Six-Pack with 36 Inch Waist

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Some info:
6’0 about 200 lbs
Max current lifts:
Bench: 245
Squat: 315
Deadlift: 435

Measurements are 45-36-40 chest-waist-booty. Chest and waist are measured completely relaxed, booty is flexed (no reason to it, just how I’ve always done).

Typical day of eating involves as much as can be found of rice, milk, chicken, eggs.

My question is how do I have a six pack while my belly is going whale mode. Am I secretly fat or something? Is anyone in the same boat? I did some browsing around the Internet and it seems like everyone’s having a good time sliding in to 31" pants as long as they “lift strength training” and “do compound lifts”.

I tried some of that TA stuff at the end of workouts but it’s taking its time, that’s for sure.

Anyways thanks for any input!

2

“secretly fat” haha that was a good one.

Waist size also depends on bone structure and where you store fat. I have a little girly waist so even if I get fat it won’t exceed 31".

3

You talked about waist size and then pant size as though they are the same thing. They’re not. Pant size can be manipulated by wearing the pants higher or lower than their intended point of contact.

Are you actually measuring your waist, or are you going by your pants size?

4

What

5

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
You talked about waist size and then pant size as though they are the same thing. They’re not. Pant size can be manipulated by wearing the pants higher or lower than their intended point of contact.

Are you actually measuring your waist, or are you going by your pants size?[/quote]

Oops of course. Pants size is 34. When I say 36 I mean that when I let my belly all hang out I measure (like, with measuring tape) 36" around the navel.

6

I don’t understand the pictures :frowning:

If I understand what you’re saying though, you simply put fat on in other areas.

7

“Having a sixpack” is such a vague term.

Some guys have sixpacks all the time, flexed or unflexed (e.g., many varsity high school swimmers)
Some guys have clear sixpacks when flexed, and somewhat defined sixpacks when not flexed.
Some guys have sixpacks when flexed, but you wouldn’t know it if they weren’t flexed. ← this may be where you are
Some guys have sixpacks only when flexed and the lighting is perfect and they use the right instagram filter.
Some guys don’t have sixpacks ever.

And then given fluctuations in water retention and belly contents, you can shift up and down along that spectrum.

I can go from a 30" waist in the morning to a 36" waist in the evening, just depending on what I eat and drink that day.

8

If you want to see your abdominal muscles all the time (they never leave you know…) then you need to cut your body fat %.

You can never lift a weight and your abdominal muscles are still there. They will be quite visible if you shave off enough fat. Find your local skinny guy and you can probably see his abs. Pecs too. Not that you’d want to, what with him being skinny and frail like your elderly granpa. But there they are in all their glory for you to enjoy and get a boner over.

The “lift strength training” and “do compound lifts” does very little to expose your abdominal muscles for view. Your body fat is the only thing getting in the way. You know what you have to do now.

9

Thanks for the input everyone, consider this question answered. Under 24 hours too, nice :>

So can a mod remove the picture I attached? I put it up to make sure I had plenty of information for the situation I described, but now it really does not have to be there so I would prefer that it be gone ASAP.

10

[quote]marrot wrote:
Thanks for the input everyone, consider this question answered. Under 24 hours too, nice :>

So can a mod remove the picture I attached? I put it up to make sure I had plenty of information for the situation I described, but now it really does not have to be there so I would prefer that it be gone ASAP.[/quote]

You weren’t very smart about that, huh? If you post something online, expect it to exist forever.

You could have uploaded it to, say, imgur, and removed it yourself, but it would still exist in all the various caches it went through.

The proof is forever out, that you’re secretly fat.

11

Welcome to the internet.

12

Noooo! At least I wasn’t holding a shoe so nobody will be able to gauge my covert lardiness to any respectable accuracy.

13

Some people also hold aft beneath their abs. People that do this tend to have higher amounts of visceral fats.

If you think this is the case for you, bulk with care, as this is the most dangerous situation for your heart.

So says the interweb.

14

[quote]marrot wrote:
Noooo! At least I wasn’t holding a shoe so nobody will be able to gauge my covert lardiness to any respectable accuracy.[/quote]

Haha!

Jokes aside, I kinda wish you left the pictures up. Some dude literally just posted about the same thing here: Lean But Stomach Sticks Out - Bigger Stronger Leaner - Forums - T Nation

It would have been nice to direct him to this thread, so he could be like “Gee, that dude looks like me. I’m normal?”

