Why do I look like this?
- Thread starter DK0313
- Start date
john.patterson
Well-known member
Holy vascularity. You're a roadmap dude! What type of ab exercises are you doing? What's your ab routine look like?
DK0313
Member
That pic is from my last cut about a month before I stopped at 147 lbs. I cut down, to 142 by the end. But it was a 4 month cut first two months I experimented with keto but ended up eating way too many calories so really only 2 months with good macros. I'm 20 and I weight 165 and I'm 5'9. I just started another cut two weeks ago at 171. I can't be that low of a body fat, percentage if there's no definition there I read. I just figured Im the type that needs to get down, to about 8% before I really see them.
DK0313
Member
I do EVERYTHING. Leg lifts, crunches, sit ups, Russian twists, hanging leg lifts over head, bicycle kicks, planks, body saws, ab roller, windshield wipers, mountain climbers, cable crunches, flutter kicks, v ups, plank arm reaches, etc... also I hit all the ab machines on as high weight as I can I hit at the end of my routine for muscle hypertrophy.
DK0313
Member
Invalid Link Removed that was at 140 but I feel like I had no bf at all
muscleupcrohn
Legend
How often do you do all this? Also, it may seem rather obvious, but do you have a good mind-muscle connection with your abs? Can you focus on really flexing them when you're working them, and also just flexing them in general, perhaps in slightly different ways? It may be an issue of properly flexing/posing, although genetics likely plays a role here too. You're very lean in both pictures.
DK0313
Member
I dont do all of them everyday, but I do do abs everyday, I do 4 or 5 of them and Rep them 4 times then do the weighted machines at the end everytime. Yes I can focus on flexing them when I workout however it seems like the left side is always somewhat tighter even when I try, to work the right harder. As far as posing the second pic was the best possible way I could you pose to get my abs to show at that weight, I just didn't like how small I was getting. And even if I have ****ty genetics, which let's be honest, seems like the case, should I still be able to achieve good looking abs if I'm cut enough regardless? The muscles there I just need to see it and I have that stubborn fat covering them even when I lean out.
MidwestBeast
Legend
I wouldn't do abs every day. I'm at a substantially higher bf% than you, but my abs are very visible because they're so big/deep. The best I found for that when starting out were crunches with the rope handle on the cable machine and crunches on a decline bench holding a plate or dumbbell. Treat them like calves -- you can work them a bit more than other muscle groups, but they're still a muscle group and need time to rest and grow.
I honestly don't do any direct ab work now and just heavy compound lifts has been more than enough to keep them in good shape.
I honestly don't do any direct ab work now and just heavy compound lifts has been more than enough to keep them in good shape.
paul56778
Well-known member
+ 1 to this, I used to train them much more, in the past and mixed high volume with bodyweight and low volume and high weight e.g. weighted crunches flat, and on incline bench. I have found that they improve through heavy squatting and get enough indirect work through my other workouts. also I agree that the more developed they are the more they show at higher body fat levels within reason.
OP I wonder if others will agree with me on this one but gaining more lean body mass and bulking for a while is an option to change appearance. also you have many years to progress from now, I also feel they are a muscle group like any other which improve through muscle maturation, years of consistent training.
Justlooking5
Active member
Just curious, what supplements are you taking? I rarely see vascularity like that on people who aren't chemically enhanced in some way.
I think you just need to add more mass. Abs are both a matter of low bodyfat but also muscle development. I would focus on adding 15-20 lbs of muscle through a high calorie diet and getting stronger on the big compound movements (squats, bench, deads or rack deads)... these will develop thickness in your abs as well. And I would do ab training with heavy weights and lower reps, 2x a week at most.
After you bulk and you've gained a lot of strength and a solid 10-15 lbs. of muscle and then cut, I'd be surprised if you didn't have more prominent abs.
I think you just need to add more mass. Abs are both a matter of low bodyfat but also muscle development. I would focus on adding 15-20 lbs of muscle through a high calorie diet and getting stronger on the big compound movements (squats, bench, deads or rack deads)... these will develop thickness in your abs as well. And I would do ab training with heavy weights and lower reps, 2x a week at most.
After you bulk and you've gained a lot of strength and a solid 10-15 lbs. of muscle and then cut, I'd be surprised if you didn't have more prominent abs.
MidwestBeast
Legend
Random, but one lift that just thrashes my abs now is when I do tricep bar pushdowns on the cable. Stablizing them to go heavy leaves them soooo sore that next day.
And I'll echo the comment on mind/muscle connection. Because I feel it very differently now than when I first started (e.g. doing crunches by throwing my shoulders forward).
And I'll echo the comment on mind/muscle connection. Because I feel it very differently now than when I first started (e.g. doing crunches by throwing my shoulders forward).
