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9% BF and still no visibly clear abs...

****ING GENETICS!! I have 9% bf and weigh around 72kg, and I still can't see any abs, I eat really healthy and exercise a lot! (I haven't been doing much cardio, too hot for that ****, but during winter I run at least 3 times a week)
I used a body fat caliper, and measured at 3 different points on my body, 3 different times, and took the average and put it into Scooby's body fat calculator.
These are the points where I measured :
Skinfold_locations.jpg


At point one I got an average of 7.3mm
At point two I got an average of 17.3mm
At point three I got an average 10.7
My height is 6ft and I weigh around 72kg

I can see the general shape of where my abs are, by this I mean , you can see where the top two of my abs start, and there is general definition (by this I mean very very faint), but towards the bottom it all goes to ****...
It's annoying cause I still have love handles...

How low do you guys think I'll have to get my bf in order to get that more defined ab look and what do you guys suggest I do?
I mean it's not the end of the world, I'm healthier and prob more in shape then 80% of the UK but it's just so annoying when you see people at the (roughly) same amount of bf or even higher, with more defined abs...

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Reply 1
This is prob more of a rant then anything...
Reply 2
Abs are overrated. Trying to maintain an extremely low BF all year round is silly.
Reply 3
you need to build them, by doing crunches, situps and then when it becomes easy do them weighted
Reply 4
If you incorporate Ab Rolls with the Ab Wheel and maybe some hanging leg raises/captains chair's then you will get bigger abs and if that still doesn't work then sorry about your genetics bro. Haha just happens, it's ****.


Posted from TSR Mobile
If your abdominals aren't visible and you "still have love handles" then you don't have only 9% body fat. Either of these is a far more reliable indicator than calipers.
Build some muscle, do you even lift? You're probably unfortunate and have such little muscle mass, that combined with your false 9% reading (love handles) you can't see your abs. So build muscle, including abs, and lower your bf %, if even then you don't see them you have some unfortunate ab genetics.
Reply 7
Defintely underestimating your bodyfat %, no way no abs will not be seen at 9% body fat- no one can be that unlucky. Also seems like most of your fat is stored around your stomach. If you use the accumeasure bodyfat chart and your measurement from part 2, your bf comes out at around 16-17%.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 8
Original post by Meaux
Abs are overrated. Trying to maintain an extremely low BF all year round is silly.


I see what you mean, but it's like Idk I just feel like I need to reach that goal, after that it doesn't matter as much to me but I just need to get there I guess.


Original post by cambio wechsel
If your abdominals aren't visible and you "still have love handles" then you don't have only 9% body fat. Either of these is a far more reliable indicator than calipers.


They are visible, as you can see the outline of them faintly and from the side you can see them protrude out, but as soon I look straight at a mirror, (i.e facing it) then you can barely see them. With my love handles, I'm not sure what it is exactly, I was pretty overweight before and went through really unhealthy fat loss (For a while I was barely eating 1000 calories a day, and these calories came from unhealthy microwavable meals) , so it may be more skin thickness, or Idk I might just have most of my fat come together at one spot :l


Original post by marcus2001
Build some muscle, do you even lift? You're probably unfortunate and have such little muscle mass, that combined with your false 9% reading (love handles) you can't see your abs. So build muscle, including abs, and lower your bf %, if even then you don't see them you have some unfortunate ab genetics.

Not gonna lie, but I really don't like the tone of your post. Yes I lift, albeit I don't do exercises such as deadlifts or squats, but I do a lot of isolation exercises and weighted bodyweight exercises (weighted pushups and pullups etc) My body is pretty lean and defined around my chest, shoulders, triceps, legs, arms, (My arms are very vascular) and I've even started seeing a vein right below my left love handle. So I think the bf% is pretty accurate. My LBM is for me, just about right (+maybe a few pounds), I don't want that bulky look (not suggesting it's easy to get it), and I usually focus my lifting on strength training.
Trust me, I'm not stupid enough, as a Mathematician, to give myself a wrong reading especially when it comes to numbers/ measuring. I'm sorry if I interpreted your post in a way in which you did not intend but it felt as if you were talking down to me.
72kg & 6' @ 9% is probably not enough muscle relative to your height for your abs to prominent, even if said 9% is true.
You're very light for your height so probably don't have enough muscle to have abs, especially if you have love handles, suggests belly fat
Get a dexa scan.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 12
**** abs, summers finna be over. Go on a clean bulk and worry about abs when it's close to summer next year.

