Most guys don’t realize how much weight they have to lose to see their full 6-pack abs. In many cases guys will sabotage their own weight loss efforts because they assume they will be able to see all of their abs at an unrealistically high bodyweight.
If you want to see your abs then your goal should be how you look in the mirror and not your bodyweight. If you thought you’d see your abs at 180 pounds, and you diet down to 180 pounds and you don’t’ see them…well that just means you have to diet down even lower to see them, plain and simple no magic trick to that.
The amount you weigh on a scale really doesn’t matter, it’s the look that matters. You probably have a good idea of exactly how you’d like your body to look but only a vague idea if at all of how much you should weigh at that look. But if you’ve never seen your full 6-pack before I’ll bet you’re assuming the weight is much higher than it really is.
In other words, there is a specific bodyweight you will weigh in order for you to have a full set of visible 6-pack abs. Then there is a slightly heavier bodyweight you will be when only 4 of your abs are visible, and then an even heavier weight when only 2 of your abs are visible etc. Most guys will assume a full six pack will be visible at the bodyweight that only shows 2 abs.
For some reason we all think we should be heavier than we really are.
The point is your weight has a specific look. You will look a certain way at 150 pounds, and that particular look and leanness is different from the look you have when you are at 160 pounds and then 170 pounds and so on. You cannot force your body to have the 150 pound look when it is 170 pounds.
In other words, if your full 6-pack is visible only when you are 150 pounds…then you cannot make it visible when you are 170 pounds. It doesn’t mean you can’t be 170 pounds, it just means you have to accept that you will not be as ripped at 170 as you are at 150. (This might sound very obvious but lots of guys make this assumption that they can be as lean as they want at any bodyweight).
Any bodybuilder who has done more than one show can tell you within a pound or two of exactly how much he will weigh when he has a fully defined 6-pack. He can also tell you when he is 5 pounds away and when he is 10 pounds away from a visible full 6-pack.
The only way he will know this is because he’s been there before and knows what he weighed the first time it happened. If he has gained 5 pounds of muscle since his last bodybuilding show, then he also knows that his 6-pack will be visible at a bodyweight 5 pounds higher than the last time it was visible. But he won’t know for sure until he diets down to a visible 6-pack again.
The point is there is no real way to know exactly how much you will weigh when your abs are fully visible until you can see them.
So how do you find out how much you need to weigh to see your abs?
Simple:
Step 1) Lose weight until you can see your full 6-pack
Step 2) Step on a scale
You can use calculators and estimators all day long, but the proof is in the mirror.
If you want to see your abs then forget about bodyweight and simply diet down until you can see them, you’ll most likely be lighter than you expect.
What you’re saying is valid, but there are a whole array of variables you have left out of this – mainly body composition. Sure, you can starve yourself until you see a six pack and then assume that you must be that weight to see a six pack. Better advice though is to work on exercises to strengthen your core, which will not only let you have a visible six pack at a higher weight, but will give you the ‘3D’ ab muscles you’re really after. I’m not talking about endless repetitions, either – the abs respond like any muscle to heavy weight. Weighted crunches, weighted leg lifts, and ab rollouts with a weight bar will give you far superior results. The hardest part is changing your diet to support your fitness goals instead of sabotaging them.