BodyFat Percentage and Abs
Hi everyone on MFT,
I have a question and I appreciate every single comment on it
My bodyfat percentage is around 12%, I eat extremely clean and I train 4 times a week at a high intensity. I do run intervals or play pickup basketball as cardio but that's 2 times a week.
I have reasonably good definition in my arms, chest and other parts but the abs.
I believe the reason is not my bodyfat percantage is high but I don't have abs. Of course everybody has abs but mine is not developed enough to be defined. So the question is how to develop them
The first approach comes to my mind is since it is a muscle I can train it with weights at 10-12 reps like we do for chest or biceps. Or should I go for high reps without weights? Or do the suspension training circuits (like Clark Bartram's Terrible Ten with vegas pro straps) get the job done? What do you recommend?
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My Diet
Let me write down my diet, I think I'm eating clean but I might be missing something and I sure can benefit from suggestions.
Meal1
30 gr wheat germ + 20 gr Oatmeal & flax seed + 200 ml non fat milk + 20 gr protein powder(optimum nutrition) + 1 Multivit
Meal2
15-20 unroasted almonds+1 apple
Meal3
150 gr lean meat + 50gr whole grain bread + salad + broccoli + veggies
Meal4
50 gr low fat cheese + 1 peer or apple
Meal 5 pre workout
1 banana + 22gr protein powder (cytosport) + 5 gr BCAA + 5 gr Glutamine
Meal 6 post workout
1 banana + 22gr protein powder (cytosport) + 5 gr BCAA + 5 gr Glutamine + 1 multivit
Meal7
150 gr lean meat + 50gr whole grain bread + salad + broccoli + veggies
Meal8
1 apple + 500 ml non fat milk
My Diet
Let me write down my diet, I think I'm eating clean but I might be missing something and I sure can benefit from suggestions.
Meal1
30 gr wheat germ + 20 gr Oatmeal & flax seed + 200 ml non fat milk + 20 gr protein powder(optimum nutrition) + 1 Multivit
Meal2
15-20 unroasted almonds+1 apple
Meal3
150 gr lean meat + 50gr whole grain bread + salad + broccoli + veggies
Meal4
50 gr low fat cheese + 1 peer or apple
Meal 5 pre workout
1 banana + 22gr protein powder (cytosport) + 5 gr BCAA + 5 gr Glutamine
Meal 6 post workout
1 banana + 22gr protein powder (cytosport) + 5 gr BCAA + 5 gr Glutamine + 1 multivit
Meal7
150 gr lean meat + 50gr whole grain bread + salad + broccoli + veggies
Meal8
1 apple + 500 ml non fat milk
My Diet
Let me write down my diet, I think I'm eating clean but I might be missing something and I sure can benefit from suggestions.
Meal1
30 gr wheat germ + 20 gr Oatmeal & flax seed + 200 ml non fat milk + 20 gr protein powder(optimum nutrition) + 1 Multivit
Meal2
15-20 unroasted almonds+1 apple
Meal3
150 gr lean meat + 50gr whole grain bread + salad + broccoli + veggies
Meal4
50 gr low fat cheese + 1 peer or apple
Meal 5 pre workout
1 banana + 22gr protein powder (cytosport) + 5 gr BCAA + 5 gr Glutamine
Meal 6 post workout
1 banana + 22gr protein powder (cytosport) + 5 gr BCAA + 5 gr Glutamine + 1 multivit
Meal7
150 gr lean meat + 50gr whole grain bread + salad + broccoli + veggies
Meal8
1 apple + 500 ml non fat milk
Abs
I actually disagree with everyone, my body generally stores bodyfat around the midsection, which is unusual for girls, it has absolutely nothing to do with training them, everyone should strive for the smallest midsection possible, as this is the most effective way to improve your proportion, and symmetry, growing your stomach muscles, will not enhance your symmetry, and if you're training heavy and hard, you should get all the secondary stimulation you need, the key to having great abs is simply to stay lean, my diet is such that I have significant vascularity on my abs year round, I weigh 54kg, eat 2250calories/day, 320g of protein/day split over 7 meals, and 186g of carbs split over 7 meals, and about 3og of fat. Also cardio is complete bs, and a total waste of time, it's the fastest way possible to stuff your resting metabolic rate(RMR), and completely and utterly halt fat loss - PERIOD.
Interesting.
Do you get bloodwork done regularly? Are your liver enzymes at healthy levels? I'm very curious
"Obsession is a term the lazy use to describe the dedicated" - Anon.
"Shoot for the stars, you might just reach the sky" - Unknown
I'm not sure if you're
I'm not sure if you're referring to my liver enzymes, but yes they're perfect, I don't produce much estrogen because of the low body fat, but my cholesterol often reads below the measurable range, my bp is 110/70, and my bone density is at 108%, so don't believe the bullshit you read, it's mostly a crock written by people with little or no understanding of human physiology.
I agree that diet is VERY
I agree that diet is VERY important if u want nice abs...
But, u still have to train them..just not as hard as ur other body parts..
That's why i train my abs using just bodyweight movement...i don't see the need to really hit them hard with weights...
