Expert: Bonnie Hardie - 3/8/2010

Question
Hello Bonnie. I am 22 years old, 6'1 and about 170 lbs. I am skinny but have some muscle on me. I usually exercise 3-4 times a week doing lifting (I have and all in one type of machine in my basement and a sent of dumb bells and a bar bell) with each session ranging from 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes. I split up the routines so as to target a specific muscle group, one day is chest and abs, the next is back, shoulders and abs, with the last session being legs and arms and abs. For my chest, I generally do 3-4 sets with 10-15 reps seated upright bench press on my all in one gym pyramiding the weight from 90-130 lbs. and do dumb bell flies on a bench with 30 lbs. usually with 10-12 reps. For my back, I do lat pull downs 3-4 sets 10-15 reps pyramiding the weight with each set from 60-100lbs. Then I do bent over rows with a 40lbs dumbell 3-4 sets. I do lateral and front raises with a pair of dumbells for my shoulders. My legs I do a leg press machine and dumbell squats as well as leg curls. My ab exercise consists of 10-15 v ups followed in close succession with 15-20 leg lifts. My question concerns my abs. I exercise them routinely and i notice results but not entirely the ones I desire. I can see my abs only when i flex them, once i stop flexing them, the definition seems to go away save for the V shape which isn't itself too apparent when I stop flexing. I've come to the conclusion that I simply have excess fat on my body that I would like to burn away without dropping too much weight. Any suggestions you have would be most welcome as would any comments your have concerning workout routine in general and ways I could improve it. Thanks, I know this is a bunch to take in all at once.

Answer
Hi Michael,
Thank you for your question.
Abs are made in the kitchen-not the gym-if you have too much fat over your abs,no amount of ab exercises will give you a 6 pack.
Eat more protein and carbohydrates-
protein-lean turkey,tuna,chicken,etc-
carbohydrates-pasta-potatoes,rice,etc.
Comsume less fat and sodium.
Drink approx 2 gallons of water each day.
Ab exercises you can include are:
side bends
torso twists
knee ups
russian twists
crunches
bicycles.
You can look these up on www.youtube.com for full descriptions.
Thank you,
Good Luck,
Bonnie