I noticed there are guys showing off 2 different kinds of abs: being both ripped, someone's will look flat, while some others' will look thick, like if there were sticking out.
Mine seem to get everyday more like the last ones, which I am not happy about. They may look good (being quite ripped) on the beach, but they could be easily mistaken for a beer belly with a shirt on!
The upper part is especially sticking out, making some me think my stomach looks like a dog's one!
Anybody knows if it is just genetics (like: we are all made in different ways, and my abs just are just that way, will never be flat) or if I am doing anything wrong?
Are these the 2 differents results of 2 different training routines? More/less set, more/less reps, more/less weight, more/less time when flexing the muscle?
It also would be helpful if people with different results (think or flat abs) would post their routine, so we could easily compare and see if and how they are related.
Thanks to anybody who will help!
Ed
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07-13-2007, 08:15 AM #1
RIPPED ABS: thick ones vs flat ones
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07-13-2007, 09:21 AM #2
it's more genetics than anything, however, think about it these terms, you don't do reps for other body parts to make them smaller do you? i'm not saying don't train abs, but you probably don't need anything more than body weight and higher reps, along with the diet to help them show thru. i found my stomach got bigger when i did heavier weighted ab work and it DIDN'T make them anymore visible, just bigger. not what i was hoping for, so i no longer do weighted ab work.
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07-13-2007, 08:02 PM #3
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07-13-2007, 11:32 PM #4
I don't know if this is true, but I once read (here somewhere) that steriods can give you belly bloat. It does something with inflaming or enlarging the internal organs. (Yet Arnold and the older BB had great flat abs!?!) I can't say in your case obviously so it could be genetics.
Another thing that has changed a lot in the last 20 years or so is the conditioning of the transverse abdominals as seen in BB. Compare Arnold and Frank Zane to Jay Cutler and Ronnie Coleman. The original BB really worked on the transverse abdominals with stomach vacuums. It's definatly something I will be adding to my routine. When I actually get abs and get rid of my keg. Hee, hee.Cute_Asian_Girl
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07-13-2007, 11:47 PM #5
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07-15-2007, 06:54 PM #6
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07-15-2007, 07:36 PM #7
What's there to doubt? Body builders have used vacuums for years (more of an old-style bb exercise but so what?).
Just google a bit:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ms-fit5.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drryan11.htm
Ashtanga yoga practices something similar (prolonged static holds of the transverse abdominis) through what they call locks or bhandas. Google for uddiyana bhanda if you wish.
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03-27-2010, 02:39 AM #8
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03-27-2010, 08:22 AM #9
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03-27-2010, 10:05 AM #10
Well for one everyone's body is different.
But abs are a muscle group just like any other. If the muscle is bigger then odds are a person has spent more time on that muscle. Odds are the guy with the big abs that pop out is someone who does weighted crunches and other ab exercises that makes use of resistance.
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03-27-2010, 07:24 PM #11
I've been told:
Using weight = Thicker Abs
Body weight = Washboard/Flatter abs
personally mine stick out almost as far as my chest and in some shirts it kinda looks like my stomach might be a little fat but its cuz my abs stick out.
you could always do a little better cardio/dieting maybe that would help but i think its genetics that makes up a good part of a persons absDon't pray for lighter burdens but for stronger bodies.
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03-27-2010, 08:57 PM #12
Steroids don't cause organ growth (ie monster guts), growth hormone does. Drug-using elite bodybuilders didn't use GH in the 70's, but do now (and plenty of it). Their guts are distended from all the GH permanently growing their internal organs. No amount of stomach vacuums will really fix that. There are a bunch of other fun side effects too, like carpal tunnel.
GOMAD!
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03-27-2010, 10:07 PM #13
using good full ROM and body weight to high resistance but relatively low reps (20-) and generally pretty sparse training of abs you get thicker abs
training doing thousands of situps will get you ripped abs, but boxers abs...aka asymmetrical. symmetry lies mostly in genetics, but everytime i read that a bb trains using using tons of situps, he has asymmetrical abs, and likewise most boxers have asym. abs too
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03-28-2010, 12:17 AM #14
Wow..alot of good information in here! This thread was a real eye opener for me, it's crazy, I've always been someone who was too lazy to do abs (ridiculous, I know) and just started routinely training my core about a year ago. I was doing alot of weighted crunches and stuff and noticed my abs were getting defined by definately thicker, which is not what I wanted. I know now, thanks to this thread what to change up
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03-28-2010, 01:11 AM #15
Diet, Body Fat % and Gentics. Bit of excersice will only help to further define your abs, not make them stick in or out.
Scientifically impossible to change the overall shape of your muscles. When below 8% bodyfat, my abs appear flat. When at around 10 % my abs are still visible although they appear slightly "thicker" because of the fat deposits around them.
Heavy weight,no weight,low reps,high reps.Doesnt matter, get your diet and bf% in check and then work out what works best for you to further define your abs. Everyone will be different.
Personally i alternate 3x a week between 2x8 heavily weighted and 2x15 light inclined situps/hanging leg raises/Oblique work. Gives me a good mix of strength and definition imo.
No need for 3x100 situps and sh*t like that, just overkill imo (but hey, like i said everyone is different)
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