Welcome to phase two gentleman. From the feedback I’ve received by those hitting the morning workout, looks like everything is going great. Remember, this is an upper lower split. You are doing upper body and lower body twice a week each with a cardio day between. One of the upper and lower days, you will notice, is fewer reps. Keep in mind that fewer reps will mean more weight. We want to hit that RPE. Tomorrow’s article will be about RPE and rep ranges, so stay tuned.
Today we are going to talk about the Adonis Belt. The Adonis belt, often called the V lines, the Apollo belt, Hercule’s girdles and several other things is one of the most sought after and difficult to attain physique elements for bodybuilders. The reason it is so difficult to attain is simply this: it is not a muscle that we can just isolate and grow.
So what is the Adonis belt. Well, to start with, they are ligaments, not muscles. The Adonis belt is that thick band of connective tissue that runs through the external oblique abdominal muscles, across the groin and into the front portion of the iliac spine. They are specifically called iliac furrows and its prominence is determined by the thickness of the transverse abdominis (TVA). This means there is some genetic component to it….though that isn’t the full game.
The fact is, everyone has these ligaments. Showing them off is primarily a function of lower
Abs and Adonis Belt on a skinny man is like big tits on a fat girl…they don’t count
body weight. Depending on the thickness of the ligaments you will see them between 6-12% body fat. This, of course, is where bodybuilders run into trouble. It is back to the old game of how to we grow hard, dense, thick muscle while, simultaneously losing body fat. Anyone who is skinny enough will show an adonis belt, but it isn’t the same as on someone with excellent musculature.
Because it is such a desirable look to have a well muscled body with an Adonis belt you will, as you may have guessed, read tons of shit about people who will give you the “Secret” to getting there. Almost all of them are bullshit. No amount of planks or side bends will result in a visible Adonis belt. There is no isometric exercise what will bring out your iliac furrows.
Zane is a perfect example of volume and density of muscle while maintaining a bodyfat low enough to really show a pronounced Adonis belt.
So what can you so? As for lifting it is deadlifts what will strengthen your core in such a way that your TVA will stand out more prominently but that is not even half of the game. Roll-outs also help elongate and make more pronounced, but still … not enough. You need to reduce body fat and you need to do it drastically. Everyone has a different point, but basically 6-12% body fat. Mine poke out around 8. Last year I dropped down to 7 for about a month and could see them clearly. The year before when I was sub 5% for nearly the entire summer they showed very well.
So what is the trick here? The trick is the clean bulk. None of this bulking and cutting back and forth cycle. You need to be eating a high protein, low carb diet while eating enough calories to grow muscle from your resting metabolic rate (how many calories you burn while inert) and at the same time doing enough cardio to shed fat and enough lifting, and the right kind of lifting, to encourage hypertrophy. As you get into a hypertrophy state your body will devour fat stores, the muscles created will burn through calories passively and your cardio and diet will help reduce your body fat further while growing and strengthening your muscles.
The reason this is so difficult is because of all the calories it takes to grow your muscles and the low body fat it requires to reveal the Adonis belt. Keep your diet clean. IIFYM is absolute bullshit for our purposes (though I will grant that if you are a straight up weightlifter, something I do not aspire to be but still respect, IIFYM does in fact work). Clean diet, mixed splits, high reps for muscle hypertrophy, patience and hard work.
27 Days until spring boys.
Grind On!
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