Trying to get abs without cutting...

[tranceaddict]

Hey All,

I am currently at 15% BF and was wondering if I hammer my abs (e.g. 100 ab crunches a day and variations on Ab exercises) i can get a 6 pack?

Regards
trance

 

[thesuaveone]

What type and amount of cardio do you do? Also, what type of diet are you on?

 

[thesuaveone]

Disregard my last post, I see you answered it in another thread.

If you want to see your abs, you are going to need to cut bf. Cardio, and diet are the major keys to this imo, not a bunch of crunches.

 

[thegoodfoods]

well, lemme say this. within 7 months ago i was at LEAST 20% BF. puffines was there, but the six pack was also there. anyone could see the six pack. its not like it was ripped, but it was pretty damn visible. at the time i ONLY did 3-4 sets of the Hammer Strength ab machine 2-3 days a week. before i started to see the abs i did crunces with a plate behind my head. abs are just like any other muscle. picture this. if you do 100 crunches its like doing 100 reps of bi curls. i dont think crunches are meant for strength, just for endurance.

 

[CrazyK]

well, lemme say this. within 7 months ago i was at LEAST 20% BF. puffines was there, but the six pack was also there. anyone could see the six pack. its not like it was ripped, but it was pretty damn visible. at the time i ONLY did 3-4 sets of the Hammer Strength ab machine 2-3 days a week. before i started to see the abs i did crunces with a plate behind my head. abs are just like any other muscle. picture this. if you do 100 crunches its like doing 100 reps of bi curls. i dont think crunches are meant for strength, just for endurance.

Bro you were not 20% with abs. No one is 20% with abs unless they are like 130 lbs.

 

[Protobuilder]

Hey All,

I am currently at 15% BF and was wondering if I hammer my abs (e.g. 100 ab crunches a day and variations on Ab exercises) i can get a 6 pack?

Regards
trance

Yes, if all that ab work burns enough calories to get your BF to 12-13%.

 

[thegoodfoods]

Bro you were not 20% with abs. No one is 20% with abs unless they are like 130 lbs.

trust me. everyone and anyone could see the abs. as i said, it's not like i had ripped abs, but they were definitely there. DEFINITELY!

 

[Cynical Simian]

There's a difference between what most people mean when they say "sixpack" and being able to see vague outlines of your abs under bodyfat. Pretty much anyone who does weighted ab work, or even squats/pulls, will have enough ab development that the latter is possible unless a bulk gets completely out of control.

 

[ZGzaZ]

He's right, you didnt have a 6 pack or very visable abs at 20%....

 

[thegoodfoods]

well if you call six bulges from the belly a six pack then it was, but diff peeps will look at it differently. anyway, i know this, though. im not trying to brag, but i got the strongest abs of anyone i know. thing is they're not meant for endurance. they're just damn strong

 

[Sassy69]

thegoodfoods' ab discussion -- you're talking a specific experience - abs are sort of like calves in that it can be a genetic thing to be able to "see" a six-pack at higher bodyfat. That is not to say that a person doesn't have a six pack under the bodyfat - so there are two levels of approach -the first being the strong ab work so that the muscles themselves are developed enough, but to actually get them to show like the washboard look is a bodyfat thing. It will absolutely depend on your overall bodyfat as well as where you tend to hold your fat and where you tend to hold your water. I know more estrogenic guys who look really great cut up but they struggle to get their waist / lower back cut up.

Not seeing pix, its hard to guarantee that just doing decline abs will work for you. You may be one of those people who just will need the diet.

Another thought on lots of ab work -- remembe that you are building up muscle there and on some people a shit load of ab work can result in a thicker looking waist.

 

[tranceaddict]

ok i am currently at 15%BF but i am going on a cutting diet, in other words I have totally reduced the carbs/fat and increased the protein..

I was told not to do cardio as this is too catabolic to muscle depletion and uses up all your avaliable glycogen...

thoughts please

 

[Sassy69]

I don't think some cardio would hurt you. However when you talk about reducing your carbs & fats, do you plan to do a carb up at least 1x/week? Otherwise I'd look at a carb cycle approach. If you take the low carb approach you'll dump some water initially but within a week you will notice a significant drop in your energy levels. You don't need to starve yourself when you diet - for competition I've cut down to 7% on a carb rotation & cardio but keeping my cals at around 1700. Also you do need fats in your diet so don't cut those down too far, particularly when you are droppign your carbs.

Some of this is also just pure experiment to find out what works for you -- maybe just a couple 20 min sessions of interval cardio / week will help cut the fat but not burn muscle. You will tend to lose some muscle mass when you cut - that's is just part of it but you can always tweak things as you go to minimize muscle loss.

Do you have the ability to get a several point skin fold caliper bodyfat test done regularly? When I prepped for my last show I had my bodyfat done every 3 days - I also tweaked my diet (macronutrient ratios) based on the changes every 3 days. This way I could see if more carbs / less carbs / more fat / less fat / more protein / less protein worked for me - i.e. did my bodyfat go up or down, where (the specific skin fold points) do I tend to hold fat or water, etc. Its a little extra work but is very informative in better understanding your body because you are trying to really fine tune your diet & training for a specific result. Sometimes you need to go that extra layer down to tweak your diet & training specifically for your body - just askign questions about "how to" of people on EF and not showing pictures or the changes - its very hard to know generically what would "work" or not.