Footballers without abs

Pogue Mahone

Closet Gooner.
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Feb 22, 2006
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"like a man in silk pyjamas shooting pigeons
Rooney's getting shit in his dedicated thread because of a shirt off picture from his holiday in Ibiza. He has a textbook "dad bod"

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Now, it has to be said, as far as I can remember he's always looked like this.

Here's a pic from when he was still playing for Everton (he's the guy on the left).

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I've always found it crazy that any professional athlete could look anything other than ripped. It just makes no sense to me how you can have a career which involves getting as fit/strong as possible but still somehow conceal your abs. How does that happen?

I remember Mickey Owen had a similarly soft physique but struggle to think of any other footballer who looked the same with his shirt off. Are they both complete outliers? Or this phenomonon more common than you'd think? Can anyone think of any other dad bods making a living as professional footballers?
 
He's always had that physique, just it will get amplified now because he's playing shit as opposed to his prime years 10 years ago.

How about Ronaldo from about 2002 onwards?
 
Higuain.
Luis Ronaldo, although with him it wasn't the lack of effort
 
Where did the idea that Frank Lampard was 'fat' ever come from?

Also, in before Luke Shaw jokes.
 
Does natural body fat percentage affect this? I'm sure Rooney's diet exemplifies this, but is it possible for an athlete to be training consistently and still not achieving some level of visible abs?
 
DWelbz19 said:
Does natural body fat percentage affect this? I'm sure Rooney's diet exemplifies this, but is it possible for an athlete to be training consistently and still not achieving some level of visible abs?
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I'm sure @Zarlak could shred(heh) some light on this, but I think it is obvious that Rooney isn't as fit as he could have been.
 
harms said:
I think it was his face structure, cheecks specifically
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I think so too. He had puppy fat on his face earlier in his career but he never wanted for fitness.

I also agree with the general point that Rooney clearly never took his conditioning as seriously as Ronaldo, and has been fairly criticised for it, but I think it's also fair to say that some body types don't lend themselves to honing a typical athletic build.
 
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SirAF said:
I'm sure @Zarlak could shred(heh) some light on this, but I think it is obvious that Rooney isn't as fit as he could have been.
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I don't know how much of a cliche the 'abs are made in the kitchen' is, but if it's true it would explain why Rooney looks terribly physically. Most Manchester United players often praise him for being the most intense in training which must mean he's exerting himself well there, but he must be chugging down extremely unhealthy food and drink.
 
DWelbz19 said:
I don't know how much of a cliche the 'abs are made in the kitchen' is, but if it's true it would explain why Rooney looks terribly physically. Most Manchester United players often praise him for being the most intense in training which must mean he's exerting himself well there, but he must be chugging down extremely unhealthy food and drink.
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That is definitely true!
 
DWelbz19 said:
Does natural body fat percentage affect this? I'm sure Rooney's diet exemplifies this, but is it possible for an athlete to be training consistently and still not achieving some level of visible abs?
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Those two triathlete brothers, the Brownlees have unusually unathletic bods for some reason. Might be a triathlete thing? I have friends that train like bastards in that discipline but still have a "petit pot".
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I've always found it crazy that any professional athlete could look anything other than ripped. It just makes no sense to me how you can have a career which involves getting as fit/strong as possible but still somehow conceal your abs. How does that happen?
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Many athletes don't have abs. You don't need abs to be fit.
 
DWelbz19 said:
Does natural body fat percentage affect this? I'm sure Rooney's diet exemplifies this, but is it possible for an athlete to be training consistently and still not achieving some level of visible abs?
Click to expand...

SirAF said:
I'm sure @Zarlak could shred(heh) some light on this, but I think it is obvious that Rooney isn't as fit as he could have been.
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Yes it is, don't confuse having abs with being fit. Everybody has abs, albeit covered by fat levels. Having abs showing is just a product of dropping your body fat percentage enough to make them visible and working on them to increase their size the same as any other muscle. That doesn't have anything to do with your cardiovascular fitness. There's a loose correlation between bodyfat and fitness in the sense that, somebody who isn't carrying around as much weight will find it easier to run etc but don't conflate the two as I know many people at 9% bodyfat who are terribly unfit with poor cardiovascular endurance who have abs but wouldn't be able to cover anywhere near to the distance that Rooney can. So yes, if Rooney dropped weight and kept his cardiovascular health as it is then he'd be fitter than he is right now, but that doesn't mean that he's unfit in the general sense of the word. He's incredibly fit, as he works on his fitness all the time but he would be fitter if he dropped some weight.
 
