No, six pack abs do not push fat out. Let me explain.
Your abdomen consists of muscles, with the most superficial one being the rectus abdominis, which is the muscle responsible for the appearance of “six pack abs”. Beneath your skin and above these muscles is a layer of subcutaneous fat. How thick or thin this layer of fat is determines how visible your abdominal muscles are.
When you work on strengthening your abdominal muscles through exercises, they can become more defined and larger in size. However, they don’t push the fat out. Instead, if you have a significant amount of fat covering the muscles, it will continue to hide them regardless of how strong or large they become.
Achieving visible six pack abs requires a two-pronged approach: 1) Reducing the layer of subcutaneous fat through a caloric deficit, which means you consume fewer calories than you burn. This can be achieved through a combination of diet and cardiovascular exercise. 2) Strengthening and building the abdominal muscles through targeted exercises such as crunches, leg raises, and planks.
So, while strengthening your abs can make them more pronounced, it doesn’t push out or reduce the overlying fat. It’s the reduction of fat through diet and exercise that makes them visible. It’s essential to understand this distinction because many people mistakenly believe that just by doing endless abdominal exercises, they can achieve visible abs. While this will indeed make the muscles stronger, it won’t necessarily reduce the fat layer that’s obscuring them.
Six pack abs don’t push fat out. Visibility of these muscles is achieved by both strengthening the abs and reducing the fat layer that covers them.