Ultimate Guide to SIX-PACK ABS! SHARE UR TIPS

[grr]

It depends on your body, I would guess no more than one glass of milk or whey-based shake on an active day. Milk is primarily for bulking, water is for cutting. Are you really as active as a bodybuilder? aww now do you see my point?

We're not bodybuilders, we're people who incrementally master fitness on the side as a hobby and step towards self improvement. We find a foundation, then work the system. Anything can be fixed if it can be measured and the way to measure things is by finding a starting point, then staying there for a while to figure out what does what.

Not only aren't we bodybuilders, to top it off we're not YOU. YOU have to find a maintenance diet that you can work with, then experiment with stuff that works in your day-to-day life. Maybe your idea of big is bigger than mine, maybe its smaller. Maybe you have a stronger heart than mine, maybe its weaker but you have better lungs. You have to put our advice into your own perspective by finding a suitable test environment for it.

I think the main reason people recommend Atkins, or mainly protein+fat diets, is it provides a good "base" where exercise & other dietary sources are seen as volatile substances. It also allows your body to easily digest large amounts of protein as an absolute rule. You can imagine this only helps when you add exercise & more varied foods. It completely changes your metabolism.

Sure its not exactly nutritional, but it can be with a little effort, and this way you can measure stronger foods like starches/carbs, carb/fat combos, dairy. Once you measure it's effect you apply it, sign autographs, and go home, wake up, and look for the next worthy technique that you can test on yourself.

Go to a primarily protein+fat diet, eat 6-10 times a day. Stay there for a couple weeks (or however long it takes), lose a lot of weight, keep a lot of your muscle, then start adding in what you need to take care of the side effects from lost energy.

This style of fitness also promotes a *consistent* metabolism which helps mood swings. And when you mix it up by adding in more nutrients and carbs it will be a mood swing you fully expected and understand.

Again the main reasons for moving to this diet is:

#1. You're probably not going to live like a body builder your entire life, even if you do now.
#2. Carbs can eventually kill your pancreas so you have to get used to the idea that it shouldn't be your body's primary source of energy.
#3. This way you figure out what works for you, and that's all that matters.

 

[escobar04]

it is also very important to do obliques, sides, and lower back at least two times a week

dont just focus on abs, focus on the whole torso area

 

[[S]alvatore]

^^^ 2 times a week at least? And why is that so?

 

[Zerix]

Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym.

Fix your diet. Do some serious strength training. Do interval speed training, about 2x a week is enough.

You don't have to work your abs that much, 2x week will do.

 

[dot]

For me the sacrifice I have to make in diet and overall size to reach six pack level isn't worth the price.

-I've never felt healthy with a six pack due to the dehydration needed for a 6'1" frame.
-You do have to be really anal about not combining carbs & fat, and few people have the knowledge, time, and money to reach that goal and not be very malnutritioned. I still do it to some extent, I just save it for cutting or maintenance. Peanut butter with celery is the most REALISTIC food I can think of that could help achieve this goal. Power bars with only protein+fat are an expensive solution.
-Muscle gains can be extremely hard.
-When you do cardio everyday your state of mind is affected. At first it seems nice because you're so much more aware than everybody else. After a while you realize it kind of sucks because a week seems to last FOREVER.
-If you miss a meal, especially since you do the eating 6 times a day, expect mood swings. This happens less for me when I opt for bulkier builds.
-You will be drinking a lot of water. Water, the six packs best friend & worst enemy. You burn more calories with more water and have a faster metabolism, but it also fills up those vessels surrounding the fat cells, making you look even fatter. Keep hydrated, but use cardio or drinking to get dehydrated when you want to. This is why if you're ever out with friends and you guys take your shirts off, its usually after the exercise from a game has gone on for a bit, not at the beginning, or its a couple hours after some drinks.

The most ripped I've ever looked with a six pack is when I was extremely dehydrated from alcohol. Its amazing what a few days of malnutrition can do to your body, and make you realize how much water is visible as "fat".

This explains the whole Ben Afleck phenomenon. The guy looked in excellent shape, but a couple of years ago it was found out he was an alcoholic. Turns out the alcoholism only helped him to look more ripped once you realize how well massive quantities of alcohol dehydrates you. But then what do you do next time when you get challenged to a footrace?

My ex came up this weekend and I wanted to be ripped for her & do a little booty call. So, I was thinking about going through the whole dehydration routine. But, you know what? It wasn't worth the time I would miss at restaraunts with friends, or tennis, or tubing down mountain creeks. This is why most balanced people gravitate to a healthy, less ripped physique, eventually. (But still have the knowledge to suprise you with their pack, periodically, to keep you on your toes!!)

So to re-cap for a six pack you can do several things:

Reduce bodyfat -
Reduce carb + fat meals.
-Advantages: It works, really well.
-Disadvantages: Your eating habits will differentiate you from almost everyone you meet.
Reduce calories.
-Advantages: It works.
-Disadvantages: You have to change your diet to make up for the fewer nutrients and you're bound to lose muscle along with the fat.
Dehydrate yourself -
Drink less water
-Advantages: It works on a temporary basis.
-Disadvantages: You eventually have to hydrate yourself or deal with the mood swings that come from being dehydrated.
Drink more alcohol
-Advantages: It works very well on a temporary basis even with VERY short notice.
-Disadvantages: You eventually have to hydrate yourself, and too much too often and you could become an alcoholic.

Boost your metabolism -
Increase meal variance
-Advantages: It works very well.
-Disadvantages: You might be more susceptile to mood changes if you don't eat a lot each meal and then miss one.
Cardio -
-Advantages: It works very well.
-Disadvantages: Like lowering your calories you'll probably lose a little muscle mass & if you go all out and do it every morning it makes every day seem like a year - which some might consider an advantage but I think it makes you extreme relative to the status quo. I like to be a little laid back, though.
Take stimulants like smoking or coffee -
-Advantages: It works.
-Disadvantages: It works because its killing you. You "stimulate" major organs so they burn more calories. You harm organs like your lungs so your body expends more energy maintaining them.

yikes.. how the hell do people have just small six packs then? I mean I know people who just play basketball and have decent muscles and six pack.

 

[Adone]

yikes.. how the hell do people have just small six packs then? I mean I know people who just play basketball and have decent muscles and six pack.

It depends on what you consider decent muscles. People you know are probably just very ripped and defined, but their muscles are just a bit bigger than your average joe. Very low bodyfat makes your muscles look a lot bigger than they actually are.
Grr's post is for people that want to cut bodyfat, yet mantain most of their muscles, not for skinny basketball players.

 

[grr]

It just depends whether they've ever had fat before.

Also, if they have large upper bodies basketball certainly didn't give it to them.

 

[Warboss Alex]

personally my abs came through when I wasn't paying attention to them.