Could somebody please give me some advice on how I can develop chiseled abs?

[phantom]

I would like to acquire a nice six pack of abs, not beer. Could somebody please give me some advice on how I can go about doing this? Thank you for any advice that you could give me concerning this.

[Mr. Nemo]

Generally chiseled anything is the result of good body composition. If you lose body fat, the muscle you have will show better.

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[ShaolinTiger00]

Mr Nemo speaks the truth.
You can have rock hard abs and do 1000 crunches a day but if you have a gut, no one will ever know but you...

You must lose body fat to see your abs. For a man that means that his body fat must be very low (below 10%) because nature has decided that men store most of their fat in the abdomen area.

so keep doing the sit-ups and stop eating sugar and enriched flour products!

Good luck!

A strong man controls others. A man who controls himself is truly powerful. -Lao Tzu

[Godzilla]

To loose weight (fat) you must change your diet and exercise.

Losing the flab on your belly will take time, so figure out a workout plan and eat properly. May I suggest eating fruit and yogurt for breakfast and more vegetables for lunch and dinner.

Enjoy the next few months. In the beginning you may not see great results, but as you slowly get closer, the results come faster and faster.

Good luck,

Godzilla

[Kumkuat]

You know there is no spot reduction so you have to drop your body fat %. Shaolin tiger has the right idea on diet. Reduce your sugar and simple carb intake. But you can't do it with diet alone. Combine strength training routine with ****lek aerobic routines. Strength training for muscle build (to increase metabolism) and the ****lek aerobic routines for helping out the muscles in the fat-loss. Do not do only situps (when I mean situps I mean cruches) work out your whole body. Keep it up for a year and never give up.

[phantom]

KumKuat,could you please tell me what aerobic routines are considered ****lek?

[Kumkuat]

****lek is interval training. It can be done with any aerobic working such as running, stairs, bikes, rowing machines, etc., The basic technique is to combine period of low intensity with high intensity when you do your aerobic excersies.

Go here (http://www.stumptuous.com/****lek.html) for more information.

[nospam]

Exactly what everyone else has said. If you want a 6pac then lose the weight. I decided late last year I wanted a 6pac for summer, in October I weighed in at just under 200lbs standing 5'11". I have been working out (weight lifting) for years and knew the 6pac was there, just needed to drop the body fat. I moderated my diet and stopped working out for 2 months (weightlifting)...I dropped 10lbs per month until I hit 160lbs.

I'm back in the gym and am the proud owner of a very lean, muscular physique. The first 2 weeks of moderating (having changed my eating habits majorly) my diet wasn't comfortable as my stomach was use to a certain amount of digestive activity and thus was constantly on the growl :-)

After the 2 week 'man I'm hungry' struggle with maintaining discipline smack in the face of the holiday season, it was a piece of ca..asparagus.

Drink way too much water, eat an assortment of fruit throughout the day, no more than once a week of red meat, and a lot of rice and non-greasy foods (although peanutbutter was a constant for me as it is an alternative protein source, plus I am a nutfanatic). Eat a lot of veggies, greener the better, and always snack on either fruit, nuts or those great sweet baby carrots. Do not eat after 7pm.

I maintained my health but realised I had a target weight, so once that was achieved (it was 165lbs) I hit the gym again and the appetite naturally came back as my body demanded more sustenance. Although once I hit 165, I still continued to lose weight and continued to drop to 160. I continued to do gung fu on a reduced schedule and did very lightweight, at home, half hour workouts.

Anywho, you can easily achieve your goals just like I did. But you have to sacrifice and have mental discipline to over-ride the first 2-3 weeks before the body starts to utilize its own internal fat stores.

[phantom]

I really appreciate it. I really appreciate everyone else's reply to this topic, also. Peace. :D

[Taomonkey]

Personally I say let them go. The nature of muscle should be flexibility combined with stregnth, not hard and stiff as most training methods will give you. search out a copy of teh magazine Yoga Journal for last month it has a great article about the myth of the perfect abs.

[Wu Wei]

I want abs as well. I already have them, and my layer of fat is very small, but it is really stubborn. I have had very different levels of fitness through my life but i am usually not too out of shape.
Just for reference, I am a tall person with a good metabolism. But there is always that same small layer on my belly.
Any suggestions that pretain more to my body type or is it just the same?

Thanks for any info!
(BTW if i dont respond to anyone who answers me its because im away... sorry) ;)

Success is a label made by the insecure.

