does anyone know how to get abs?

dad106

No diet will give you abs... Simply hard work building muscle in the gym.

Don't listen to this advice.. this person is wrong. You can build all the muscle you want in the gym, but if you have a layer of fat over them they won't show.

From what I've heard and what I've doing, you need to have a pretty clean diet. Little sugar, carbs and processed food. Once you get that down and burn fat through cardio and building muscle, then the abs will show.

It comes down to having the abdominal muscle to show and having a low enough bodyfat percentage. Eating this and not that and killing yourself on the hamster wheel is not necessary for abs. I eat lots of junkfood and don't do cardio and I am getting close.

While that may work great for you, it's not going to work for everyone.

Some people it does take eating certain foods and hitting the gym and doing cardio. I know that I personally cut out bread except for 1 meal a day and my stomach is flatter then ever.. and I'm getting close too. Its about what works for your body.. not what one person thinks is best.

I agree there may be a few exceptions but for the most part it will work for anyone. It's called 'If it fits your macros'.....meaning if your protein, fat, and carbs levels are where you need them, it doesn't matter where those said macro nutrients come from. There is no clean food or dirty food nor will sugar magically stop you from losing fat.

Actually, I think it does matter where those macro nutrients come from. Food is not just food..it's not just about the protien and the fat and carbs and sugar. What about the other vitamins and minerals that come from fruits and vegetables? Your body needs those too.. and your sure as hell not getting them from ice cream and pizza.

It's just like the twinkle diet.. you can eat all the twinkles you want and still lose weight if its under your calorie goal, but its not going to do much good for your body.

4theking

No diet will give you abs... Simply hard work building muscle in the gym.

Don't listen to this advice.. this person is wrong. You can build all the muscle you want in the gym, but if you have a layer of fat over them they won't show.

From what I've heard and what I've doing, you need to have a pretty clean diet. Little sugar, carbs and processed food. Once you get that down and burn fat through cardio and building muscle, then the abs will show.

It comes down to having the abdominal muscle to show and having a low enough bodyfat percentage. Eating this and not that and killing yourself on the hamster wheel is not necessary for abs. I eat lots of junkfood and don't do cardio and I am getting close.

While that may work great for you, it's not going to work for everyone.

Some people it does take eating certain foods and hitting the gym and doing cardio. I know that I personally cut out bread except for 1 meal a day and my stomach is flatter then ever.. and I'm getting close too. Its about what works for your body.. not what one person thinks is best.

I agree there may be a few exceptions but for the most part it will work for anyone. It's called 'If it fits your macros'.....meaning if your protein, fat, and carbs levels are where you need them, it doesn't matter where those said macro nutrients come from. There is no clean food or dirty food nor will sugar magically stop you from losing fat.

Actually, I think it does matter where those macro nutrients come from. Food is not just food..it's not just about the protien and the fat and carbs and sugar. What about the other vitamins and minerals that come from fruits and vegetables? Your body needs those too.. and your sure as hell not getting them from ice cream and pizza.

It's just like the twinkle diet.. you can eat all the twinkles you want and still lose weight if its under your calorie goal, but its not going to do much good for your body.

I thought we were talking about getting abs?

dad106

No diet will give you abs... Simply hard work building muscle in the gym.

Don't listen to this advice.. this person is wrong. You can build all the muscle you want in the gym, but if you have a layer of fat over them they won't show.

From what I've heard and what I've doing, you need to have a pretty clean diet. Little sugar, carbs and processed food. Once you get that down and burn fat through cardio and building muscle, then the abs will show.

It comes down to having the abdominal muscle to show and having a low enough bodyfat percentage. Eating this and not that and killing yourself on the hamster wheel is not necessary for abs. I eat lots of junkfood and don't do cardio and I am getting close.

While that may work great for you, it's not going to work for everyone.

Some people it does take eating certain foods and hitting the gym and doing cardio. I know that I personally cut out bread except for 1 meal a day and my stomach is flatter then ever.. and I'm getting close too. Its about what works for your body.. not what one person thinks is best.

I agree there may be a few exceptions but for the most part it will work for anyone. It's called 'If it fits your macros'.....meaning if your protein, fat, and carbs levels are where you need them, it doesn't matter where those said macro nutrients come from. There is no clean food or dirty food nor will sugar magically stop you from losing fat.

Actually, I think it does matter where those macro nutrients come from. Food is not just food..it's not just about the protien and the fat and carbs and sugar. What about the other vitamins and minerals that come from fruits and vegetables? Your body needs those too.. and your sure as hell not getting them from ice cream and pizza.

It's just like the twinkle diet.. you can eat all the twinkles you want and still lose weight if its under your calorie goal, but its not going to do much good for your body.

I thought we were talking about getting abs?

We were but then you added in the "if it fits in your macros" bit, which is what that comment/question was geared towards.