PS 72kg + 9% BF, pics plz
forgetting the irrelevant numbers for a minute and the fact that you're measurement is wrong


the obvious answer is that if you want to see your abs more, you need to lose more fat
Hold on hold on hold on.

You're 6', 72 kg.

You exercise A LOT

But you don't do cardio

So you LIFT

"A LOT"

But you're 6' 72 kg


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Try actually training hard maybe? No offence.
Reply 15
Original post by The Troll Toll
Hold on hold on hold on.

You're 6', 72 kg.

You exercise A LOT

But you don't do cardio

So you LIFT

"A LOT"

But you're 6' 72 kg


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...........




Try actually training hard maybe? No offence.

No offence taken, but If I train any harder, I won't be able to maintain it, and I probably end up giving up overall. I'll walk you through what I normally do a week. As I don't have a barbell on chest days I do pushups (10 different variations, this comes to 200+ a day, some of the variations are weighted, some aren't, I do these in reps of around 8 and 5 and do 3 sets in total), after this I do standing dumbbell flys, I have a bicep day where I do 300 reps of dumbbell curls (50 reps of 6 different variations at 8kg, I have to take atleast a 5min break between each variation though, this ****ing kills), I have a shoulder day, but I know I don't train as hard on this day, prob because of my pullup day, I have a pullup bar day where I basically either do them weighted with low reps or do as many sets of 7 as I can, so basically till failure, I sometimes also do variations on this to make it harder. I also have an ab day, but I never do this workout for more than 15mins, never really thought abs needed that much extra as they're already getting used on almost every other day. So I train 5 times a week, As you can see I don't really ever train for mass, it's always more focused on strength and endurance. In the OP I said I exercise a lot, I never really said I lift for mass. In the OP I also said I don't do much cardio anymore, mainly because the sun is on a freaking rampage with heat but I never said I didn't do any cardio in the past, I've only recently stopped cardio and when I did do it, I would run at least 9 miles a week, I only did this though cause I love running and cause I wanna live till I'm 100 :P So I will start up again as soon as the sun ****s off.

I like the shape my body is right now, I know I could put on a few kg of muscle but I'm just not bothered about it that much.


Original post by commandant
Get a dexa scan.

Posted from TSR Mobile


What is that? I tried googling it, but didn't quite understand it.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 16
Original post by 0range
****ING GENETICS!! I have 9% bf and weigh around 72kg, and I still can't see any abs, I eat really healthy and exercise a lot! (I haven't been doing much cardio, too hot for that ****, but during winter I run at least 3 times a week)
I used a body fat caliper, and measured at 3 different points on my body, 3 different times, and took the average and put it into Scooby's body fat calculator.
These are the points where I measured :
Skinfold_locations.jpg


At point one I got an average of 7.3mm
At point two I got an average of 17.3mm
At point three I got an average 10.7
My height is 6ft and I weigh around 72kg

I can see the general shape of where my abs are, by this I mean , you can see where the top two of my abs start, and there is general definition (by this I mean very very faint), but towards the bottom it all goes to ****...
It's annoying cause I still have love handles...

How low do you guys think I'll have to get my bf in order to get that more defined ab look and what do you guys suggest I do?
I mean it's not the end of the world, I'm healthier and prob more in shape then 80% of the UK but it's just so annoying when you see people at the (roughly) same amount of bf or even higher, with more defined abs...


You need to build the size of your ab muscles. Even very toned, skinny guys' abs still look pathetic if the muscles themselves are small!
Reply 17
you're skinny-fat by the looks of things, you can choose to cut or bulk. I would bulk since you don't have an exclusive base to cut into.
If you do it right, with the correct routine/diet, prior to next summer you should a fair amount of muscle mass to cut into, and will see some defined abs assuming you work them out regularly.

Dont think cutting is a good idea, just so you can see abs. Unless that is your final goal w.r.t bodybuilding.
Reply 18
You need cardio to burn more fat
9% body fat, your having a laugh.
I've just come off a bulk and my abs are more visible than yours.

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