You’ve seen them. Maybe it was a heavyweight powerlifter on Instagram or a local "big guy" at the gym who looks like he could bench press a sedan. They’ve got a visible belly, sure, but right underneath that layer of insulation, there is a clear, undeniable six-pack. It feels like a glitch in the Matrix. We’re taught that abs are a reward for starving ourselves or hitting 10% body fat. But fat people with abs are a very real, very biological reality that defies the standard fitness "influencer" logic.
It’s about volume.
If you take a sheet of plywood and put a thick rug over it, the floor looks flat. But if you put a pile of bricks under that same rug, you’re going to see the outline of the bricks. That is basically what’s happening here. When the rectus abdominis—the "six-pack" muscle—becomes hypertrophied (translation: huge), it can push through subcutaneous fat in a way that average muscles just can't.
The Myth of the "Abs are Made in the Kitchen" Cliche
Most trainers will tell you that abs are 90% diet. For the average person who just wants to look lean for a beach trip, that’s mostly true. But for athletes who prioritize absolute strength over aesthetics, the kitchen isn't the only workshop. You see this most often in the "Super Heavyweight" categories of Strongman competitions. Look at guys like Mitchell Hooper or legends like Bill Kazmaier. These men carry significant body fat—often 20% to 30% or more—yet you can often see the furrows of their abdominal walls during a heavy lift.
They aren't "lean." They are just incredibly thick.
The rectus abdominis is a muscle like any other. It can grow. If you squat 600 pounds, your core has to stabilize that weight. The sheer force required to keep your spine from snapping under that load causes the abdominal muscles to thicken significantly. While a fitness model might have abdominal muscles that are half an inch thick, a high-level strength athlete might have abs that are two inches thick. That extra inch of muscle mass has to go somewhere. It pushes outward, creating definition even when the "cover" (the fat layer) is still there.
Genetics and the "Fat Distribution" Lottery
Honestly, a lot of this comes down to where your parents decided to store their fat. Geneticists call it adipose tissue distribution. Some people are "central" storers—they put everything on the gut. Others are "peripheral" storers, keeping fat on their legs and arms while their torso stays relatively clear.
If you are a person who stores more visceral fat (fat around the organs) rather than subcutaneous fat (the "pinchable" stuff under the skin), your abs might actually stay visible even as your waistline grows. Visceral fat pushes the abdominal wall outward. If that wall is muscular, you end up with the "power belly" look where the abs are prominent but the stomach is large.
Dr. Robert Lustig, a well-known neuroendocrinologist, has often discussed the different types of fat and how they affect the body's silhouette. Subcutaneous fat is the "safer" fat from a metabolic standpoint, but it’s also the stuff that hides your muscles. If you happen to have a genetic predisposition for thin subcutaneous layers on your torso but carry weight elsewhere, you’re the prime candidate for being one of those fat people with abs.
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Why Heavy Bracing Changes the Shape of the Core
There is a specific look called "The Palumboism" or "Bubble Gut" in bodybuilding, though that's usually a result of PED use and organ enlargement. However, in the natural strength world, "thick" abs are often the result of intra-abdominal pressure.
When you lift heavy, you use the Valsalva maneuver. You breathe into your belly and brace.
- This creates massive internal pressure.
- Over years of training, the transverse abdominis and the obliques thicken to support this pressure.
- The result is a "wide" waist that is actually pure muscle.
You aren't going to get this look by doing 500 crunches. Crunches are an isolation movement. They don't require the kind of total-body tension that builds "thick" abs. To get the kind of muscle mass that shows through a higher body fat percentage, you need compound movements. Deadlifts. Sandbag carries. Overhead presses. These movements force the core to work as a stabilizer under extreme load.
The Difference Between Being "Bulky" and Being "Overweight"
We need to be careful with terms. There is a difference between a sedentary person with a high BMI and a "power-fat" athlete. The athlete has a high Lean Body Mass (LBM).
A study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology showed that elite powerlifters often have muscle cross-sectional areas that are double that of untrained individuals. When your LBM is that high, your basal metabolic rate is through the roof. These guys might eat 5,000 calories a day and stay at 25% body fat. They have the "abs" because the muscle underneath is simply too large to be completely hidden. It’s like putting a winter coat over a bodybuilder—you can still tell there’s a mountain of muscle underneath.
It’s also worth noting the role of the obliques. In many fat people with abs, it’s actually the "V-taper" or the external obliques that provide the most definition. These muscles sit on the side of the torso. Because there is often less fat stored directly over the iliac crest (the hip bone) compared to the belly button area, the obliques can pop out even when the lower belly is soft.
Can You Purposefully Train for This Look?
