...and the little veins in your lower ab region make a cute little smiley face with your waistband. Kind of like a person peering over the edge of your pants.
Sometimes, the insanity is worth it - especially when you're a week out from comp and feeling good about what you achieved. Much better than last time when I was a week out and wishin' I had about 4 more.
I actually don't do isolated ab work - the multi-joint exercises I focus on work my abs enough I don't worry about isolating them. The only "ab" exercise I've been doing once a week are straight leg raises, and that's really to help strengthen my hip flexors. And I do lat dips aka serratus dips on my bodyweight/assistance work day, but again, my focus is really on my lats.
The rest of it is just diet. And I've ranted on that subject enough during this diet cycle, so I'll leave that one alone.