If you’re on a quest to get six pack abs and it feels like nothing you’re doing is working and moving you closer to your goal, you may strongly wonder what you’re doing wrong?

Why can’t you just see the results that you’re after?

Why is it that nothing you attempt is working out as it should?

At times, it may feel like you’re on mission impossible but the truth is, if you take some time to realize some of the reasons why it may feel like this, you can more clearly see what you need to do to get past it.

Let’s go over what you need to know.

Water Retention/Bloating

The very first hurdle you may face in you quest to get abs is water retention or bloating. This is very normal and quite natural to experience from time to time, but it can completely cover up what were your abs – or the hint of them showing through.

All it takes is one salty meal for you to be retaining water and come to see this directly influencing how lean you look.

While most other body parts aren’t impacted too much by water retention unless it is more extreme, when it comes to getting abs, water retention has a dramatic influence.

So while this isn’t actual fat gain, it can make you feel like you aren’t progressing forward.

Very Low Body Fat Levels

Next, you also need to assess your body fat levels. Realize that getting good ab muscle definition is going to take getting down to much lower body fat levels than seeing definition in any other area of the body will, therefore you have to be patient with the process.

While there are some fortunate people who can see abs at moderate body fat percentages, most men will need to get down to below ten to see abs, while women will need to be in the low to mid teens.

Muscle Size

Finally, realize that muscle size can also influence how well your abs show through also. If you aren’t ever training your abs with additional weight, chances are they aren’t all that large overall, so this will make them less noticeable also.

The larger your muscles are, the more they tend to show, which is why it is slightly easier to see muscles in other regions of the body.

So there you have some key factors coming into play as to why it can be hard to get your abs to show. Don’t feel discouraged – if you keep working at it and are patient, they will definitely come in time.