How to get a six-pack (abs)?

[Pabster]

alee25 wrote:

"is it bad just to stop eating and do excercise to lose weight? Not the the extent of burning off excess muscle, but mabye for just a day or two. Isn't not eating bascially just the same as strict dieting?"

That is the worst thing you can do to try and lose weight. You will lose muscle and water rather than fat.

Nothing wrong with reducing your daily caloric intake, but not eating at all (even for a day or two) will do more harm than good.

 

[Koing]

<< I can't run because all the cross country when I was younger tore up my knees, and I have flat feet (hurts like hell after a while). What would be the best means to stay in shape, without running, to lose these 5-10 or so pounds? Rollerblading maybe? >>



Swim. One of the best ways to do it. No damage to your joints unless you decide to do a perfect storm and swim in gale force winds then its not that much stress on your knees!

 

[Halogen]

to sum up:

-eat right
-cardio does not make bigger muscles but it makes you lose weight
-strength training is the only way to get stronger muscles
-bulky muscles are through doing few reps of as much weight you can do (maybe 2 reps that you can just BARELY make)
-sleek looking muscles are through doing lots of easy reps. such as 20 of a weight you can do with ease

 

[Howard]

<< -bulky muscles are through doing few reps of as much weight you can do (maybe 2 reps that you can just BARELY make) >>


I'm sorry, could you pass that by me again? :|

 

[Howard]

Actually, I'll just skip that. If you exercise with that much weight, 1 in 2 says you'll injure yourself.

 

[Howard]

<< sleek looking muscles are through doing lots of easy reps. such as 20 of a weight you can do with ease >>


Sleek looking muscles are through doing basically nothing and have a body fat percentage of 7.

 

[LordMaul]

<< Actually, I'll just skip that. If you exercise with that much weight, 1 in 2 says you'll injure yourself. >>




EXACTLY! I hate all these fat fyckheads coming in here and telling skinny guys to lift enough weight to burn themselves out in 1-2 repetitions. It's pure bullsh!t and you don't need to listen to them. You do that, and you mess up your back, get a hernia, or just generally fook yourself up. 99% of the advice given on message boards is coming from inexperienced retards who want to make themselves look "cool" and smart in front of other geeks. Choose who you listen to carefully, or buy books from professionals who have done it.

 

[LordMaul]

<< to sum up:

-eat right
-cardio does not make bigger muscles but it makes you lose weight
-strength training is the only way to get stronger muscles
-bulky muscles are through doing few reps of as much weight you can do (maybe 2 reps that you can just BARELY make)
-sleek looking muscles are through doing lots of easy reps. such as 20 of a weight you can do with ease >>



FYI, in case you didn't know, you lift the heavy weights only a few reps AFTER you've gotten your "sleek" muscles. What you are speaking of is power training, and it expands and toughens, as well as super-defines each muscle fiber. This is not for when you aren't already TRAINED.

Cardio is also not only for losing weight. It is good for your internal body parts, your heart, etc. and all weight lifters do/should do it. Not just for people losing extra flab.

 

[Jerboy]

<< your 18 then its going to be easier. if yoru about 25 still good for you. Best time should have been the ages of 18-23 to get ripped.

Also CUT OUT BEER IF YOU CAN. Each pint of bear has about 230 calories. And you will quickly realise if you drink say 10 pints a night out thats 2300calories, and THAT is your WHOLE body's intake in ONE night of drinking. >>




How is beer any worse than soda? I can easily go through 450Cal in Pepsi Twist in one day.

 

[Geekbabe]

While I'm certainly in favor of a guy looking after himself and staying in relatively decent shape..I can tell you that the 6 pack is not the be all end all for a lot of women.Just keep on with the good stuff you're already doing.

 

[Halogen]

i took a course on this crap, if you want big muscles you do heavy reps but not many of them. IT IS A FACT

if you think it's BS then take it up with a medical doctor and prepare to look like a huge ass

 

[ArbitrarilyInsane]

I'm 5'4" and weigh 8 and half stone. Dunno howmuch that is in american weight. I've always been slim, I hardly ever do any excercise as in fitness training, but I play a lot of football (yes the proper football, not the american sort). I think the running around helps, though nowadays I only have a chance to play it once a week at the most.

In my opinion taking up a sport in many aspects is often better than just the average fitness training unless your doing full circuit training regularly or your sole aim is to make your body appear better. Sports like football help your cardiovascular system with a good mixture of aerobic and anerobic workout. Also psychologically with the plenty of endorphin and adrenelin flowing in your body during those intense moments, good or bad.

I just do sports, but controlling my eating isn't my strongest point. I've always had a very high metabolism. I can go to a Pizza hut buffet and kill more than twice as many pizzas than most people twice my size. But I sweat like hell after those buffets, and my g/f doesn't appreciate it. My stomach is relatively flat with a slight natural appearance of a sixpack, but more defined if contract the abdomen. I've always had that, but I also have the infamous fat layer, which shows more when I sit down, and more today than the days before. My girlfriend has a more strict diet (looks like rabbit food to me) and spends a lot of time doing aerobic excercises. She doesn't have a six pack or anything but a very defined vertical "dip" in the abdomen. Personally, I can't be bothered to do really intense stuff, but I do keep promising myself to go out jogging every morning. Afterall, my g/f is happy with my body, I'm happy with my body, and that is that.

