Sit Ups <-----> Six Pack

[donny osmond]

hi, im donny.

Im about 6'2, 155Lbs and 16 years old. (Is that a good weight? Im new to lifting etc.)

The problem is that although i do 75 sit-ups a day i still can't get the bottom two muscles of my six-pack. Is this a common problem?

My uncle said i should eat more but according to Pooks 'Scrawny Guy' post i eat the right amount for my situation.

Thanks All.

"Give me half an hour with her and i'd be up to me nuts in guts"

 

[donny osmond]

bump

 

[Nocturnal]

i've recently just put some some weights on my chest and gone up/down a little slower. it didn't take too long before i could increase the weight.

anyone have any comments on this? it seems to be working fine for me, my friend suggested it.

 

[wheelin&dealin]

Originally posted by donny osmond
Sit Ups <-----> Six Pack

Those two aren't related. A six pack has to do with diet and cardio.

 

[donny osmond]

if they are not related the how come i have a four pack already?

i only do about 40-50mins of cardio a week!

+ if they are not related then how come people generally do sit ups to tone their stomachs?

 

[Hot Ice]

MaDsKaTeR212:

Yea, I've done sit-ups holding a weight behind my neck.
Really makes a difference. Makes your six-pack stronger.
Doing 100 or more sit-ups can be really boring, but I usually vary with these two.

 

[wheelin&dealin]

Originally posted by donny osmond

+ if they are not related then how come people generally do sit ups to tone their stomachs?

Because people, in general, don't have a clue what they're doing.

 

[The Great Juan]

Because people, in general, don't have a clue what they're doing.

Yep, isn't that the truth.

The reason the last row of your abs aren't visible is because that is where males store fat the most, and that fat is the hardest to lose.

You say you already have a 4 pack, so you already have decent, strong abs, more situps will do nothing. You just have to get rid of the fat covering the bottom row, the only way to do this is by lowering your bodyfat levels by doing cardio and creating a calorie defecit.

If you really want to get cut up i suggest 30 mins of high intensity cardio 3 or 4 times a week.

 

[The Great Juan]

By the way, at 6'2 155 lbs you are too skinny, stop worrying about this shredded 6 pack bullcrap for now and start eating more, worry about getting cut up after you've put on some more muscle. I assume you have about 1 or 2 years of high school left at 16, use this time to really put on some mass then get cut up, you'll look awsome when you go to college (if you decide to go of course).

 

[Lt dan]

ok say i have the same problem. and this is the ONLY place im fat. well noticable fat of course. what are some lower ab exercises

 

[Alpha male Female Catcher]

You can't spot reduce

It is a well established scientific fact that you can not spot reduce fat. Despite this the majority of people think that you can (as I did too once). The energy stored in your fat does not go directly to your muscles but is first released in to the blood stream where it will circulate around your whole body first before getting to your muscles.

The plumbing of your blood network is such that products expelled from cells such as energy containing molecules (ATP) expelled from fat cells will go to the heart first before they reach other body cells such as muscle cells. The point is that by and large substances emitted from cells are sucked/pumped to the heart before they travel to (are pumped to) cells in other part of the body.

The point being that energy containing molecules (from your fat cells) go through the heart before they get to the muscle cells and this means that your muscle cells don't know which fat cells they are getting their energy from nor do the fat cells know which muscle cells they are giving their energy to. So your body couldn't spot reduce even if it wanted to.

Your fat cells detect the loss of sugar/ATP whatever from the blood (due to the muscles absorbing it) and in response to this stimuli release their energy. Any muscle can be the source of the decreased blood sugar levels the fat cells don't care why your bloods energy level has decreased they just detect that it has and react appropriately.

So when it comes to loosing fat any muscle will do but the bigger the better - tummy muscles aren't good because they are small and don't burn too much energy, situps etc may make your stomach muscles bigger though and that will help their apparent definition.

 

[donny osmond]

Originally posted by The Great Juan
By the way, at 6'2 155 lbs you are too skinny, stop worrying about this shredded 6 pack bullcrap for now and start eating more, worry about getting cut up after you've put on some more muscle. I assume you have about 1 or 2 years of high school left at 16, use this time to really put on some mass then get cut up, you'll look awsome when you go to college (if you decide to go of course).

