Originally posted by _Phoenix_
I know all this has already been said but I'll say it in the most simplest way.
We all got six packs, it's just you have to lose enough weight to show them, you also need to work on the six pack so that when you do lose enough
weight they show even more.
So a lot of FULL BODY exercise, good diet and good abs workout. Remember you can't traget weight loss, it has to be full body.
It's simple, just keep consistent, it only gets hard when you make it hard.
We do all have approximately three sets of ab divisions under our fat, which look like six squares. Some people show 8 and some even show 10! Some
guys have an offset pair and seem to show an odd number of ab blocks, like five or seven.
I think you have to be more specific than say lose weight and you'll get visible abs. We all know 'skinny fat people'. The root cause is hormones
(corticosteroids, Thyroid, hGH, Testosterone, Estrogen). The hormone levels are generally determined by genetics (unless there's a disease state,
which can override)
I won't go so far as to say that some people have more fat cells than others, but some may have more 'stubborn to lose' fat around the abs area.
Some bodybuilders get extremely lean and still have fat deposits in certain places. They usually try to get liposuction, but sometimes this makes them
look worse as the skin ends up sinking and looking pockmarked.
Fat distribution does seem to vary depending on genetics.
Some women tend to put fat on their upper thighs and no so much on their waist. Some guys tend to deposit fat on their love handles and lower abs.
If you take 50 female long distance runners and do a BF% test and find they all have about 10-12% and be of similar size, some will show definite
cuts, and abs and others will not. They just have a smoothish looking female type waist (with a six pack under there, sure).
If you look at 10 athletic black guys and 10 athletic white guys most of the black guys will show abs, most of the white guys will not.
I have German and Swedish ancestry and even when I was 118lbs and running, marching biking and had very little skin to pinch, I didn't have abs,
though I could feel them.
If you've seen the Jackie Warner show and Skylab reality show, a new guy shows up and he takes off his shirt and he's got some of the most amazing
abs ever seen. All the trainers look at him and freak.
Gregg Plitt: (warning. Guy with shirt off)
In contrast
Lance Armstrong one of the leanest guys
you'll find, has only barely visible abs. (he's a little heavier here), but you look at pics of his face and he's got paper thin skin.
Lance Armstrong - 2
Gregg Plitt says he's always been like that. Low fat and not much around the waist and even when he over eats he doesn't seem to store fat.
Top bodybuilder Jay Cutler says the same. (though he does 'roids, allegedly, so it's hard to tell)
So just saying 'lose weight' as in what you have on the bathroom scale doesn't seem to have a good correlation with getting lean enough in the
abdominal area to have cuts and a 6 or 8 pack.
Another example is calves. Some black guys have 'small and high' calves. They could do a zillion calf raises and they'll always look like that.
German guys tend to have large and full bodied calves. Genetics.
Even if you work hard enough to overcome genetics some Northern European types can not 'hold' that lean waist look with defined abs.
But you're right we all have 'abs' and a sixpack under there.
And, it's true that generally if you cut calories and keep protein high, you can lose enough 'weight' (read: fat loss) to show at least a
four-pack.
But some guys cut calories and do tons of waist work and never show that great abs. Some black guys (a lot of 'em, really) show abs and never have
done a sit up, or counted calories in their life.
YMMV, 2 cents.
[edit on 22-7-2008 by Badge01]