 

[JEDI]

thx.

yeah, lifting something waay too heavy will hurt you. i started doing did a few arm curls that were 25 lbs above what i usually do (40 pounds, so total = 65). a few days of doing it and i got a rotator cuff injury in both shoulders. going to physical therapy this week

 

[SpecialEd]

This has probably been said already.. but having a six pack has almost nothing to do with how strong your abs are and everything to do with you how much body fat you have. I know some lazy a$$ people that have six packs entirely due to their high metabolism. Yet some people that eat right and excerise every day have no abs to show because they can't get their body fat low enough. For many people, otaining a six pack is very VERY difficult and at times unhealthy because their bodies aren't designed to have such low fat percentages. Just be happy and healthy with the body you have

 

[Halogen]

i think stone is 14lbs or something so 14 x 8.5 = 119
119lbs

 

[Halogen]

<< This has probably been said already.. but having a six pack has almost nothing to do with how strong your abs are and everything to do with you how much body fat you have. I know some lazy a$$ people that have six packs entirely due to their high metabolism. Yet some people that eat right and excerise every day have no abs to show because they can't get their body fat low enough. For many people, otaining a six pack is very VERY difficult and at times unhealthy because their bodies aren't designed to have such low fat percentages. Just be happy and healthy with the body you have >>


i have to disagree with that. if you have really strong abs and high body fat then no it won't show like you said but if you are trying to say that it is not the fault of the fat person then you are wrong

your body's metabolism is based on how much activity you have, while you are young you burn lots of energy because your body is constantly growing. for adults if they use the excuse "i can't lose weight because i have a slow metabolism" it's becasue they don't get off their ass and do something

weight training will help lose weight but not very good. cardio workouts such as walking or joggin or those step classes will help get your metabolism up so that you can lose weight

one thing i wondered though, technically shouldn't your body stay the same appearance if you only eat when hungry? im 16 and growing but i only eat when im really really hungry. if i ate like this later in life technically wouldn't i stay the same appearance? yer body only produces more fat when your intake is higher than what you use. i never do any activities besides walking around and arm curles but i only eat when im starvin

 

[StageLeft]

<< Unless you are a very special circumstance (lost a lot of weight and have a lot of skin and crap hanging around) the only way to get this 6 pack is to lose weight. THe vast majority of whether you have one or not relies not ont he muscle levels there but your body fat. You think you're thin but still can't see them? Lose more weight; your body loves to store fat in that area the most. It's this way for most guys. If you don't want to lose any more bodyfat then just deal with having no abs unfortunately. >>



<< Gimme a break, I'm way way too skinny (6'1 and 142-147lbs, varies), and I have a nice 6-pack. I haven't been to the gym in weeks, and when I DID go, I rarely ever did any ab-exercises, just upper body usually.

Abs are not hard to get. If you don't have 'em, then you're just in way too bad shape - run, and do situps. If you do them regularly, hello 6-pack!

-RSI >>

Isn't that what I said? You are skinny and thus you have a 6 pack. Also you say you don't do ab excercise which also goes along with what I said. I've tried ab excercise on and off for years and am convinced that from an aesthetic point of view it's all but useless. If you want strong abs there is something to be said from it but my abs have always maintained a perfect proportion to my body regardless of whether i worked abs or not - even when piling on muscle from other weight training, because they act as a support role for so much and it seems hard to truly ignore them. Hardcore body builders should do them, and they don't hurt of course because they do _something_, but most people who want a 6 pack should put the vast vast majority of their efforts into simply lowering their body fat.

 

[StageLeft]

<< your body's metabolism is based on how much activity you have, while you are young you burn lots of energy because your body is constantly growing. for adults if they use the excuse "i can't lose weight because i have a slow metabolism" it's becasue they don't get off their ass and do something

weight training will help lose weight but not very good. cardio workouts such as walking or joggin or those step classes will help get your metabolism up so that you can lose weight

one thing i wondered though, technically shouldn't your body stay the same appearance if you only eat when hungry? im 16 and growing but i only eat when im really really hungry. if i ate like this later in life technically wouldn't i stay the same appearance? yer body only produces more fat when your intake is higher than what you use. i never do any activities besides walking around and arm curles but i only eat when im starvin >>

