I want a six pack

Begbie

Begbie

Begbie

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Well no not really, well kind of. I'm not exactly fat, but my stomach is the only bit of fat on me and would to have it trimmed down a bit.

Is the best way to help trim it down by sit ups, crunches, planks etc?

I have also started cardio again, which no doubt in time will help.
 
Begbie said:
Well no not really, well kind of, I'm not exactly fat. But my stomach is about the only bit of fat on me, I have started running again.

Is the best way to help trim it down by sit ups, crunches, planks etc?
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stomach exercises just make the stomach muscles bigger. to get the six pack to show you need very low body fat. for that you just need to do as much cardio as possible and eat healthy food. lay off the fried food, ready made meals, and alcohol for a month. for the same month walk/run/skip (ropes) every day for as long as you can.
 
Building muscle under fat will push fat out further making the targeted area look bigger.

Have a search as there are lots of similar threads. Sort your diet out and start moving more. Also get yourself a resistance program if you're serious about burning fat. Muscle burns fat (calories) at rest.
 
As has been said, to see abs you need very low bf.

Therefore the formula is the same that it's always been

calories consumed - calories used < 0

then you'll lose weight :)
 
anant_shah94 said:
As has been said, to see abs you need very low bf.

Therefore the formula is the same that it's always been

calories consumed - calories used < 0

then you'll lose weight :)
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See thats kind of the problem I don't really wan't to lose weight. I went on the scales last night thinking I was around 13 stone, nope 12. At 6'1 I am hardly fat, so don't want to lose any just from the gut area.
 
General rule is you can't spot reduce fat so you reduce the fat overall and if you get it low enough your abs will show. If you don't want to be any lighter overall then you'd better get lifting weights and eating properly.
 
I don't understand where the obession with what you weigh comes from?

Surely if you think you look good, and are perfectly healthy and have good levels of fitness why should it matter if you weigh 11 stone or 13 stone?

If you want to maintain the weight you are now but loose the gut then you need to replace weight you're loosing with muscle.
 
BennyC said:
I don't understand where the obession with what you weigh comes from?

Surely if you think you look good, and are perfectly healthy and have good levels of fitness why should it matter if you weigh 11 stone or 13 stone?

If you want to maintain the weight you are now but loose the gut then you need to replace weight you're loosing with muscle.
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I really couldn't care less about my weight, its nothing to me. Infact that must be the first time I have weighed myself in well over a year.

I just don't want to lose anymore weight, and look to scrawny. I should possibly look at my diet. It's not too bad, I hardly snack the occasional choccie every so often but thats about it. Except from the odd takeaway at the weekends and the weekend binges that need to stop.

Thanks for the advice and will take it all on board, think I shall concentrate on cardio for the time being.
 
No worries.

You'll usually find just tightening up on your existing diet and begining to do some cardio & resistance work should be enough to shift some of the fat.

Though if you want to make it really effective and avoid disappointment & frustration I would seriously considering overhauling your diet & lifestyle. That is providing you aren't just after a quick fix.

You said:

I should possibly look at my diet
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You DEFFINATLEY should. It really is a massive contributing factor as to whether you achieve your goals or fail miserably.

I think there is some diet advice in GordyR's bodybuilding sticky, failing that post your diet up for some C&C.
 
Begbie said:
I really couldn't care less about my weight, its nothing to me. Infact that must be the first time I have weighed myself in well over a year.

I just don't want to lose anymore weight, and look to scrawny. I should possibly look at my diet. It's not too bad, I hardly snack the occasional choccie every so often but thats about it. Except from the odd takeaway at the weekends and the weekend binges that need to stop.

Thanks for the advice and will take it all on board, think I shall concentrate on cardio for the time being.
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cardio is going to make you lose weight. i dont think your understanding the concept fully. to make the abs show you need to lose bodyfat. if you want the abs to show and not lose weight you need to replace the bodyfat you are losing with muscle.

your options are

lose weight and abs will show more

or

lose bodyfat and start weightlifting to put on muscle meaning your weight stays the same


either way you need to lose bodyfat otherwise your abs will never show
 
BennyC said:
No worries.

You'll usually find just tightening up on your existing diet and begining to do some cardio & resistance work should be enough to shift some of the fat.

Though if you want to make it really effective and avoid disappointment & frustration I would seriously considering overhauling your diet & lifestyle. That is providing you aren't just after a quick fix.

You said:



You DEFFINATLEY should. It really is a massive contributing factor as to whether you achieve your goals or fail miserably.

I think there is some diet advice in GordyR's bodybuilding sticky, failing that post your diet up for some C&C.
Click to expand...

My diet varies, I eat in a canteen (pretty much) breakfast, lunch and dinner.

So it changes everyday, normally massive portions. I love food and this could be a big downfall I would seriously struggle in keeping a controlled diet but I should certianly start as of tomorrow.

Its hard when theres pretty much unlimited food sat in front of you :p
 
High intensity interval training, with high intensity weight training will help burn through the fat by speeding up your metabolism and potentially cause thermogenic reactions (this is theoretical). However, good sleep, and diet will be key to this before any of this. 90% of the work in the gym is achieved by diet. You see a lot of very fit fat people in the gym, doing their steady state year on year, day on day. I used to play squash against a big dude, always able to run rings round me, but he was fat, his diet was poor, drank too much and didn't care either.

Clearly you care. Add some HIIT, get some high intensity training going, sort your diet out and you'll be laughing. HIIT can be done onthe rowing machine, skipping, hill sprints, and that sort of thing.
 
Freefaller said:
High intensity interval training, with high intensity weight training will help burn through the fat by speeding up your metabolism and potentially cause thermogenic reactions (this is theoretical). However, good sleep, and diet will be key to this before any of this. 90% of the work in the gym is achieved by diet. You see a lot of very fit fat people in the gym, doing their steady state year on year, day on day. I used to play squash against a big dude, always able to run rings round me, but he was fat, his diet was poor, drank too much and didn't care either.

Clearly you care. Add some HIIT, get some high intensity training going, sort your diet out and you'll be laughing. HIIT can be done onthe rowing machine, skipping, hill sprints, and that sort of thing.
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I used to do a lot of HIIT, sprinting for 200m then jogging for 300m. With 1l warm and cool down.

I noticed gains with that alone in just a month. Will start it back up again, with some long distance also mixed in.
 
IMO it's really stupid when people have a goal just to get a six pack. It's just the result of low bodyfat and if you don't have much muscle on you're just gonna end up looking scrawny. If you can't bench your bodyweight, quit worrying about your damn abs! :p
 
KizZ said:
IMO it's really stupid when people have a goal just to get a six pack. It's just the result of low bodyfat and if you don't have much muscle on you're just gonna end up looking scrawny. If you can't bench your bodyweight, quit worrying about your damn abs! :p
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Depends. If you're a month away from a summer holiday and you've got a choice to either increase your bench by 10Kg, or strip away 10lbs of bodyfat, even for the 'skinny fat', I'd say the latter was a better option.
 
Robbie G said:
Depends. If you're a month away from a summer holiday and you've got a choice to either increase your bench by 10Kg, or strip away 10lbs of bodyfat, even for the 'skinny fat', I'd say the latter was a better option.
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Yup, but I'm giving me 3 months :D lol
 
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