The rest is up to diet..eat real "clean" and cut down on the carbs intake after 8 pm...
Full Range
It will greatly benefit you to make sure you get a nice range of motion.
To do this make sure you're lying on something like a physioball so that you can essentially "hyperextend" your back.
You can also do this over the edge of anything, even a chair.
Make sure to hit the side obliques too. Doing bridges, side, front (plank) etc. can really strengthen your core to allow you to do some of these advanced moves.
Like full range of motion leg raises by holding yourself at an angle. That takes a lot of core strength. To do this one, you'll jump up to a pull up bar then position yourself at about a 45* degree angle (or a little less to start), then just make sure your range of motion allows your legs to go to perpendicular to the ground (to make a T).
This is probably really confusing, haha. Sorry, here's a pic to give an idea, but instead of starting perfectly perpendicular to the ground use your biceps, lats and core to put you at an angle instead of straight up and down.
.:. Lifestyle Changes .:.The REAL Beginner's Guide to Fitness, Health & Nutrition
http://www.myfittribe.com/blogs/imjj123/20070610/starting-out.html
Will_I_Am (855c)
sup firebat! Good to see you
sup firebat! Good to see you here bro...
Dont listen to dazzaemm2k7...he doesnt know what he is talking about.....jk jk ;) :-P
I agree with hitting them like a body part, they are muscle and most muscle is built the same way. tear it down, and it builds back up bigger and stronger...but keep in mind if you are 12 percent body fat, statistically, men hold most of their fat around their midsection, so this is always the trouble area for a lot of people(myself included!)
I believe that your ab and core muscles are involved in especially every heavy lift you do, so you are working them out without even doing a single crunch. But if you want to build them up, I love to hit a set between every exercise when i work out, so for me that is for sets of ab's every day. they are much like calves in that they take a lot of hammering every day, and you can hit them sometimes 5 days a week. or you can do a more intense workout on them just once or twice a week.
Good luck man! - check this out- julien greaux
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uiuK79ld8k&feature=related
Hitting them everyday?
Hitting them everyday? That idea is kinda controversial if I am going to think it as any other bodypart since I hit them usually once (or twice at max) a week. I should give time to recover, right? I am thinking of doing some of my lifts (not the primary ones like squats or deadlifts) on bosu ball, which makes me contract the core muscles to stay balanced. Other than this for the next 4 weeks I'll try training my abs twice a week, one of the workouts would be the CB's vegas straps circuit (terrible ten) and the other would be 4 weighted exercises (I will select on a daily basis) of 4-3 sets for each exercise and 10-12 reps for each set. I think the point has to be getting out of my comfort zone as much as I can.
Today will be my first day of this training regimen and I will do hanging leg raises, leg raises with cable attached at the ankles, russian twists with med ball and machine crunches.
Have you ever cramped up in
Have you ever cramped up in your abs? if so, you will remember that you could not hardly move without having it cramp, and sometimes just sitting still cramped them up. You abs are ALWAYS working, just like your calves when you walk around, so with abs, just like calves(even more so) they can take a LOT more of a beating than any other body part. This is nothing like a body part like lower back or chest.
I am not suggesting you hit your abs every day, but if you do not completely fatigue them, you CAN hit them more days of the week than just once or twice.
Also, keep in mind that a lot of "ab" exercises are really exercises that work both your abs AND you hip flexors...make sure to isolate your abs with certain exercises.
Well..
Well, actually ur abs tend to recover faster than ur other body parts...
I agree that training them everyday MAY be overtraining, but then again, you would have to try it out for urself to see if u are overtraining or not. Everybody's body is different...
Personally, i train my abs 3 times a week...
Maybe what u can do is upload a pic of ur abs. Then our MFT family can guide u along :)
LOL
good one bro ;) i honestly started reading your comment and i could feel the anger building up inside when i read that , then thank good you were just kidding lolololol ;) you had me going there ;) its nice to finally see some people on this website have a sense of humour ;) take care batman ;)
just train them like every
just train them like every other body part and by that i mean , train them for starters lol and train them with intensity and focus , dont just sit on the floor and do like 100 crunches not even focusing on your muscles , it is much more effective if you do 3 sets of 10-15 FOCUS AND SQUEEZED reps , as in flex and contract your abs hard and slowly on every rep ;)
ps - just watch out when you train abs with weights because that can get you blocky and sticky out abs , and training your abdomin with weights can make your midsection thicker and wider which is a big no no , you want your abs to be slim and your waist to be small , you just train them properly , just something basic like a 15minute circuit after your weights , a move for upper abs , lower abs and then one for obliques , do 3 sets/ 12-15 reps on each move , and that should be enough ;)
Hey..
Hey bro..
You can train ur abs using both weights and bodyweight..
Personally i don't use weights to train my abs...
What u need to do is really feel the muscle working...dont rush the rep, maybe take around 1 sec up, squeeze real hard, and 1 sec down.
Make sure you train ur abs from different angles. I recommend trying out Julien's ab routine found on this site (JamCore Workouts > Men)
Hope this helps you :)
Cheers!