Tips for women on getting abs?

makemewannadie

Hi guys, so sorry if this thread has been done to death, but i'm trying to piece together different information and thought it would be best to ask all of my questions at once and hopefully people who are a lot more knowledgeable than me can help me out

My current exercise is generally a 2/3 mile walk each day, basketball for 2 hours twice a week, and 2 hours of badminton once or twice a week, with some yoga each day or every other day. I did do competitive cheerleading and gymnastics last year but don't have time for it this year with my schedule.

1. I read somewhere that you need to get your body fat percentage down, any tips? Is this the same as just losing weight?

2. What exercise can I be doing to help me along to getting fit, not just thin (is my current exercise acceptable or is it too sports based?) What would be an ideal week's worth of exercise?

3. Any tips on starting out with weights? (i'm going to steal my boyfriends who never uses them, haha)

4. Any food I should definitely be avoiding and food I should definitely be eating? (i'm vegan)

Sorry for my naivety on the subject! And any other advice you have to offer would be super helpful (:

shabaity

1 lose weight is how it works
2 try planks my abs are hating me for this start with elbows and go from there
3 talk to a physical trainer so you can do it safely
4 i dont know on that score honestly im diabetic so im closer to being a carnivore

makemewannadie

Thanks for the reply!
Regarding q 1, what about if you were at an ideal weight already, and don't want to lose (or only want to lose very little), i've been underweight at one point and definitely didn't have abs haha.

qtiekiki

1. Lift weight, eat at a slight deficit.
2. Compound lifts (deadlift, squat, overhead press, etc), HIIT of full body and plyo exercises. Your current exercises are good for cardio, so I would just add strength training 3x a week.
3. For beginners, people recommend NRL4W (new rules of lifting for women), Stronglift 5x5 and Starting Strength. Or hire a good personal trainer.
4. No advice as I don't believe you need to eliminate anything. Some people would say cut carbs, or go gluten-free, etc.

mfkn_Titanium

Abs = lower your body fat. This can be done via several methods. But no one way is gonna do it until you get to a lower body fat percentage. (20% or lower, typically.)

Rae6503

http://mollygalbraith.com/blog/weekly-reader-question-1-what-to-eat-to-get-abs/

Dan112358

t's all good. Eat whatever you want, and as much as you want. No exercise either. I've got the solution to your problem:

snowgrrl83

1. Lift weight, eat at a slight deficit.

^^^ This.

Determinednoob

3. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/686963-large-collection-of-info-for-beginners

yoovie

1. I read somewhere that you need to get your body fat percentage down, any tips? Is this the same as just losing weight?

Yes - lower your body fat % - it has nothing to do with the scale. Ive been at 170 for about two years but went from 36% bf to 25% bf and that was just floundering and not really knowing what I was doing for the first half so it took me longer than it should.

Get a body fat % scale or a caliper or get an accurate reading from a dunk- but get some kind of starting measurement and concentrate hard on lowering that. No more scale. NO MORE - stick with body fat- you'll lose a little weight anyway- but that shouldnt be your focus.

A big part of it will be your nutrition - Im talking about really studying a few nutritional studies to see what kind of fat loss diet will work for you in particular, that you can stick with!

2. What exercise can I be doing to help me along to getting fit, not just thin (is my current exercise acceptable or is it too sports based?) What would be an ideal week's worth of exercise?

three lifting workouts with a moderate cardio warm up and one day of cardio. Lifting causes an afterburn that sets you up all day to keep burning the right fuel- cardio FAILS at this. You need to get stronger and build muscle so you can shrink your fat cells and start using your body as the awesome machine and fuel burning system it was meant to be.

3. Any tips on starting out with weights? (i'm going to steal my boyfriends who never uses them, haha)

Get the New Rules of Lifting for Women and actually read it- I promise its an entertaining and WAY informative read. I fell in love with that book and am on my third time reading it. It also tells you exactly what to do with the boyfriends weights! its a perfect system- you can search all over MFP and see that everyone agrees.

4. Any food I should definitely be avoiding and food I should definitely be eating? (i'm vegan)

Check out Molly Galbraith on google for her eating blog!!!

BEST OF LUCK DOLLFACE!

