Honest question about ripped abs

[blood_drinker]

Im going off to brazil in 2 weeks .
Gonna kick in the north with hot mommas.

I forgot about cutting up for this event, and i did not start early enough.
I have two weeks.
I can already see my abs if i push the fat down.
If i keep up my diet (a few posts down the diet board) for 2 weeks do you think i will have abs by then?

Anyone's experience?

My abs are rock hard and very big, you can even see the midsection through the thick layer of fat.
5'4 165 lbs dont know bf%.
Thanks
blood

 

[johnny iron]

I think you can lose a little bit of fat in two weeks, but I don't think you'll get them ripped. I've never had "ripped" abs, but I have had them pretty damn lean. Lowest I've been was about 7% bf, not ripped but you can see my six pack. It helps to make sure you have a good tan if you dont' have dark skin already. Also, you might want to try some water manipulation techniques and see if that might help a little, but those are only good for a day or so.

 

[Nathan]

I agree with JohnnyIron. I could see my abs before beginning my cutting phase and I was at like 13%bf. After 4 weeks, I can see 'em better and my stoamch feels a lot tighter, but where I noticed the biggest difference was on my upper thighs, ass, and love handles. Those areas have lost the most fat by far. Bottom line, I'm still working to get my abs to really stand out like I want 'em to and I'm down to about 9% or so I think. I'm getting pissed off and anxious too, even though I've done pretty good so far. Don't know why.

 

[avenger]

I've had the same experiences.... very low bodyfat but the abs just don't get ripped...

maybe gear is needed to get that way... I'm about to give up!

 

[ccorah]

dnp is the only chance you got to be actually ripped in 14 days

 

[JB3]

I've had the same experiences. Fat is going to come off of your lower abs last! And there's nothing we can do about it. A true 6-pack only comes out if you're <8% BF, which is damn hard to obtain naturally. To be truely ripped as can be, you'll need to use gear, but that's beyond my moral highground. At least for the time being. heh.

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My $.02

[This message has been edited by JB3 (edited March 29, 2001).]

 

[Nathan]

Would you all agree that ultimately if you can naturally get below 10% bf (I'm at about 9% now), then there is a way for you to get down to 4-5%? Gear may be required I guess, but so long as it's possible, then dammit it's hope. I haven't been wasting my time yet (I've been dieting 4.5 weeks and have lost 3-4% about), but I'd really like to get bigger. I mean, I'm getting nervous that I'll get down to 6% in another 8 weeks or so (i.e. too long), but will look drastically smaller. My particular goals are to get down to about 6-7% bf then go back to bulking while keeping lean. Anyone else in the same boat? Damn psychological games. Low carb makes me feel so much smaller.

 

[Kahn]

As usual, I say drop carbs for three days and eat normal for one, then do it all over. Keep your calories where they are supposed to be. Add cardio. Two weeks is three trips through the diet cycle and you'll lose about 12-15lbs.

 

[JB3]

I like Kahn's suggestion of rotating carb/non-carb days, but 3 days w/o carbs would drop my energy level through the floor. Maybe one day no-carb, one normal; or two days no-carb, one normal. That's just me. And there's no way in hell you're going to drop 12-14 lbs of fat in two weeks. Three to four at the most; the rest is just water.

Nathan,
You can't "bulk" w/o gaining some fat. You can try and eat maintenance calories with sufficient protein and attempt to slowly gain muscle w/o fat gain, but it's not the most efficient way of doing it.
If you track your progress (calipers once every week or two) and accept SOME fat gain, you'll optimize muscle gain. For example, accepting some fat gain will probably allow you to gain 2-4x's as much muscle. Then you can simply diet for two-thre weeks and drop those couple pounds of fat.

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My $.02

 

[Nathan]

Yeah, that's what I usually do JB3. It works OK. I have no problem eating really clean so hopefully that'll help too. So you still think 500cal/day above maintenance is best? Actually, I also find that cutting carbs out completely about 3-5 hrs. before bed goes a long way to keeping fat off.