Concept2 Forum

Can anyone get a plan to get a six pack in six months on the erg?

I would be veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery interested in responses to this thread.<br />GB

O.K., since you asked, you're vain. <br /><br />Seriously though, we used to have a plastic surgeon on the forum regularly (Alex Targ maybe?) and he addressed that topic once. If I recall correctly he discouraged the pursuit of magazine-cover 6 packs. He said that even if you do all the proper working out on the abs they would probably be hidden behind the fat and skin that covers them, not because you have done anything wrong but because few body types show the abs to that degree.<br /><br />Work on your abs, because strong abs are a good thing. But don't get depressd if they don't show through for the babes to see.<br /><br />Rick

<!--QuoteBegin-Bayko+Oct 31 2005, 12:20 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Bayko @ Oct 31 2005, 12:20 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->O.K., since you asked, you're vain. <br /><br />Seriously though, we used to have a plastic surgeon on the forum regularly (Alex Targ maybe?) and he addressed that topic once.  If I recall correctly he discouraged the pursuit of magazine-cover 6 packs.  He said that even if you do all the proper working out on the abs they would probably be hidden behind the fat and skin that covers them, not because you have done anything wrong but because few body types show the abs to that degree.<br /><br />Work on your abs, because strong abs are a good thing.  But don't get depressd if they don't show through for the babes to see.<br /><br />Rick <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />That's interesting.. I used to have visible "sixpack" abs when I was a teenager and in college.. I was really fit back then. I'm asian, so I was also pretty lean too.. I prolly had about 6% body fat on me then. <br /><br />In addition to erging 8K to 12K a night, I've been doing 200 - 250 situps on an incline bench, right after I finish rowing. While I'm doing the situps, and immediately aftewards, If I run my fingers across my abdomen I can feel the "sixpack" ridges developing, but there's still a layer of of fat / thick skin covering them. <br /><br />I think if I could get down in weight a bit more.. maybe drop another 10 - 15 lbs.. I'll be able to see them.. Its all about bodyfat..

Dear Vain Butt,<br /><br />My friend is an amateur body builder. She does a ton of ab work, but her abs don't progress from somewhat defined to ripped until the final, extreme dieting and cardio phases of her pre-show routine. As soon as she's back up to sustainable consumption of food/liquids, and mortal levels of cardio work, the pack recedes. Sad but true... though maybe it's not true for everybody?

You will get ripped if you stop eating. <br /><br />Not eating to get ripped will not happen with me. I am an almost blind eating machine and therefore I row and will row unitl I am 6000 years old. <br /><br />XENO

wanna get ripped? <br /><br />do the following: (this worked for me in the past) <br /><br />1. do not eat high glycemic carbs and fats in the same meal. try to eat carbs and protein or protein + fats in a meal - but never carbs and fat. Oh yeah, drink lots and lots of cold water and up your fiber intake (aim for 20-25g/ day : i.e. eat lots of dark, leafy greens!! ) <br /><br />2. start lifting weights. you'll need it to stoke your metabolism. lifting workouts should be compound movements only and the rest periods should not last more than 2 minutes. Total workout time with weights should be less 50mins or so. Think cross-fit style workouts. (www.crossfit.com) Try to alternate between heavy days and light days. Aim for 3x week. <br /><br />3. do shorter, more intense pieces on the erg like 4 x 1Ks 2x week (substitute those for longer pieces you would do) <br /><br />4. try to do your long distance pieces first thing in the morning - eat no carbs, only protein before doing this. You won't be as fast as normal, but hey performance takes a nosedive when you're trying to rip up. <br /><br />5. towards the last month you will have to systematically cut calories. If you're male try not to go below 1800 cals, then let the diet do the work. Keep the ratio of protein high aim for a 40/30/30 split <br /><br />6. Getting ripped is ridiculously hard. What I just typed is the tip of the iceberg. The bad thing is that it's an individual process - you have to do your research take what you learn and apply it to your individual biochemistry, some things will work for you, others won't. But you won't know until you try. <br /><br />FYI : being super ripped (less than 6% body fat) is not that healthy especially if you're an athlete, but hey knock yourself out. I, personally, like to eat. <br /><br />good luck, <br />D

I believe the original question was: Can I get a 6 pack in 6 months on an ERG?<br /><br />Answer: I believe I can get at least a keg or two in just a couple of minutes. <br /><br />Couldn't pass it up. Still laughing. <br /><br />Yoda<br /><br />

Well my abs definately have improved in 3 months on the erg, but they where hardly impressive to start with. I think perhaps there is a better way to bring out your abs than by using the erg (if getting abs is your only goal ), surely overloading them with weights would work better than using the erg?

