<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">so every time I see one of those bodybuilding ad's they are using one (or more) of these methods? How do they show that action figure six pack? certainly they dont look like that the week before?</div>
No. Magazine photos are deliberately taken just before or sometimes just after a contest. These photos may not be published in an article or on a cover for months to come. Those guys don't look like that year round. Not even close. There's a few episodes of a bodybuilder show over at bodybuilding.com. Sometimes when they interview male or female competitors before an upcoming contest the competitors will mention photo shoots for magazines. That how the magazine business operates.
My abs are more cut in the mornings too. Its probably something related to fluids or perhap electrolytes, dehydration like you said.
Coach Hale listed some products for you already, and he trains competitive bodybuilders. There are some steroids and performance enhancing drugs that can cause an evacuation of fluid from certain layers of the skin, giving the look of paper thin skin. I don't know much about these products, mostly because I'm not competitive, but I think IGF-1 could be one of them. Correct me if I am wrong fellow forum members.
Anyway, you don't wanna touch that stuff for everyday use. Its not sustainable, which is one reason I don't use it. The side effects will catch up to you, as surely as the air you breath.
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"> my abs dont look like those bb ad's obviously</div>
Nobody's does. Nobody's but competitive level, often elite, bodybuilders who have spent months in preparation for a contest.
The bit of tissue you mentioned around your stomach could be fat, skinfold, whatever. If you want to know your real bodyfat level get it evaluated, preferably with a Deca machine. Or get some reasonably priced calipers. When it comes to abs natural talent matters. Some people have very thin skin on their midsections. This makes definition easier to come by. Other people didn't inherit fat storage over their midsections and are generally very lean. This also matters. Some people have both traits. And some of those people go on to be competitive level bodybuilders.
Generally speaking, if the outline of your abs is visible, by the common man's standards you have a six-pack. I have thick skin and my fat storage is around my midsection. My dad is the same way. Growing up looking at bodybuilding magazines I am hyper critical of my own physique. I don't think I'm ripped. But I have had many comments from friends, strangers, and girlfriends much to the contrary. My best friend from college of ten years thinks I have a self-image problem. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It depends on who are trying to impress: Bodybuilding judges or the girl next door? I guarantee you the judges are tougher than the girls.
