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2004/03/29, 12:04 PM
I had a trainer to start me in the right direction in September.. goal was to get some definition and gain lean muscle mass. In September I was at 13% BF. After 3 months, I got measured again at 11% BF.. going in the right direction!! I figured I'd need to be at about 8-9% to see abs.. well, 3 months later, I got measured today at 9% BF!! YEA! Reached a milestone goal for me, BUT, I can't see abs yet.. according to the trainer that measured me, he said a couple of things..
1) My body is holding on to water. I weight 150 pounds and have 13.2 pounds of fat, so anything around my midsection is strictly water. I really didn't have a chance to talk to him further about it, but want to know why.. I'm already drinking about 90oz of water a day, so I wouldn't think my body is holding on to water in some sort of starvation mode.. How do I get rid of it..
2) When I asked how I can tell if I'm in a catabolic state, he said a couple of things can be a telltale. One is when you urinate and it has an acidic smell, you're catabolic. He also said that after you work out, take your sweaty shirt and put it in a plastic bag and tie it up for 2 hours. Then open it.. if it smells acidic, you're catabolic.. anyone ever hear of this?
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2004/03/29, 01:09 PM
My immediate thoughts are if you are at 9% bf, you should be seeing abs. With the water you are drinking, you should not be retaining water. This suggests to me that the underlying problem is how you worked your abs. If you just did lots of situps, etc., used no resistance, then you will not have "built" any abs. Abs are a muscle that that needs to be built like any other muscle, with resistance(heavy like any other muscle) and rest. If you were doing just ab work with no resistance, chances are you did not build any abs. Without hitting them with resistance, you are aiding your fat loss of course with calories burnt, but you will just at best achieve a "flat" stomach.
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If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything....
bb1fit@freetrainers.com
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2004/03/29, 01:26 PM
I haven't used weights while doing abs. mostly I'm doing hanging leg raises, crunches, and other similar exercises. If I tighten my abs, I can feel them there, but just can't see the cuts. But, not only my abs, I don't have the cut between my biceps and shoulders and other areas. I'm naturally a slim person, so I'm wondering if I have to bring my BF down even more, or if it does have something to do with water retention.
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2004/03/29, 02:59 PM
I am a very lean person, my bf is 6.1%. I did not start seeing the definition in my abs until my bf% hit about 8. 2 weeks before that is when i started adding weights to my ab routine, dumbell between your feet for leg raises, bench crunches, oblique platforms, cable crunches, did 4weeks of these 3x, week. then started the ab boot camp, compliments of bb1 fit, I am 3 weeks into it now and my abs are shredded, i can see the intercostal muscles like never before. Striations on my obliques. Anyway, add weight to your ab workouts if you want your abs to show and pop out without flexing, gotta add the weight baby! Good luck!
newbreed
"Work Hard, Play Hard, TRAIN HARDER"
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