Abs… Everyone wants them and will do anything to get them. Guess what? You already have a perfect set of abs, all you have to do is dig them out of hiding. It’s hard to do that with so many myths about your core. Let’s get down to the truth about six packs.

But no matter how many crunches you do, or how many boot camp classes you take, if you’re eating cheeseburgers and fries all day, they’ll stay hidden forever.

Myth: The more you workout your abs, the better.

Truth: Rest is incredibly important (read more) when it comes to building and toning muscle and your core is no exception. My suggestion is to treat your core like every other muscle in your body and work it at high intensity, only once a week. After an intense workout, spend the next five days focusing on your eating habits.

Myth: You can eat what you want if you work out.

Truth: No matter how many crunches you do, or how many boot camp classes you take, if you’re eating cheeseburgers and fries all day, they’ll stay hidden forever.  Diet is just as important if you want to see that infamous six pack start to peek through. You must control your insulin levels to avoid your body from storing fat. Guess where the body like to store that fat? Yes, the abdomen!

Myth: You need to do separate exercises for upper and lower abdomens.

Truth: Your abdomen is composed of many muscles such as the rectus abdominis (the main muscle), internal and external obliques and transverse abdominis, but there is no such thing as the upper and lower abs. It’s actually one muscle going down the center of the core that is composed of connective tissues giving you that coveted six pack. The reason that people see more definition in the upper part of the core is because your body stores more fat in that pesky lower portion.