It's true that almost everybody who bitches that they can't lose weight is simply not approaching it from the right angle and is too lazy with inadequate willpower. Short term cardio is the best excercise for weight loss but long term weight training helps insanely as well. A pound of muscle requires a good 40 calories a day just to maintain itself, so if you pack on 10 pounds of muscle your daily caloric requirement has shot up 400 calories. I'm not sure this is linear (ie, 40 lbs needing 1200 calories just to maintain), but you get the point. In regards to getting fat by eating when not hungry this is partly true, but not entirely. Some people are very thin because they simply get hungry less than others, and so they end up eating a hell of a lot less. Other people have huge appetites and so if they eat when they are hungry they put on weight. Other people are simply fat pigs who eat anything they can get their hands on. I've found that as I age my appetite seems about the same as in the past but my calorie maintenance levels are a bit lower, and so as a result to maintain the same body weight I have to make more of a conscious effort to keep calories low than I did in the past. As I age this will become more apparent. Most people just don't care and so when they are kids their metabolism hangs with their appetite but as they age the metabolism slows (much due to less excercise but I don't think all) and their appetite or habits don't.

 

[SpecialEd]

<< but if you are trying to say that it is not the fault of the fat person then you are wrong >>




I'm not saying that some people have no chance of losing weight or increasing their metabolism through activity. However obtaining a six pack requires a very low fat percentage that goes well beyond just losing a few pounds for most people. Anyone can lose weight and be healthy. I'm just saying: having a six pack is by no means a requirement for this.

 

[IndyRacing]

<<

<< Unless you are a very special circumstance (lost a lot of weight and have a lot of skin and crap hanging around) the only way to get this 6 pack is to lose weight. THe vast majority of whether you have one or not relies not ont he muscle levels there but your body fat. You think you're thin but still can't see them? Lose more weight; your body loves to store fat in that area the most. It's this way for most guys. If you don't want to lose any more bodyfat then just deal with having no abs unfortunately. >>

Gimme a break, I'm way way too skinny (6'1 and 142-147lbs, varies), and I have a nice 6-pack. I haven't been to the gym in weeks, and when I DID go, I rarely ever did any ab-exercises, just upper body usually.

Abs are not hard to get. If you don't have 'em, then you're just in way too bad shape - run, and do situps. If you do them regularly, hello 6-pack!

-RSI >>



Like you have a choice to have a six pack. I would rather be b*tching about my love handles then b*tch because i'm a rail. Do you walk around with a string on your ankle to hold you down if the wind blows?

 

[StageLeft]

<< Don't listen to all these jelly belly nerds... get yourself a damn AbRoller or Abslide, eat a little less junk food, and in 2-3 months I guarantee "cubicles". >>

Yeah, don't listen to the jelly belly nerds. Listen to this guy! *chuckle*

 

[skace]

Ok, I didn't bother reading every post of this thread since I just want to lay a small bit of advice and if its already been said then heh, no harm done.

To remove that layer of fat from your stomache that will cause you to never see your abs, running is the best. Someone said running on a treadmill was bad, actually that is reverse. Running on a treadmill is the healthiest form of running because treadmills are built to absorb shock and take the stress off your knees / etc. What you want to do is run for about 45 minutes per day and maintain your target heart rate. Uh, since I can't recall the formula, use this website (I hope its accurate) Heart Rate Calculator. Now to make sure you are running within your target heart rate, buy a heart rate monitor that straps around your chest (80 dollars or so). What most people find out is that they are actually running far harder than they need to to reach that heart rate zone, thus causing themselves to burn out and give up much sooner. If you continually stay within your heart rate zone for at least 45 minutes, you will burn the extra fat off in no time. Then it is just a matter of doing crunches past when it burns.

Most people trying to attain good abs fail because of the layer of fat more so than the muscle building, since it only takes an inch of fat on your stomache to hide all your hard work and that inch of fat is the last inch of fat to go from your entire body.

 

[Halogen]

if it is advertised on TV it probably doesn't work. lets make some example
Fast Abs (that electonic scam thing)
Ab Rocker (what a piece of crap)
Torso Track (this probably works but if you are fat it would be very hard on your knees and back)
Ab Roller (i tried one of these before, i think i was too short to use it or something because i tried like a bitch to do a situp but i couldn't do it. i was too small so every time i would start to get my torso up it would lift me off the ground and i would fall to the ground lol)

just do situps and crunches, they work. i can 200 in 10 minutse
nothing to brag about but fat people can't do that

 

[JEDI]

"45 minutes per day and maintain your target heart rate"

ah..that's what i was looking for-> how long to run to get rid of that layer of fat. THX.

oh.. supposely the eliptical machine has 0 impact. but for some reason, my knees started hurting when i use it. my friend said after a couple of weeks, it'll go away. just my body getting use to this machine? (treadmill never gave me any pain.)

ANTNYC, those ab-roller machines won't give u cubes. it might make your stomach hard, but it's the layer of fat that covers it that needs to be gotten rid of to show off the cubes.

 

[Rudee]

I've been bodybuilding over 15 years (since high school). I've spent thousands of hours in the gym over the years. And in my opinion the best movement for stimulating the entire abdominal region is performing various movements with a Swiss Ball. My current ab routine (which I've been doing for many years) is hanging leg raises and super slow crunches over a Swiss Ball.