Is it possible that some people just can't get abs?

BamBam125

I'm 5 foot tall and female. According to BMI charts, I should weight between 95 and 125lbs. I'm currently WAY over that. Hence, why I'm trying to loose.

However, when I was in college, and worked out 3 days a week for 45-60 minutes a day (15-20 minutes on treadmill, rest of the time was strength training on machines) I had visible ab muscles. It wasn't a full 6 pack, but it was a partly visibly 4 pack.

At that time I weighted 135lbs and felt really healthy and fit. I wore a size 6 in jeans. I don't know what my body fat percentage was though. I do know that I could put over 70+ lbs of weight on the ab crunch machine thingy and do 3-4 sets of 12 reps though.

It was actually somewhat problematic because I was also taking voice and my ab muscles being "tight" would make diaphragm exercises in voice lessons more challenging.

I think my weight loss would be faster if I added strength training back to my routine, so that's a goal for this year. I've always gained muscle fast though. Waited tables and got really nice arms in one semester. I've got "linebacker" shoulders and equally muscly calves. I enjoyed weights a lot more than cardio too. I have a treadmill at home but not a weight machine thingy. The gym in the real world isn't as convenient as it was in college when I was on campus with lots of free time. Poor diet + desk job = no longer healthy and fit.

wackyfunster

Third, Age: One thing I haven't seen mentioned here yet is age. As we get older it gets more and more difficult to get that chiseled or shrink wrapped look that is needed to get those model abs we see in all the pics. Skin becomes less resilient and adipose tissue (fat cells) tends to become "looser" as well.

Can you elaborate on this looseness and what to do about it please? Thanks

Fat cells are "elastic" in a sense. As they fill with lipid material (stored as triglycerides) they expand. When we loose body fat, what we're actually losing is the lipid material stored in our fat cells (the cells themselves remain). A process called Lipolisys converts the stored Triglycerides to fatty acids and glycerol in our blood (which can then be used in other processes to generate energy for our muscles). As lipolysis occurs, the fat cells shrink. Subcutaneous fat cells sit between the skin layers and the muscles. The skin is connected to the muscles by a membrane called the Septae. As we get older, that septae becomes less elastic. So as the fat cells shrink, the septae doesn't pull the skin back as well and the end result is a "looser" fat layer between the muscles and skin.

As far as I know there's not really a whole lot you can do about it. It's just part of the aging process. The longer you go with a lower body fat %, the better your chances that the septae will eventually tighten and pull things back in. However, the older you are the less chance this will occur.

Cold causes apoptosis of white adipose tissue (i.e. permanently kills fat rather than just "shrinking" it). There is a cosmetic surgery procedure that capitalizes on this, but you can accomplish the same thing a lot cheaper via ice baths. Didn't find out about this til I had already reached ~7% body fat, but will definitely be using this as part of my future cutting protocol. Non-shivering thermogenesis is core for this process, and seems to be enhanced by a ketogenic diet based upon my experience (normal core temp in ice bath while on keto diet was 99+, after reintroducing carbs stays steady in the 97.8-98.6 range with much greater shivering and a more rapid onset of shivering, which makes sense as shivering is basically trading glycogen for heat).

As a side note, I've used Lyle McDonald's stubborn fat protocols with great success. I can't tolerate the recommended dose of yohimbine (the side effects are insane), but sourced some alpha-yohimbine and used that in combination with lower doses of yohimbine. This is definitely effective. OTOH, based on the limited self-experimentation I've done, I think ice baths may be faster (going to bulk to ~15% BF and cut from there, so should be able to find out at that point).

Jo5ie

What body fat % should men and women aim for if they want visible abs? I don't really have a means of measuring body fat, but I know there are scales with metal foot prints in them that claim to measure it. The lowest body fat I've been (That I know of) was 18.5% because a health group came to my school and put my finger in some sort of clamp thing. That was the year I was training a lot in kickboxing and jiu jitsu.

I think for women the possibility starts around 19%, and will depend on how you carry your fat. If you're someone that carries your weight in your midsection, you may have to go quite a bit lower.

ETA: to the original question, I think it's technically possible for everyone, but may not be worth the sacrifices necessary for a lot of people- women in particular. I personally would not be willing to go so low BF% that I give up my curves to have visible abs.

I've had 2 kids and my tummy is covered in loose saggy skin that is never going to go away without surgery. The more weight I lose the worse it gets. I know I will never have visible abs, no matter what I do or what my body fat percentage is.

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

Where does the quest for visible abs end and the journey into anorexia begin?

As long as you are mentally healthy, you won't going to develop anorexia. Also you can't get abs with anorexia. Those two mentioned above are totally different so comparing them is outright stupid and full of ignorance.