EpiGaiaRepens

Hey-so I met my original weight goal a year ago on MFP and since then I've been in hot pursuit of the secret to a 6 pack. Which means I've done A LOT of research. This is what i've learned and what I expect will help anyone (though honestly I only just figured this stuff out about a month ago and I haven't been able to put it into practice 100% yet myself so I can't guarnateee it'll work):

(1) maintain your low calorie eating- whatever your MFP thing is. This shouldn't change. For me, that means lots of cardio so I can continue to eat as much as I'm accustomed to (I eat my exercise calories...Plus running = hot legs!)
(2) increase the INTENSITY of your exercises. Do High Intensity Interval Training 2-3 x's a week. This increases fat burning in your body. How? I don't know but it's true and if you do it all out for one week, you'll know it's true because I was running 50 miles a month and my first week doing HIIT running (5 mile runs with 5 one minute High Intensity Intervals) and my butt was WHOOPED- and I broke a plateau in my weight that first week and that new low weight (135!) never went away when I cut back on the intensity of my HIIT sessions (cuz i need to be awake after 6 pm sometimes, ya know?)
(3) "abs are made in the kitchen" means eating cleaner for the most part. Lowering your sugar spikes in your diet- so less carbs, less refined sugars, no white breads/pastas. Some folks have said to just eat lower on the glycemic index. In my mind this has meant eating more salads, more low sugar fruits, less breads all around, less sweets all around. Zero bagels. Zero cookies, crackers, pretzels. I also lowered my carb percentage in my diet (so now it's only 30% carbs but I may have to lower it more)....and increase protein (I'm a vegetarian so i'm a bit jealous of meat eaters who can do low carb easily....but I think it can be done!)
(4) Weights- from what i understand just doing weight machines at the gym two or three times a week isn't going to cut it. I say this because I religiously did weights for two years while in graduate school and i was 174 pounds of lard back then no matter how much i tried. That being said, I do believe weight training is really important to success in the ab department- building muscle raises your metabolism, it tones and strengthens. My thoughts on this are that instead of doing "weights" per se, doing something like Crossfit will cover both the weights and the HIIT and mix it up enough that your body never gets to "used to it" that it stops making a difference (I'm starting crossfit in the next month or so...so I can't completely vouch for it but I have seen other ladies do it too)

last but not least, we have genes. Damned genes. My family tends to have bellies and higher body fat percentage (my dad looks like he is 9 months pregnant)....but I still think it can be done!

dmpizza

Its partly genetic.
Some people will never have them visible.
I had an x-ray done and I look very buff in the x-ray, its funny.

joejccva71

No diet will give you abs... Simply hard work building muscle in the gym.

femmerides

No diet will give you abs... Simply hard work building muscle in the gym.

Hahahahaha! Love it!

4theking

Its partly genetic.
Some people will never have them visible.
I had an x-ray done and I look very buff in the x-ray, its funny.

Some people will never have them visible because they have too much fat. It is a choice.

joejccva71

Its partly genetic.
Some people will never have them visible.
I had an x-ray done and I look very buff in the x-ray, its funny.

Some people will never have them visible because they have too much fat. It is a choice.

^ This, This, and more This.

You are either in it 110% or you're not. Plain and simple.

bobbybdoe

Its partly genetic.
Some people will never have them visible.
I had an x-ray done and I look very buff in the x-ray, its funny.

Some people will never have them visible because they have too much fat. It is a choice.

^ This, This, and more This.

You are either in it 110% or you're not. Plain and simple.

You serious?

Even if I did lose the fat around my belly (I already have nice abs underneath), I won't be able to see them?

susanb_16

bump

shelbygeorge29

No diet will give you abs... Simply hard work building muscle in the gym.

Any bodybuilder will tell you, abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym.

Rae6503

Some core work-outs. Maybe once a week. Low enough body fat percentage (this is where eating less than you burn comes in). Genetic disposition to store any remaining body fat somewhere besides your mid-section (mine goes to my thighs).

BUT I don't think you need to eat "clean" (as in nothing processed). I don't think you need to eat low carb, or low fat either. Just less than you burn, but enough quantity and quality that you still have muscles.

taso42_DELETED

No diet will give you abs... Simply hard work building muscle in the gym.

Don't listen to this advice.. this person is wrong. You can build all the muscle you want in the gym, but if you have a layer of fat over them they won't show.

From what I've heard and what I've doing, you need to have a pretty clean diet. Little sugar, carbs and processed food. Once you get that down and burn fat through cardio and building muscle, then the abs will show.

Agreed. That couldn't be more opposite from the truth. Having abs visible (or any muscle definition for that matter) is a function of body fat percentage. You can do crunches 6 hours a day, but never get any muscle definition if you eat poorly and have a high percentage of body fat.

You have a six pack already. We all do. It's just covered in fat, and for most people it's the last fat to leave the body. Stay disciplined in your eating habits and you too can achieve the "6 pack" badge of honor.

AggieCass09

No diet will give you abs... Simply hard work building muscle in the gym.

wrong....abs are probably 75% diet and 25% muscle....gotta eat clean.

Body fat for women is usualy between 12-16% guys i think are 7-10%
I"m at 26% and can see the 4 pack

ErikaSwenson

Bump! I am about 21-22% body fat (5.5 feet and 135 pounds)...stomach is pretty flat but I want a sculpted tum tum!

4theking

Bump! I am about 21-22% body fat (5.5 feet and 135 pounds)...stomach is pretty flat but I want a sculpted tum tum!

Trim that fat a bit more and you will be there.