As a dad of 2 kids 3 and under with my wife and I planning on growing our family further, I think it’s important for every dad to experience the feeling you get from having six pack abs.

There’s a major difference between being lean when you have no kids and being lean when you have kids.

It’s not about showing off or quite literally flexing…

It’s about the few things I’m about to talk about right here, right now:

Getting Abs Is A Major Confidence Booster

Even if you’re not at the beach showing off your hard work, being able to sit down at your desk comfortably at any angle is a great feeling.

Interestingly enough, you’ll tend to stand taller, smile more, and have a stronger presence simply because you know you’ve been able to take control of your diet to the point where you’re lean.

Done right, you’ll even develop this outward energy people pick up on which can lead to a few things:

• Your wife just might be more interested in you physically
• People at work will respond more positively
• Your family will start picking up on your new diet and exercise habits (lead by example)
• Your sleep quality can possibly improve
• You might even notice people asking you about your fitness routine

The effect you get from this will be even stronger if you’ve never been lean before.

This isn’t financial advice and there’s no scientific study backing this either, but I’ve made the most money when I’m leaner too.

It might sound crazy, but you’ll only know what I mean once you’ve done it.

How Do You Actually Get Abs?

It’s 2025 and I’d hope we all know you don’t get abs by doing 100 crunches a day, but in case you didn’t…

You don’t get abs by doing 100 crunches a day.

Yes, it’s a good idea to still train your abs once or twice per week, but the biggest key is getting lean through controlling your diet.

The best way I’ve found to do this is through calorie tracking in a free app like MyFitnessPal, which I’ve been using since 2012.

All you do is set up your profile, enter your stats, and set your goal to lose 1 pound per week.

That doesn’t sound like much, but I promise you it adds up quite a bit over time and is a lot easier to mentally manage than trying to lose 1.5 to 2 pounds per week.

Since I don’t know your current stats, I don’t know how long it’ll take you to get abs, but a pretty solid rule of thumb is getting down to a 21 or 22 BMI in combination with a consistent workout routine focused on getting stronger in the 6-12 rep range.

As for the workout routine?

Push, Pull, Legs and Upper Lower workout splits are the way to go, and I’d suggest training abs for a 2-3 sets at the end of your leg days or lower body days.

Read Also: My Low Effort Fitness Plan For The Rest Of 2025

Are You Willing To Take The Challenge?

There is a bit of a learning curve if you’ve never done this before, but once you get in a bit of a groove, it only takes 10 minutes a day of tracking your diet and 30 minutes per gym session to make this happen.

I’ve been able to do this while working 12 hour shifts with very little sleep due to 2 fairly recent newborn stages and helping our 3 year old feel comfortable sleeping on her own.

Even if you feel like you have no free time, it’s still very possible.

The question is…

Are you willing to make it happen?

Let me know if you have questions or need help getting started.

Talk soon,
-Gabe

There was a point in my life back in 2012-2017 where fitness was my life.

I worked at a gym.

I worked out at that same gym.

I trained people at that gym.

I created fitness content.

I sold custom programs and coaching online.

I had no other responsibilities living at home with no car since I lived so close.

And so I would be in that gym 6-7 days per week and hitting the weights at least 4 of them.

Combined with eating a ton of food, I got myself up to a solid 200lbs while retaining the faintest hint of abs which was pretty cool.

It made sense though, because that’s pretty much all I did.

Hyper Speed Fast Forward To Today…

In 2019, I met my wife, moved out of my home state, had kids, moved to the midwest, and now here we are in 2025.

From 2019 to today, my priorities have definitely shifted towards family and finding my career (more on that another time), but fitness is still a consistent part of my life.

Admittedly, I don’t track my calories as rigidly as I used to.

But I also have zero issues with weight management having followed my own fitness system for coming up on 13 years now.

Here’s My Updated ‘Low-Effort’ Fitness Plan

All I’m going to do are 3 simple things:

1. Eat around 2,400 calories, at least 120g protein, at least 40g fat, and whatever remaining calories are carbs
2. Lift weights 3 times per week
3. Walk an average of 5,000 steps per day

I was shooting for 2,100 calories per day to get a fair bit leaner for summer, but I realized it’s not a good time for that right now.

The reason will remain undisclosed for the time being…

As for lifting, I’ve historically trained 3 days per week for years because I don’t recover super well from workouts and the new job has been more demanding than previous jobs.

I am getting stronger bit by bit despite my lower energy lately, so that’s good at least.

Here’s the actual workout routine:

Monday: Upper Body A
Bench Press — 2 sets of 3–8 reps
Barbell Rows — 2 sets of 6–12 reps
Dumbbell Curls — 2 sets of 8–12 reps
Skullcrushers — 2 sets of 8–12 reps
Lateral Raises — 2 sets of 8–12 reps

Wednesday: Lower Body
Squats — 2 sets of 3–8 reps
Deadlifts — 1 set of 3–5 reps
Dumbbell Curls — 2 sets of 8–12 reps
Skullcrushers — 2 sets of 8–12 reps
Lateral Raises — 2 sets of 8–12 reps

Friday: Upper Body B
Barbell Shoulder Press — 2 sets of 3–8 reps
Bodyweight Pull-ups x 2 sets of 6–12 reps
Dumbbell Curls — 2 sets of 8–12 reps
Skullcrushers — 2 sets of 8–12 reps
Lateral Raises — 2 sets of 8–12 reps

Finally, the steps are just a minimum baseline, although I do have to… step it up (ha, get it?) because my 2025 average so far is 4,768 per day.

Fortunately the new job has me on my feet for at least 6 hours per day, so that should be no problem at all.

And that’s really it.

What’s Your Fitness Plan?

Mine is relatively simple, and of course there are more fine details like what I typically eat, the exact weights I use and all that…

But those are always subject to change.

What won’t change is the fundamental principles I follow of calorie control and progressive overload which have worked regardless of what diet or program I follow.

That said, what is your plan?

Let me know.

Talk soon,
-Gabe