General abs / toning / dieting question

T

trevorpdx

0
Hi everyone,

I have a general question about toning abs and getting a six pack. Here is my situation - I'm 6' tall and about 155 lbs. I am rather thin naturally, and I don't have much fat on my body. I am very active - I run, swim, play racquetball and other various sports several times a week. I exercise probably about 4 or 5 nights a week. I don't lift weights usually, but I do have access to a weight room and I used to lift pretty regularly.

I don't know a lot about dieting and what would work best for building muscle, but it seems to me as if the whole atkins diet isn't really for me - I don't need to lose weight or drop my body fat percentage so much, and the carbs give me good energy for being so active.

So my question is this - what type of a diet would help me get a six pack? I know I will probably need to lay off the fatty deserts and sweets that I eat too many of as is. I've read about various types of crunches and other exercises that should help tone my abs, so I think I am okay as far as what to do exercise-wise. I have heard that having a "high protein" diet helps a lot. Any specific recommendations for something like this? More meat, using protein powder / protein shakes? Any input would be very much appreciated, as I would like to get started with this and have some nice results! :D

Thanks to anyone who has any advice,

-Trevor
 
abs

abs are a funny muscle. The secret to abs is indeed having a low body fat, but if that was 100% true why would people do crunches?

From what i hear, if you are a male u need to have lower than 8% body fat to have visible abs.

So i would recommend that you do lay off the sweets, always a good thing. Also, you may want to cut down a little bit on the carbs, not too much tho because u sound very active.

Now for the ab exercises. Once again, abs are funny muscles. some people say work them out every day, some say work them out the same u would any other muscle, meaning u give them at least a day of rest. I personally have a 6 pack and do abs every day, but to each his own.

I start out with my lower abs, then obliques, then upper abs. First raise ur legs up, laying on ur back, and keep them straight. Now place ur hands behind ur head or on ur chest and curl ur stomach like an achordian. Do as many as u can. Now once u cant do any more, do obliques. Lay on ur back and keep ur feet flat on the ground and do curls, but twist ur upper body so that ur right shoulder points towards ur left leg. Alternate this. Do as many of these as u can. Now lay on ur side and raise ur torso so that u are curling ur oblique completely. Do this for each side. Now lay down in a standard curling position, bring ur feet close to ur butt and do crunches for ur upper abs. Next roll over on ur tummy and do revers crunches. Simply place ur hands a little above ur butt and arch ur back up, u should feel a burn in the small of ur back. Rest and repeat this cycle two more times. Remember that it is important to work ur lower back also, working out a muscle without working out the opposin muscle will lead to problems. EX. workint out bicepts without working out tricepts.

U may wanna do some jump rope too, that can put a good toning workout on ur whole body, and burns fat.

hope this helps.
 
Thanks a bunch for the reply, Mike. I'll give a few of those exercieses a try, and try to lay off the sweets. Yeah I am still not sure if I need to work on them every night or if I can take breaks and do them just like every other night. I have heard that with abs you only really HAVE to work them out like twice in a week, but that seems like way to little. How long do you spend each night working out the abs?

Thanks again for the info,

-Trevor
 
its true

abs are simply mental. ur exactly right, being able to see u abs has no physical advantage, its all cosmetic, but if u want them...
 
You are correct, abs are mainly a mental thing. At the same time though, I have heard that having your abs in shape can help with lower back pain and also help with balance and agility. Not sure how true any of this really is, but I wouldn't think it would have a negative effect. I am willing to modify my diet and make it a little more healthy in order to do this, that's for sure. There are still certain things that I'll probably have once in a while, but I've never had THAT much of a sweet tooth.

-Trevor
 
abs can be in shape without seeing them just like abs can be in shape without the back being in shape...similar to how biceps can be huge while triceps are not...gotta work both out.

I can do 250 pound crunches on the machines and hundreds of situps, but I can't see my abs...I don't mind though because I know they are strong even if not visible.
 
huh?

yea, i think trev was asking how to "expose" his abs. which is having a six pack that shows. just because u can see u abs doesnt mean that they are strong, although it usually does.

yea, u dont need a strong back to have strong abs. but people often workout just their abs and not their back, this leads to posture problems so i throw in the reverse curls.
 
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