Going for the 6-pack

[Jay Johnson]

I've been starting to get some definition in the abs, so I started to really hammer
them at the gym for the last 2 ab workouts. I've taken it to new pain levels :)

I've been using the ab crunch machines and I was wondering if this is the best
exercise to bring out the 6-pack?

I suppose that I'm just lucky that my diet(or lack of a detailed diet plan) hasn't
been detrimental to the 6-pack development.

What are some good tips for bringing out the 6-pack abs?


Jay Johnson

[The Raven]

What are some good tips for bringing out the 6-pack abs?

Having abs is pretty much 99% diet, and genetics. You can never do a crunch or step foot in a gym, and have full abominal definition if your bodyfat is low enough. Conversly, you can do 1000 situps a day, and if you eat too much, you'll have a layer of fat smoothing out all of your hard work.

My routine consists of situps, crunches, and leg-lifts every other day. I personally don't bother with the weighted movements, I get enough strength training with core stabilization on heavy days.

[5111]

Just like Raven always says, Abs are made in the kitchen.

[[CS]ls1haha]

If you don't have them already, put the diet in check like these other wise guys said. I am getting them by next summer. Guaranteed and I will post pics on this bitch to show before/after.

[Fobra]

diet, sufficient cardio and weights for core stabilization. The machines are a waste of time imo. You get more out of it by using your own body weight, you just have to be creative by changing it up or you'll hit platues all the time.

[GT-40 GTS]

At 7% body fat they should already be showing very good. 6-pack abs might not be in your genetic deck of cards.

[564826]

At 7% body fat they should already be showing very good. 6-pack abs might not be in your genetic deck of cards.
:(

[poopnut2]

Abs are seriously all about diet as already mentioned. The lowest fat percentage I've ever been at was a little over 8% and that was with a good diet and a shit load of running. I lifted, too, but I also ran a mile and a half every day, no drinking or anything. The best thing is that it only too about 6 weeks of cold turkey-ing everything that I did that was unhealthy.

[Jay Johnson]

Yup, my current low BF has definitely helped. My entire waistline holds the last
significant fat and it's not very much.

Now that the waistline is timmed down, some definition is showing. Now I can
pump up the muscle for more definition.

I still have to bend just a little to bring it out.


Jay Johnson

[The Big Matt]

get you an airbrush, and shadow out the area... that's how they do it on tv and movies :)

[unkoricky]

I thought it was 9% to show abs?

I'd just do alot of cardio and eat have clean meals...

[The Raven]

get you an airbrush, and shadow out the area... that's how they do it on tv and movies :)


They very may well do that, but it's most likely because of the effects of the lighting on a given set. I promise you that anyone with a decent set of abs and sub 8% bodyfat doesn't need to flex, "bend", or airbrush to have every abdominal muscle (including the serratus) be plenty visible in real life lighting.

[The Raven]

I thought it was 9% to show abs?


It depends on your body and genetic muscularity in the abdomen. Mesomorphs with deep ab muscles don't need to be as lean as an Ectomorph with relatively small abs. My abs start coming through as high as 12%, but I'm not talking about magazine style defenition either. A perfect example is to look at off-season and competition photos of any given pro bodybuilder. There's a 30-40lb difference, comprised of watew and fat, but they still have abs showing through.

[Casper]

If you have good definition and mass in that area, you can have the fat sculpted to show it off better. Its kind of similar to lipo but more precise. And it isn't fake, it is just enhancing that area like getting a tattoo. You still have to have the underlying muscle to achieve and maintain the definition.

[ruffdaddy]

I'm floating around 8% and you wouldn't be able to tell i had abs unless i flexed. You can see my obliques and the edges of my abs, but not a true six pack. Now if I flex thats a different story. If thats your situation...do higher weights on your ab machines...that way you build larger muscles.

[unkoricky]

Im 5'11 , 169LB.. the only problem about my abs showing is the bottom part..
I still have alot of fat there, but you can see them coming in...

I've been doing alot more cardio and tryin to drop to 160LB.