Abdominal Axioms: 9 Rules For Better Abs.

schakiiiii

Thanks for the tips!

IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym

I agree to an extent. I personally subscribe to the moderation on occasion theory and my abs love me for it.

Geojerm

I'm sick of all the negative posts... as someone who hasn't always stayed physically active, and never ate properly until recent years.... this article is very helpful.

Thanks for posting this... even if you didn't include link... which you are right, I never would have opened or read

If these points don't benefit you or you've already got your model/rock star body.... congrats ... go read about squats.. and give me 10 pushups !

Boogage

Good tips, shame about all the unhelpful negative posters. They could have at least tried to share their tips or add to the list.

JustJennie1

Good tips, shame about all the unhelpful negative posters. They could have at least tried to share their tips or add to the list.

I also noticed that no one came back to explain the points they don't agree on, why they don't agree and what is better instead.

*shrugs*

I thought it was good info for someone who isn't sure how to go about getting a six pack. I understand that it's all about lowering your bf % but I think the information provided very good ways to do this, especially cutting out (or down) the booze. I know that's why I don't have the abs that I want.

Carol_L

15% for women - YES (if you read it says aim for!!)

WOMEN:
Competition Shape ("ripped"): 8-12%
Very Lean (excellent): < 15%
Lean (good): 16-20%
Satisfactory (fair): 21-25%
Improvement needed (poor): 26-30%
Major improvement needed (Very poor): 31-40%+

I really don't think so.

<15% for women = serious (potentially life threatening) problems if done on a sustained long term basis

As a female, your body has more essential fat than a male for proper body functions, particularly reproduction. If you fall below 15 percent body fat you may notice your body stops having a menstrual cycle. This may not sound so bad, but it will affect your ability to have children. Additionally, as your body fat reduces to unhealthy amounts your body will start to burn your muscles for energy, and since your heart is a muscle you risk damaging the most important muscle in your body and risking your life. This is one reason anorexia nervosa is such a serious disease.

(source: http://www.livestrong.com/article/128666-low-body-fat-percentage-women/#ixzz2Z7HycWhP)

Fitness models don't keep themselves that lean all the time for those reasons. You also can't build muscle while keeping yourself excessively lean - TANSTAAFL (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch). People who are competitive body builders or fitness models cycle to build muscle and then achieve that lean look on a schedule, giving their bodies a break in between competitions. When they are on stage, they are spray tanned and oiled up. On photo shoots, they are made up, properly lit, pump just before taking the shots, and (gasp) sometimes even photo-shopped to optimize the look.

If someone's genetics are such that their body is naturally that lean - those people exist and I am definitely not one of them - great. In the end you have to work with whatever you have, to the best of your own potential, and listen to your body.

Ultimately, abs are built 20% in the gym and 80% in the kitchen - through a calorie deficit for fat loss. If you're going to be eating in a deficit, you need to make those calories count. Your best bets would be higher quality proteins, a variety of good vegetation and fats will provide the full spectrum of nutrients your body needs to function properly while losing the fat. That being said, unless you're someone who is a serious competitive athlete, working towards a scheduled event, if you're eating pretty sanely 90% of the time, that double bacon cheeseburger once in a blue moon is not going to kill you.

IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym

Good tips, shame about all the unhelpful negative posters. They could have at least tried to share their tips or add to the list.

I also noticed that no one came back to explain the points they don't agree on, why they don't agree and what is better instead.

*shrugs*

I thought it was good info for someone who isn't sure how to go about getting a six pack. I understand that it's all about lowering your bf % but I think the information provided very good ways to do this, especially cutting out (or down) the booze. I know that's why I don't have the abs that I want.

I would say the only part I don't agree with is it being all or nothing. I still had half an order of chicken fried chicken with queso on top the other night and a pina colada yesterday. Just, normally I eat baked chicken (tuna, turkey or tilapia) and roasted or regular veggies.

iamkass

To those that don't agree with the list, I'd really like to know why. Not starting a fight, just would be interesting to know as I am always up for learning new things.....

