Zac Perna’s Guide To Picture Perfect Abs

January 6, 2022

Checkout how Zac Perna has built incredible abs.

Zac Perna is an Australian fitness influencer, coach, and trainer born on 7 May 1995. Known for his engaging content, Perna is fast becoming one of the most popular personalities in the fitness industry.

Zac Perna first started working out at the age of 15. Growing up, he suffered from a negative body image and low self-esteem. Not long after joining a gym Zac fell head-over-heels in love with the fitness lifestyle and the positivity it breeds.

The positive influence of working out on his mental and physical well-being inspired Zac to work towards helping people achieve the same result.

“My goal is to personally change as many people’s lives for the better through an honest, genuine connection; educating in fitness and health. My vision is to become the leading fitness influencer in Australia to demonstrate the impact humility and a passion for change can have on spreading positivity and reaching your goals.” – Zac Perna on being asked about his coaching aim.

Zac Perna Stats

Name: Zac Perna

Height: 5’7″

Weight: 156 lbs

D.o.B: 7 May 1995

Zac Perna Diet

Contrary to what most people think, abs are made in the kitchen. The crunches and leg raises you do in the gym only help carve your abdomen.

If you want chiseled abs, you will need to do more than a few crunches. Everybody has abs. It is just that most of us love them so much that we keep them protected under a layer of fat – at least this is what I tell myself every time I look at my flab.

But how do you build abs in the kitchen, you ask?

Crafting Greek gods’ like abs requires you to stay away from junk food as they contain unhealthy amounts of fats, carbs, and sugar and increase your risk of weight gain.

On the other hand, ab building foods help boost metabolism, enhance fat burning, and keep you feeling full between meals.

Zac Perna Nutrition Tips For Building Abs

According to the Australian fitness star, he suffered in the initial days of his transformation because he had no clue about what to eat. To help his fans from falling into the same trap, Zac recommends:

1. Not Overcomplicate Your Diet

Zac Perna feels that most people obsess way too much about macro splits and other minute diet details. He recommends keeping it simple and focusing on eating healthy, especially if you are just getting started.

You should include a variety of fruits, vegetables, animal products in your diet and minimize processed food consumption. Cut out sugar, soft drinks, and processed food from your diet regimen and include nutrition-dense foods.

Next Read: 10 Best Food For Gaining Size and Strength

2. Educate Yourself

Even after arriving at the ‘perfect’ diet plan, you should never give up researching how to improve it. Zac advocates reading about dieting, different foods, macros, and calories, and how you can manipulate them to suit your goals.

Perna also recommends downloading a calorie tracking app and logging your everyday meals. By counting your calories, you will get a good idea of what you are eating and what you need to do to improve your physique.

3. Meal Prep

Zac Perna suggests learning how to cook delicious and healthy food. According to him, meal prep is an easy way to stay compliant and consistent.

Perna has tried all the meal prep methods and believes that cooking every three days works the best for staying consistent with your nutrition program as you do not need to freeze any meals, and the food stays fresh and delicious.

Zac Perna Diet Plan

Zac routinely switches between bulking and cutting phases. He increases his calorie intake during the off-season and cuts them back when prepping for a show.

Zac Perna Bulking Diet

While some people like to dine at McDonald’s every day during their bulking cycle, Zac prefers eating clean when trying to put on muscle mass. Here is what he eats:

Meal #1: Tuna and rice (515 calories, 28g protein, 66g carbs, 14g fat)
Meal #2: 2 pieces of fruit during his workout (400 calories, 100g carbs)
Meal #3: Rice flakes and crumpets (932 calories, 45g protein, 160g carbs, 7g fat)
Meal #4: Beef sumo and white rice (820 calories, 61g protein, 80g carbs, 29g fat)
Meal #5: Salmon and egg rice (722 calories, 40g protein, 80g carbs, 23g fat)
Meal #6: Chicken and sweet potato (500 calories, 46g protein, 70g carbs, 3g fat)
Meal #7: Protein shake (130 calories, 25g protein, 1g carbs, 1g fat)

Next Read: Different Diets You Should Try to Build Muscle and Lose Fat

Zac Perna Shredding Diet

Unlike most athletes, Zac does not eat boring while leaning down for a show. He eats ice cream every day while shredding. Yes, you read that right. Here is Perna’s shredding diet regimen:

Meal #1: Japanese style omelet (207 calories, 17g protein, 4g carb, 13g fat)
Meal #2: Post-workout protein bowl (410 calories, 32g protein, 56g carbs, 4g fat)
Meal #3: Chicken tenders and potatoes (433 calories, 48g protein, 44g carbs, 8g fat)
Meal #4: Chicken thighs and mixed vegetables (412 calories, 38g protein, 0g carbs, 28g fat)
Meal #5: Protein ice cream (31g protein, 16g carbs, 10g fat)

Zac Perna Workout Principles

Being equipped with the correct training principles from the get-go can make all the difference in your transformation. Zac’s most important training tips include:

1. Finding the Right Training Time

Zac Perna prefers training early in the morning as, this way, he can start his day with what he loves the most. On top of that, his morning workout routine powers him to get through the rest of his day.

As per Perna, waking up early every day trains your body to perform in a state with distractions and teaches your mind to suck it up and do what has to be done.

2. Finding the Right Training Program

Zac believes that many people make the mistake of imitating someone else’s training routine. He recommends trying a variety of training routines and coming up with a personalized program based on what works the best for you.

