Shaping your abs.... is this even possible?

[giddyup]

Umm... if it matters, I will add this..

When I first started training about 10 years ago, I was a 17 y/o "skinny/fat kid"... I did alot of situps and crunches and had fairly hard abs, but they had zero seperation or definition.. I certainly had no six-pack, but when you pushed on my stomache they were hard...

I started doing a particular ab routine and slowly but surely the seperation started to happen.. after a while I could feel the seperated six pack... I then started dieting and soon after I could see a full out six pack (or actually 8 pack)... BUT, I had lower abs that stuck out really far.. they were lower abs/hip flexers.. I did some research and modified my ab routine and in about one month my lower abs didnt stick out as far and looked in proportion with the rest of my stomache..

So, maybe my genetics are what made my seperation the way it is, I'm sure that is the case (8 pack versus 6 pack versus 4 pack, etc)... I just wanted to add this to the thread incase people out there without a 6 pack have the idea that that is their genetics...

So yes, you can have a defined, sepeated stomache, but it will be your genetics that determine in which shape your stomache muscles seperate/define..

tip: stretch your stomache after doing your abs so those muscles lengthen and can create seperation.

cheers.

 

[louisefroghead]

Umm... if it matters, I will add this..

When I first started training about 10 years ago, I was a 17 y/o "skinny/fat kid"... I did alot of situps and crunches and had fairly hard abs, but they had zero seperation or definition.. I certainly had no six-pack, but when you pushed on my stomache they were hard...

I started doing a particular ab routine and slowly but surely the seperation started to happen.. after a while I could feel the seperated six pack... I then started dieting and soon after I could see a full out six pack (or actually 8 pack)... BUT, I had lower abs that stuck out really far.. they were lower abs/hip flexers.. I did some research and modified my ab routine and in about one month my lower abs didnt stick out as far and looked in proportion with the rest of my stomache..

So, maybe my genetics are what made my seperation the way it is, I'm sure that is the case (8 pack versus 6 pack versus 4 pack, etc)... I just wanted to add this to the thread incase people out there without a 6 pack have the idea that that is their genetics...

So yes, you can have a defined, sepeated stomache, but it will be your genetics that determine in which shape your stomache muscles seperate/define..

tip: stretch your stomache after doing your abs so those muscles lengthen and can create seperation.

cheers.

If we are talking about the rectus abdominus- think of ab muscles like a section of bubble wrap. Two bubbles across by three bubbles down. There can be lots of air in the bubbles or very little air, equating to well developed abs (bigger) or under-developed abs (smaller). What you cannot do is alter the position of each bubble because it is confined by tendons that are unique to each individual. Basic physiology.