So I want to have a 6 pack! Help!

I have been losing weight for almost 2 years now and I am finally down to about 10 more lbs to lose. I would love to tone up my abs enough so that there was at least a little definition. I already do about 100 crunches, 30bicylces, 35 side crunches on each side and leg raises. What else should I be doing? I also run about 2 miles a day. Do I need to lose the rest of my weight first before trying to reach this goal. I dont necessarily need a full scale six pack, but some definition would be nice:-) I never thought that I would reach this point in my life to where I would even remotely consider that I might be able to do this!

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/03/12/th e-truth-about-6-pack-abs/

Try pull ups.  I was doing similar things as you until I added this to my routine and suddenly I started noticing abs showing through.  I not seeing anything major but signs there is something there which is more than I've seen in the past year of starting excercising.  I'm not really trying to get a six pack though.  I'm a cyclist and a six pack does little towards an increase in speed.  By brothers lift weights and they will do their sit ups along with a weight on their chest.

Everyone says that abs are made in the kitchen and it's true. You didn't mention a single thing about your diet in your post which leads me to think you aren't considering it as a major factor. The article posted above does a good job of explaining.

Best thing to do is eat a clean, wholesome diet, with an appropriate amount of calories.

Original Post by 67alecto:

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/03/12/th e-truth-about-6-pack-abs/

 OMG!!!!  You gotta watch the Ellen video that's linked to this article.  I couldn't stop laughing!  Great article by the way.

I do consider my diet as a big part of this. I eat about 1400 calories a day. This diet includes loads of fruit and veggies, protein shakes, popcorn, low bad carbs, lean meats like chicken and beef, etc. I didnt include this in my post cause I believe myself to already be doing good in this aspect. I figured that my problem was my exercise routine. I can feel that I have some hard muscles underneath my excess layer of fat, but I cant seem to get them to come out:-( That is why I was thinking I had to lose the last 10 lbs before I would really see any improvement.

Well, you could always just leave a little bit of fat and get liposculpted abs. Of course, if you lose any weight use lose the abs.

-X

(I was going to get a link to images of liposculpted abs, but simply put, I saw things that cannot be unseen. Also, many of those women should get their money back)

Crunches and sit-ups will make your abs stronger, but the common misconception is that those exercises alone will make abs "pop out" (especially if one goes by all of those useless devices and magic pills that are sold on TV).  Truth is that everyone has them underneath the flesh, so it's getting rid of the excess flesh that should be the main focus.

If the goal is muscle definition, then focusing on X-# of pounds to lose shouldn't be at the top of the list.  When I started my journey, I weighed 175 (5'8" male) and thought that 150 would be my magic number.  I hover between 146-149 now, and I can see now that numbers are misleading -- I can feel the deeper furrows between my abdominal "divisions," but the layer of flesh on top still hides them from view.  And that's after 25+ lbs. of weight loss (I'd gained 2 lbs. in the meantime at the beginning, so I'd actually set myself back at one point).

Yes, I'm a hell of a lot more trimmed now and definitely have greater strength through muscle density, but I'm sure not popping out all over like a pro-wrestler :)

What dc75 is likely seeing is that by increasing overall muscle density and mass through additional resistance exercises, there was a jumpstart in calorie-burn, which then translated to fat loss over the so-called "trouble spots."  There's no such thing as "spot loss" in body fat.  You lose it all over, not just in the stomach or thighs or neck or wherever.  It only seems like we carry more fat in those areas because those areas have greater capacity to hold onto them, as opposed to, say, the forearms.

(EDIT: actually, I need to correct myself.  We do carry more fat in those areas.  But we still can't lose just stomach fat or just arm fat to the exclusion of all other body areas. Crunches alone aren't enough to carry the workload for the entire body.)

By repeatedly doing the same exercises over the same muscle groups, your body eventually gets used to the beatings and preps itself for the onslaught (hence, the "plateau").  By changing up routines -- whether in frequency, timing, or even just reps/amount of weight -- the body has to work to make adjustments instead of sitting there after months of the same exercise saying "yeah, c'mon -- I'm ready for ya!"