So, no doubt by now you’ve heard about the “V-taper”. The biological status symbol that gives you an above average physique.
And maybe you’re a beginner to the gym and are overwhelmed by the sheer mass of information out there and don’t know where to start.
Or maybe you’ve been lifting for a while now, but are disappointed with most modern ab routines as they tend to make your abs look WIDER, which destroys your V-taper, but aren’t sure what to do.
Either way, in this article we’re going to break down exactly HOW to get a shredded V-taper midsection, the exercises to do them, bonus tips, as well as before and after photos for proof.
With that said, let’s get into it.
Why Train For A V-Taper?
Now, if you’re new to the gym, you might be wondering why you should train for a V-taper in the first place.
The short answer is that it will make your physique extremely pleasing to the eye.
Think about it, why is it that all Greek statues are lean, with wide shoulders and a narrow waist?
It’s because even the artists who made them way back in the 1500’s or so, knew the ideal male body and its proportions.
Studies have even proven that women are attracted to men who have V-shaped bodies as it signifies health and power.
Not only will taking the time to get ripped naturally help your looks, but also your health, mind, and feelings of confidence.
These things are only partially determined by your genetics and with targeted efforts you too can drastically increase your attractiveness, and feel confident in yourself during the process.
Here’s the 3 things that you need in order to get that V-tapered midsection:
- The Right Goals
- The Right Workout
- The Right Diet/Recovery Plan
If any of these 3 are missing, your results will be less than ideal.
If you incorporate all of these, you can realistically begin to see results in as little as a week or two.
The Right Goals
“The right goals? What do they have to do with getting a v-taper?” some of you may wonder.
The truth is, if you do not know exactly what it is that you want, and how you’re going to get it, then chances of you achieving your goals are slim.
Many people will walk into the gym and think that by doing some planks and a few crunches, within a few months they’ll look like Brad Pitt from Fight Club.
Many people are wrong, however.
Hell, I’ve seen websites out there that claim that if you do a couple of pilates a day, that you can get the abs of Zac Efron in Baywatch.
Needless to say, this is false and if you want optimal results, then you’ll need a clear cut goal and a plan to get abs fast.
The truth is, there are some key things we need to keep in mind when getting a shredded V-taper:
- Getting lean enough to SEE the V-taper
- Widening the upper obliques
- Narrowing down the waist as much as possible
- Doing everything we can to create that “arrow” look
Luckily, you have this article that’s going to show you how to do all of these.
These are ultimately what you should keep in mind when you train your abs.
Always have a WHY when you train, and your workouts will become that much more effective.
The Right Workout
And now we’ve made it to the fun part.
Presented below is a great beginner-intermediate ab routine designed to develop your v-taper as FAST AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.
So here’s the routine, we’ll talk about WHY this works afterwards:
- Russian Twists (3×20 | 10 each side)
- Oblique Crunches (3×20)
- Decline Sit Ups (3×15)
- Side Planks (2 sets of 1 min each side)
- Hanging Leg Raises OR Hanging Windshield Wipers (Advanced) (3×10-15)
Now why does this work? Well, let’s take a look…
The Russian twists (especially when paired with added weight) will LIGHT UP your upper obliques.
This exercise is what will give you those “gills” on the side of your abs, and by making your upper torso wider, it makes your waist look more narrow in comparison.
With the oblique crunches it’s pretty much the same thing.
Decline sit-ups are great for hammering your abs and will really make them POP.
Side planks work your transverse abdominis, which is like a natural corset for your body.
So when you train this muscle, not only will it help your obliques look more shredded, but it will also bring the obliques closer to your spine, making your waist look more narrow and tapered.
Next, we have hanging leg raises.
These will target your lower abs and will help you to develop that adonis belt, which is that line that looks like an arrow pointing downwards.
And finally, we have the hanging windshield wipers.
This move is a little bit more advanced, but it’s one of the best moves out there for developing your adonis belt.
It does this by developing your lower obliques in a way that makes them look like an arrow pointed downwards.
Ultimately, there are TONS more exercises you could do for your abs, but I’d recommend you give this routine a shot for 30 days and witness the transformation yourself.
The Right Diet
Lastly, we have your diet.
This was put last for a reason, as diet is the most important factor in developing your V-taper.
Why is it the most important?
It’s because if you have a layer of fat covering up your abs due to a bad diet, then it doesn’t even MATTER if you had the best ab routine in the universe given by Arnold Schwarzenneger himself.
Even if you already have abs, and just want to get leaner to the point where you start getting those amazing lower ab veins, then you’ll benefit from improving your diet too.
When it comes to diet, there’s three paths to go down:
- Path A (For people who have a layer of fat covering their abs)
- Path B (For people who want to get even leaner, like a Greek God)
- Path C (For really skinny people who want to build the abdominal muscles)
Take a look at the 3 paths, determine which one is best for you, and then take action.
Path A
For people who have a layer of fat and want to get rid of it as soon as possible, you need to start doing a little bit of math.
