Ab Guys...

[shibs]

What the hell do you guys do ADD muscle to your abs? Mine are pretty small, and I feel like they're lacking. I hate working out my abs though.. its just a shitty thing to have waiting at the end of a w/o. Lately I've been doing hanging leg raises, ab wheel from knees, and a very hard version of planks. All 3 sets to failure. Usually once, sometimes twice a week. What should I do differently? Is it really necessary to work them out 2 or 3 times a week?

 

[downunder hunter]

Diet.... You dont have to train them after your workouts bro. Do them on cardio days or rest days with your stretching etc if you want. Your ab regimen looks weak too. How long have you been doing these same exercises? You should do exercises to target inner and outer obliques lower and upper abs and core every ab workout imo

 

[kx250rider]

They're hard to get bigger, so the most I was able to do, was to go down to <6% body fat. So mine show nicely, veins and all, but they're still not big. I do an ab routine 7 days/week: 150 standard crunches, and 100 each side (total 350 in one long set with positions switched). I'd worry that if I tried to bulk up my abs with heavy weighted crunches and low reps, etc., it might cause the whole abdominal wall to bulge out (YIKES!) . I'll keep the small size abs well-displayed and totally flat, rather than risk having what everyone would see as a gut with a shirt on, I guess. I do, once or twice a week, do weighted knee raises, and a couple sets of crunches with a 25-lb dumbell held at chest level.

Charles

 

[ExtraMile]

blocky abs dont look bad in my opinion....

i hate training abs too. I usually do them once or twice a week and I just choose one exercise and do 2-5 sets of it. I usually do one of the following

hanging leg raises
ab wheel on knees
weighted decline situps - usually 8-10 reps per set
weighted side bends 15-20 reps per set

im thinking of replacing the weighted situps with pulldown abs though because when I go heavy on the situps my lower back contracts very hard on the negative portion and its uncomfortable, feels like its in a vice...

 

[shibs]

Diet.... You dont have to train them after your workouts bro. Do them on cardio days or rest days with your stretching etc if you want. Your ab regimen looks weak too. How long have you been doing these same exercises? You should do exercises to target inner and outer obliques lower and upper abs and core every ab workout imo

Weak as in volume wise? Because doing those f'ing suck lol I have only been at it for a few weeks. I usually feel squats and stuff get my obliques pretty well though so i usually don't bother with those.

 

[shibs]

They're hard to get bigger, so the most I was able to do, was to go down to <6% body fat. So mine show nicely, veins and all, but they're still not big. I do an ab routine 7 days/week: 150 standard crunches, and 100 each side (total 350 in one long set with positions switched). I'd worry that if I tried to bulk up my abs with heavy weighted crunches and low reps, etc., it might cause the whole abdominal wall to bulge out (YIKES!) . I'll keep the small size abs well-displayed and totally flat, rather than risk having what everyone would see as a gut with a shirt on, I guess. I do, once or twice a week, do weighted knee raises, and a couple sets of crunches with a 25-lb dumbell held at chest level.

Charles

Yeah they're a pain in the ass... I don't wanna go down to <6% bf though because 1, I have no idea how to do a cutting diet lol and 2, i'm only 185 at 5'11 and a half, and I don't want to get skinny... i trained too hard for the muscle mass i have as it is and don't wanna throw it away lol

blocky abs dont look bad in my opinion....

i hate training abs too. I usually do them once or twice a week and I just choose one exercise and do 2-5 sets of it. I usually do one of the following

hanging leg raises
ab wheel on knees
weighted decline situps - usually 8-10 reps per set
weighted side bends 15-20 reps per set

im thinking of replacing the weighted situps with pulldown abs though because when I go heavy on the situps my lower back contracts very hard on the negative portion and its uncomfortable, feels like its in a vice...

I agree totally... i'm thinking about throwing the ab thing out, it takes up way to much time and makes me dreeeaaad some days lol. I might just do what you're doing

 

[kx250rider]

I have a machine that I never use.. Nautilus seated ab crunch. It's a chair that you sit in, with a seat belt, and you use your whole torso to resist the weight as your body lifts the chair (weighted by a selectorized stack). It's from a hospital rehab unit, and it's supposedly very expensive and well-engineered. It's not a pullover machine. I didn't have room for it in my weight room, so it's sitting in another building collecting dust. I keep forgetting it's there (been there for a couple years now), and I should go mess with it and see how it works. If I remember, it has a 200-lb stack. Big, clumsy machine... we used the Caterpillar to unload it from my truck. I got it along with a package lot of weight room equipment from a bankrupt fitness club.

I'll see if I get a chance today, to take a picture of it and maybe some of you have seen one, and have an opinion on whether it's something worth making room for....

Charles

 

[reyz324]

just man the fuck up bro, abs are like every other muscle in the body they shouldnt be treated any diffrent

 

[SouthernLord]

Train them like you would anything else. Would you do 150 bicep curls or bench presses in a workout? I fucking hope not.

Decline sit ups with a weight behind your head (fuck holding a plate on your chest that shit's for pussies) and standing rope crunches on the lat pull down machine (try to touch your forehead on the seat) for 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps. These two exercise rape my mid section.

Heavy squats, front squats, deads, standing presses, and weighted chins all work the fuck out of your abs too.


Pulldown abs

 

[kx250rider]

Train them like you would anything else. Would you do 150 bicep curls or bench presses in a workout? I fucking hope not.

Decline sit ups with a weight behind your head (fuck holding a plate on your chest that shit's for pussies) and standing rope crunches on the lat pull down machine (try to touch your forehead on the seat) for 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps. These two exercise rape my mid section.

Heavy squats, front squats, deads, standing presses, and weighted chins all work the fuck out of your abs too.


Pulldown abs

I'm lacking experience here... I had heard that any kind of heavy weight/low rep ab work would make your whole abdominal wall pop out like a pot. My abs do look small, although super-defined and very flat with veins showing. I'd go for thicker block abs, but not at the cost of looking like Santa Claus with a shirt on. If I got bad info, and the pot's not a real risk, I might go into some ab bulking and see what happens... Any more opinions on this anyone?

Charles