Thats what i thought! But its hard to bulk up as i am still growing loads, but thanks for the advice!

Ive got about 18 months more of 6th form (English equivilent to high school, i think) so i'll try to bulk up and do more cardio.

By the way, if im too skinny now, how much should i weigh for my height/age?

Thanks, Donny

 

[donny osmond]

+ If im too skinny then why can't you see the full six pack yet??

 

[The Great Juan]

+ If im too skinny then why can't you see the full six pack yet??

You can be skinny/underweight for you hight and still not have a low enough bodyfat to see your 6 pack, my uncle for example, i would say he's skinny, he has toothpick arms and legs, but a big beer gut.

By the way, if im too skinny now, how much should i weigh for my height/age?

It's a bit hard to say really, it depends what sort of body you'd like to have, to give you a ballpark i'd say 185 lbs after you get cut up. At that weight at 6'2 you'll look good, not huge, but strong, healthy and lean.

Thats what i thought! But its hard to bulk up as i am still growing loads, but thanks for the advice!

Man i wish i had started when i was 16, this is THE EASIEST time to do it my friend, you testosterone levels are through the roof. You will put on muscle easily with a good diet and good weight lifting routines. Don't go overboard, but train hard.

 

[Drug_L0rd]

Originally posted by donny osmond

My uncle said i should eat more but according to Pooks 'Scrawny Guy' post i eat the right amount for my situation.

i hope he didn't mean that you should eat more for the bottom two to show.

it's all diet man. lose a few calories and get up every morning before eating and go for a walk for about 30-60 mins.

you could have a 1000 pack and you could be doing a million sit-ups or crunches or whatever everyday. but if you don't have the right diet (i.e. body fat %) then not one of those 1000 packs are going to show. they'll be all hidden below the fat.

 

[2N Turbo]

Re: Re: Sit Ups <-----> Six Pack

Originally posted by wheelin&dealin
Those two aren't related. A six pack has to do with diet and cardio.

I agree that diet will help show your six pack, but to say that sit-ups(or doing ab exercise) is not related is not true.

Yeah we all have six packs, we all have musles, but we need to make them grow to see them. I know that fat can cover your abs, but you also need more muscle to see then better. If you were just to diet and do no exercises to build that muscles then you will have a flat stomach like a girl(unless they are big to start with). But hey were men, we want a six packs that will show with nice peaks and valleys (cut).

So I would recomend, for a good platform, to start doing ab excercise with heavy weights. So to build muscle you need access calories. This will be hard because you want to see your six pack right away, but you need more cals, so you can kiss losing weight and see them right away goodbye. For example, I do leg raises and situps, all that garbage, with heavy weight. Like 3 sets of 8-10. I never seen my abs all my life, now I am seeing them start to show while gaining a little fat. I see that my stomach is getting bigger(which is looking fatter), but I know that my abs are growing under that layer of fat. If I can see the abs starting to show under that layer of fat, I know they are going to look great when I start cutting.

Once you get to a point where your happy with them then switch to lighter weights.

I am not quite sure if doing heavy reps for abs for a all time will make then too boxy or stick out too much. Can anybody shed some light on this?

 

[Zircon]

"Man i wish i had started when i was 16, this is THE EASIEST time to do it my friend, you testosterone levels are through the roof. You will put on muscle easily with a good diet and good weight lifting routines. Don't go overboard, but train hard"

I don't agree...I was 24 before I could even start putting on weight. Ppl are different, and will put on weight differently and at different times.

 

[JohnnyVegas]

You want those lower muscles defined? You have to work them. Sit-ups have nothing to do with those muscles, actually, just the top four. Leg lifts my friend! Lay on your back, stick your legs straight out, and lift them so they're pointing at the ceiling, lower them back down, repeat. Do this in a smooth, flowing motion. Once you can't do another rep properly you should lift your legs so your feet are only 6-8 inches off the ground and hold them there for 30 seconds. THAT will work those muscles.

 

[donny osmond]

Thanks a lot everyone!

Lots of good advice.

Health forum rules!

Donny

 

[Rashad]

Originally posted by donny osmond
Thanks a lot everyone!

Lots of good advice.

Health forum rules!

Donny

Hey off topic slightly..but.. you dont happen to have a sister named Marie....


do you?