Hey.

I'm 13 years old, about 5'7" (Maybe a little less), 122-126 lbs depending on how much I eat that day or week or whatever, and I'm trying to get at least a 4 pack. Most of my friends have abs, so most people expect me to have abs too, but I don't. =( Currently, one of my friends has been giving me advice on my abs since I told him that I don't have abs like everyone else. He says to do 200 sit ups per day for a month, so would that work? It also seems like all of the girls in school like six pack abs, so I feel kind of left out of the "fun," I guess.

I'm in a weight training class in my school, where we work on our overall fitness by doing many exercises. Some exercises are bench pressing, pull ups, shoulder press, arm curls, and some other things. We also run a mile or more, once per week. I also have gym access (Bally Total Fitness).

I can bench press 80 lbs. 90 lbs with a little help lifting the weight up at first, but afterward, I can do the reps on my own. I can run a mile in 7 mins and 4 secs. I can do 1 or 2 pull ups. There is also a presidential fitness award program at my school where the fittest kids get an award at the end of the year. To get the award, I must do 53 sit ups in a minute (I can do 54), do 39 push ups without stopping (I can do 36, sort of), get 33 cm in the sit and reach (I can do 15 lmao), 7 pull ups, and run a mile in 6 minutes and 50 secs, but as soon as I turn 14 in Feb, the amount of things I need to do will increase, since the exercises are done by through age groups and increase by age.

I also used to weight 170lbs, and by dieting, I managed to lose all that weight (Over 40 lbs), in about 5-6 months. I'm afraid that I lost that weight too fast, and I have a little bit of loose skin.

I always try to eat healthy, although my mom insists that I eat some junk food, such as soda every now and then. I do eat some Halloween candy which I still have though, so that has to stop. I have no idea whether my mom's home cooking is healthy or not, though. I don't eat much at school, since I eat lunch at home, so instead I eat a cookie or two, or maybe cheetohs or some 80 calorie drink (Flavh2o) instead.

I am currently doing sit ups (40 - 200 per day, depending on my mood) in my weight training class, and am doing the following routine too about every 3-4 times a week (Can't post link):

8 Abs Workout for abdominal - train abdomen - 6 six pack
by passion4profession

So does anyone have any tips for me? Also, I'm not trying to get super ripped, just have nice, visible, six pack. I have a little fluff on my stomach so I think that's what I'm going to try to lose mostly. Sorry if any of this seems unclear, so feel free to ask me any questions. Do you think this is possible by my birthday (Feb. 25), or New Years?

You sound like a typical kid who is utterly clueless in this area of expertise. Don't take this as an insult, because you actually remind me somewhat like myself when I was your age (maybe even a bit older), which makes me nostalgic.

The thing you have to know is, nobody has a "4 pack". Everybody has a 6-pack (technically 8-pack depending how you look at it). The problem is that people have fat covering their abs. The best way to show your abs is to burn body fat (do this via cardio). Also, 200 situps is unnecessary. I suggest going to bodybuilding.com and reading some articles on exercise and nutrional science.

Also I'd really suggest that your diet be as clean as possible. Avoid candies and chocolates and softdrinks as much as possible.

LOL no offense taken. I actually felt clueless so that's why I was asking. Thanks for the tips. Guess that's it for the candy then =/

Hey man,

For starters... you're really young. And when I say that, I mean that your body isn't nearly as developed as it will be. Pretty much every part of your body has yet to fully develop, and when you're that young, A LOT of weight training can be detrimental to your body. There's nothing wrong with trying to be healthy at any age, but don't expect to look like Hercules before you're even in high school. To let you in on a secret, those "abs" your friends have probably aren't a sign of how muscular they are or aren't. At that age, a lot of kids metabolisms are so fast that they burn whatever food they take in so they have hardly any fat. Shoot, I know people that my age that have a "6 pack" but can't do 20 crunches. My advice to you would be to just try and live healthy. That includes eating things like veggies, fruits, meats, and whole grain type pastas. You're too young to really worry about sorting carbs from proteins or fats, so just be practical. This includes what you drink too... my old football coach called sodas liquid cocaine. I try and only drink things like water, gatorade, juices, or tea. When it comes to exercise, do whatever you feel like you can, but don't over do it. It sounds like you've got a decent amount of exercise in your daily life as it is. Just remember, you are young and your body is going to be changing a lot in the next couple of years. To me it looks like you'll do just fine.

Okay thanks. =) I guess you're right. I went to the gym today and exercised on the elliptical trainer (I think that's what it's called) for about 30 min. Is that enough cardio per day? Also I'm not trying to get like super ripped, just toned. I guess I'll just start watching what I eat more.

Do some research into HIIT for your cardio training, it works quicker than pottering around on a treadmill for 30 -45 mins and on average you only do 20 mins, you will prolly have to work up to this.

And yea i always thought you would get abs from doing heaps of sit ups, ive been particular skinny all my life, but never had abs, but ive recently cracked down on what i eat and only three weeks into it ive noticed my stomach becoming firmer

Aha, k thanks. My diet is definitely the problem, it seems. What would be a good breakfast cereal that's not too unhealthy? I like eating Captain Crunch, Frosted Flakes, or Honey bunches of oats. So anyone have any diet changes or things I should add or change from my diet.

I would suggest perhaps oatmeal, i know some people here mix in some of their protein powders to give it some more flavour

Ah, what has happened to the days where real young kids(10-15) never had this problem. No insult to you my good man. I mean i remember when i was 13(only 5 years ago LOL) i was playing football and baseball and i was playong them 5 days a week like all year. That alone was what kept me in good shape, plus that 13year old metabolism

Dude, my 2 cents is to stop doing 9,000 sit ups a day and start just being active. Go try out for football or something. You weight training class is a step in the right direction but a lot of "school" weight classes are crap.

Yesh ur diet probly isnt good, thats the hardest part bit there are allot of stickys floating around here devoted to that.

Alright thanks to everyone for the tips. I'll definitely watch what I eat, and start playing more sports, but at the same time I'll mix in some HIIT. I'm not really sure if taking protein shakes or pills or whatever is a good idea at my age though, so I don't think I'll do that. Thanks again for the tips.

The protein shakes aren't really a BAD idea because EVERYONE needs protein, regardless of how old you are. At your age though, I wouldn't really worry about the shakes or pills or supplements or really anything like that. Just try and eat decently and exercise. You'll be fine.

I'd like to see
A)How many times a week you're in your weight training class
B)Exactly what exercises and sets you're doing for each day
C)What your diet typically looks like daily