[Hep Hwa]

Phantom, i agree w/ everyone, you need to eat properly and drop body fat. But you need to build the muscles in your stomach big enough to see them. To do this you may need to use weights when doing sit-ups and leg raises. I take a 25 lb plate and do sit-ups with it on my chest and put iron rings on my feet when I do leg raises. this makes the muscles larger so you can see them better. For me, sit-ups just make the muscles tighter and not more visible.

[nospam]

Wu Wei, spot reduction cream on the Shopping Channel will get you your results! And this month it's half-price for a year's supply. Only 3 payments of $39.99.

Just kidding. if you have a stubborn spot, usually around the belly and/or the thighs, then you are battling against genetics. You said you are tall with a high metabolism. How tall is tall and how much do you weigh in at?

Generally, you must be prepared to decrease your food intake. This will direct your body to start using its reserves (fat cells) as it is not getting what it needs from your daily food intake. If you want a decent pac, then you have to be prepared to drastically moderate your eating habits while exercising to push your body into getting what it needs from whats already there.

You also didn't comment on your eating habits. Do you eat moderately? average portions? Do you eat frequently during the day or many means (6) during the course of the day? How much red meat do you consume?

There is a great difference between 'wanting' to lose weight and acting upon and doing it. It's not an easy task to drop one's food intake by 50%, especially when you factor in the added smarts and effort to maintain one's health by eating nutritionally, which is even more important when you drastically change your eating habits.

[Wu Wei]

Im not overly concerned, since it is just a thin layer of fat. Im simply being picky about 'seeing' my abs. I suppose i should wait until i work a little more at it before getting this picky.

Just for your amusement, here's the info that i didnt give the firs time.
height: 6'3"
weight: 165lbs
and I sometimes eat a great deal. but it also varies. sometimes i almost forget to eat all day.
yeah i know, its strange.
Another problem, is since, im thin, I also want to bulk up a bit, and to my knowledge, that is a conflict of interest with me wanting a 6 pack

Feel it burn!! :mad:

Success is a label made by the insecure.

[nospam]

Yeah. I would agree that its a contradiction. Although if you weightlift you can add a great deal of tone, and depending on your genetics, some muscle growth. Talk is cheap.

[Lost_Disciple]

My commandments:

1. Try to consume a gram of protein for every pound of bodyweight, even for fat loss.

2. Eat frequently, try for 6 meals a day.

3. Eat within 30 to 45 minutes after working out. This is VITAL. Most of your muscle&strength gains will come from this, it will keep your body from digesting muscle that it already has, it will probably reduce your soreness, and it will keep you from becoming useless the rest of the day.

4. The more muscle you have, the more fat you can burn. The scale may be more friendly if you don't worry about maintaining muscle mass, but it's not the intelligent thing to do, especially if u want that ripped look.

5. Your post-workout meal should consist of carbs and protein.

6. For the Insulin based diet (which i try to follow generally): eat your carbs & proteins in the morning; and fats & proteins later in the day.

7. For the Zone diet, eat 40% carbohydrates, 30% proteins, 30% fats.

8. You need some dietary fat. The best fats come from nut, fish, and flax-seed oils.

9. Try to stay away from unneeded carbs. Cutting out processed foods, breads (unless wheat), and white rice. Fiber, oatmeal, granola, fruit, and vegetables are good.

10. Try to take fish or chicken over red meat, but maybe not all the time.

11. Be patient. Losing pound of fat a week is a hard thing, and probably the most you'll likely be able to do without losing too much muscle. Gaining a pound of muscle a week is about the same.

12. REST. Resting and proper nutrition are probably a lot more important than your actual workout. Get enough sleep, don't workout too many consecutive days without a break (maximum, maybe 3).

13. Overtraining is bad. Whether it's working out too many consecutive days without a rest, staying in the gym for too many hours, or working out a muscle that's already sore- overtraining is probly worse than not working out.

14. Supplementation is not bad, but it's not a miracle cure. Supplementation, even protein, works best when it's cycled (ie. taken for a certain period of time, then cut back or discontinued for a certain period of time), so your body doesn't get too used to having it. (Look into MD-6 and Xenadrine, they're both real good, plus T2, which is about to come out).