crunches have nothing to do with bringing out the abs. it's all about dropping body fat. I'd argue you don't even need to do crunches if you're erging. And if you're doing the real weight training exercises - cleans, squats, deadlifts, bench press, free weight rowing movements, weighted pull ups - your 'core': abs, obliques, and lower back are getting tons of work. Every stroke is pretty much like doing a crunch - what muscles do you think are controlling the layback? If you don't believe me, do your ab work first and then hop on an erg - you'll find it a very difficult experience. :0 <br /><br />now, if you want that rippled six pack you may have to do some weighted crunches (2x week at most) and then get lean enough so they "pop" out - grab a plate or a dumbbell and head to an incline situp bench, hold the weight against your chest and all you need is 10 good reps - make sure to hold the contraction at the top for a 1 count and slowly come down (like if you were doing a slow negative) - beats doing 100 lame crunches any day of the week.

I think it's readily apparent that - as someone mentioned earlier - that there is definitely individual variation in ones ability to get 'washboard' abs. <br /><br />If you have a ready 'propensity' to have great abs than it will take relatively little other than a decent diet and some form of exercise and you will see results. In fact, in some cases, you have to do nothing special if you are genetically gifted in this area especially if you're very young and relatively active. <br /><br />If you have sort of a middling 'propensity' towards great abs then a regimen like Diesel proposed might work (though for most people this would be an extreme amount of work to maintain longterm).<br /><br />If you have a low 'propensity' towards great abs than I would argue no type of diet/exercise regimen is really going to give you ripped abs. Though you can get much leaner, of course.<br /><br />I think anyone who gets ripped abs from the stimulus of just erging probably falls into the first category. Again, it depends if you're a 'Dennis Quaid' or more like a 'Randy Quaid'. Fifty-something Dennis would probably get ripped from just erging alone.

<!--QuoteBegin-akit110+Nov 1 2005, 12:40 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(akit110 @ Nov 1 2005, 12:40 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><br />If you have sort of a middling 'propensity' towards great abs then a regimen like Diesel proposed might work (though for most people this would be an extreme amount of work  to maintain longterm).<br /><br />If you have a low 'propensity' towards great abs than I would argue no type of diet/exercise regimen is really going to give you ripped abs.  Though you can get much leaner, of course.<br /><br /> <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Precisely my point. This is why I say that getting super ripped is not realisitc. It's way too much work if you are not taking anabolic steroids and even then it's only geared toward a peak of a few days. (consider if you're a natural athlete it will take you up to 20 weeks of strict dieting to get the leanness you could with a 6 week winstrol and deca cycle). If you are interested in making performance gains - that is anathema to maintaining a super ripped condition due to all the calorie and food restrictions you have to suffer through to get to that level. This is why all the guys you see in the muscle mags do buckets of juice so they can stay big AND ripped. <br /><br />Better to get to a reasonable, athletic bf % say 8-10% (which if you have normal b.f. you could do in less than 8 weeks) and leave the freakish cuts (3-4% for the dudes you see in the muscle mags) to the juice heads. Besides, its not like they are that way all year - they do all their photo shoots in a 2 week span and become fat tubs of lard the rest of the year trying to 'bulk' up (imagine Homer Simpson with gigantic arms) then they'll switch the kinds of roids and do some crazy crash diet to incinerate the fat and get 'cut' for a contest or the next round of sponsor's photo shoots. <br /><br />The irony is that according to those lame muscle mags it's supposed to be about 'fitness' and 'health' - funny, it doesn't sound too healthy to me. As much as I like lifting weights, this is why I consider myself more a rower than I ever would a bodybuilder. <br /><br />D

Diesel said it best ... <br /><br />Unrealistic goal for most of us . As you get older (I'm 40) I find its more about feeling good than looking good. I was also six packed untill early twenty's , and have tried most everything to get them back and have found high intensity interval training the best as opposed to miles and miles that just deplete you.<br /><br />I found this out just recently using Pete's Plan here:<br /><br /><a href='http://www.concept2.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... an&start=0' target='_blank'>http://www.concept2.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... t=0</a><br /><br />Remember everyone has a "good" body part , be it shoulders , back etc. take some pride in what you have instead.<br /><br />I have found erging to be the best overall body shaping exercise around and use it exclusively now.<br /><br />Ray

not ............................... on the erg ;

Biceps are made in the gym.....<br /><br />...Abs are made in the kithcen.<br /><br /><br />i.e. drop your body fat to see those abs.<br /><br />Cheers<br />RichardT <br />