How I Got Him Abs in 90 Days

For the next few months, I’m going to see if I can use the best science-backed strategies for training and dieting to help Cam ditch the dad bod and get six pack abs for the first time in his life. So, if you want to learn how to get a six pack, this video teaches you everything you need to know — from the best six pack workout to the best six pack diet.

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On Day 1, Cam started out at 160 pounds and, according to a DEXA scan, 25% body fat. But to get visible six pack abs, he’ll need to get down to at least 15% body fat. Here’s the plan: instead of relying on exercise alone to achieve 6 pack abs, our priority is dialing in his diet. The first step was getting Cam to track everything he ate using our BuiltWithScience+ app. On average, he was eating about 2,600 calories a day. To shed around 1 pound of fat per week, we needed to bring that down to about 2,100 calories. But rather than completely overhauling his diet, I wanted to focus on strategic food swaps.

While Cam aims to get a six pack, focusing on ab exercises alone won’t cut it. When you’re in a calorie deficit, your body looks for energy, and without proper training, it can burn muscle along with fat. The result? A “skinny” look instead of a lean, muscular physique. To prevent that, we’re implementing a well-structured training program that targets all his major muscle groups. By broadening his back and shoulders, we’ll create that V-taper look to complement his 6 pack abs and achieve a truly aesthetic transformation.

And as for Cam’s progress with his six pack diet … With Cam now logging every calorie he was eating on the BWS+ app, he was staying right on track to achieving his 6 pack abs with a daily target of 2100 Calories, and his weight on the scale was quickly moving in the right direction. While this is a great start, getting down to 15% body fat means Cam will need to drop all the way down to 139 pounds. What about cardio? Think of it like the cherry on top. The weight tells your body to keep your muscles, the diet does most of the hard work of losing the fat, and the cardio can just help speed up the process. And rather than forcing Cam to do grueling cardio sessions he’d never stick to long term, I wanted to find something he actually enjoyed. Basketball.

But if Cam wanted to rely on cardio alone to lose the same amount of fat he’s been losing through his diet, he’d need to play nearly an hour of basketball daily. So, when it comes to fat loss, a combination of both is key. And in Cam’s case, it was just enough to speed up his progress toward achieving 6 pack abs without affecting his strength in the gym. 

In 90 days, Cam lost 11 pounds and shaved 3 ½ centimeters off his waistline. But he’s not quite at full 6 pack abs yet. He’s sitting somewhere around 18-20% body fat. And that’s perfectly fine. Getting lean and staying lean is a marathon, not a sprint. And because we’ve been taking a sustainable approach, Cam was eager to keep pushing to see just how lean he could get. It’s time to take things up a notch with my favorite science-based six pack workout to make his abs really pop.

As Cam’s journey to achieving six pack abs continued beyond 90 days, he kept getting leaner. But this is where most people hit a wall. They drop to under 20% body fat and then progress stalls. Why? Your metabolism adapts as you lose weight. Just 10% of your body weight can cause your body to burn up to 200-400 fewer calories per day. So when Cam first started, he needed to eat around 2,100 calories daily to lose a pound of fat each week. But now, after losing 15 pounds, we’ve adjusted his target to 1,900 calories to keep the fat loss going.

However, as Cam’s weight started dropping into the 140s, he noticed some side effects. He was more tired and had to go lighter (instead of heavier) in the gym. Here’s why. As you lose fat, your body produces less leptin. In response, your body cranks up hunger signals and tries to conserve energy by decreasing your desire to move. Which can also start to affect your strength in the gym. 

The point at which this starts to happen varies for everyone. But for most men, it begins at around 15% body fat, and for women, it is around 25%. As you get leaner, these effects intensify. That’s why getting shredded is not only incredibly difficult to maintain but can also become unhealthy. So after 150 days of Cam’s fat loss journey, we decided to stop his diet. The extra push to get full 6 pack abs just wouldn’t be worth it. The result? He went from 160 pounds to 143 pounds, and from 25.2% body fat to a lean 14.6% body fat.

It took time and patience, but that’s the key to real transformation. Click below to use the same program Cam did to achieve his incredible transformation:

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