Does anyone know what percentage of men have ‘six-pack’ abs or better?

[Anonymous]

We hear a lot of stats about weight, but not many about shape.

I’d be especially interested to know what percentage of men have ‘six-pack’ abs or better. A stat for the USA or any other Western country would be interesting, thanks.

Updates

+1 y

I saw a stat a while back that said that 15% of Americans have gym membership. That said, apparently, more than half of those with gym membership don't use it: link


One guy claims he saw a stat that said only 2% of men have six-packs: link Considering the gym stats, I think that sounds realistic.


Any actual stats on six-packs would be interesting, though, if you have them.

[kheserthorpe]

2% of the total population or 2% of 18-24 year olds? Of the general pop, I doubt its that high.

While American leads the world in obesity, I suspect it has a higher then average '6-pack' rate. Average, fit people do not have a 6-pack. America leads the world in people who are striving for the 'perfect' body, which may be related to the other 90% giving up.

[kheserthorpe]

I don't think a lot of studies track 'have a 6 pack' which is somewhat ambiguous within a range that more people are likely in then actually have a clear one.

Your best bet would be to take a guess based on body fat% distributions. I dug for 2-3 minutes and could't find a clear one, but the data is out there. A blog post I hit posted this graph link based on 'studies' that weren't quoted. If would suggest 2% is high.

[Sleeper07]

America doesn't lead the world in obesity. Nauru is.

[sean1234]

Hmm, I would say a lot of guys do that work out. The thing is, like other guys, I can't see mine that well because of my higher body fat percentage, but we do have them. How do you compare a skinny guy that has no body fat, but a small 6-pack to someone like me that works out, but has fat that covers up my bigger muscles. I'm no Arnold S., but still.

[Prettygurl12]

No idea. Most of the guys I'm around are the 18-24 year old range and most of the guys in that range that I associate with are my boyfriend and his friends and they're competitive swimmers so they all have 6-8 pack abs.

But of the general population? I'd doubt very many do.

[jswag]

Good question, lol. I actually couldn't find that stat listed anywhere. I'm sure the percentage is fairly low considering getting a six pack is not as easy as doing a couple of sit ups. Obese America will certainly lower that % too, just my guess.

[Asker]

Well, I do know that the rate of gym membership is 15%. So it's probably much lower than that.

[Anonymous]

All you can do is go to a public beach and do a survey. There's no statistics on this.

[kheserthorpe]

Topless people at a beach are not an unbiased sample.