heres my situation, right now I have what would be considered a four pack, the top two rows of my Abs are visibly exposed. The bottom row ( around my belly button) is not, i don’t think it is a body fat issue becase my BF is pretty good, and i can definitly feel a difference in muscle size between the upper two rows of abs and the lower row.
My question then is what would be the best way to develope this bottom row and get it to stick out.
appreciate all suggestions
It’s bodyfat. They’re the last two to come out…in my experience. But that doesn’t mean that everyone is capable of having a full-fledged six-pack either…how bout a pic?
[quote]deapee wrote:
It’s bodyfat. They’re the last two to come out…in my experience. But that doesn’t mean that everyone is capable of having a full-fledged six-pack either…how bout a pic?[/quote]
Agreed, definetly body fat, there are no lower abs, but you can do reverse crunches to put more resistance on the lower portion of the abdominals. You will have to look at your nutrition habits and tweek them to see the lower portion.
I totally agree with the first two posters.
The lower abdominals is the (first and) last place where body fat accumulates. Unless you want to bring your body fat down to a very low level, learn to live with it.
ill add the rev. crunches, body fat should be coming down over the next couple of months as the indoor track season heats up.
You said you felt less muscle there than the upper portion of your abs - I always thought there was much less muscle fibre in the lower area of the abdominals so therefore less potential for growth. A main reason for boxers not allowed to punch below the belt onto the “bread basket”.
Train abs with weight i guess and see what happens.
Definitely bodyfat, however like one of the previous posters said everyone may not be able to have a full fledged six-pack. I would imagine if you were down to a point where you could easily see a full six pack you will have to sacrifice a decent amount of mass, for a small amount of fat.
There are no ‘lower abs.’ Only one muscle makes up the six pack and when you work it, it’s either contracting, or it’s not, you can’t work upper and lower abs seperately, that’s sort of like saying you want to work your upper bicep instead of your lower bicep.
As afar as how that muscle looks when developed, well that varies between individuals but it does tend, in most people, to be thicker up top.
If you can see the upper portion of the muscle and not the lower then it’s a body fat issue and as others have said, that’s just about the last place your body is going to retain fat, that’s why it’s such a good fitness goal to try to get to where you can see all of the abdominal segments.
GL man, sounds like you’re most of the way there already.
[quote]Xvim wrote:
There are no ‘lower abs.’ Only one muscle makes up the six pack and when you work it, it’s either contracting, or it’s not, you can’t work upper and lower abs seperately, that’s sort of like saying you want to work your upper bicep instead of your lower bicep. [/quote]
I think that’s a bad analogy. The rectus abdominis is considered a single muscle since it is ecased within a single sheath, but unlike the biceps, the rectus abdominis is obviously segmented. The lower segments are comprised of entirely different fibers than the upper segments.
Additionally, the RA has something like eight different sources of innervation. While the tension at both ends of the muscle is going to be equal during a contraction, I don’t believe that anyone has ever shown that the different segments aren’t recruited to different degrees.
So, while I can’t claim for fact that there is no meaningful distinction between upper and lower abdominals, I don’t think it is a completely faulty concept.
I’m finally starting to see my abs really well, it feels great! I’ve got the 4 pack really well, kinda see the other 2 —6 pac. & when I push the fat down I can see slightly the bottom 2. So when I get rid of some more fat I’ll have an 8 pack!! And those bitches are lined up perfectly, I am a lucky bastard. Lol. And I got 2 vein running up on the bottom, which is cool looking.
It’s taken me quite some time now to get rid of the fat, but it’s all about the right nutrition, & high intensity cardio, interval etc. For me it’s bball, tennis, jumproping & boxing- kick boxing.
It’s all paying off now. I’m also doing a killer core workout that I got out of Fitness RX. which btw is not a bad mag @ all.
Soon I’ll have abs like TJ Hoban!! Then it’s smooth sailing from there on out. 