Gaining muscle + defining abs
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To the OP.
What @sjohnson__1 and @Wheelhouse15 have shared is spot on. Also, women don't build muscle nearly as efficiently as males. Because hormones and all that science stuff and what not.
DISCRIMINATION! I DEMAND EQUALITY!
Stupid science stuff. :grumble:0 -
That's a very important point you mentioned about muscle mass and ab visibility. While having low body fat is key to getting visible abs, one also needs to have enough muscle for them to be very defined.MireyGal76 wrote: »tillerstouch wrote: »I'd recomend continue with the surplus and work on building ab strength then once you're closer to the strength you want then do a cut to try to shed some body fat. If your abs are stronger they'll show through at higher body fat. Like many others have said though it'll be hard to put on 10 pounds and at the same time get more defined abs.
I agree with this. I didn't get as low as 15% bf and had visible abs. They were a result of boxing (which included a fair amount of planking, crunches and leg raises, as well as core strength needed to throw a solid punch). I've never eaten clean, but had pretty incredible abs. I've been injured for a while, so the ab definition is less now, but it's still there.
More muscle in that area will cause the abs to show through, and the rest is through diet and lowering body fat.
Note: it's also a genetic thing too - depending on where you store fat.
I've always been one to store fat in my hips, thighs and butt more than in my stomach... so my ab definition is easier to attain, even with a higher body fat. If your fat tends to hit your belly first, you'll need to work on the diet more than the muscle.
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MireyGal76 wrote: »To the OP.
What @sjohnson__1 and @Wheelhouse15 have shared is spot on. Also, women don't build muscle nearly as efficiently as males. Because hormones and all that science stuff and what not.
DISCRIMINATION! I DEMAND EQUALITY!
Stupid science stuff. :grumble:
I know what you mean, I keep asking when I'm going to be entitled to maternity leave!
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Wheelhouse15 wrote: »MireyGal76 wrote: »To the OP.
What @sjohnson__1 and @Wheelhouse15 have shared is spot on. Also, women don't build muscle nearly as efficiently as males. Because hormones and all that science stuff and what not.
DISCRIMINATION! I DEMAND EQUALITY!
Stupid science stuff. :grumble:
I know what you mean, I keep asking when I'm going to be entitled to maternity leave!
When you push a watermelon out a hole the size of a walnut...
Or... Since you don't have those parts.. Maybe drop a deuce the size of a cantaloupe... (and that's on the small side)
In Canada, we have paternity leave... The father can choose to stay home while the mom goes back to work.0 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »
That's a very important point you mentioned about muscle mass and ab visibility. While having low body fat is key to getting visible abs, one also needs to have enough muscle for them to be very defined.MireyGal76 wrote: »tillerstouch wrote: »I'd recomend continue with the surplus and work on building ab strength then once you're closer to the strength you want then do a cut to try to shed some body fat. If your abs are stronger they'll show through at higher body fat. Like many others have said though it'll be hard to put on 10 pounds and at the same time get more defined abs.
I agree with this. I didn't get as low as 15% bf and had visible abs. They were a result of boxing (which included a fair amount of planking, crunches and leg raises, as well as core strength needed to throw a solid punch). I've never eaten clean, but had pretty incredible abs. I've been injured for a while, so the ab definition is less now, but it's still there.
More muscle in that area will cause the abs to show through, and the rest is through diet and lowering body fat.
Note: it's also a genetic thing too - depending on where you store fat.
I've always been one to store fat in my hips, thighs and butt more than in my stomach... so my ab definition is easier to attain, even with a higher body fat. If your fat tends to hit your belly first, you'll need to work on the diet more than the muscle.
Correct, if you really want to maximize the visible definition of your abs, then yes, direct ab training will be necessary.
Big compound lifts like squats and deadlifts will not be enough to develop the rectus abdominus (the "six pack muscles") to their full potential as some people claim, and isolated exercises like weighted crunches, leg raises and planking variations will be necessary for that purpose.
Abs should be trained at the same frequency as all other muscle groups.
The abs are a muscle just like any other and they respond to training in the same basic way. For that reason, there's no need to train abs every day or 5 days a week like so many people do. For a typical natural trainee, this will generally mean an ab training frequency of 1-3 times per week, with twice per week being the general sweet spot I recommend to most people. The only situation where a higher ab training frequency would be necessary is if your abs are a specific weak point that you need to bring up (or what we call a lagging muscle group).
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One thing for ladies (and I guess men - equality and such) to keep in mind... if you are directly training and growing ab muscles, you may notice a lil (not a LOT) bit more thickness in your waist, particularly if you're strengthening obliques and such.
Planking is great because it helps strengthen the transverse abdominal muscle which is the deepest layer and wraps around the trunk (kinda like a corset)... It can kind of work like a corset, too, because the tighter muscles tend to tighten everything around it and can help "suck things in" (it also really helps with back issues).
When doing abs... don't just crunch til the cows come home... plank (front/side), crunch, do leg lifts, etc. Work ALL the abdominal muscles, not just the '6 pack ones'.
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/abdominalcorestrength1/a/NewCore.htm0 -
MireyGal76 wrote: »Wheelhouse15 wrote: »MireyGal76 wrote: »To the OP.
What @sjohnson__1 and @Wheelhouse15 have shared is spot on. Also, women don't build muscle nearly as efficiently as males. Because hormones and all that science stuff and what not.
DISCRIMINATION! I DEMAND EQUALITY!
Stupid science stuff. :grumble:
I know what you mean, I keep asking when I'm going to be entitled to maternity leave!
When you push a watermelon out a hole the size of a walnut...
