Ripped abs wanted!

M

mizlaur123

Cathlete
Hi guys,
I really want to get ripped abs. I'm 21 years old. I'm large framed and a muscular 5'7 and weigh about 158 lbs. I was SKINNY at 140 lbs. at one point in my life. I had like no muscle though. My goal this time is about 150 lbs. But basically I just want to lose body fat and REALLY want ripped abs. Someone had suggested to me to up my cardio but I'm afraid of losing muscle if I do that. I eat clean and workout hard (both cardio and weights) 6 days a week. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have never seen ripped abs without a little belly on myself in my life and I am at a time of my life I feel like if its ever going to be possible for my it will be now. And ideas about both nutrition and workouts?

Lauren
 
Hi Lauren
In my opinion you're doing to much cardio. People think that a lot of cardio will shed fat fast. Your body gets to use to something and it stops responding. What has worked for me is cardio just 3 times a week then upper and lower body the rest of the days. I workout 6 times a week. I make up my own rotations so if your interested let me know:)
HTH
Randi
 
I really don't agree with the previous post. Cardio 6 days a week is not too much. From experience, what has worked for me is intense cardio (mixture of HIIT and high intensity nono-HIIT) + weights + clean eating. I cannot overstress the clean eating----lots of lean protein, good carbs, lots of veggies, and healthy fats. Also, don't cut calories too low, you'll go into starvation mode. LOTS LOTS LOTS of water. A key ingredient, if possible, is to do cardio 1st thing in the morning fasted. Works well. If not, then after weights due to depleted glycogen stores. Also, don't overtrain abs--they are just like any other muscle group. At most three days a week. If you have any more questions, let me know.

K
 
HIIT is high intensity interval training, are you familiar with BFL?
I'm interested in hearing what everyone says on this because I'm at a total fat-loss plateau at the moment...sometimes I hear do a ton of extr cardio and then I hear equal amounts of people say that's over training??
UGH

I'm on my dreaded last 10-lbs of fat to lose (my estimation) and its driving me NUTS.

Kelly Olexa
www.olexa.myarbonne.com
 
Different things work for different people. Everyone is going to post what has worked for them but that doesn't mean it will work for you. Gotta take everyone's suggestions and give them a shot and see which one works the best with YOUR body. :)

FWIW, I get better results with LESS cardio and heavy lifting.

I do agree though, 100% imperative: DIET!!! Clean and low in fat!
 
I'm another one who uses cardio to speed up the fast loss.
I do it everyday up to 2'x a day during summer months when I am cutting. It helps me keep pushing my body to let go of fat without taking my calories ridiculously low. I will say this, I never do HIIT in a fasted state/ only steady state.

During muscle building stage (eating at or slightly above maintenance) I do cardio on non lifting days.
If you are a beginner, you can gain muscle while losing fat. If you have trained consistently for a while, you have to do one or the other.
 
fit44 - just had to break in and say how relaxed your dear dog looks! Must live the sweet life (like mine)....LOVE IT!!!! How precious!!!!:)
 
>fit44 - just had to break in and say how relaxed your dear
>dog looks! Must live the sweet life (like mine)....LOVE
>IT!!!! How precious!!!!:)

Thanks! He's my cuddle bear. I've never seen anyone enjoy a soft sofa, cushion, or bed more than this guy does. Oh, and he LOVES fresh sheets on the bed!
 
>And does everyone consider circuit workouts like BM2 and DM
>as cardio?

Hi Lauren,

I asked a similar question about the Imax workouts awhile ago, and a few people explained to me that they aren't considered true HIIT because the rest periods are too long. If you just do the blasts from them (without the step routines), then they would be considered HIIT.

I know that Cathe has said that circuit workouts shouldn't be considered pure cardio or pure strength; instead, they're good for extra touch-up work. Depending on the workout, though, I usually count them as cardio since some of them (like BM2 and DM) really get my heart rate up there. I'm sure others will chime in about this, too.

Hope this helps!:)
 
>HIIT is high intensity interval training, are you familiar
>with BFL?
>I'm interested in hearing what everyone says on this because
>I'm at a total fat-loss plateau at the moment...sometimes I
>hear do a ton of extr cardio and then I hear equal amounts of
>people say that's over training??
>UGH
>
>I'm on my dreaded last 10-lbs of fat to lose (my estimation)
>and its driving me NUTS.
>
>Kelly Olexa
>www.olexa.myarbonne.com


Kelly- What is BFL?

Leanne- Thanks for the response! Do you know how long HIIT should be done? Because I have done the premix on IMAX3 with just blasts and its only about 25 mins. Is that enough?
 
>>And does everyone consider circuit workouts like BM2 and DM
>>as cardio?
>
>Hi Lauren,
>
>I asked a similar question about the Imax workouts awhile ago,
>and a few people explained to me that they aren't considered
>true HIIT because the rest periods are too long. If you just
>do the blasts from them (without the step routines), then they
>would be considered HIIT.
>
>I know that Cathe has said that circuit workouts shouldn't be
>considered pure cardio or pure strength; instead, they're good
>for extra touch-up work. Depending on the workout, though, I
>usually count them as cardio since some of them (like BM2 and
>DM) really get my heart rate up there. I'm sure others will
>chime in about this, too.
>
>Hope this helps!:)


Leanne- Thanks for the response! Do you know how long HIIT should be done? Because I have done the premix on IMAX3 with just blasts and its only about 25 mins. Is that enough? Thanks!
 
>
>Kelly- What is BFL?
>
>Leanne- Thanks for the response! Do you know how long HIIT
>should be done? Because I have done the premix on IMAX3 with
>just blasts and its only about 25 mins. Is that enough?

Hi Lauren,

BFL is the Body for Life program, which is based on a book by Bill Phillips. I'm not very familiar with the program, but I think that it uses HIIT and pyramid-style workouts. There used to be a check-in group for it, so you might be able to take a peek at some of their posts or do a search for it to find out more info.

HIIT is only supposed to be done for about 20-25 minutes, so I think that the blasts on Imax 3 would be perfect for it. If you have KickMax, you could also do the blasts just on that. (I haven't experimented enough with HIIT to see how it works, but I know a lot of people swear by it. I like to do longer cardio sessions since they help me with stress!;-) )

Hope this helps!
:)
 
>Leanne- Thanks for the response! Do you know how long HIIT
>should be done? Because I have done the premix on IMAX3 with
>just blasts and its only about 25 mins. Is that enough?
>Thanks!
>
>

Hi Lauren,

I responded to this, but it got posted a few posts up!:)
 
>Does anyone have any suggestions for HIIT workouts I could
>do? I'm an advanced exerciser if that relevant :p

Hi Lauren,

In addition to just doing the blasts from the Imax and Kick Max workouts, you could also try these two DVD's:

http://www.amazon.com/Abs-Diet-Work...ef=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1212417207&sr=1-2

and

http://www.amazon.com/Womens-Health...ef=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1212417314&sr=1-1

Of the two workouts, I think that the Abs Diet 2 one is harder, but the instructor is not very exciting.:-( Cathe is much more fun to work out with!:)
 
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