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abs... getting definition


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i have a question about ab definition. i'm about 5'7" 145-150lbs with very little body fat. i've noticed my abs appear to form as one large muscle with very little definition between them. i usually do a few sets of hanging leg raises, rotary ab machine, and krunches at the end of my workouts. my question is whether i'm training them wrong, or should be trying something else to achieve some shape? any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks

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not sure on the body fat, on one of the online calculators it gave me 9% not sure on how accurate it is never had a pinch test. i've been working out for a little less then a year and only started working abs about 3 months ago.

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i have a question about ab definition. i'm about 5'7" 145-150lbs with very little body fat. i've noticed my abs appear to form as one large muscle with very little definition between them. i usually do a few sets of hanging leg raises, rotary ab machine, and krunches at the end of my workouts. my question is whether i'm training them wrong, or should be trying something else to achieve some shape? any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks

 

Try this ab excercise.

 

Go to a cable machine and put on the rope attachment that is normally used for triceps or biceps. Get on your nees and grab the rope, there should be a significant ammount of weight on the stack. Now, and this is the important part, picture yourself doing a crunch only on your knees instead of your back. Keep your hands on either side of your head and bring your elbows down to touch your legs. You should feel this in your upper abs.

 

also when doing hanging leg raises, try to add a 5, 10, 15 or if you can 20lb weight in between your feet.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi!!

 

The key to revealing abs is a lowe body fat %. No matter how much and smart you train yur abs, if you have a layer of fat covering them, you will never see as much definition as you want.

 

So fat burning cardio is a cornerstone of any endeavour to gain ab definition.

 

Also, you mentioned somethhing about the shape of you abs. many people say that whether you can or cannot have a 6 pack is genetic. This is slightly misleading. ANYBODY can have ab definition. If, for example, you have a low bf % and have strong ab muscles, you will see abs. That part has nothing to do with genetics. However, the shape of your ab muscles - like whether or not they are perfectly symetrical - is, unfortunately, genetic. But either way, ab definition - symetrical or not - looks awesome!!!

 

make sure you are doing cardio correctly. Otherwise, you might be burning lean muscle instead of fat.

 

P.S. I really CAN spell. I just suck at typing and tend to type fast with lots of typos!!!!

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bobbycore - in regards to your post, what would be an incorrect way to do cardio? i definitely don't want to lose any of the muscle mass i have, since i'm all ready pretty lean.

 

for cardio i usally use the eliptical machine for about 20-30 mins keeping my heart rate at 158

 

thanks for the replies

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Hi,

 

I think you meant to direct your question to me. What I mean by cardio is not the type of activity. IN terms of fat burning, all cardio is created equal. As long as whatever activity you are doing can get your heart range up in its fat burning range, the fat layers in your body cannot differentiate between say treadmill jogging or ecliptical training. It simply does not matter. The key to "correct cardio", then, is not the type of activity, but rather, to make sure that your heart rate is not in excess of your upper limit for more than about 90 seconds. So you said that you keep your heart rate at about 158 - I do not know if that is correct without knowing your age. 20 - 30 minutes is good. many people do too much cardiop without realizing that it is counterproductive to lowering body fat and increasing lean muscle. In fact, I read somewhere that generally, runners - peoplewho run long distances daily and do not lift weights- have higher body fat levels than those who lift weights and do cardio for only about 20-30 minutes. To figure out if this number is correct, simply calculate your heart range. For more details about figuring your numbers and shedding body fat, please see the post entitled "My two cents for shedding fat and retaining lean muscle" somewhere on these boards - forgot where exactly.

 

Having said that, all cardio is not created equal if you are concerned about your joints. Running is obviously much harder on your joints then eliptical training. So long as when you are doing your eliptical cardio training (or any kind of cardio) you are keeping track of your heart rate, you are fine. See "My two cents" post for helpful tips on lowering body fat %, which is KEY to ab definition.

 

And now a dumb question for koll - What does "LOL" stand for -

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compassionate girl, you cant be serious! LOL = Laughinh out loud. HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW THAT OF ALL THINGS YOU POSTED HERE! haha

 

BTW, what compassionate girl said was true. In terms of joints, Step Climbers are the best on jonts compared to all other machines.

 

Also what you said about muscle is very true. THe reason behind this is because the oxidative pathway (which burns fat, glucose or proteins to make energy). When you workout over 85% of your Target Heart Rate, it cant keep up so it will go to your Protein and you will lose muscle. This is catabolic (break down).

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bobbycore - in regards to your post, what would be an incorrect way to do cardio? i definitely don't want to lose any of the muscle mass i have, since i'm all ready pretty lean.

 

for cardio i usally use the eliptical machine for about 20-30 mins keeping my heart rate at 158

 

thanks for the replies

 

The only ways to do incorrect cardio is to 1. do something that is easy enough that your heart rate does not spike 2. do something that is really hard on your body

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