Cannot get my abs to show...

CookiesandCrunches16
CookiesandCrunches16 Posts: 41 Member
edited November 23 in Fitness and Exercise
I'm having a lot of trouble to grow more defined visible abs. I'm a 5 1/2 ft tall female, about 105lbs and currently maintaining my weight on about 2,730-2,750 calories. My macros are 138p/92f/343c. I've been training core, along with the rest of my body for 2 years. Is there anything I can/should do to grow visible, defined abs? Thank you in advance

Replies

  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
    Do you mean all the time, or fitness model stuff? In pictures, they're flexing and sometimes dehydrated.
    That's a special category of issue, you should probably search for that specifically in other places.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
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  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    Are you 5 ft and half an inch tall or five and a half feet tall?

    It is, in general, hard for a woman to have very defined abs.

    Are you following a particular progressive lifting routine, or are you doing isolated muscle groups.

    Your weight looks good if you are 5'.5".
    So it is down to looking at what you are doing in the gym.
    Could you post your routines so people will have a better idea of how to guide you?
    You may want to read the recomp thread.

    Cheers, h.
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,407 Member
    Your weight seems good...but those calories seem high to me? What is your exercise regime at this point? (How often are you doing cardio/weights? How much weight are you lifting?)
  • shadowconn
    shadowconn Posts: 141 Member
    11 to 14 percent body fat. Typically. My sister couldn't even get them with 5% (don't do 5%). She eventually got skin surgery and lipo on her stomach but still does not have a six-pack. You really have to can the carbs and the salt. A 6-pack diet is not pleasant. It's a 24 hour regiment.
  • bananamericana
    bananamericana Posts: 1 Member
    If you're only working on core then you're only building muscle so it won't show until you do some kind of fat burning cardio to strip down the fat. If you only do core training you'll just get bigger muscles that won't necessarily show. Also cut back on the dairy and red meat to see better results; try sticking to lean protein like poultry and fish. Maybe you're also using too much oil/salt/sodium when cooking? For your height I would have maybe 2500-2600 calories rather than 2700+, simply because I think it's too much for your height. 2500 is still healthy, unlike most girls' 1300 calorie fad diets these days so don't go under like 2000 calories!!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited August 2015
    shadowconn wrote: »
    11 to 14 percent body fat. Typically. My sister couldn't even get them with 5% (don't do 5%). She eventually got skin surgery and lipo on her stomach but still does not have a six-pack. You really have to can the carbs and the salt. A 6-pack diet is not pleasant. It's a 24 hour regiment.

    You're female
    That's essential body fat range and you don't drop that low
    Your sister was NEVER 5% BF, she'd be dead
    Maybe look at some women's body fat pictures

    Your recent threads, some deleted, attest to the fact that you have quite a bit to learn before doling out advice. I hope you do and have a chance of success
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    bananamericana wrote: »
    If you're only working on core then you're only building muscle so it won't show until you do some kind of fat burning cardio to strip down the fat. If you only do core training you'll just get bigger muscles that won't necessarily show. Also cut back on the dairy and red meat to see better results; try sticking to lean protein like poultry and fish. Maybe you're also using too much oil/salt/sodium when cooking? For your height I would have maybe 2500-2600 calories rather than 2700+, simply because I think it's too much for your height. 2500 is still healthy, unlike most girls' 1300 calorie fad diets these days so don't go under like 2000 calories!!

    What?

    Calorie is based on TDEE ...you know her height and weight but not her activity or exercise level, you can't judge her intake and throw out an arbitrary calorie rule based on the info you have (I say that as a 5'8 woman maintaining at 2200-2400)

    She will not be building muscle without a decent progressive hypertrophy programme and decent calorie intake and a whole lot of time.

    Cutting is just fewer calories ..there is no issue with them coming from dairy or red meat
    Salt and carbs play with water weight
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    A female with 5% BF !!!!!!!!!!!! :D
  • oh_happy_day
    oh_happy_day Posts: 1,137 Member
    bananamericana wrote: »
    If you're only working on core then you're only building muscle so it won't show until you do some kind of fat burning cardio to strip down the fat. If you only do core training you'll just get bigger muscles that won't necessarily show. Also cut back on the dairy and red meat to see better results; try sticking to lean protein like poultry and fish. Maybe you're also using too much oil/salt/sodium when cooking? For your height I would have maybe 2500-2600 calories rather than 2700+, simply because I think it's too much for your height. 2500 is still healthy, unlike most girls' 1300 calorie fad diets these days so don't go under like 2000 calories!!