While I don't feel like going point by point explaining why I don't fully agree, I do want to say: Mustard is a delicious condiment that is zero calories and not full of sugar and is delicious (did I say that already?) and I will never give it up. EVER!

firstsip

For those crying out against naysayers for not "giving their tips"... they did. I've seen it mentioned at least twice: caloric deficit/reducing body fat %. That's it. People have abs eating McDonald's, people have abs eating organic Paleo what-have-you. People have it doing no crunches (a thing I'll agree with in the article), people have it doing tons of crunches. It all, ultimately, has to do with a low body fat %.

That's not being negative to point that out, or point out a disagreement. It's incredibly negative to insult other users' bodies (against forum rules, btw), or advocate your own "guideline" for healthy body fat % for others("very lean," or under 15%, is fine, but not an ultimate goal to aim for for every woman--it's more like the "ultimate leanness before experiencing any potential health issue, specifically reproductive").

tigersword

To those that don't agree with the list, I'd really like to know why. Not starting a fight, just would be interesting to know as I am always up for learning new things.....

The list is completely unnecessary. To get abs you need: a calorie deficit. Everything else on that list is completely superfluous and unnecessary.

RedHotHunter

This is a decent post with reasonable advice. However, I fail to see how this is specifically helpful in the quest for abs. I clicked on this looking for some maybe new and exciting ab advice. What I got was very general weight loss information. :grumble:

MercenaryNoetic26

While I appreciate the sentiment, I disagree with a lot of that list.

Thanks but no thanks.

If you disagree with most of that list then that may be part of the reason you still need to lose weight. try it and you will be amazed just how fast the weight comes of you.

I disagree with some of the list as well.

From your ticker, looks like you need to lose weigh also.

:laugh: Ohhhhhhh, man. That really made me lol

Ampierce

Bump

wareagle8706

Wow, I've never seen someone get attacked so quickly just for posting some tips on being healthier.

You people clearly haven't had your coffee this morning.

JoRocka

I thought they were reasonable general guidelines. I'm sure they would work.

Is it impossible to obtain leaness if you don't follow them. Of course not.

This.

They are a great set of general guidelines- especially for someone who has no idea of what's going on or what they are doing.

SteveJWatson

This thread went south even faster that I expected. :drinker:

myofibril

Clearly the only thing you really need to lower your BF% is a consistent calorie deficit over a sufficient period of time until you reach your desired level of leaness.

However, I completely appreciate why some people need some additional tips / guidance to help them along the way.

It's a bit like saying "Well, to reach your destination you simply need to travel from point A to point B using some sort of motion. So long and good luck!"

That might be enough for some people.Others may want to know "What do you think the easiest method of travel would be for me? Should I use a map or wing it? Is walking preferable or should I use a car? What happens if I take a wrong turn?"

And so on....

And so on...

mgreen10

I agree with all of the points on this list.

And guess what? If you have been able to achieve abs while avoiding certain points on this list, good for you. That does not disprove the validity of all the suggestions on the list though. There are people out there who will NOT be able to achieve defined abs through just a calorie deficit. The fact that the list has so many points just means that it is very comprehensive in nature and covers all bases.

And before you go to my page and glance at my ticker to see if I'm at my goal in order to spew some more personal attacks at someone to make yourselves feel better, please know that I've already reached my goal and adjusted my ticker for an even better goal

best of luck to all of you in your weight loss journeys, as never ending as they may be.

sabified

bump for later

jonnythan

While I appreciate the sentiment, I disagree with a lot of that list.

Thanks but no thanks.

If you disagree with most of that list then that may be part of the reason you still need to lose weight. try it and you will be amazed just how fast the weight comes of you.

I disagree with a lot of it too.

And, oh, look at that. Looks like I have lost more weight than you and have less left to lose than you. So there goes that argument.