Most people want the opposite: they want to be skinny with abs. But there is a small subculture of lifters who prefer the "Bear Mode" look. This is the aesthetic of looking like you could move a house.
If you want to build enough abdominal mass to see definition at a higher body fat percentage (say, 18-22% for men), you have to treat your abs like your biceps. You wouldn't do 100 reps of bodyweight curls to get big arms. You would do heavy, weighted curls for 8-12 reps.
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The same applies to the core.
- Weighted Cable Crunches: Load the stack. Get heavy.
- Hanging Leg Raises: But with a twist—don't just swing your legs. Curl your pelvis toward your ribs.
- Ab Wheel Rollouts: This is the king of "thickness" because of the eccentric load.
- Heavy Medicine Ball Slams: Focus on the explosive contraction.
The goal isn't "toning." It's "growth." You are trying to hypertrophy the muscle fibers so they occupy more physical space.
The Health Implications of the "Power Belly"
Is it healthy to be one of those fat people with abs?
It depends. If the "fat" part of that equation is mostly visceral fat (the kind that surrounds your liver and heart), it’s a problem. Visceral fat is metabolically active and linked to insulin resistance and systemic inflammation. However, if the weight is mostly subcutaneous and the individual has high muscle mass and good cardiovascular health, the risks are lower.
The "Obesity Paradox" in medical literature sometimes points to the idea that people with higher BMIs but very high muscle mass have better survival rates for certain diseases than "skinny-fat" individuals with low muscle mass. Muscle is a metabolic sink. It soaks up glucose and keeps the body’s systems running efficiently, even if there’s a layer of fat on top.
Stop Obsessing Over the Scale
If you see someone who is technically "overweight" but has visible abdominal definition, you’re looking at someone with an incredible amount of functional strength. The scale doesn't tell the whole story.
You've probably noticed that when people lose a lot of weight, they often look "flat." That's because they didn't have the underlying muscle structure to begin with. On the flip side, someone who has spent a decade lifting heavy but never bothered with a strict "shredding" diet will have a frame that looks powerful and defined even at a heavier weight.
Basically, muscle maturity takes time. It’s not just about the size; it’s about the density of the tissue. Older lifters—guys in their 40s and 50s—often have that "dense" look where the abs stay visible even if they've developed a bit of a dad bod. Their muscles have been under tension for so many years that they maintain a certain level of tonus and "pop" that younger lifters struggle to achieve without being bone-dry lean.
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Real World Examples
Think of professional wrestlers from the 70s and 80s. Guys like Dusty Rhodes or even later, someone like Kevin Owens. They have a "round" look, but when they move or flex, you can see the structural integrity of the core. It’s a different kind of fitness. It’s about being a "tank" rather than a "sports car."
In the world of CrossFit, you’ll see this in the "heavy" athletes. They need the body weight to move heavy stones or logs, but they need the core strength to stay upright. They end up in that sweet spot where they are carrying an extra 20-30 pounds of fat, but their midsection looks like a topographical map of the Andes.
How to Tell if You’re "Power-Fat" or Just Overweight
There is a simple test. It’s not scientific, but it’s practical.
If you can feel your ribs and the separations of your abdominal wall when you press on your stomach, the muscle is there. If it feels soft for several inches before you hit anything solid, it’s likely just adipose tissue without the underlying hypertrophy.
Another indicator is the "serratus anterior"—those finger-like muscles on the side of your ribs. In fat people with abs, these usually stay visible. They are often the last thing to be covered by fat and the first thing to show when you start building real upper-body power.
Actionable Next Steps for Building Dense Core Muscle
If you're tired of the "flat" look and want abs that actually show up, regardless of your current body fat, change your training philosophy.
- Stop doing high-rep bodyweight core work. If you can do more than 20 reps of an exercise, it’s an endurance exercise, not a growth exercise. Add weight. Use a vest, hold a plate, or use a cable machine.
- Prioritize "Long-Length" Training. Research in 2023 and 2024 has increasingly shown that training muscles in their lengthened (stretched) position leads to more hypertrophy. For abs, this means doing extensions where your back arches slightly over a Bosu ball or weight bench before you contract.
- Increase Your "Time Under Tension." When doing an ab rollout or a leg raise, take 3 full seconds on the way down. That eccentric phase is what causes the micro-tears necessary for the muscle to grow back thicker.
- Don't ignore your obliques, but don't over-rotate. Heavy side-planks and "Suitcase Carries" (walking while holding a heavy kettlebell in only one hand) build that thick, lateral stability that makes the core look wider and more powerful.
Ultimately, having visible abs while carrying extra weight is a testament to years of hard work in the weight room. It’s not something that happens by accident. It requires a level of muscle development that most people simply never reach because they are too focused on the number on the scale.
Build the bricks first. Then you can worry about how thick the rug is.