Skinny Guy w/ Sudden Abdominal Fat

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Hey guys, this is my first post, I love the site.

I started weighlifting about 2 months ago. I was 170 lbs, 5’11 19 y/old. I’ve been eating big an lifting 3 times a week with all the big important stuff: squats, deads, chins, bench etc. I’m excited cause I’ve already gained 8 lbs and I can definetly see more mass on my shoudlers, arms and chest. My top 4 abs also appear to have sprouted which was a pleasant surprise.

The bad news though is where the bottom 4 abs are supposed to be, I appear to have gained some flub. I imagine it has something to do with eating a lot or maybe its just part of getting older. I can’t stand it! Everytime I sit down I can feel it bulge, if I wear pants with an elastic waste it starts to roll over. Fat is disgusting. I’ve been skinny all my life and I’m defintely not used to having it.

I want to be hyooge eventually like, two hundred and something punds. So my question is, do I need to learn to live with this disgusting blubber, until I gain enough to realistically start thinking about cutting? Will it die on its own as I start lifting more? I tried a rowing machine for 10 min. last time I went to the gym and kinda like it. Would adding 15-20 min of cardio after weightlifting help me decrease my fat gain or will it just sabotage my muscle growth.

I’d really appreciate the input of the learned. . . .

Thanks,

Grork

2

[quote]Grork wrote:
Hey guys, this is my first post, I love the site.

I started weighlifting about 2 months ago. I was 170 lbs, 5’11 19 y/old. I’ve been eating big an lifting 3 times a week with all the big important stuff: squats, deads, chins, bench etc. I’m excited cause I’ve already gained 8 lbs and I can definetly see more mass on my shoudlers, arms and chest. My top 4 abs also appear to have sprouted which was a pleasant surprise.

The bad news though is where the bottom 4 abs are supposed to be, I appear to have gained some flub. I imagine it has something to do with eating a lot or maybe its just part of getting older. I can’t stand it! Everytime I sit down I can feel it bulge, if I wear pants with an elastic waste it starts to roll over. Fat is disgusting. I’ve been skinny all my life and I’m defintely not used to having it.

I want to be hyooge eventually like, two hundred and something punds. So my question is, do I need to learn to live with this disgusting blubber, until I gain enough to realistically start thinking about cutting? Will it die on its own as I start lifting more? I tried a rowing machine for 10 min. last time I went to the gym and kinda like it. Would adding 15-20 min of cardio after weightlifting help me decrease my fat gain or will it just sabotage my muscle growth.

I’d really appreciate the input of the learned. . .

Thanks,

Grork[/quote]

Not to make light of what you just wrote, but you weigh 170lbs at 5’11". Unless you have NO muscle mass my guess is this is the first time your body fat percentage has ever been above low single digits. If you were truly “fat”, your top four abdominal sections wouldn’t be visible at all.

I swear. some of you are worse than some women when it comes to body image issues. I could see if your waist had shot up to 40", but because you lost your bottom two ab seperations? Did you lose any sleep over this or has this just been one big constant nightmare for you?

Cardio done in excess will reduce or stop muscle gains. If you feel that after only gaining 8lbs that you are getting that “obese”, I would look at the types of foods you are eating. Overall, I think you are making more of this than it is. Losing the bottom two “abs” doesn’t seem like an issue that should cause that much concern…unless your strength wasn’t increasing and your muscle were not getting bigger. You have to decide what is more important to you.

3

hey man. to actually answer your questions…

my guess? the stomach situation may not be more than the typical changes your body goes through when beginning working out, so i wouldnt worry about it. when any person starts a workout program, the body changes to adapt to what you are doing to it. because of this, your body changes size, shape, weight, etc. in this case, your body is just in a transition phase right now and explains for the randomness of this stomach-fat thing. it will go away as you continue lifting and working out.

as far as the aerobic/cardio question. best be is 15-20 min of high-intensity, 80% max heart rate. anything lower in intensity or longer in duration will actually hurt your muscle mass over time.

hope this helps. take care.

~E

4

Your bottom 2 abs???