How are your abs, by the way?

jonnythan

To those that don't agree with the list, I'd really like to know why. Not starting a fight, just would be interesting to know as I am always up for learning new things.....

#2) Fish vs steak makes no difference in weight loss/acquiring abs. Calorie and protein content does.

#3) Total nonsense. You can get abs just fine with Twinkies, Wonder Bread, and, yes, Pop-Tarts.

#4) Total nonsense. Yes, sauces and condiments have calories, but that means you need to eat them in moderation and account for them. Eliminating them entirely is not at all necessray.

#5) Same as #4.

#6) I'm sensing a pattern of food alarmism. He's creating a list of foods to never consume if you want abs, and it's dumb. You can get abs while having the occasional alcoholic drink just fine. Again, you just have to account for the calories.

The others are fine. Those are "slow and steady," "lift heavy," "don't focus on ab exercises," and "get enough sleep." That's reasonable advice.

CoderGal

I didn't reply with anything but since I see people are wondering which ones are irrelevant. I put a TL;DR version at the end.

---

Clean eating doesn't contribute to abs, it is not needed. With that said, a balanced diet is a good idea for your health. This isn't necessarily a fully 'clean' one since the word can be rather ambiguous (which foods are clean, which ones aren't, you can have a clean diet and it can be rather poor nutrient wise etc). A protein shake isn't going to kill your abs.

3500 cals in fat - this is true. What is not true is to lose pounds you must create a deficit equal to that number. You also lose other things when you lose weight, like water, and muscle, etc. They burn different amounts of calories. Thus "Losing one pound per week, for example, would require only a 500 calorie deficit per day (3,500cals/7days)" is an average but very very flawed which, if you have been keeping a close eye on your calories and weight, you already know . That being said the more weight you're playing with the more you're likely losing fat as oppose to muscle. But you'll still be losing water and the like.

low cal diets, don't do them - agreed.

Adding fish will not strip fat from my diet. Also, eating something lean for a fat source doesn't make sense. We need fat to help absorb the nutrients we are getting from our food sources. Balance is key, I'd prefer people got what they were missing instead of following random statements like this one. Often one doesn't need to cut fat from a diet to get abs. My diet is rather high in fat...my friends who are ripped eat even more fat then me. Staying away from fat doesn't mean staying away from making you fat. But what is right is there are plenty of delicious things that make things tasty without fat. And if you are deficient in something that isn't fat (ie protein or iron) you're better off going the spiced fish route.

The post seems to think insulin is the devil weight gaining thing, it is not. I posted this the other day:
"I feel sorry for insulin. Insulin has been bullied and beaten up. It has been cast as an evil hormone that should be shunned. However, insulin doesn’t deserve the treatment it has received.
...
MYTH:A High Carbohydrate Diet Leads to Chronically High Insulin Levels

FACT:Insulin Is Only Elevated During the Time After a Meal In Healthy Individuals
http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Lipolysis-Lipogenesis1.png
...
MYTH: Carbohydrate Drives Insulin, Which Drives Fat Storage

FACT: Your Body Can Synthesize and Store Fat Even When Insulin Is Low ...
...
MYTH: Insulin Makes You Hungry

FACT: Insulin Suppresses Appetite
...
MYTH: Carbohydrate Is Singularly Responsible for Driving Insulin

FACT: Protein Is a Potent Stimulator of Insulin Too
"
read the rest:
http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=319

Speaking of twinkies not belonging on your plate, a professor made up a 'twinkie' diet and his body weight, fat percentage, bad cholesterol, blood sugar/glucose levels dropped. Not that I recommend eating twinkies all day. Balance! I know many people who have lived long healthy happy stress free from food lives eating the things they enjoy, even if some of them can't be picked off a tree.

