For a while now, I have had a bit of a gut. I am 6’1’’ and 225 pounds and have been bulking for a while. I train for powerlifting and strongman. What’s weird is, my gut is hard, and I seem to have very little subcutaneous fat as I can still see my abs a bit.
I have notice that how big my gut is fluctuates throughout the day, being least noticeable in the morning and most noticeable at night. I have been wondering if this might be visceral body fat or possibly abdominal distension.
The writer (presumably a doctor) mentions how he noticed that alot of powerlifters develop large guts because of large food intake before bed time and before heavy squatting, which can lead to the development of a powerlifters gut.
Anyone have any ideas as to what could be causing this? Have any of you successfully used transverse abdominus exercises to fix this?
Heart attack fat is what I have always heard it called, and I do believe there are more studies pertaining to this. From what I have read just about everything in that article is true, well according to other “studies” that I have seen…
I say this because (IN MY OPINION!!!) I think Frank Zane had the most pleasing physique of all time, and if you look at his waist line its absolutely tiny. That was what started me looking into that a little bit. If I could imitate anyones physique it would be his. I would imagine that a lot of this will vary person to person even given the exact same circumstances… (i.e. diet/heavy squating/training)
oh, and I also believe %100 that the “powerlifters gut” can be reversed. Just like any other fat you can lose it. If you need any reassurance look at this http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=699538
[quote]lazyaxus11 wrote:
Heart attack fat is what I have always heard it called, and I do believe there are more studies pertaining to this. From what I have read just about everything in that article is true, well according to other “studies” that I have seen…
I say this because (IN MY OPINION!!!) I think Frank Zane had the most pleasing physique of all time, and if you look at his waist line its absolutely tiny. That was what started me looking into that a little bit. If I could imitate anyones physique it would be his. I would imagine that a lot of this will vary person to person even given the exact same circumstances… (i.e. diet/heavy squating/training)
[/quote]
You’re jumping the gun. If this guy eats alot all day long, his stomach isn’t going to be completely flat. NO ONE’S is unless they hold it in. Without a picture or a better description, you can’t even tell his body fat percentage or estimate it.
When I am working on gaining, the amount of food I have to take is going make my stomach stick out. Food doesn’t vanish when it enters your mouth.
I have the same problem really I think. My stomach has always stuck out when I relax it, even when I ran cross country at 5’10" 135 lbs (and i was lean because all 6 of my abs were visible).
Now I am 175 lbs, eat nothing but clean and dry foods, and my waistline is 36, but when I flex you can clearly see abs. Heck even when I don’t flex you can see the outline of abs. I don’t really get it, seeing as how i know guys my height and weight that have like 33-34 inch waists and you can’t see any abs whatsoever, even when they flex.
Dude if you’re training for powerlifting and strongman, you probably have put a lot of muscle on your midsection in addition to any fat that may have come as part of a bulk.
I know that when I started squating and deadlifing a lot more and doing yoke walks, I found a new need for a thick, strong core.
Powerlifters often get a big belly from the type of training we do. In the squat to squat big using a belt you must push your stomach out as hard as possible against the weight belt for support, and this will diffently give you a bigger belly.
We also do alot of heavy weighted sit ups, I have done 300lbs for 15 reps, and there are some who have done over 500. As Louis Simmons says: “if you want a small waist then powerlifting is not your sport”.
Keith Kline knows jack-shit about AAS, if you don’t have a clue about AAS why spout off about them? shows me that this dipshit did NO research to write his twaddle. what a fucking moron.
I think a lot of it has to do with pushing the gut out, and bracing yourself that way often while powerlifting. Add that to the muscle you’re putting on your midsection, plus the extra fat you’re gaining, and you get a bigger gut.
I don’t think it’s all fat, or viceral fat (although I’m not making excuses for the fat I personally put on while powerlifting, that was more about poor nutrition choises on my part).
I’d bet that even when someone kept the same bf% (measured by a bod pod thing maybe), and trained with his gut being pushed out all the time like powerlifters, he’d get a larger gut.
I did not mean to imply that I thought the root of the problem was visceral fat, I was just stating that I have always heard it called heart attack fat, and it cannot be measured with calipers because it lies behind the abdominal muscles.
I think the “powerlifters gut” is a combination of all these things, including visceral fat. Of course as with everyone when I wake in the morning my stomach looks much better than when its full of food at the end of the day.
The only thing I was trying to convey is that the “squatters gut/powerlifters gut” can be reversed… whatever may be the underlying cause of it.
Which all of this together kind of makes you wonder about the whole HGH gut we see in many olympians. Perhaps the main cause is the HGH, but these things that almost all bodybuilders and powerlifters have in common must factor in there as well.
[quote]lazyaxus11 wrote:
I did not mean to imply that I thought the root of the problem was visceral fat, I was just stating that I have always heard it called heart attack fat, and it cannot be measured with calipers because it lies behind the abdominal muscles.
I think the “powerlifters gut” is a combination of all these things, including visceral fat. Of course as with everyone when I wake in the morning my stomach looks much better than when its full of food at the end of the day.
The only thing I was trying to convey is that the “squatters gut/powerlifters gut” can be reversed… whatever may be the underlying cause of it.
Which all of this together kind of makes you wonder about the whole HGH gut we see in many olympians. Perhaps the main cause is the HGH, but these things that almost all bodybuilders and powerlifters have in common must factor in there as well. [/quote]
Before “gh gut” there was “roid gut”. There are many receptors for these drugs throughout the intestinal tracts as well so it is believed that long term use of drugs like that may lead to some distention in some people.
Like was stated before, most people’s stomachs don’t just stay flat unless they train them to some degree. Otherwise, they are just sucking it in or maintaining some kind of flexion of that muscle throughout the day. It is a little hasty to assume that someone has too much visceral fat simply because their stomach isn’t completely flat.
Without seeing this guy, it makes no sense to even jump to that final conclusion.