    Excuse you! Some of us are very short and that calorie allowance is what we get.
  • arb037
    arb037 Posts: 203 Member
    Typically to "see " abs its just a matter of reducing bodyfat. Everybody has abs, they are just covered by layers if fat, if you want bigger ab muscles then weighted ab exercises can do the trick, but again to see them a reduction in overall BF% is needed.
  • oh_happy_day
    oh_happy_day Posts: 1,137 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    shadowconn wrote: »
    11 to 14 percent body fat. Typically. My sister couldn't even get them with 5% (don't do 5%). She eventually got skin surgery and lipo on her stomach but still does not have a six-pack. You really have to can the carbs and the salt. A 6-pack diet is not pleasant. It's a 24 hour regiment.

    You're female
    That's essential body fat range and you don't drop that low
    Your sister was NEVER 5% BF, she'd be dead
    Maybe look at some women's body fat pictures

    Your recent threads, some deleted, attest to the fact that you have quite a bit to learn before doling out advice. I hope you do and have a chance of success

    Ah, so I'm not the only one who has noticed some of the cr*p this person is recommending to others.
  • KittensMaster
    KittensMaster Posts: 748 Member
    The irony of the screen name

    Cookies and crunches

    That isn't gonna get abs to show

    Lose fat as mentioned.

    Maybe do some weighted crunches or kneeling downward crunches using a cable pull down to build the ridges.

    Time, work, diet set points to add then cut

    Lots of women on here have done it an d shared

    My last trainer has abs and she uses the weighted crunches to push out the washboard

    But never ever weighted torso twists! They can potentially widen your waist as obliques grow.

    I don't argue with her because she actually does it and looks great

    Again, people that have done it are the ones I listen to.

  • fireandfox
    fireandfox Posts: 25 Member
    I'm 5ft 4 and have abs.
    My diet is pretty clean, very little processed food lots of protein and carbs, less fat. I'm eating around 1350 cals a day though (not sure how you're eating 2700
  • fireandfox
    fireandfox Posts: 25 Member
    fireandfox wrote: »
    I'm 5ft 4 and have abs.
    My diet is pretty clean, very little processed food lots of protein and carbs, less fat. I'm eating around 1350 cals a day though (not sure how you're eating 2700

    (Sorry didn't finish)

    My bf ratio is around 17-19% I think since my abs are pretty defined.
    I do ab work every time I workout which includes 2 leg days and 1 arm/back day a week. I do cardio before and after all my sessions. I make sure with every exercise I do I add hip flexion (works the abs).
    I noticed real definition and when I started HIIT training as well.

    Hope some of this helps you.

    You can look at my progress on my Instagram: fireandfox_x

    Best of luck!
  • yogadove
    yogadove Posts: 7 Member
    From what I have experienced, female abs are extraordinarily difficult to really see, and even very very fit women/girls with very low body fat can't see them most of the time unless it's first thing in the morning and they haven't eaten yet and they flex their stomachs. When you see pro photos of females with impressive abs, these women are sometimes dehydrated, and that look is temporary. I have a fitness friend on tumblr who will sometimes post first-thing-in-the-morning photos showing her "abs coming out to play!" and then a couple hours later "They're gone again, lol" and she is very fit with low body fat.
  • ExRelaySprinter
    ExRelaySprinter Posts: 874 Member
    fireandfox wrote: »
    I'm 5ft 4 and have abs.
    My diet is pretty clean, very little processed food lots of protein and carbs, less fat. I'm eating around 1350 cals a day though (not sure how you're eating 2700

    Yes, i think eating clean does play a big part in this.
    I love my doughnuts too much, so doubt i'll be getting a 6 pack anytime soon. Lol
    Just interested how you get to eat 2750 cals OP....how much exercise do you do?
  • M30834134
    M30834134 Posts: 411 Member
    shadowconn wrote: »
    11 to 14 percent body fat. Typically. My sister couldn't even get them with 5% (don't do 5%). She eventually got skin surgery and lipo on her stomach but still does not have a six-pack. You really have to can the carbs and the salt. A 6-pack diet is not pleasant. It's a 24 hour regiment.

    You really shouldn't be posting, reading only. Quite a bit of reading.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    A diet can be 'clean' or 'unclean' it doesn't matter. A nutritious diet is good for everyone.
    It is lowering ones body fat, and raising ones LBM through diet and progressive resistance work that gets abs. Oh and lots and lots of dedication.

    Cheers, h.
  • stephxo1
    stephxo1 Posts: 191 Member
    If abs aren't showing then possibly lower your cals into a bit of a deficit to bring your body fat down. Certain types of foods e.g. processed foods will store excess water and cover any abs that you may have so cut these down also. Plus you need to actually have built up some abs before trying to drop body fat otherwise there will be nothing there to pop in the first place. If you're maintaining on 2700cals then fair play to you. I'm 5'9", cutting on 1800 and ate 3000cals while bulking plus I lift hevay 5 days per week with abs and cardio thrown in at the end of some of my sessions. And my abs are only starting to come through after almost 3 months of cutting!
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