eating packages will not land you near your six pack goals - Abs do not care if you eat packaged foods. Find the ripped abs of steel people here and send them a message, ask them if they eat pop tarts or other packaged junk. Believe it or not those people are not magic. That being said, try to get your nutrients in first before choosing something like this for the sake of your health. With that being said, you could eat very unhealthy and still get a six pack with nothing holding you back. I know a few body builders irl...they do not have a well balanced diet and eat many packaged things behind closed doors watching movies with me lol.

get your carbs from startches - your abs do not care if you get carbs.

condiments - if they're not wrecking your calorie deficit, it doesn't matter if you eat condiments. Salt can do a number tho, but it's very short lived and temporary.

don't drink your calories - most people I know with abs drink a lot of calories. Most of them drink protein shakes. It depends on what you're drinking and if you're at a deficit. That being said I agree with the rest. This can kind of fit into the condiment section, if you're spending a huge portion of your calories on ketchup salt and pepsi, an juice well, you're not going to be running supper optimally to help you build much at all if you're even feeling alright. Pepsi juice etc can contain a lot of calories which could be fulfilled via healthier more nutrient dense means.

alchhol - Yeah they can hugely eat up a bunch of cals. This is an interesting read on the topic tho (which is not all for binge drinking so don't worry lol) but imo you can still manage to be lean and drink
[img]]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dtaWqzV6d7M/SuMlTBIBAZI/AAAAAAAAAfI/2q8FdTPNy0k/s320/DSC00316.JPG[/img]
http://www.leangains.com/2010/07/truth-about-alcohol-fat-loss-and-muscle.html

lift heavy and lift hard - the best advice in this thread for the goal

keep crunches in their place - agreed

sleep is important - for recovery, agreed.

---

TL;DR: I would change this thread to:

Lift heavy to preserve lbm
if you have the muscles to support abs under your fat eat at a deficit
sleep to recover

note: I'll also add that a lot of people throw out just keep eating at a deficit. I didn't understand this for the longest time. Then I realized it applies to the majority here, those who have weight to lose. I wasn't lifting and was doing a lot of cardio and was incredibly skinny fat. I just figured I couldn't get abs. For those people I'd recommend doing the other 2 and eating at a surplus for a while to develop some abdominal muscles and then doing the same thing with a deficit.

ninerbuff

All people with abs have one thing in common................low body fat. How does one attain that? Calorie deficit if one has higher body fat than desired.

Many teenage boys have abs. I'm more than sure that they didn't get them from adhering to the list mentioned. Why do they have abs? Because they have low body fat.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

determinedbutlazy

To those that don't agree with the list, I'd really like to know why. Not starting a fight, just would be interesting to know as I am always up for learning new things.....

#2) Fish vs steak makes no difference in weight loss/acquiring abs. Calorie and protein content does.

#3) Total nonsense. You can get abs just fine with Twinkies, Wonder Bread, and, yes, Pop-Tarts.

#4) Total nonsense. Yes, sauces and condiments have calories, but that means you need to eat them in moderation and account for them. Eliminating them entirely is not at all necessray.

#5) Same as #4.

#6) I'm sensing a pattern of food alarmism. He's creating a list of foods to never consume if you want abs, and it's dumb. You can get abs while having the occasional alcoholic drink just fine. Again, you just have to account for the calories.

The others are fine. Those are "slow and steady," "lift heavy," "don't focus on ab exercises," and "get enough sleep." That's reasonable advice.

This guy.

CoderGal

To those that don't agree with the list, I'd really like to know why. Not starting a fight, just would be interesting to know as I am always up for learning new things.....

#2) Fish vs steak makes no difference in weight loss/acquiring abs. Calorie and protein content does.

#3) Total nonsense. You can get abs just fine with Twinkies, Wonder Bread, and, yes, Pop-Tarts.

#4) Total nonsense. Yes, sauces and condiments have calories, but that means you need to eat them in moderation and account for them. Eliminating them entirely is not at all necessray.

#5) Same as #4.

#6) I'm sensing a pattern of food alarmism. He's creating a list of foods to never consume if you want abs, and it's dumb. You can get abs while having the occasional alcoholic drink just fine. Again, you just have to account for the calories.