TheRealParisLove

You will have to reduce your body fat to see your abs, even if you are at an ideal weight. I think it is unrealistic for a vegan to get that kind of look, but if you are willing to add in some whey protein (milk based) you can preserve your muscle while losing fat. Otherwise the result won't look good, just really skinny.

You may also have issues seeing your abs if you are an "apple" shape-- meaning big boobs and heavier upper body with thin legs and hips.

makemewannadie

t's all good. Eat whatever you want, and as much as you want. No exercise either. I've got the solution to your problem:

hehe, ouch that looks painful!

makemewannadie

1. I read somewhere that you need to get your body fat percentage down, any tips? Is this the same as just losing weight?

Yes - lower your body fat % - it has nothing to do with the scale. Ive been at 170 for about two years but went from 36% bf to 25% bf and that was just floundering and not really knowing what I was doing for the first half so it took me longer than it should.

Get a body fat % scale or a caliper or get an accurate reading from a dunk- but get some kind of starting measurement and concentrate hard on lowering that. No more scale. NO MORE - stick with body fat- you'll lose a little weight anyway- but that shouldnt be your focus.

A big part of it will be your nutrition - Im talking about really studying a few nutritional studies to see what kind of fat loss diet will work for you in particular, that you can stick with!

2. What exercise can I be doing to help me along to getting fit, not just thin (is my current exercise acceptable or is it too sports based?) What would be an ideal week's worth of exercise?

three lifting workouts with a moderate cardio warm up and one day of cardio. Lifting causes an afterburn that sets you up all day to keep burning the right fuel- cardio FAILS at this. You need to get stronger and build muscle so you can shrink your fat cells and start using your body as the awesome machine and fuel burning system it was meant to be.

3. Any tips on starting out with weights? (i'm going to steal my boyfriends who never uses them, haha)

Get the New Rules of Lifting for Women and actually read it- I promise its an entertaining and WAY informative read. I fell in love with that book and am on my third time reading it. It also tells you exactly what to do with the boyfriends weights! its a perfect system- you can search all over MFP and see that everyone agrees.

4. Any food I should definitely be avoiding and food I should definitely be eating? (i'm vegan)

Check out Molly Galbraith on google for her eating blog!!!

BEST OF LUCK DOLLFACE!

this was super helpful, thank you! I'll see if I can track that book down now

makemewannadie

You will have to reduce your body fat to see your abs, even if you are at an ideal weight. I think it is unrealistic for a vegan to get that kind of look, but if you are willing to add in some whey protein (milk based) you can preserve your muscle while losing fat. Otherwise the result won't look good, just really skinny.

You may also have issues seeing your abs if you are an "apple" shape-- meaning big boobs and heavier upper body with thin legs and hips.

I dom't see why a vegan won't be able to get abs like an omnivore, i'm definitely not willing to add whey to my diet, or else I wouldn't be vegan any more i've heard about some vegan protein powders but not sure if i'll actually need it or not... I just definitely need to look into what I need to incorporate into my diet to help things along.

GrumpyAG

This is an interesting read and may answer some questions: http://www.missiontomuscle.com/percentage-of-body-fat-abs/

LilMissSunshine_

Abs are made in the kitchen. Eat clean foods. Do weighted core exercises.

qtiekiki

You will have to reduce your body fat to see your abs, even if you are at an ideal weight. I think it is unrealistic for a vegan to get that kind of look, but if you are willing to add in some whey protein (milk based) you can preserve your muscle while losing fat. Otherwise the result won't look good, just really skinny.

You may also have issues seeing your abs if you are an "apple" shape-- meaning big boobs and heavier upper body with thin legs and hips.

I dom't see why a vegan won't be able to get abs like an omnivore, i'm definitely not willing to add whey to my diet, or else I wouldn't be vegan any more i've heard about some vegan protein powders but not sure if i'll actually need it or not... I just definitely need to look into what I need to incorporate into my diet to help things along.

You don't need protein powder if you are getting enough proteins from food. You need about 1g per lb of LBM.

DopeItUp

t's all good. Eat whatever you want, and as much as you want. No exercise either. I've got the solution to your problem:

hehe, ouch that looks painful!

No pain, no gain.