Or... Since you don't have those parts.. Maybe drop a deuce the size of a cantaloupe... (and that's on the small side)
In Canada, we have paternity leave... The father can choose to stay home while the mom goes back to work.
Lol that's what my ex said. I am Canadian btw.0 -
sjohnson__1 wrote: »I think u should lift 5 days a week and on top of that cardio v twice a week. Nothing crazy. But a good sweat noon the less... You want more about definition?? How's Ur diet?? Because the only way I got my abs to get more chiseled was to eat super duper clean. Like 100% clean.
If by eating clean you mean at a caloric deficit to scrape away fat, then yes. But, eating whole foods isn't a prerequisite to getting abs. I did it eating poptarts and ice cream almost daily. The key was training, good nutrition, and a caloric deficit... but this is the gaining thread.. so I'm gonna go eat some more.
Wait wait wait.......there is no way you had good nutrition if you were eating pop-tarts and ice cream daily! There is also no wayyyy you were able to stay in a caloric deficit by eating those type of foods either...............
You're right. I couldn't do it.. I ate the entire carton of ice cream and the entire box of poptarts each time bc I decided since it wasn't clean and I had already cheated, might as well say f**k it.0 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »
That's a very important point you mentioned about muscle mass and ab visibility. While having low body fat is key to getting visible abs, one also needs to have enough muscle for them to be very defined.MireyGal76 wrote: »tillerstouch wrote: »I'd recomend continue with the surplus and work on building ab strength then once you're closer to the strength you want then do a cut to try to shed some body fat. If your abs are stronger they'll show through at higher body fat. Like many others have said though it'll be hard to put on 10 pounds and at the same time get more defined abs.
I agree with this. I didn't get as low as 15% bf and had visible abs. They were a result of boxing (which included a fair amount of planking, crunches and leg raises, as well as core strength needed to throw a solid punch). I've never eaten clean, but had pretty incredible abs. I've been injured for a while, so the ab definition is less now, but it's still there.
More muscle in that area will cause the abs to show through, and the rest is through diet and lowering body fat.
Note: it's also a genetic thing too - depending on where you store fat.
I've always been one to store fat in my hips, thighs and butt more than in my stomach... so my ab definition is easier to attain, even with a higher body fat. If your fat tends to hit your belly first, you'll need to work on the diet more than the muscle.
Yup, through change of exercise recently, in the past week I've started to be able to see my abs and i'm exactly the same body fat I was 3 months ago, eating in the same deficit.
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What is surplus???0
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Totally liking this thread
Question concerning ab exercise. Since starting my gain mission I've gained slight definition to my abs (4 pack-ish, upper abs). It's slowly disappearing as I'm gaining weight (as expected) so I'm happy with that but I really want to work them, keep the development happening. I've been doing leg raises and using a core wheel. While at the time of the exercises it feels like I'm having my guts kicked in, shortly after I don't feel like I've worked my abs at all. The rest of me is tingling at the end of the session.
What do you guys and gals (equality ) think are good core exercises that will get the abs screaming for mercy? 0 -
Totally liking this thread
Question concerning ab exercise. Since starting my gain mission I've gained slight definition to my abs (4 pack-ish, upper abs). It's slowly disappearing as I'm gaining weight (as expected) so I'm happy with that but I really want to work them, keep the development happening. I've been doing leg raises and using a core wheel. While at the time of the exercises it feels like I'm having my guts kicked in, shortly after I don't feel like I've worked my abs at all. The rest of me is tingling at the end of the session.
What do you guys and gals (equality ) think are good core exercises that will get the abs screaming for mercy?
Please start your own thread for this question0 -
Totally liking this thread
Question concerning ab exercise. Since starting my gain mission I've gained slight definition to my abs (4 pack-ish, upper abs). It's slowly disappearing as I'm gaining weight (as expected) so I'm happy with that but I really want to work them, keep the development happening. I've been doing leg raises and using a core wheel. While at the time of the exercises it feels like I'm having my guts kicked in, shortly after I don't feel like I've worked my abs at all. The rest of me is tingling at the end of the session.
What do you guys and gals (equality ) think are good core exercises that will get the abs screaming for mercy?
Please start your own thread for this question
Roger0 -
my husband eats like *kitten*, doesn't diet and looks like this:
I on the other hand don't have the luxury of ridiculous genetics.
By eat like *kitten* I don't mean that he has mcdonalds every day or anything like that, but he doesn't have to watch his diet eats rice, beans and meat, fried stuff, hamburgers, cheese, pizza whatever...
He does, however, work out every day either doing capoeira or on days off going to the gym.
in the 12 years I've known him he's never lost his 6 pack.
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Cahgetsfit wrote: »my husband eats like *kitten*, doesn't diet and looks like this:
I on the other hand don't have the luxury of ridiculous genetics.
By eat like *kitten* I don't mean that he has mcdonalds every day or anything like that, but he doesn't have to watch his diet eats rice, beans and meat, fried stuff, hamburgers, cheese, pizza whatever...
He does, however, work out every day either doing capoeira or on days off going to the gym.
in the 12 years I've known him he's never lost his 6 pack.
Your husband burns less than he eats. What he eats doesn't matter as much as how many calories he consumes vs how many he burns.
Capoeira is crazy demanding and probably burns a lot of calories. Plus he's got decent muscle mass so that also adds to the amount of calories he burns.
He may have good genetics, but don't dismiss the work he puts in.
When I was boxing, I ate whatever I wanted and had a six pack too. On the injured list, I need to be picky in order to stay lean. (I still eat crap foods, just less volume).
It kinda drives me crazy when a physique that is as nice as that is dismissed as purely good genetics. Not true.0
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