, they’ll probably say big and shredded abs, I mean really, who doesn’t want them? It makes you look a lot stronger and more fit, and grabs the attention of everyone around you, especially girls. Taking off your shirt and seeing all eyes drawn towards your abdomen section is a dream that all of us wish to happen, At least that was the case for me back when I was 12 years old. With that being said, is it possible for a 12-year-old to get abs? How much time will it take? And what are the exercises that can make it happen?
Unless you’re under 10, anyone can get abs to a degree which means that even 12-year-olds can have them as long as they follow a regular training routine, have a body fat percentage that’s low enough to make them appear, and eat the right food.
In this article, we’ll talk about if a 12-year-old can get abs, how much time will it take, and the exercises that can make it happen.
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Can a 12-Year-Old Get Abs?
In order to answer this question, let me first talk about my own experience with how my abs developed throughout my teenage years.
Back when I was still a 12-year-old, I remember seeing TV commercials and fitness magazines that showed guys with really impressive abs and how girls would be super attracted to them which is what made me decide to have a goal of getting a six-pack of my own in order to see what it felt like.
In my school days, guys that had a six-pack were treated like greek gods and I wanted a piece of the pie as well so getting abs was my top priority back then.
I did a lot of research on the best ways for a kid of my age to get abs and found out that in order to achieve this goal (which was possible even for a 12-year-old), I need to reach a certain level of body fat percentage that’s low enough to make my abs visible and would need to train them on a regular basis so they can stand out and pop more.
This level of body fat percentage can only be achieved, not particularly by following a strict diet, but rather by eating the right food and with a moderate amount. I knew that as a 12-year-old, dieting was a bad idea at such a young age since my body needs all kinds of nutrients, and depriving it of them would only cause harm when I get older so I just had to eat enough of certain foods that would allow my body fat percentage to get lower.
After months of hard work, I managed to finally achieve my goal and develop a decent six-pack which means that getting abs is possible even for a 12-year-old.
Let’s break down the two most important factors to getting abs as a 12-year-old:
Having a Low Body Fat Percentage
If you really think about it for a second, unless you’re under 10 when muscles haven’t been yet developed, everyone has abs. If you can’t see them, it could mean two things, either you have a layer of fat that’s covering them, or they need to be trained in order to pop out more. But most times, it’s because of the first case.
This means that you need to lower your body fat percentage to a certain point that will allow your abs to show and this is easier said than done.
If you’re not sure how to do that, just follow the same methods that I used. First of all, start eating healthy and by that, I mean eating food that is high in protein and low in sugar and calories but most importantly, don’t overdo it! As a 12-year-old, you need all the essential nutrients to grow.
In addition to that, learn to be more active during your day. Walk every day to school just like I used to do, especially if it’s not that far away, practice a sport that requires a lot of physical activity like basketball or football, do cardio sessions once or twice per week, make use of your fast metabolism that comes for free with being a teenager, get more sleep, and drink a lot of water.
Eventually, you’ll be able to get rid of that annoying layer of fat that’s covering your abs and reach your goal.
Training Abs Regularly
Another important factor is regular training of your abs. It’s true that having a low body fat percentage is enough to make your abs visible, but if they’re not well developed and trained, they’re not gonna look that impressive.
We’ll go over some of the best exercises that you can do in order to get big shredded abs in the next section, but just remember that training your abs should be your second priority after that low body fat percentage goal.
How Much Time Will It Take?
If we’re talking based on my own experience, it took me almost 2 months to start seeing decent progress in terms of my abs. If the lighting was good, I was able to distinguish between them which was more than enough for me and it motivated me to keep going.
However, that’s considered quicker than average since I was blessed genetically with a fast metabolism that allowed me to naturally have a low body fat percentage (but my active lifestyle also helped).
This means that I didn’t have to worry about my body fat percentage and just had to focus all my time on training my abs and making them look big so they can pop more.
Generally speaking, it will take about 12 to 16 weeks on average to get abs, but that could vary according to many factors like body fat percentage, genetics, weight, and rate of training.
Best Exercises to Get Abs For a 12-Year-Old
As I mentioned before, training your abs shouldn’t be as important as aiming for that low body fat percentage, but nonetheless, it should also be on your priority list.
In order to train abs, you need to focus on exercises that stimulate your core (a combination of muscle groups located in your abdomen area).
Here are the main exercises that worked for me and that you should do if you want to abs to pop more, do each of these for 4 sets until failure with a 30-second break between each set and a 1-minute break between each exercise:
- Sit-ups
- Plank
- Push-ups
- Russian twist
- Hanging knee raise
Here is a visual representation of the workout to make things more clear for you:
Conclusion:
Having a goal of getting abs at such a young age is one of the most important stepping stones to reaching a fit and healthy body later down the line. If you manage to pull this off now when you’re 12 years old, then what’s stopping you from going even beyond when you get older?
