Cut, cut, cut

[cristiinter]

Hello everyone! My name is Cristian, I'm 5'8, 165lb, 20 years old. I'm training since I was 15 but had some breaks in between. I've been cutting for 7 months now. I started at 11.9% bf last year in May and now i'm at 9.6%. I think my diet is good enough since i'm still continue cutting. I train 4 to 5 time a week and do cardio 15 to 25 min. MY PROBLEM IS that I still can't see my abs even with this bf %. I'm more than positive that the problem is not that I don't have enough muscle mass on the abdominals.

I would be very happy to get some sugetions and please bear with my English.

 

[rockmfhudd]

post a pic sometimes you are your hardest critic. I just cant see at 9.6% you cant see abs or some definition

 

[drb_iac]

Hello everyone! My name is Cristian, I'm 5'8, 165lb, 20 years old. I'm training since I was 15 but had some breaks in between. I've been cutting for 7 months now. I started at 11.9% bf last year in May and now i'm at 9.6%. I think my diet is good enough since i'm still continue cutting. I train 4 to 5 time a week and do cardio 15 to 25 min. MY PROBLEM IS that I still can't see my abs even with this bf %. I'm more than positive that the problem is not that I don't have enough muscle mass on the abdominals.

I would be very happy to get some sugetions and please bear with my English.

A lot of this has to do with genetics. There are many guys who will never have abs no matter diet or exercise. This s actually fairly common in men and absoultely common in women. I would not get hung up on it. If you have good muscle and good build and strong and healthy then that is good enough. Remember that starving men coming out of pow camps had abs. That is not what you want or need. Have a strong core and workout for the joy of it.

 

[cbbram00]

I've never had abs... I tried really hard and my wife (at the time) said I looked like a cancer patient because I was so thin... Do like drb said... Strong core, be healthy, enjoy life. I don't get hung up on it either.

Pharma Lady Rep

 

[RickRock]

At that bodyfat percent you should have some ab definition. Please post a pic. Some things are genetic but they will still show to some degree always as you lean out

(PM me for a price list for Biotech Labs and 10% discount)

 

[cristiinter]

I lost a lot of weight just trying to get abs (20lb) and I also lost a lot of muscle mass with this. Any suggestion will be good. I know genetic is very important too, I genetically have a flat stomach but I don't know if I should take this as an excuse. I don't just want to quit achieving this after I put all the work in.

 

[rockmfhudd]

well abs are like any muscle the more weight and resistance you put on them they should get bigger and more pronounced what type of ab exercises are you doing?

 

[rockmfhudd]

well looking at your pics there is some definition there, the abs are just not pronounced like Red said heavy cable crunches, burpees and just concentrating on every exercise you do is tighten your abs like you are pushing your belly button to your spine, even on bench everything.

 

[cristiinter]

My other measurements are:
Arms: 14'
Waist: 32'
Chest 43"

 

[cristiinter]

Right now i'm doing basic exercises like crunches, leg raises and between sets i'm doing planks, but over the years I done pretty much everything you can try for abs even that I didn't want to show abs at that time. I train abs 2 time a week.

 

[rockmfhudd]

you have added weight to your ab work as well?

 

[cristiinter]

you have added weight to your ab work as well?

I did in the past but now im just doing bodyweight. I'm scared that if I do that my waist will get bigger...what would you suggest?

 

[cristiinter]

IMO you need to focus on progressive overload to get your abs to develop further, this means you need resistance. Here are my favorite ab exercises:
Cable Crunch
Captain’s Chair Leg Raise
Hanging Leg Raise
Air Bicycle
Ab Wheel Rollout

Thank you, i'll try this.

 

[TX TERROR]

Welcoooommeee toooo my woooooorrrrrlddd......

No joke I can get crazy lean but abs will always suck for me. Plenty of bodybuilders are that way. Shit look at frank mcgrath. How life goes sometimes.

 

[bel3303]

Lot of people can get away with just deadlifting, OHP and squating for their core, but these are really strengthening the obliques more than rectus abdominis. I'd suggest doing some heavy weight cable crunches 2-3x a week. The rectus abdominis is a small muscle group so it can be trained more frequently, but it also means it can take a few months to see much development.

I will agree with this. Cable crunches are awesome effective.

 

[cristiinter]

What you guys think about stomach vacuum? Should I continue doing them or this will push my abs inside more?

 

[dhfeggv]

The answer is simple, you really aren't that lean.

If it took you 7 months to cut 2% bf, your diet (and training) is garbage bro. 4lbs of fat in 7 months is not good progress at all. Hey, I'm not talking shit, I'm just being honest.

You say you do 15 to 25 munutes of cardio. What kind of cardio? If it's slow, steady cardio you need to be going 40 minutes.


The problem isn't your genetic shape of your abdominals, it's your bf %.

Building your abs will help a bit, but you really just need to be leaner.

 

[cristiinter]

The answer is simple, you really aren't that lean.

If it took you 7 months to cut 2% bf, your diet (and training) is garbage bro. 4lbs of fat in 7 months is not good progress at all. Hey, I'm not talking shit, I'm just being honest.

You say you do 15 to 25 munutes of cardio. What kind of cardio? If it's slow, steady cardio you need to be going 40 minutes.


The problem isn't your genetic shape of your abdominals, it's your bf %.

Building your abs will help a bit, but you really just need to be leaner.

I'm doing 25 min of cardio on the treadmill (speed 6.0-6.5).
And i'm not trying to be smart or something but i'm positive that 9.6% is low bf%. And it's much harder to cut from 11% to 9% than cutting from 20% to 18%

 

[TX TERROR]

Sorry to break it to you, your still about 12% or so bud. Just going by the pics.
Still isnt bad or anything. but you could cut a lot of that down.

Overall muscle mass has a lot to do with it too.

 

[TX TERROR]

The other thing is if you are dieting and training correctly, loosing muscle mass would never occur. You can lean down and protect muscle tissue if everything is done correctly.

Abbs really are not made by training. They are finessed by training. Due to the anatomy of the muscle group, it will always be existent even if you don't lift. The contractions due to just life in general, ie moving around getting up and down and what not allow it to exist. Same with all muscle groups really.

As drb said you could be fresh out the POW camp and have abs. Yes there are genetic variances.

Your diet is really what dictates this situation.