ABs and weight gain

[LoganKost]

Hey everyone,

 

I have only recently started working out hard, but I'm a little confused on something!

 

I am 6'1, almost 6'2, and I weigh 145lbs. I am trying to gain weight, but at the same time be cut as well. I am skinny for my height, so I figure any muscle gains will be obvious (In fact, after only a little less than a month I can see some noticeable results).

 

Now, I'm wondering how I can gain weight, but get my abs showing as well. Since I'm consuming more calories it seems like the cardio I am doing to get my abs showing is slightly counter-intuitive. I have just recently started killing my abs, so maybe they will show up. But If not, I'm pretty confused on how to gain weight, while still losing the VERY thin layer of fat over my abdominals.

 

Any input would be appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[cubby2112]

At this point in your training, it is still possible to gain plenty of muscle while staying lean. I would mostly keep at what you are doing, just be patient. Later, though, most people actually need to put on some fat to make significant gains (like me), but others do not. You just need to find out what your body does.

[Guest]

Unless you're lean already...nothing gets the abs to stick out more than doing cardio...even if they means you do no core work(although I don't recommend that).

[LoganKost]

Thanks a lot for the replies! I'm very lean, so I think I'll just keep killin' my abs in the gym. I'll see how that works out for now.

[Marcina]

I'm the same way. My abs only pop out when I'm working out in the gym and I got the blood flowing. I notice they pop when I do exercises where I find I contract my abs, like lateral delt raises and tricep pulldowns. Then I'm like "ooh that looks nice." Like other muscle groups, don't train your abs more than 3 times a week, or you'll be breaking muscle down faster than you can repair it.

[body122506]

I believe eating right is the way to gain weight and keep your abs tight. You want to gain muscle and not fat, so eating right should help.

 

Also doing a lot of running can help keep your muscle tight.

 

Thats my 2 cents

[Im Your Man]

If you're very very lean like you say, you should already see your abs, everybody have abs even without training them, except anorexic people that have eaten their own muscles.

But if you wanna lose

the VERY thin layer of fat over

your abdominals, the only way I can think of losing fat at the same time than gaining muscle is a sort of trick : you eat less calories than what you burn on most days of the week, but on days that you lift really heavyweights, eat more calories than what you burn, maybe the day after also. That way at the end of each week you've been burning fat most of the time, but you build muscles on crucial moments.

[LoganKost]

Thanks for the tip "im your man". I can see the outline of my abs, but they aren't defined. But recently they have been showing more, so I think it's working out so far.