15

[quote]goochadamg wrote:

[quote]marrot wrote:
Thanks for the input everyone, consider this question answered. Under 24 hours too, nice :>

So can a mod remove the picture I attached? I put it up to make sure I had plenty of information for the situation I described, but now it really does not have to be there so I would prefer that it be gone ASAP.[/quote]

The proof is forever out, that you’re secretly fat.[/quote]

LOL!!!

16

I missed the original pic here, but based on the pic in your log from three months ago, I’d say it’s a combo of posture and bloat. (A better pic from the side would give a better perspective though)
http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/blog_sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_log/marrots_log_part_2?id=6052276&pageNo=2

The way the waistband of your boxers is tilted could either be a postural/hip tilt, or simply the way all you kids are wearing your clothes nowadays.

Are you still eating over 1000g of carbs a day? That’d be plenty of bloating material, especially if it’s mostly from rice and milk. Also, double-check your weight tomorrow morning (after the bathroom, before food/drink/clothes). You just said you’re “about 200 pounds”, but a very recent log entry said:
“12/15/14 - Monday Weighed at 195 this morning with all my clothes on.”
195 fully-clothed is probably closer to 190 in the buff, if that. Please tell me you didn’t really gain almost 10 pounds in 7 days.

17

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
I missed the original pic here, but based on the pic in your log from three months ago, I’d say it’s a combo of posture and bloat. (A better pic from the side would give a better perspective though)
http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/blog_sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_log/marrots_log_part_2?id=6052276&pageNo=2

The way the waistband of your boxers is tilted could either be a postural/hip tilt, or simply the way all you kids are wearing your clothes nowadays.

Are you still eating over 1000g of carbs a day? That’d be plenty of bloating material, especially if it’s mostly from rice and milk. Also, double-check your weight tomorrow morning (after the bathroom, before food/drink/clothes). You just said you’re “about 200 pounds”, but a very recent log entry said:
“12/15/14 - Monday Weighed at 195 this morning with all my clothes on.”
195 fully-clothed is probably closer to 190 in the buff, if that. Please tell me you didn’t really gain almost 10 pounds in 7 days.[/quote]

Chris is a funny man! And sharp also.

18

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
I missed the original pic here, but based on the pic in your log from three months ago, I’d say it’s a combo of posture and bloat. (A better pic from the side would give a better perspective though)
http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/blog_sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_log/marrots_log_part_2?id=6052276&pageNo=2

The way the waistband of your boxers is tilted could either be a postural/hip tilt, or simply the way all you kids are wearing your clothes nowadays.

Are you still eating over 1000g of carbs a day? That’d be plenty of bloating material, especially if it’s mostly from rice and milk. Also, double-check your weight tomorrow morning (after the bathroom, before food/drink/clothes). You just said you’re “about 200 pounds”, but a very recent log entry said:
“12/15/14 - Monday Weighed at 195 this morning with all my clothes on.”
195 fully-clothed is probably closer to 190 in the buff, if that. Please tell me you didn’t really gain almost 10 pounds in 7 days.[/quote]

Oh, that picture. <3 dorm room lighting always makes me ripped. Nope, not a fashion statement on the boxers. And I don’t eat that much carbs anymore, lost the appetite + don’t need it. But milk is still probs a big culprit. Forgot about the posture tip, I saw the Elliot Hulse video about an at home exercise to reduce APT, maybe I should get back on that…

Anyways you’re right, I just measured on the scale at mom and dads house (whose reading is usually +5 lbs compared to the one I have in my dorm room) and got 200 in clothes and 198 in . So, we straight. And clothes don’t weigh that much :o

19

[quote]marrot wrote:
Forgot about the posture tip, I saw the Elliot Hulse video about an at home exercise to reduce APT, maybe I should get back on that…[/quote]
Definitely couldn’t hurt. No pun intended.

Glad to hear you sorted it out. Reinforces for everyone the importance of consistency when you weigh in. And I just did an informal experiment here at home. I weighed 221.2 in jeans, boxers, socks, tank top, and a fleece (an average outfit). Weighed 216.8 without. Almost 4.5 pound difference. So, yep. To be fair though, the fleece itself was 1.3. :wink: