How to get abs?

[lucyjenkins]

I have been doing ab exercises ranging from 7-20 minutes in length everyday. Should I be exercising longer? I'm scared I won't actually benefit from the exercise and my body will just stay the same. I'm 15 and quite weak so I don't have a lot of time or strength to exercise: how can I get stronger and are there any exercises you would recommend?

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

Getting abs is the result of two things: 1) having the actual abdominal muscles, 2) having the right amount (= not too much of it) of subcutaneous fat so said muscles are visible. This is why they say "abs are made in the kitchen": technically, it’s not true (unless you actually do your crunches in the kitchen!), but your eating definitely affects the amount of fat you are carrying. Having visible abs (the much coveted "six-pack") is more difficult for females than for males, since females naturally carry more fat than males. Ab exercises will have an impact on 1), but building muscle is a very slow process and ab muscles are small/flat muscles to begin with, so they don’t have the same potential for growth as bigger muscles like your quadriceps. Building muscle is also slower for girls than for boys (much smaller amount of testosterone, the male hormone that’s an important factor affecting muscle growth). Many ab exercises (e.g. crunches) can be dangerous for your lower back if not performed properly, or if you’re not strong enough to do them safely, so you may want to favour exercises that are inherently safer (e.g. planks). Having visible abs isn’t the automatic key to success and happiness. At 15, you are still growing and should focus on eating a balanced diet, maintaining a healthy weight and being active enough.

[WavyDavey]

I say don't be scared. Try to add a few minutes of exercise a day until you're over 30 minutes daily. As @Dominique noted, diet is a big part.

One other aspect is genetics. Some people, no matter how much they reduce calories, don't show visible ab lines, just due to their genetic makeup. So we all have to work with what we have.

[emili]

Regardless of whether your abs "pop out" or not, you are for sure benefitting from the exercise. Nothing to be scared off- your abs can take it, they are a pretty hardy muscle group. You are still really young and basically starting out in your development, you don't really know what your body composition is until 18. Don't worry about whether you can see them- eat healthy, build strength, get good rest and feed your mind. The rest will come.

[skylineg35]

Beside the information you got from other writer here, whichever the muscles you work on, they need to be "burn" as approaching the last section of repetitions.  Some reason not feeling the burning , something is wrong and result wont be good.  I have done many abs exercises in the past when i was young.  All the exercises i did were kind of wasted :).  Now i can do abs exercises in short time and get great result in short time :).  Of course this is part of learning experience.  We all learning by our mistakes.  Trick is keeping the mistakes minimum. imo.

good luck

[Steelman12]

How many hours/minutes do you do your workout? 

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[Dominique]

@Steelman12: when you jump into an existing topic and ask a question related to the matter being discussed, it’s a good idea to either quote the part of the older post you’re referring to, or to tag the person(s) to whom you want to ask the question. Tagging is done using the @ sign and the person’s handle, as I did for you at the beginning of my post.

[Steelman12]

Oh, thanks! @Dominique

[Heather-S]

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@WavyDavey wrote:

I say don't be scared. Try to add a few minutes of exercise a day until you're over 30 minutes daily. As @Dominique noted, diet is a big part.

One other aspect is genetics. Some people, no matter how much they reduce calories, don't show visible ab lines, just due to their genetic makeup. So we all have to work with what we have.

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I know this post is old, but I just want to add, I'm a female and have been as low as 14% BF and worked on my abs 4-5x a week and I have never had a six pack.  I've maaaaaybe had a 4 pack if I was dehydrated and flexed my abdominal muscles first thing in the morning.  But for some reason, my body type has a really hard time allowing my abs to come through. 

I just can't safely drop much below 14% BF and gave up trying to get a much-desired six pack.  It's not the end of the world.  I'd rather be happy and healthy than worry about abs.