I’m baffled proff x didn’t have a stroke on that one bro. Look at it this way. If you’ve been skinny all your life chances are cutting up isn’t going to be a problem. As for not being able to see yor bottom 2 abs that’s most likely a 2-3 week cardio/diet adjustment away from having a 6 pack. Even less with the right supplements. The cardio parameters equus made are on point, and further enforce the overcoming urge I have to elope with her.

Now if you really wanted to minimize your fat gains along with the muscle gains you could keep a food journal (which you should probably be doing anyway) and just adjust your carb/fat intake until you gains are strictly lean. Keep in mind that this is a pretty difficult thing to do, since your lbm is constantly increasing so your “exact” caloric requirement should be also. Personally I agree with the proff x that if you’re serious about hitting 200+ don’t worry about your abs…at least in the winter.

Either way both approaches are going to work, and the simple fact that you’re doing it should be enough to dismiss any bullshit (no offense) worries you’ve got going.

Later bro.

5

Points taken, getlemen, I’ve been lurking on this site long enough to know that you’re probably going to get burned by Prof X on your first post :slight_smile:

I seem to have miscommunicated about the problem, however, it not tha tI’ve suddenly lost my lower 4 “abdominal sections” – I never had those, it’s that I’ve developed a little pot-belly in that area. I only mentioned the lower 4 abdominals to help locate the area in question. This is not a case of lost definition, this is a case of sudden unsighly, pot belly.

6

[quote]Grork wrote:
Points taken, getlemen, I’ve been lurking on this site long enough to know that you’re probably going to get burned by Prof X on your first post :slight_smile:

I seem to have miscommunicated about the problem, however, it not tha tI’ve suddenly lost my lower 4 “abdominal sections” – I never had those, it’s that I’ve developed a little pot-belly in that area. I only mentioned the lower 4 abdominals to help locate the area in question. This is not a case of lost definition, this is a case of sudden unsighly, pot belly.

[/quote]

Do you even understand basic anatomy? Your new “explanation” screams NO. I am putting money on this being the first time you are regularly full. I think you need to focus more on your lifts. Having something in your stomach is not “fat”.

7

[quote]Equus123 wrote:
hey man. to actually answer your questions…[/quote]

Because it wasn’t answered before?

[quote]
as far as the aerobic/cardio question. best be is 15-20 min of high-intensity, 80% max heart rate. anything lower in intensity or longer in duration will actually hurt your muscle mass over time.[/quote]

Anything lower in intensity than an all out sprint for 20 minutes will hurt his muscle mass? But training like that regularly won’t? Could you explain then why many bodybuilders walk on an incline for longer than you recommended when getting ready for shows? Could you also explain why this method will work for all people at all times and won’t hurt muscle gains?

8

Especialy if you just started lifting, doing squats and deads will build your abs.This new muscle will increase your waist size and make your pants tighter.It will also make what used to look flat like a spare tire because the muscle is pushing the fat forward from behind. Have you adjusted your diet to match the excess calories needed or are you just eating like an animal and hoping for the best?

9

This reminds me of years back when I was struggling at getting in shape for the first time, and losing weight was my priority.

I was including crunches in my circuit style weight training at the time, and my brother would tell me frequently that he had heard on the news that crunches and situps would make one’s belly bigger. Why was I doing them, he would ask, if I wanted to be thinner. I kept at them, though that specter dogged me for awhile, since, I really didn’t know what was what back then either. However, anything that strengthened the body, and that I saw guys do in army movies, seemed like a good idea at the time.

This all is to say, the others are probably right that your stomach is just expanded from increased muscle, and/or being full. I know recently when I began bulking, my pant size jumped a couple inches, especially during certain times of the day, but, my waist is only getting more defined so far.

10

Accumalting fat is unavoidable but you can slow it down. I do this by eating on the Massive Eating Diet, John Beraradi’s way of shoving more food down your pie hole and minimizing blood sugar levels simultaneously.

However, whenever your fat is getting out of control, you’ll have to cycle your diet (such as every few weeks). Simply continue with your lifting program (you may have to decrease the volume though) but restict carbs to about 100 grams per day. On workout days that would be w/ your post workout shake and the meal an hour afterwards. This works for me all the time.