I know it has been discussed before but wanted to open it up for debate again. Can anyone (outside of have a medical condition, resorting to plastic surgery or gear) have 4, 6, 8 pack abs?
I used to be one that believed that genetics would be the limiting factor in certain people never achieving the holy grail of bodybuilding. But with my recently acquired experience and seeing others transformations (I mean look at phill over in the photo forum) I really believe that it is possible for almost anyone. Granted some people rip-up with minimal effort and others have to keep Amish strict. Anyone believe that it is impossible?
I think so. If you check out my pics under JasonL and more pics. I was a fatty all the way up until I was about 22 years old. If you put in the effort you can get there. I actually got even leaner after I took those pics to the point that I had multiple veins showing in my abs.
I’ve posted an after pic of my brother and I when we leaned down from major fatness. I never made it to 6-packness due to diet detour and travel schedule. But I know it is possible and going to do it this holiday season.
Just saw other “experts” on another board say it wasn’t possible for everyone.
There was a time when I firmly believed that 6-packdom was a gift that wasn’t given to everyone (mostly because even when somewhat lean I didn’t have one).
Now, I do believe that almost everyone can have visible abs. Obviously some people will have more definition than others but still, with proper diet and program I feel that most can achieve at least a decent abs visibility.
Now, some peoples will have a hard time achieving that goal. Simply put, some have physical characteristics that will make it hard to have deep abdominal cuts. Among some factors we could name:
Adipocytes hyperplasia. An individual can gain body fat two ways:
Fat cells hypertrophy: the existing cells store more fat.
Fat cells hyperplasia: you add new fat cells.
The good news is that fat cell hyperplasia rarely occurs past childhood.
The bad news is that an obese/over fat kid will increase his number of fat cells. This is bad for 3 reasons: a) it makes it easier to gain fat afterwards (since you have more cells to “fill”) b) it makes it harder to loose fat fast (it’s much easier to lose fat when you have few fat cells) and, most importantly, c) you cannot decrease the number of fat cells that you have. You can fill up or empty them, but not remove them. So if you were an over fat kid, chances are that you will have more fat cells and that this would make it very hard to get to extremely low body fat levels.
Skin thickness: some peoples just seem to have paper thin skin while others look like dolphins! And this is not always related to body fatness. For example, even when I was fat, I was still vascular in the arms and legs because my skin is thin.
-Muscle size: Having full muscle bellies will increase definition. Peoples with large muscles will not have to go down as low body fat-wise to see muscle definition.
Posture: An hyperlordosis decreases abdominal visibility because it stretches the abdominal wall.
There are, of course, several other factors involved.
The question should not be “can everyone have a 6-pack?” but rather “SHOULD everyone try to have a 6-pack?”. You see, for some, having a 6-pack will require so much work and sacrifice that it will actually halt their progress and actually lead to a worst physique. It’s important to analyse yourself objectively and carefully select your goals.
I agree CT. This past summer I halted my cutting phase because I realized that achieving a defined 6pack would of hurt my goals long term (due to the muscle loss associated with dieting for so long)
I decided that my time would be better spent adding lbm, rather than trying to cut out my skinny bastard abs…
CT, I know it is crossing over to the set point discussion but my theory is that getting there for the first time is hands down the hardest thing to do. Once one comes close the first time each time they lean down they results are better, easier to attain and maintain - Any truth to that?
Until recent years I didn’t think it was possible for me, but I finally did it. Unfortunately, I had to take my bodyweight so low that I lost a lot of size in my legs and glutes. The end result was that I looked pretty damn scrawny unless I was totally naked. The sacrifice for me was not worth the rewards so I haven’t gone below 12%BF or so since.
I would have to agree on the whole thought about it getting easier each time that a person cuts down. I feel it is a combination of experience (knowing how to acheive low BF%), along with gaining lbm, which not only make one burn calories faster but in turn naturally shows more definition. I feel it is also easier each time you cut down do to the fact that each time you bulk up you also get more experience and learn how to add a better ratio of lbm/bf%.
Personally I have never acheieved a full on chiseled 6 pack, but I have seen the light. I can fairly easily get what I would call a fair four.
To add on to what CT was saying about being a overweight child and adding fat cells is also true. It does make it damn hard to loose the first time. There is also the excess loose skin that one carries after shedding over one hundred LBS. That shit can hide a lot.
I would also like to add that a person need to be smart in their attempt to get ripped. The first time I cut down extremly low I suffered a large amount of muscle loss due to ignorance. I am still paying for that one.
Christian makes some good point. For me to get trully ripped I have to lose a lot of muscle to get there. I think this is the case with most people though. I’ve also seen some people who are ripped but don’t really have a visible six pack. For us fatties, it takes a lot of work plus the knowledge to get there.
How do we know if we have thick skin? What classifies it as “thick skin” ? Are certain skin colors more apt to be “thicker” than others? (ie: do darker people have thicker skin?) I have olive colored skin and the boxes in my abs are distinctly visible however if I pull my skin taught where my belly button is, the become much more defined. How can I get deeper grooves in my abs (similar to the abs you see on the cover of a Men’s Health issue). My abs seem like one big wall when shallow channels separating each of the boxes. Help would be appreciated on this one…workout/weight routnine recommendations? diet recommendations?
I believe the answer is “Yes.” But life is not fair. Some people will have visable abs at 12% bf, while others may have to get down to below 8% to start to see them. I fall into the latter category. :D(
Soccergod, I was trying to explain that it varies form person to person. If a person’s bodyfat is more distrbuted, then they will see there abs at a higher bf%. For others (like me) where the majority of their bodyfat goes into their midesection, they will have to be at a lower bf% to see them.
Patricia beat me to it… It all depends on legal limits and/or willingness to use fake id and so on…
Seriously it does.
Ok non kidding aside, of course it’s possible for everyone to have a 6 pack, but possible is a word with a large spread of variation in this usage.
Like some have said, first off you have differences in how low each person has to go in BF to see the 6 pack.
Then you also have variations in how much work that will require each person, and how resistant their lifestyle/body is to that.
I have never had a 6 pack, yet I believe I could have one if I saw that as my only goal. And that is the challenge for me. Since strength with decent size are more important goals for me, the 6 pack gets put by the wayside. I’m not one of the people who can have a 6 pack yet not see muscle loss while acquiring it, nor do I have the interest in disciplining myself enough to go that far down.
Basically Art, all you need to do is walk into ANY grocery store in Portland. Just move on towards the beer SECTION (never just an aisle in this town) - and hmmmmm, let’s see, my 20 to 30-minute decision process begins.
“What moooood am I in?”
“Am I drinking this with steak, pizza, burgers, pasta (and meat sauce) or just chips and salsa?”
“What type of artwork am I working on tonight?”
…and so it goes.
I usually go for anything that’s a stout or porter. During warm months it could be IPA’s or Ambers. But, I do almost always drink the dark beers. You know, since they’re like a meal in a pint.
And on occasion, I go for the ever tasty, “Mike’s Hard Lemonade”.
A short list: Black Butte Porter, Bridgeport (IPA and Stout), Boont Amber, Full Sail (Blue Heron, Amber and their IPA), McMenamins (local brew pubs - my favorite is a combo of two of their on tap beers: Rubinator. Ruby and Terminator - YUMMY).
Favorite thing to do in a brew pub: close your eyes and pick a tap.