15. In moderation, cardio can really help; though (imho) weight training's probly more effective & necessary.

I've got a long way to go myself. I'm doing the best I can on my diet. I'm a poor college kid, and I probly don't have the greatest willpower in the world. I'm eating a lot better, but I'm nowhere near "ideal" or probly even recommended. My goal originally was just to lose weight. Now that I've switched to a weight training program and the above recommendations & diet; I'm gaining back some of the weight I lost. My original plan was kind of old fashioned: eat as little as possible, do as much cardio as possible. I lost 35 pounds in 2 months, but not all fat obviously. By the end of 2 months I was ready for a change, my body was sore, I was drowsy and weak all the time, and even my bones hurt. My weight training program takes a lot less time, and makes me feel a lot better. I've gained back 20 pounds, but by the complements I've been getting, and the fact that swimming's about a 100 times harder than it has ever been; most of it is muscle. I'm trying to be patient. I'm waiting for my newbie muscle gains to slow down, and my muscle to finally go to work for me in burning off this fat. One thing I'd also like to mention, is that when I lost 35 pounds, I went from a size 42 waist to about a 34 or 36 (maybe a 38 in things that run small). Eventhough I've put some weight back on, I've maintained the same waist size.

Check t-mag.com to see if I've made any mistakes in my research or if you wanna do some for yourself. I mentioned in my other post that I trust those guys.

I hope this helps, if anything it's allowed me to get up on my soap box and ramble. Thanks :

[dumog93]

Contrary to popular belief weightlifting is not conducive to adding layers of fat.I don't know who started this "i don't want to work out,i'll get too big" thing,but they had some serious genetics or were just misled.There are numerous studies recently(check out the musclemedia2000 back issues) done by the New England journal of medicine and others showing that powerlifting raises your resting metabolic rate higher and for a longer duration than even high impact aerobics.The next closest thing areobically you can do would be full contact fighting at high intensity of some sort like wrestling,boxing,or something where you are fighting against another's strength for an extended time.Growth hormone levels are raised significantly by lifting heavy weights and "shocking" your system.Now the down side of this is two-fold.If you grow quickly you do lose some flexibility.Keeping your stretching exercises going as you progress will cancel this out.You also may lose some quickness and coordination as your body gets used to it's added weight.Again,nothing permanent,more short term until your body finds a natural resting place it can deal with.Agility training will help this.The most common problem most people have with it is that it is plain and simple more work than they are willing to put out.Ordinary people will not squat,much less deadlift.Then again,most people won't try to develop lightning fists either,so hey,get to it.As far as abs i would have to say the toughest piece of equipment i own for my home use is a wheel with a handle running through it.Yes it is tough.No spring to help you get back up,no rubber bands to take the place of your ab and back muscles working in conjunction,but it works like a charm.Oh,and it cost a whopping 10 bucks at Academy sporting goods and will likely outlast me as far as durablity.20 reps all the way out on the wheel is all i do twice a week and it's good enough.

-Devildog

[Phil Redmond]

The body fat replies are on the money. Also, a single exercise wheel can help. They are inexpensive and can be purchased at most sporting good stores.

[origenx]

I haven't worked out in a year and turned vegetarian too, but still have a 6-pack. So I'd say it's mostly from low body-fat, not from building up your abs tremendously.

[Robinf]

Lower body fat and training play a big role in getting muscle definition. Also bear in mind genetics play that role, too. One of the guys in my school has been weight training for a year. He's quite strong and can do a pull up with one hand. BUT, his muslces hardly show. He's not flabby by any means, very lean.

I, on the other hand, look at a barbell and my muscles define themselves (they're well disciplined ;) ). I have an interesting four pak developing--I just need to trim away flab for them to be a bit more appealing.

Robin

Surrender yourself to nature and be all that you are.

[Suplex]

Abdominal training is a must....Although everyone has a six pack underneath, abdominal training will make it tighter and give you a stronger midsection

I dont remember who said not to eat after 7pm, but that isn't neccessarily true.....You really need to watch your carbs in the evening since most people tend to be inactive during the evening and dont burn off the carb calories, which in turn are stored as fat

eat 5-6 small meals a day....low fat, low carbs, good lean protein

and like everyone said, lots of aerobics.....Jumping Rope, Swimming, Running, and your Kung fu are the best

[fmann]

Eating less in your meals as the day progresses is called "front/forward loading" -- eating a large, balanced breakfast and eating smaller lunch (or lunches) with a small dinner. The principle behind is that when you sleep, you burn calories, but you don't fully digest your food. Almost everything you eat right before you sleep either is stored in fat or goes straight to waste. This is why sumo wrestlers eat alot prior to napping.

So reducing your meal size (or not eating after 7pm or whatever) = using more of your energy stores in your 8 hours of so of sleep = waking up ravenous in the morning = helps lose weight in the long run. Mind as well capitalize on that sleep right?

Weightlifting builds muscle mass = higher basal metabolism = you use more energy sitting around in order to keep the muscle cells happy. Weightlifting done properly also has cardiac benefits if you do similar to interval training and don't let your heart rate down.