Most men trying to get a six pack make the mistake of treating it like a workout problem. They add more ab exercises, spend more time in the gym, maybe throw in some extra cardio — and six months later, wonder why nothing changed.
Natural bodybuilder and exercise scientist Jeff Nippard put out a video that reframes this completely. His 60-day plan isn’t about finding the perfect workout routine — it’s about understanding how the body actually burns fat and builds muscle. Nippard has close to 4 million YouTube subscribers and a background in applied exercise science, and it shows in how he explains things.
Step 1: Figure Out Your Body Fat Percentage
The first thing Nippard makes clear is that six pack visibility is almost entirely a body fat issue. For most men, abs begin to show somewhere around 12-15% body fat, and become sharply defined at 10% or lower.
A rough estimate: if you can pinch more than an inch of fat around your midsection, you’re above 15% body fat. Don’t get hung up on finding an exact number — just understand roughly where you’re starting from, so you can set a realistic target.
Step 2: Set Up Your Calorie Deficit
Nippard’s formula is refreshingly simple: multiply your body weight in pounds by 10-12 to get a rough daily calorie target for fat loss. If you weigh 185 lbs, aim for 1,850-2,220 calories per day.
He recommends keeping protein high — around 0.8-1g per pound of body weight — to hold onto muscle while you cut. The specific foods matter far less than hitting your calorie and protein targets consistently.
Step 3: Train Abs Like a Muscle
Most men either skip direct ab training (because “compound movements work abs”) or over-train them with daily circuit workouts. Nippard recommends a middle ground: 2-4 direct ab sessions per week, built around exercises that actually load the muscle through a full range of motion.
His two recommended movements:
- Cable crunch — anchors resistance through the top of the movement, where body-weight crunches go slack
- Hanging leg raise — targets the lower abs with a full range of spinal flexion under load
Like any muscle, abs respond to progressive overload — gradually increasing resistance or reps over time. If you’ve been doing the same 3 sets of 20 crunches for months, your abs have stopped growing.
Step 4: Add the Right Amount of Cardio
Cardio accelerates fat loss by burning additional calories, but it doesn’t need to be brutal. Nippard recommends 2-4 sessions per week of low-to-moderate intensity cardio — walking on an incline, cycling, or using an elliptical for 20-40 minutes.
High-intensity cardio isn’t necessary — and can interfere with strength training recovery. Keep it simple and sustainable.
What 60 Days Actually Looks Like
If a man at 20% body fat follows this plan consistently, he can realistically expect to drop to around 15-16% in 60 days — which typically means abs that are visible under good lighting, with more definition emerging around the obliques. Getting to razor-sharp, stage-ready abs takes longer for most men, but 60 days of consistent effort produces a real, visible change.
Watch Nippard’s video — he walks through the math on the projections and explains where most guys stall out. It’s practical in a way that most fitness content isn’t.
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