...when your six-pack started to show?

Everyone is a little different; most sites and trainers I go to have said that men need to be at 12% and women at like 18 or 19% or something, but I'm starting to see definition in the high 15s... I'm fortunate though and my fat distribution seems pretty even around my body; I know guys who look really lean in the arms and/or legs but have a ton of flab in their midsection, so at 15% they're still in tank-top-at-the-beach shape.

My initial goal is to hit 15% when I hit my initial target weight, then I'll aim for 12% and, ultimately, single digits again, so this discussion is ALMOST irrelevant, but I'm curious

body fat percentage tests have put me in several different places, but i'd estimate being around 14%, and it's all pretty much in the stomach (last to go, right?). no six pack.

At 18-19% I could start to see my upper abs if I clenched them. I had good "vertical" separation, with three distinct vertical lines, but not the horizontal ones. Does that make sense?

Something very similar to this:

(Note: it only looked that way if I was really clenching them hard!!)

That was as lean as I ever got... then I met hubby and got married.

You still get full credit since you can see them!

I can still FEEL the definition under the flab, but you can't go around on a beach telling everyone to rub your belly (like guava guava jelly) just to prove they're down there

I'm at the percent where I'm able to see body parts, but they aren't my abs...

Mine were barely visible at 12%.

I'm very confused by the information out there on this topic.

This article basically shows that for a set BMI measurement, Asians had a correspondingly lower real BF% than Caucasians with the same BMI. So an Asian with the same height and weight will generally have more fat and less muscle, so I interpreted it as meaning Asians need to lose more fat to (subjectively) look good.

Then this article says that normal healthy average BF is 15% for Caucasians and 18% for Asians. Huh? So it's okay for me to have more body fat? It certainly doesn't feel okay, especially when I travel to Asia and compare myself with the native population.

What I suspect happened is that somebody put out an all-inclusive statement that a BMI of 18 was "healthy normal", but that this translated into different actual BF% for different ethnicities. People then mistakenly started calling these equivalent BF%'s "healthy normal" when in actuality it's just a side effect of a genetic bias not taken into account by BMI measurements.

Angie, I would kill to have that body right now. I'm 125 pounds but I still don't look like that. I guess it's because I don't really do ab exercises, but I'm getting into them now!

So I need to be around 18% body fat?

Ab exercises had nothing to do with it for me back then. When I got that lean the muscle separation was visible naturally because there was no fat covering it. I didn't do many crunches or anything, but maybe I am underestimating because it was quite a while ago (23? I'm almost 30 now.)Keep in mind though that when I wasn't flexing it just looked like a normal flat belly, with the nice little "dips" on the side. I don't think my obliques were quite as pronounced as they are in that picture (that is NOT me in the pic!!, just a close representation of what 18-19% BF looked like on me.)

Most men need 8-12% to see abs (really see them)

Women usually need 11-16% (remember women have a higher fat % then men).

Below that gives you the really defined version of abs, vs just being able to 'see' an outline.

Don't aim for a specific number just to see your six pack; the honest truth is that everyone is different... hell according to:



I'm a genetic freak because, at a high 15% I can see SOME definition. It's all about how your body distributes fat and some people are (arguably) luckier than others.

Honestly, the best approach is to aim for a body fat percentage you can maintain without completely dedicating your life to it because, if you become "that guy/girl", you won't have anyone to show those abs off to

My approach to finding that number is to go as low as I humanly can through hard, intense training, then I'll most likely let the training taper off to a "comfortable" level (right now I spend 6-7 days in the gym at at least an hour a session, not counting stretch, cooldown or shower time). I'm fortunate enough to have no real outside of work and gym obligations, but I don't expect that to stay that way forever, so I'm sure my training will taper back to accomodate my social life that I'm honestly neglecting now (Mindy can attest to that!)

I'm anticipating that 12% will probably be my magic number, but I'm aiming for 10% right now. That number is based more on my personal expectations and history than being able to see muscle definition or anything; I just figured this would be a fun topic, heh.



Again, I've seen those numbers a lot, but we're all special, unique snowflakes, so your mileage may vary!

I'm at 27% and I'm pretty sure that if I angle the light just right, I'm starting to see the vertical line at the top part of my abs, definitely not the lower part though. The fat there is still quite concealing. Haha.

I thought women were more between 19%-22%.
Either way, I'm at 39%, got my lower back dimples back and legs are toning, mid section I know will be the last to go.

Stitch is at 23%, you can't see her abs, and I'd say that's pretty accurate because she's what I looked like at 23%.

I think on day when I can see my abs, I'm going to throw a party or something. I'll call it the abs party and I'll make it a pool party so I can strut my stuff.

Yeah baby!