Given our ab-obsessed culture, the six-pack has reached Holy Grail status: coveted, dreamt of, longed for. Unfortunately, many people pursuing their personal quests for a six-pack don’t realize that acquiring those rippling abdominal muscles takes much more than mere crunches. The six-pack is instead the result of three fitness and dietary components coming together to form a perfect three-part harmony.

Proper Nutrition
In order to let your abdominal muscles become visible on your body, you have to trim down your waistline and reduce your body fat. Muscle exists below layers of fat, so you have to eliminate the fat in order to let those muscles peek through.

A focus on nutrition will help you blast that fat away. In the most basic sense, you need to burn more calories than you take in on any given day in order to start to lose weight. Be sure that your diet includes protein, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates, but place special focus on eating fresh. Cut out the processed foods and replace them with natural good and whole grains. By doing so, you will be fueling your body and priming it for the activity to come.

Overall Fitness
Despite what you hear on infomercials or what your best friend with the tiny waistline might tell you, you cannot spot-train your body. In order to get enviable six-pack abs, you have to work your entire body into shape – this is where general fitness will come into play.

Endeavor to fit at least 30 minutes of activity into your schedule each day. Whether you go for a run, start off your morning with laps at the pool or watch your favorite television show while working out on the elliptical machine, your entire body will have to be getting into peak shape in order for your abs to look tight and defined.

Ab Work
After you’re eating properly and getting your body toned and trim, your abs can finally start to emerge. In order to achieve six-pack status, you will need to work on specific ab-centric moves designed to work their upper abs, lower abs and obliques. Different exercises will offer different target ab groups, but the bicycle crunch is particularly effective for targeting all three muscle groups.