Ladies around 5'5-5'7 - at what weight do you have abs?

Although genetics has a lot to do with it, the OP may have an issue revealing abs considering her history. You can't expect to appear lean in the midsection, or anywhere, if significant muscle mass is likely lost.

Weight is a factor but not what makes or breaks the point of showing off abs. 1) Abs are created in the gym. You have to do a lot of abs exercises. I'm talking like 200-300 reps (about 4 sets of 25 reps of 2 or 3 abs exercises). Some of my favorite are captain's chair, reverse crunch, leg lifts, ball crunches, etc. 2) Abs are revealed in the kitchen. No matter how hard you workout or how little you weigh, in order to reveal those abs you have to eat clean and know how to "tighten" your look. A friend and I compete in body competitions. I just started and I am currently trying to lose more weight for my next competition. If you look up/ Google "a figure competition diet and workout plan", that will be step one to getting you on your way. I have some abs showing and I am 5'4" and sitting at 125lbs. My upper abs are currently what show, my lower abs are a work in progress (that will take me losing a little more weight and tightening my diet). Diet Diet Diet are everything when revealign abs. If I drink a glass of wine, I can see the "softness" coming back and my muscles don't look as "hard". Just always remember, muscle weighs more than fat and you can't always rely on the scale. Its helps, but doesn't always work. Another thing is go to your local gym and ask for a body fat % measurement. Average woman is at 21-25% body fat. Body competitiors are around 15% at show time. Anyhow, hope that helps!

I disagree with basically everything here. ^^^^^

There is no need to was time doing 2-300 reps. Compound lifts take care of working the core.

Yep....

Yup seconded

Weight has nothing to do with abs at all. All to do with losing bf enough for them to show for you. I have not been blessed with prominent abs, and even when I got on stage at 6-8% I barely had abs (by my standards).

For many women, maintaining abs all the time isn't healthy. Most fitness models don't have visible abs all the time....I think magazines/media gives most women unreal expectations

It doesn't have anything to do with weight! It's a matter of Bodyfat %. Abs should show at around 18-20% bodyfat for women all sizes.

Everyone is different - some people (myself included) don't have great abs even at low BF.

5'6 and my abs show even at 130lbs. All 6, too. Diet is the biggest factor I have heard but genetics must play a role too.

H am 5'8 and suffer from the 'chicken wing' syndrome. I currently burn 1000 kcal a day, five times a week, combining cardio and strenght. I have a slight defined chest, and am not worried about abs. At 49, January, I'm not doing bad. Come this time next year, provided I don't injure myself again, we might be talking

I'm 5'5" and I don't think I've ever seen my abs before lol. I'm 126 lbs now and I think something is starting to happen? Lol.

I am 5'7 1/2" and my abs look best at 125-126. I am at 126-127 now.

YES *fist in the air*

When I hit my goal height I'll have abs

Day. Is. Made

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :drinker:

Agree with those who said that abs are made in the kitchen. No matter how little you weight on the scale, if you still have a layer of fat on your belly, it will obscure the abdominals.

The only problem for me is that the stomach area is where my body likes to store fat, so I'm afraid that if I lose enough to show abs, I will be totally flat-chested & buttless. Not sure if I'm willing to make that compromise, frankly, but if there's a way around it, I'd sure be glad to hear it!

Yes, I have decided that my legs will disappear before my ab fat will leave!

Lifting does help with both problems, but genetics. . . .

Sorry if someone has already said this - I'm not going to read through all the responses - but it has a lot to do with your body dimensions. I'm 5'6" and I weigh 119 and I've had two kids. I had great abs 3 weeks after my second child and a 50 lb. weight gain because I hold almost no weight in my abs and I never have. I have a longer torso compared to my legs so everything in the middle is just stretched out. Someone with a shorter torso will have better legs than I will without having to do the work that I will.

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you probably don't have enough muscle, because I have the "ab line" like all the way down my abdomen and I'm 5'7 and 170 pounds so...yeah

Weight is not the only determinant for this. Losing the excess fat layer above the abs through toning and strength training will help with this.

I know this has been said a few times, but I think it's worth saying again:

Weight has almost no impact on your abs. There are essentially 2 things that go into having any kind of definition. It is based on the size of the muscle and the amount of fat on top of it. Thinking of weight as a goal is going to distract us from getting the successes we really want and perpetuate some really unhealthy cycles.

If you are having trouble visualizing what people mean when they say it's not about weight, it's about fat and muscle, there's a little experiment you can do (sorry, this won't give you abs):

Go to your bed, and lay 6 pillows of different thicknesses in a 2x3 pattern (like your six pack) on your mattress. Them layer a sheet, a thin blanket, and a thick comforter over pillows in that order. With all three of of the covers on there, you can probably see very little definition from any but the thickest pillows. Take the thick comforter off. You should now be able to see more definition between the pillows. Finally, remote all but the sheet. You should now be able to se quite a bit of definition (even with the thinnest pillows).

Your abs work exactly the same way. You can add definition by increasing the size of the muscles or by decreasing the amount of fat that covers them. Ideally, this is done in combination to have the best results.

Here is a link to a bunch of women who say they 5'7", 140lbs and between 25-34. You can see some are very lean and some are pretty curvy. It's not necessarily a genetics; it's composition. I believe muscle has roughly 1/5 the volume of fat. So, someone with more muscle can be significantly smaller than someone more fat.

http://www.mybodygallery.com/search.html?gender=female&height=170&weight=64&age=30&pantSize=0&shirtSize=any&bodytype=&p=2

Sorry for the long post.