Red_toad said:
Many athletes don't have abs. You don't need abs to be fit.
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To be fair, Pogue said to be fit as possible which is a legitimate point. As fit as Rooney is, and that will be in a much fitter state than most of us - he would still be fitter yet if he were to drop the layers of fat he's carrying and that was Pogue's point. To be the very best you can be as a professional athlete, not just to be fit.
 
DWelbz19 said:
Does natural body fat percentage affect this? I'm sure Rooney's diet exemplifies this, but is it possible for an athlete to be training consistently and still not achieving some level of visible abs?
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Abs are just a bi-product of low body fat. Not fitness.

MOST footballers will not have permanently visible abs. You have to be incredibly lean to have visible abs.

My abs are visible at about 11% body fat. My friend has to go to 6% and feel rough as rats to see them. It's genetics in terms of how lean you need to be to see them.

Visible abs are practically a product of vanity, and certainly not a measure of athletic output.
 
Red_toad said:
Many athletes don't have abs. You don't need abs to be fit.
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Whilst I agree with your second sentence I'm not sure I agree with the first. If the primary goal of training is to be as strong as possible then, sure. You're unlikely to see abs on a prop forward, for example. In sports which combine strength, agility and endurance I can't think of any reason for an elite performer not to be shredded. It's certainly not something you see very often.
 
UnrelatedPsuedo said:
Abs are just a bi-product of low body fat. Not fitness.

MOST footballers will not have permanently visible abs. You have to be incredibly lean to have visible abs.

My abs are visible at about 11% body fat. My friend has to go to 6% and feel rough as rats to see them. It's genetics in terms of how lean you need to be to see them.

Visible abs are practically a product of vanity, and certainly not a measure of athletic output.
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That can't be true. At least, there must be huge genetic variation. I've never been close to single digit body fat but have almost always had visible abs (excluding "the new dad years" aka "comfort eating my way through chronic fatigue")
 
Regardless of ab visibility, Rooney has the body of someone who has never done a bench press in his life and, for a professional athlete, doesn't seem to give two hoots about body fat percentage.
 
People tan for bodybuilding contests for a reason. If Rooney shaved his chest hair and got a dark tan he'd look much more athletic. His body fat percentage is much lower than it looks.
 
My (not very informed, I admit) impression is that ripped abs aren't always possible. People accumulate and lose fat in different places at different rhythms. For some people, that layer of fat will be the last to be lost on a diet/conditioning and you just can't healthily reduce your body fat to near 0%.

EDIT: What @UnrelatedPsuedo said above. I always read in fitness forums that the body fat percentage thresholds for the six-pack to show up vary widely between persons.
 
Just goes to show that even at a club like United you can go through the motions and get away with it. Skip reps, don't do the sit up properly, a little loose with your diet.

Does anybody think one of the fitness guys is going to call Rooney out for it?
 
Visible abs have little to do with fitness as has already been said. It takes targeted work to get the defined abs the likes of Ronaldo have, who obviously works on them for vanity.

Zarlak said:
To be fair, Pogue said to be fit as possible which is a legitimate point. As fit as Rooney is, and that will be in a much fitter state than most of us - he would still be fitter yet if he were to drop the layers of fat he's carrying and that was Pogue's point. To be the very best you can be as a professional athlete, not just to be fit.
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I would go as far as saying it's detrimental to peak fitness for many athletes. A strong core is important but a bulging 6 pack is muscle weight that provides very little usable strength in a footballer.

For example cyclists, probably the fittest athletes on the planet, don't have particularly prominent abs. It's just not necessary for what they do and it's weight they have to carry.
 
Iniesta has no physique. Pretty sure Scholes never rocked the ripped look either.

But they had the technique and ability to read a game to pull it off. Rooney's game has always been based on being physically dominant, so the fact that he's always looked like a tired old dad is pretty shocking.
 
Even indian footballers have abs, this is unacceptable.
If you follow the rule of calories in calories out you will eventually have abs, that body shape is simply because he is eating too much or not exercising it enough.
 
Everyone has abs and can have strong abs if they want. The problem for most people is that their body fat % isn't low enough for it to show through. It has to be very low for a person to achieve the ripped look without tensing. A strong core and low body fat count is the key to impressive abs.

However, you can still be incredibly fit (run 10-12k) without having aesthetically pleasing abs. Genetics and body types play a part in a person's ability to lose fat, build muscle and maintain a consistent weight.

Now, obviously Rooney does not look after himself as well as Ronnie, but he could never have a body like his if he tried. It's not in his genetic makeup.
 
4 years of debate on the caf for the caf to finally agree rooney is shit

Another 4 to debate whether he's fat or slim?

He's fat and unfit to become a professional footballer in a premier league team, face the reality guys.
 
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