Abs Question (with picture)

I recently (in the last few months) started working out with the goal of generally toning and bulking up my body. I know it's nothing amazing (as you can see) but i have noticed an improvement. However, all i do is straight sit-ups morning and evening (100 in the morning, 150 in the evening). Are there any other exercises i can do especially to work the bottom ones, as i feel variation can't be a bad thing when working muscles. Any suggestions would be appreciated...

Oh and also can anyone try and guess my body fat % as i have no idea about it. Incase it helps i'm 6'3", and weigh just over 11.5 stone (which i think is about 161lbs or 74kg).
 
I agree with Abear, I have come a long way myself but still need some work, here is another link, I am amazed with the bicycle ab work, that has really given me some solid results, though I hate doing them. Keep it up
 
karl78 said:
Have you always basically looked like that? If not what have you been doing??

Not at all...about 6 or 7 months ago i used to have quite a belly and just generally look a bit chubby around the edges.

Then about 4-5 months ago i started to work out. First i just did 30 sit-ups, 20 press-ups in the morning, then again in the evening, and ran about 1 mile every other day. Then just been gradually building that up from there really...so now the runs have gone to 6 miles or HIT (jogging 200 paces, sprinting 100), the sit-ups to 100-150, the press-ups to 50-75 (wide-arm one day, narrow arm the next, then on clenched fists the next). And just generally trying to eat a lot of protein, although never any supplements or anything cause i wouldn't know where to start with that, just like switching to skimmed milk, chicken instead of red-meat when i can, cottage cheese....that sort of thing.

Is it at all possible for anyone to estimate my body-fat % from the picture though?
 
well i'm at about 15.5% and i still have a little roll around my lower abs so you should be well below me at the very least. maybe someone else can narrow it down more.
 
My guesses:

If you aren't tightening your abs, and they aren't pumped from a recent routine, then you are prolly around 11% or below.

If you are tightening them, you could be anywhere between 10 and 14%.

This is a complete guess... But, should put you in the range of 10 - 14%.

I wouldn't put you below 10% or above 15% no matter what.

Use a caliper and find out.

:)

BTW - your abs look good. You might want to consider incorporating some lower and side ab exercises to round them out a bit!

-Rip
 
I think the best thing for you to do at this point is to clean up your diet. You obviously have a lot of muscle, but to get it to show more, eating better is key.

Also, there's no reason to do ab exercises everyday. It will only lead to over-training. Treat your abs like any other muscle - only work it 2-3 times per week, giving it adequate time to rest and recuperate. Doing excess work for your abs isn't going to make them show more. This is where a clean diet comes in!
 
I definitely have to agree to spockafina on this one - based on my own experiences, he is exactly right. A clean diet is essential if you want to look your best. Something that has helped me in the past is lowering sodium to healthy levels. This may be hard to do (especially if you live in the US), but it involves eating a lot of natural, non-processed foods. My menu when I try to get cut includes bananas, peanuts, semi-sweet chocolate (yes, that is correct), vegetables, oatmeal (not the sugary stuff, but rolled oats or the like - check the nutrition label), and unsalted meat (I prefer chicken and red meat once or twice a week for the nutrients). This has gotten me to the point where I can see veins in my arms criss-crossing and many muscle striations in my shoulders, chest, and abs. I'm not saying that this is all you need to do; based on the way you look, you may need to cut calories a little, but if nothing else works, this is what you need to do. It is more of a 'finishing touch' to a dieting phase. This is the only way I know of to get a 'rock-hard' appearance.
 
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