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Thread: Bigger, more defined abs and obliques on GOMAD + SS

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Posts
    26

    Default Bigger, more defined abs and obliques on GOMAD + SS

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    Dear Coach,

    I recently began the novice programme after a brief stint of YNDTP due to exams (messed up sleep, missed workouts, etc.). I've also being doing GOMAD for about two weeks, and have gained about 14 lbs at 6'1". My lifts are following the linear progression as per the book. At the same time, my abs and especially my external obliques have become noticeably larger and more defined. The 'V-shape' of my lower abs has become significantly more noticeable. On the other hand, my serratus anterior has began to sneak away under a layer of fat, and I am definitely noticing a thicker layer of fat around my torso and over my pecs. Of course, I entered the programme under the assumption that I would lose my visible abs - and I assume I soon will as I continue to gain weight. I won't miss them as much as I would miss progressing on the squat (I know from my time YNDTP).

    First, do you often see this in skinny novices besides the regular improvement in physique (maybe not with your own eyes), and why do you suspect this is (my larger abs)? Transverse abdominis pushing everything else out?

    And second, do you plan on doing something to quell the widely-held view that the novice programme will give you the legs of Tom Platz and the upper-body of a bloated frog? I know it's not your responsibility, but I imagine most guys doing the programme are internet-dwelling teens and young men who use the sites where the SS T-rex fallacy is a common, if not mainstream view. I know I certainly gave beginning the programme more thought than I would like to admit because of comments on certain websites and YouTube videos.

    Thanks for the abs,

    Tom

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    North Texas
    Posts
    53,557

    Default

    First, if you are able to discern changes in the individual muscle bellies of the abdomen, you're a skinny little guy. OP doesn't say what your bodyweight was/is.

    Second, I have no plans to try to improve the general intelligence of the people at bb.com. I like them just the way they are.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Posts
    87

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by tom4646 View Post

    And second, do you plan on doing something to quell the widely-held view that the novice programme will give you the legs of Tom Platz and the upper-body of a bloated frog? I know it's not your responsibility, but I imagine most guys doing the programme are internet-dwelling teens and young men who use the sites where the SS T-rex fallacy is a common, if not mainstream view. I know I certainly gave beginning the programme more thought than I would like to admit because of comments on certain websites and YouTube videos.

    Thanks for the abs,

    Tom
    I dicked around for a long time (trust me, a long time) before I actually bothered to start doing the program (that is, drinking the milk too). My arms have noticeably increased in size since I started, and I'm still underweight.

    The "you're going to become a T-Rex!" nonsense is rooted in bro split thinking. A guy with a big press and a big bench is going to have impressive arms, unless you're Mike MacDonald and somehow press 500 with 15 inch arms.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Posts
    26

    Default

    Was a puny 155 lbs two weeks ago, was a slightly-less-puny but still emaciated 169 lbs yesterday. Aiming for somewhere above 230 lbs, but I'm more concerned with the lbs on the barbell than the scale (I know there is a something of positive feedback loop between them). This just went completely against my expectations, and I suspect it will be short-lived. I thought that the fat would cover them up much faster than the muscle bellies would hypertrophy to increase 'definition', and I wasn't sure if this was normally seen by skinny novices.

    It's not just bb.com. I've seen it all over Youtube (from Klokov videos to 'tricking' videos), and even sites that I barely view like Reddit, 4Chan and even smaller weightlifting and powerlifting sites. I enter a small powerlifitng site looking microloading plate information, and these comments come up. If a popular PT on YouTube can coach someone to gain 12 lbs in about 6 months doing all sorts of pointless shit for an easy half a million views, and receive nothing but praise (and dollars for his programmes), Uncle Rippie could certainly do something remarkable (if not to you, to the people who watch this guy and others). I know what made me get serious about SS was watching Chase Lindley press 315 lbs, not the physics or the diagrams. 135 lbs is a heavy press in my gym, if you ever find a guy who even knows what a press is. People are looking at me like I'm weird when pressing, whilst they're slithering around on a sweaty floor doing spiderman crawls or some shit, and jacking off with a cable in their hand for rotator cuff prehab.

    I know you've said people are going to do what they're going to do, but you've also said that the reason this type of shit exists and is so popular is because somewhere, someone has done their job very well. I know it isn't your job, and I don't mean to imply anything negative here, but it seems that there is a contradiction, or am I conflating different contexts? I apologise if I am, because I know you probably get variations of the above passage a hundred times a week.

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