3. Focus on Your Form

Perna is a huge advocate of starting small and focusing on your form in your initial days. If you train with poor form for three years and develop bad habits, you will end up doing the same thing for another three years, but probably with twice the amount of weight, increasing your chances of injury.

On top of that, unlearning the bad habits can take a lot of time and set you back on your transformation journey by a big margin. Zac Perna recommends focusing on the eccentric and concentric parts of every lift as it can help improve your mind-muscle connection and leave you with a muscle-ripping pump.

4. The Ideal Rep Range

According to Zac Perna, if you are looking to build muscle mass, you should be performing anywhere between 8-12 reps of every exercise. If you want to build strength, do six reps or less.

On the other hand, if you want to work on your endurance, target 20-25 reps. Zac is a proponent of lifting heavy and believes in using a weight that helps him reach muscle failure between 8-12 reps.

5. Do Not Overlook the Importance of Rest

The YouTube sensation believes that the importance of rest is often overlooked, and most beginners are attracted to the ‘hardcore’ training philosophy and end up adopting the “rest when I’m dead” approach.

Remember: You break muscle when you are in the gym, and growth occurs outside when you are resting.

If you do not give your body enough time to rest and recuperate from your workouts, you will fail to improve and grow. Rest is especially important in cases of small muscle groups like abs, arms, and calves. If you train them every day, you will end up overtraining them.

Check Out: This Awesome Zac Perna Home Workout Routine is Simple Yet Effective

Zac Perna Ab Workout

Zac follows a circuit training routine for his abdomen. It helps him annihilate his abs in a short period. His ab workouts do not last more than 15-20 minutes.

The fitness athlete focuses on contracting his abs with every rep and hits them from every angle possible to ensure overall development. Perna also advocates not going too heavy while training abs or hitting them too often as, like every other muscle group, they too are a muscle, and you might end up with a bloated-looking gut.

Zac Perna Ab Training Routine

Circuit Training: 4 circuits of 4 exercises

In the circuit, you will not be taking a break between the exercises but are allowed a one-minute rest after completing one circle. You will complete four circuits in total.

Must Read: Top Signs Of Overtraining And How To Avoid It & Tackle Fatigue

1. Hanging Leg Raise: 15-20 reps

Steps:

Grab a pull-up bar with a shoulder-width overhand grip.
Your body should be in a straight line at the starting position. Keep your toes pointed throughout the exercise.
Lift your legs in front of you while keeping your upper body stable and maintaining a slight bend in your knees.
Raise your legs until your legs are slightly above parallel to the floor.
Exhale sharply at the top of the movement and contract your abs.
Slowly return to the starting position.
Repeat for recommended reps.

Make sure you are not using momentum by swinging back and forth to lift your legs.

Zac’s Tip: On the way up, lift your hips along with your legs. Limiting the movement to your legs will result in greater hip flexor recruitment.

2. Rope Crunch: 15-20 reps

Steps:

Set the pulley machine at the highest setting, add a rope attachment and position yourself beneath it, on your knees and facing the machine.
Reach up and grab the rope attachment with a neutral grip (palms facing each other).
Pull the rope down until your hands are next to your ears.
Crunch down, lowering your elbows to your knees.
Exhale and contract your abs at the bottom of the movement.
Return to the starting position with a slow and controlled movement.
Repeat for recommended reps.

Zac’s Tip: The rope crunch is one of Zac’s favorite ab exercises. He uses a moderate weight on the exercise. Using more weight than you can handle takes away the tension from your abs and puts it on your back.

3. Cable Oblique Side Crunch: 15-20 reps (each side)

Steps:

Set the pulley machine at its highest setting and add a D-handle attachment.
Position yourself beneath the D-handle, on your knees with your left side towards the pulley machine.
Reach up with your right arm and grab the handle with an overhand grip.
Place your left hand on the obliques on your right side.
While breathing out, perform a crunch on your right side and contract your obliques at the bottom of the movement.
Instead of bending to your right, perform a diagonal crunch so that your obliques get the most work.
Return to the starting position.
Repeat for recommended reps before switching sides.

Zac’s Tip: In the side crunch, your goal should be oblique annihilation. Use a lightweight and focus on following the perfect form.

4. Vacuum: 1 Minute

Steps:

Bend at your waist and support your upper body with your hands on a table or dumbbell rack around hip height.
Take in a deep breath through your nose and then blow it out through your mouth sharply until you feel there is no more air left in your lungs.
With your lungs devoid of air, pull your abdominal column in by inhaling sharply through your nose.
While performing the final step, try to touch your navel to your spine.

Note: At first, it will be hard to hold a vacuum for even 10 seconds. Practice it repeatedly throughout the day until you hit the 1-minute mark.

Zac’s Tip: Everyone focuses on ab moves that hit the visible rectus abdominis, the six-pack muscle. But they skip the transverse abdominis, or TVA, which is the deepest layer of abdominal muscles. Performing the vacuum pose trains the TVA which, in turn, helps stabilize your core.

Next Read: Pump With Perna: Massive Chest Workout With Zac Perna

Wrapping Up

Zac Perna takes a mindful approach to his training, diet, and recovery programs. His training and diet routine focuses on getting the best bang for his buck.

Building a picture-perfect midsection requires discipline, patience, and persistence. Now that you have all the tools, we look forward to seeing your transformation. God speed!

Who is your favorite fitness YouTuber? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.