DK0313
Member
I've been vascular since I've started lifting it's just my genetics luckily, however they screwed me on abs lol. That was the reason for my last bulk then the cycle of the m1t it didn't seem to change anything in my abdominal muscles I only noticed a large change in my upper trap and lower lat muscles.
Justlooking5
Active member
Were you on anything (M1t etc) or any OTC supplements when that pic was taken? I'm just saying I don't usually see that type of vascularity on someone who isn't chemically enhanced somehow. Really just asking more out of curiosity.
DK0313
Member
No that was before I did anything at all just whey, suprisingly creatine, and fish oil. Ive had people ask me if I'm juicing at the gym and I just laugh and say do you see how small I am? I weigh less than 160 lbs hahaha no I'm not juicing. That pic is from October I started talking other sups just this January. Other than clear muscle, I started taking end of November.
JoeStethics
Member
Genetics do play a role here since you seem to be at very low body fat, but i agree with most posts about bulking and getting stronger on compound lifts while working abs less and treating them like any other muscle group, in my opinion you should not be cutting until you have gained atleast 20-25 pounds around 10-15 being pure muscle.
ZedzGod
New member
I can't believe no one has told you to do TCF vacuums
trust and believe that will give you the definition you want. It the oldest bodybuilding trick in the book
Dustin07
Legend
the timing of finding this post is great because I'm about to post an ab thread myself. you're the same height as me, but I weigh in at 180-183 typically. I keep a six pack basically year round unless I have a really bloaty weekend. With that said, I almost never do ab work. my routine is focused around oly and power lifting, so my key training is squats, bench/press, deads, cleans, and snatch. my accessory work is usually only arms for vanity's sake.
without knowing the rest of your training, you may benefit from some focused strength training and work on putting on mass. It ironically, may help make your abs pop too.
without knowing the rest of your training, you may benefit from some focused strength training and work on putting on mass. It ironically, may help make your abs pop too.
u_e_s_i
Well-known member
How're things going?
Regarding your post above. If two people, A and B, are the same height, the same muscularity, the same body fat % etc. They're pretty much the same essentially, except their body fat is distributed differently as a result of genetics. If person A stores more fat on their chest, arms and shoulders than person B, then surely because they're otherwise the same and have the same body fat %, person B must have more fat on the the rest of their body than person A.
Whilst you may be extremely lean, the vascularity of your arms, chest and shoulders is likely partly genetic. You probably store less fat there than most people. If this is the case then you must therefore store more of your fat on the rest of your body and it could well be concentrated on your abs
John Smeton
Legend
This may be the case. ^^
Ive gotten very lean and while I saw an outline of my abs, etc I never had them deep cuts. Keep trying and do weighted ab work to build some muscle there, thats what Im doing this off-season. I do abs once a every 5-7 days, twice at most
Ive gotten very lean and while I saw an outline of my abs, etc I never had them deep cuts. Keep trying and do weighted ab work to build some muscle there, thats what Im doing this off-season. I do abs once a every 5-7 days, twice at most
u_e_s_i
Well-known member
In my experience you can get deep cuts through high volume low weight and low volume high weight stuff.
When I was 17-19 I just did sit-ups and hanging leg raises everyday for abs. Got to the point where I could do 1500+ sit ups in one set easily on a daily basis and got a ridiculous six pack at 10-12%bf. It puts what I have now in its shadow.
Now, I do abs once, maybe twice a week, low volume heavy weights, and my abs look decent at 12-14%bf.
The main reason I changed my routine is to save time tbh.
Both work, I think it might genuinely just be about work done under constant tension
When I was 17-19 I just did sit-ups and hanging leg raises everyday for abs. Got to the point where I could do 1500+ sit ups in one set easily on a daily basis and got a ridiculous six pack at 10-12%bf. It puts what I have now in its shadow.
Now, I do abs once, maybe twice a week, low volume heavy weights, and my abs look decent at 12-14%bf.
The main reason I changed my routine is to save time tbh.
Both work, I think it might genuinely just be about work done under constant tension
u_e_s_i
Well-known member
I can't believe no one has told you to do TCF vacuumstrust and believe that will give you the definition you want. It the oldest bodybuilding trick in the book
Does doing TCF vacuums increase vascularity? I thought Artemus dolgin does it because he prefers the aesthetic
iconclast
New member
Bro your abs are under developed. You need to hit them with weight.
DemonDevster
Member
Some people (very rarely) are born without the ab shapes
Cheeky Monkey
Well-known member
If you've been doing a lot of ab exercises for a long time and not seeing any results, try not doing any direct ab exercise and just do core lifts as your ab workout.