Alright, I'm confused. From what I've come to understand the lil bumps are tendons or ligaments or something and not actually muscle (correct me if im wrong, doesn't change the question). Now from what I can tell, I only have a 6 pack...but some people have 8....Do your abs get so tough taht one set of the packs splits??? Or are they just like built different genetically or surgically (Cheaters!!!!!!!)? Thanks, Matt
I heard the lower one is the hardest to develop, when you do then your 8 appears. They are a single muscle, the reason it is split up into "packs" is because that edge of the pack is where the muscle is like stapled down.
It's partly genetics. But there are ways you can work upper and lower abs. The best bet for you would be to do lots of cardio and burn more calories than you take in. The only way for all 8 to show is to burn the fat off of them.
Pretty much everything in that is wrong, sorry. The rectus abdominus is divided into THREE sections, and the centreline down the middle makes it look as if there were six. If your abs are hard enough, and there is a low enough fat percentage, these divisions will be visible. The '8 pack' is a figure of speech.
2 PACK http://www.sixpacknow.com/images/celeb8.jpg 4 PACK http://www.sixpacknow.com/images/lisa.jpg 6 PACK http://www.smilebug.com/6packabs.shtml 8 PACK http://www.sixpacknow.com/images/forty12.jpg
From what I've read its all about genetics so some people have six packs others eight and some people have abs that are uneven (one side is bigger). The fat behind your abs make them stick out more so some fat is good.
Well, maybe the fat behind your abs is good. But not fat on your abs because then you wouldn't be able to see them. Its like 1/8th of an inch of fat on your abs can make your abs unable to see. Everyone is born with a six pack. 2 small ones just below the center of your ribs, 2 just above the navel, and 2 below the navel. Its just that some people can build up there lower abs so you usually only see a 4 pack. 8 pack, well, if you get that then that means you are able to develop the muscles above the first 2 abs. The muscles on your ribs just below your pectorials. They're real small but nice looking.
KE is correct. The "packs" that you see are simply muscles that are developed and low body fat combined to look pretty darn impressive. Anyone can get them, just some can get them easier than others. Males are easier than women since they simply have a lower body fat ratio than women. And you can't get them simply from doing a million situps. Yes that will help, but the whole body has to have a lower body fat.
The bottom 6 are one muscle: your abs. There's a smaller muscle right below your pecs and right above your abs. I call it the A-pecs because that's what I've been told they're called. If you can develop those, then you'll have an 8 pack, but it'll 2 muscles: your abs and your A-pecs. In the pic, the red lines represent your A-pecs and the blue lines represent your abs.
http://bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?MainMuscle=Abdominals That link will give you 45 exercises to work your abs. Do that, eat the right foods, and do cardio to burn the fat, and you'll have yourself a nice looking set of abs.
I heard the bycicle excercise was a a pretty good one, along with a captains chair. How well do these compare to crunches or modified crunches?
I do cable crunches and weighted leg lifts. Toothpaste, the bicycle exercise and the captain's chair both work your lower abs. You can't compare them to crunches because crunches work your upper abs. If you do the bicycle and the chair along with crunches, you'll be hitting all areas of your abs.
mostly genetics, maybe 90% genetics, 10% training. if your bf% is above 12% (for most people), no matter how hard you train, your abs will NEVER show. so you can do the best ab workout in the world and train harder than everyone else and still don't get the results you wanted. so start your diet damn it!!! EDIT: also don't forget your cardio
Yeah, during the bodyfat testing thing at school i got like 12.5% and i can just see em starting to show
Actually, it's ALL training. If your bodyfat percentage is low enough, your abs will always show. If the abs are well trained, they'll show earlier.
Yeah, Ke's right, it's like saying your biceps may or may not show at all depending on your genetics It's a muscle that's to be developed and fat that's gotta go |Cain|
yeah i was refering to the shape of the abs(how your abs look), of course everyone can have abs with proper training + fat reduction, but not everyone can have an "8-pack" for example. another example is that if you have lop sided abs, then that's the way it is, there is no traning you can do to change that because it is all "made up" by genetics.