You need to start eating in a caloric deficit as it is the one CONSISTENTLY proven way to burn fat. (source)
Go online and look up a BMR calculator and put in the info. This will give you the number of calories needed to stay at the same weight each day.
Since you’re trying to lose fat, aim to eat 500 calories less than that number.
(No less, as this would just cause metabolic damage, making it harder to lose fat in the long run)
Start eating with this number in mind, follow a good workout routine, drink tons of water (ideally a gallon a day) and most importantly, stay consistent.
Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint.
Path B
For the guys looking to get leaner, maybe with the hopes of getting their abdominal veins to pop, you’re gonna wanna apply the following tips.
First, drink a ton of water, like a gallon a day.
The reason why is that if you don’t get enough water, your body starts to freak out like “Oh god, Timmy, hasn’t been drinking a lot of water recently, we better start storing it just in case we start dying of thirst.”
Your body will store water like FAT, and is called “water weight”.
Studies have shown that to get rid of this oddly enough is to drink more water, so that your body can relax and flushes out the excess water.
Doing this you’ll begin to see veins in no time.
Another thing you can do is to eat hormone-boosting foods, as your hormones are a key part in determining how much muscle you build, how lean you can get, your confidence, etc.
A good place to start would be to get healthy fats, from nuts, avocados, coconut, etc.
Numerous studies have proven that these healthy fats will help you to boost your testosterone, making it WAY easier to put on muscle and lose fat at the same time.
Path C
Finally, we have my fellow hardgainers out there.
These are the people who are super skinny and are wanting to bulk up quickly.
For hardgainers out there, there’s good news and bad news.
The good news is, you’re already lean and can see your abs, so any muscle you build will be visible immediately.
The bad news is, if you want to put on a lot of muscle, you’re going to have to eat… a lot.
This is an important point, as many hardgainers think they eat a lot already.
At that point the only advice I can give is to eat MORE.
Eat until you literally feel like you have to throw up.
If you want a good number to shoot for, download some sort of meal tracker app, and start measuring how much protein you get per day.
A good number to follow would be, 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. So if you weigh 110 pounds, then get a minimum of 110 grams of protein.
Protein is important in that it’s literally how you build muscle.
Your body NEEDS protein in order to build your 6 pack.
Protein has been scientifically proven to be the most important nutrient for getting huge.
It won’t be easy, eating all of that food. Trust me, I’ve been there before.
But you just gotta push through it, remember your goals because it’s most definitely worth it.
*Note: Make sure that no matter which path you follow, that you are also getting adequate sleep and recovery time.*
What Can You Expect?
So what exactly can you expect from following this routine and diet. Take a look at the two pictures above.
Although the whole transformation took about 3 months as a natural hardgainer, the ab transformation only took about a month.
Keep in mind, I was able to get those results quickly mainly due to muscle memory.
(The scientific idea that you can put on muscle and strength faster the second time around after having built it up before.)
In the picture on the left I had already been working out for 3 years, but I had just gotten out of a 4 month fitness slump where I barely worked out.
The picture on the right was after following a consistent plan of effective action, using many of the tips presented in this article.
The Bottom Line
At this point you guys have the necessary routine, diet, and mindset, necessary to get a V-taper.
However, nobody can make you do the work. That is still on you.
Stay consistent, work hard, maybe go grocery shopping, check out an online BMR calculator, or even go hit the gym.
Whatever you do, it’s important to take action towards your goals.
I hope that this helps, and feel free to check out the rest of strongerrr.com for even more great articles on fitness, bodybuilding, and more!
References
- Fan, J, et al. “Visual Perception of Male Body Attractiveness.” Proceedings. Biological Sciences, The Royal Society, 7 Feb. 2005, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1634963/.
- Howell, Scott, and Richard Kones. “‘Calories in, Calories out’ and Macronutrient Intake: the Hope, Hype, and Science of Calories.” Tudor Bompa Institute, 26 July 2017.
- Madjd, Ameneh, et al. “Effects on Weight Loss in Adults of REPLACING Diet Beverages with Water during a Hypoenergetic Diet: A Randomized, 24-Wk Clinical Trial.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 4 Nov. 2015, academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/102/6/1305/4555169.
- P;, Hämäläinen E;Adlercreutz H;Puska P;Pietinen. “Diet and Serum Sex Hormones in Healthy Men.” Journal of Steroid Biochemistry, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6538617/.
- Stokes, Tanner, et al. “Recent Perspectives Regarding the Role of Dietary Protein for the Promotion of Muscle Hypertrophy with Resistance Exercise Training.” Nutrients, MDPI, 7 Feb. 2018, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5852756/.
- Schwartz, Lawrence M. “Skeletal Muscles Do Not Undergo Apoptosis during Either Atrophy or Programmed Cell Death-Revisiting the Myonuclear Domain Hypothesis.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 1 Jan. 1AD, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2018.01887/full.