The others are fine. Those are "slow and steady," "lift heavy," "don't focus on ab exercises," and "get enough sleep." That's reasonable advice.

This guy.

Damn I didn't see this one here. This one is a lot shorter then my version

jonnythan

To those that don't agree with the list, I'd really like to know why. Not starting a fight, just would be interesting to know as I am always up for learning new things.....

#2) Fish vs steak makes no difference in weight loss/acquiring abs. Calorie and protein content does.

#3) Total nonsense. You can get abs just fine with Twinkies, Wonder Bread, and, yes, Pop-Tarts.

#4) Total nonsense. Yes, sauces and condiments have calories, but that means you need to eat them in moderation and account for them. Eliminating them entirely is not at all necessray.

#5) Same as #4.

#6) I'm sensing a pattern of food alarmism. He's creating a list of foods to never consume if you want abs, and it's dumb. You can get abs while having the occasional alcoholic drink just fine. Again, you just have to account for the calories.

The others are fine. Those are "slow and steady," "lift heavy," "don't focus on ab exercises," and "get enough sleep." That's reasonable advice.

This guy.

Damn I didn't see this one here. This one is a lot shorter then my version

I'm into the whole brevity thing.

CoderGal

To those that don't agree with the list, I'd really like to know why. Not starting a fight, just would be interesting to know as I am always up for learning new things.....

#2) Fish vs steak makes no difference in weight loss/acquiring abs. Calorie and protein content does.

#3) Total nonsense. You can get abs just fine with Twinkies, Wonder Bread, and, yes, Pop-Tarts.

#4) Total nonsense. Yes, sauces and condiments have calories, but that means you need to eat them in moderation and account for them. Eliminating them entirely is not at all necessray.

#5) Same as #4.

#6) I'm sensing a pattern of food alarmism. He's creating a list of foods to never consume if you want abs, and it's dumb. You can get abs while having the occasional alcoholic drink just fine. Again, you just have to account for the calories.

The others are fine. Those are "slow and steady," "lift heavy," "don't focus on ab exercises," and "get enough sleep." That's reasonable advice.

This guy.

Damn I didn't see this one here. This one is a lot shorter then my version

I'm into the whole brevity thing.

That can make things even worse long winded wise tho. Look at the amount of people who commented on those who said they didn't agree with some of them...because they were being short and sweet

NovemberJune

All people with abs have one thing in common................low body fat. How does one attain that? Calorie deficit if one has higher body fat than desired.

Many teenage boys have abs. I'm more than sure that they didn't get them from adhering to the list mentioned. Why do they have abs? Because they have low body fat.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

My 5 year old has abs and he doesn't drink booze so there

JustJennie1

To those that don't agree with the list, I'd really like to know why. Not starting a fight, just would be interesting to know as I am always up for learning new things.....

#2) Fish vs steak makes no difference in weight loss/acquiring abs. Calorie and protein content does.

#3) Total nonsense. You can get abs just fine with Twinkies, Wonder Bread, and, yes, Pop-Tarts.

#4) Total nonsense. Yes, sauces and condiments have calories, but that means you need to eat them in moderation and account for them. Eliminating them entirely is not at all necessray.

#5) Same as #4.

#6) I'm sensing a pattern of food alarmism. He's creating a list of foods to never consume if you want abs, and it's dumb. You can get abs while having the occasional alcoholic drink just fine. Again, you just have to account for the calories.

The others are fine. Those are "slow and steady," "lift heavy," "don't focus on ab exercises," and "get enough sleep." That's reasonable advice.

This guy.

Damn I didn't see this one here. This one is a lot shorter then my version

I'm into the whole brevity thing.

That can make things even worse long winded wise tho. Look at the amount of people who commented on those who said they didn't agree with some of them...because they were being short and sweet

No, because the response was "sorry. Don't agree" and that was all.

ArroganceInStep