The Infamous 6 Pack

[johnlvs2run]

80 percent of obese people think they are "healthy".

[PaulS]

80 percent of obese people think they are "healthy".

What percentage of the population thinks they are healthy?
What percentage of the population is "obese"?
What population?

Is there a particular definition of "obese" that you are using?
How about "healthy"?

Do you consider yourself "healthy"?

[jibs]

A word on Clarence Bass. I read an interview he did with Ironman Magazine a year or two ago. He was asked what the lowest his bodyfat was ever measured. He said at one time it was measured at the cooper clinic (hydrostatic weighing) as "to low to measure". The doctors there guessed it to be <1%.

I have read a lot of books and articles written by Clarence. From what I gather he is not hanging around the house at less than 1% body fat most of the time. I do believe most of the time he is closer to 9%. Even when he is cutting down, he is not starving, or lacking energy. In fact in the book "ripped" he talks about how if you eat natural, un refined foods you can eat until you are full and you won't get fat.

RE: the 6 pack. The fact that your lower abs are not as visible as the upper is probably more a matter of genetics. Everyone's abs are different.

[jerseyguy]

Six pack abs are obtained in two parts. First part is diet and it’s best to eat low sugars and many small meals. Rather than 3 big meals a day, you want to eat 6-8 small meals. It keep s your metabolism up and burns food more efficiently.
You obviously want proper exercises as well, that’s the second part. Give these exercises a try they're complete with free videos that shows proper technique.
beauty.expertvillage.com/interviews/abdominal-exercises.htm

[HardGainer]

Firstly, talk of 5% BF or less is utter rubbish, unless you are in dire straits healthwise. It might be in vogue for BBs to quote such figures (usually based on one of the arbitary formulae applied to caliper readings of subcutaneous fat, or much more rarely - from hydrostatic suspension and the application of yet another arbitrary formula). Short of analysis involving physical dissection (not a healthy option), one of the most accurate measuring methods uses DEXA (dual-energy X-ray absorption). As a comparison I recently had my BF estimated used three methods:

• Cheap plastic digital calipers, 3-site, with built in computer: about 6.3%
  Harpenden calipers, same 3-site formula: 8.5%
  DEXA full body composition analysis: 14%

Frankly, you'd be dead if you had much less than about 6% BF. For starters there's likely to be close to 1kg of BF in your head alone, not to mention at least 2-3kg surrounding the vital organs in your trunk. By the time you add the fat in your legs and arms ... well you do the math. The guy who used the DEXA has spent a large part of his life studying body compositions, has taken measurements on countless athletes and told me the lowest DEXA measurement of BF he had for a guy who was totally ripped was around 8%.

Anyway, more to the point: The appearance of your "abs" depends on lots of factors.

• The thickness and distribution pattern of subcutaneous fat in front of the abdominal muscle wall
  The amount and distribution pattern of fluid between the wall and the skin surface
  The size of the tummy muscles in relation to all that surrounds them
  The composition and shape of the tummy muscles (including shape, striation pattern, amount and distribution of intra-muscle fat)
  The location and amount of fat BEHIND the tummy muscles
  The location and size of all the organs of the abdominal region

Given all that, there's a heap of reasons why your lower Rectus abdominis might not look quite as you would like it to look. Working the lower part of the muscle might help increase its size but if you really are very lean and you can't discern the lower striation of a "6-pack" then you are running out of options. As you probably know - you can lose BF but you have virtually no control over from what parts of your body you lose it. (The "spot reduction" myth.) In common with nearly all males it sounds like the lower abs region for you is one of the last parts that your body from which subcutaneous fat will be lost. You could therefore put your health at risk in your quest to get from "4-pack" to "6-pack".

As others have hinted, concentrate on what's important - sufficient but not too much hard exercise, keeping fit and healthy and always striving to improve. The advice on diet is spot on. Don't starve yourself, make sure your diet includes sufficient essential fatty acids (helps in keeping off body fat) and don't make a fettish of getting that 6-pack ... you'll be many an advertisers best friend! If you get one well and good, but then again you might end up spending years of your life frustrated and disappointed because it never quite meets your expectations.

John Rippon

Body-for-LIFE NZ Grand Champion, 2004