Do you need to do abs to get abs?

Brooke4206

Just curious!

Edit:

I'm sitting at about 15 percent bf and weigh 110. Female. They're coming, but I really can't drop any more weight to get these abs. Any suggestions?

happyfeetrebel1

well, I'm pretty sure you actually have abs, or you'd be an amoeba.

Most of the time, they are not typical to see if you have a higher BF percentage. You can do KILLER ab exercises, but it your body isn't lean enough, you won't see 'em

So, get to a reasonable bf % and work on them

*edit..I'm an idiot who can't type*

amoeba15

Workout or you'll be meeeeee.

rileysowner

Not in the traditional sense. That is, doing lots of crunches and the like. Doing heavy weighted squats and deadlifts will give you abs, and some other things like fallouts planks, side planks can help. Having said that, if you do lift weights you probably have visible abs. If you don't you may or may not even at a low body fat percentage.

VernerDixon

yeah.. you have abs..

The word "ab" is just short for "abdominal" which everyone has, otherwise your intestines would fall out.

But as previously mentioned, to see definition in any muscle group, you'll probably want to get to 12% or under..

Make sure you're training the right way if you want to see your muscle definition.. That doesn't mean hours on the treadmill, long bouts of cardio does not burn fat more effectively and can actually lead to muscle depletion.

Weightlosstips

Generally your abs will not show if you have fat covering them and no ends of ab workout will get them showing. You need to do compound body exercises that will cause u to lose body-fat. ie upper and lower body including abs. My personal favorite is Burpees with a few reverse crunches thrown in. After the fat is lost, your ABS WILL MAGICALLY APEAR
Based on your weight and body fat % you have a very low body fat range for a woman. So unless u want to be an active female body builder, it wont get much better that that. (Especially if u want to show some curves):happy:

thunderseed

well, I'm pretty sure you actually have abs, or you'd be an amoeba.

Most of the time, they are typical to see if you have a higher BF percentage. You can do KILLER ab exercises, but it your body isn't lean enough, you won't see 'em

So, get to a reasonable bf % and work on them

This is accurate, but the problem is, for a female, an extremely low body fat is not reasonable. We have natural fat layers that are meant for pregnancy, whereas men don't. Getting ripped is reasonable for some men, not reasonable or healthy for women.

It's really bad advice to reccommend a girl to starve herself IMHO. Sometimes we have to accept, health or vanity... It's better to be healthy in my eyes.

Weightlosstips

Perfectly said Thunderseed!

kgeyser

Just curious!

Edit:

I'm sitting at about 15 percent bf and weigh 110. Female. They're coming, but I really can't drop any more weight to get these abs. Any suggestions?

As others have said, seeing abs is dependent on your body fat, not only percentage but also where your body stores fat. Some people will see abs at higher BF% than others - I don't have the 6-pack, but I'm starting to see oblique definition and a bit of "venus belt" definition just because my body prefers to store fat on my hips and legs.

Rather than focusing on dropping weight, a body recomposition would probably be more appropriate. By eating at maintenance or a slight deficit while lifting heavy, you would maintain lean body mass but focus on fat loss, and would probably see minimal changes on the scale. A bulk and cut cycle might also be appropriate for your goals.

odddrums

Workout or you'll be meeeeee.

Perfectly put, amoeba15!

/thread

Kevalicious99

For men .. typically 7% is about right for 6 pack abs.

Women .. wouldn't recommend it at all. Women just naturally need more body fat .. men can get away with going low, women cannot as has been already mentioned.

VernerDixon

This is accurate, but the problem is, for a female, an extremely low body fat is not reasonable. We have natural fat layers that are meant for pregnancy, whereas men don't. Getting ripped is reasonable for some men, not reasonable or healthy for women.

It's really bad advice to recommend a girl to starve herself IMHO. Sometimes we have to accept, health or vanity... It's better to be healthy in my eyes.

True, women naturally carry fat differently. However, if your goal is to see your abs, I don't think it's unreasonable to lower your body fat percentage as long as it's done within a safe and healthy range.

Also, you can definitely continue to drop fat without starving yourself.

happyfeetrebel1

well, I'm pretty sure you actually have abs, or you'd be an amoeba.

Most of the time, they are typical to see if you have a higher BF percentage. You can do KILLER ab exercises, but it your body isn't lean enough, you won't see 'em

So, get to a reasonable bf % and work on them

This is accurate, but the problem is, for a female, an extremely low body fat is not reasonable. We have natural fat layers that are meant for pregnancy, whereas men don't. Getting ripped is reasonable for some men, not reasonable or healthy for women.

It's really bad advice to reccommend a girl to starve herself IMHO. Sometimes we have to accept, health or vanity... It's better to be healthy in my eyes.

I didn't

The 15% BF that the OP is at, was not there when I posted, it was an edit. I had no idea she was at that %

I would NEVER recommend to a female to get thinner than that...just' sayin

Stripeness

This is accurate, but the problem is, for a female, an extremely low body fat is not reasonable. We have natural fat layers that are meant for pregnancy, whereas men don't. Getting ripped is reasonable for some men, not reasonable or healthy for women.

It's really bad advice to reccommend a girl to starve herself IMHO. Sometimes we have to accept, health or vanity... It's better to be healthy in my eyes.

^^This. And also comment re: where your body stores fat. Over time you may see differences in where you hang onto your fat, but be kind to yourself. There *are* also genetics at work. For me, despite putting on 80 lbs @ one point, my boobs hadn't gone up a single cup size - we don't have complete control over where fat stays/goes.

The table below is from the American Council on Exercise, for reference.

Description Women Men
Essential fat 10–13% 2–5%
Athletes 14–20% 6–13%
Fitness 21–24% 14–17%
Average 25–31% 18–24%
Obese 32%+ 25%+

kgeyser

This is accurate, but the problem is, for a female, an extremely low body fat is not reasonable. We have natural fat layers that are meant for pregnancy, whereas men don't. Getting ripped is reasonable for some men, not reasonable or healthy for women.

It's really bad advice to recommend a girl to starve herself IMHO. Sometimes we have to accept, health or vanity... It's better to be healthy in my eyes.

True, women naturally carry fat differently. However, if your goal is to see your abs, I don't think it's unreasonable to lower your body fat percentage as long as it's done within a safe and healthy range.

Also, you can definitely continue to drop fat without starving yourself.

Agree. There are many women who have visible abs and are perfectly healthy and eat plenty of food.

StriversNYC

Abs depend heavily on genetics.

Some people don't have to work hard for them except lose body fat, others will get to low body fat and still have no ab definition.

I would definitely do weighted ab training either way.