ab muscles bigger or not?

[T-800]

first, i would like to get out of the way that i already know to see your abs, you have to have low % body fat.

my question is, once you have a low body fat %, do you guys want your ab muscles bigger than normal or do you like them normal size? i'm kinda debating this right now with myself...like, if i want to start increasing the weight on the crunch machine or not...

i think muscular abs do look good, but i also wonder if having bigger abs would make the chest look smaller? also, since i want a thin waist, wouldn't making my abs bigger increase my waist size?

what do you guys/girls think?

thanks

 

[Robert Jan]

whoa B fold = Fucking Animal

 

[Robert Jan]

LMAO wrong thread.

Get your ab muscles as big as possible they really wont grow bigger than you want just like that its fucking hard. they wont make your chest look small, small pecs and lats make your chest look smal

 

[Vortexx]

What you say, it depends on the chest, If you have a pro-like chest, you might wanna do a lot of weighted resistance ab work and get bricks, but otherwise it would stand out easily and you may have to resort to a lot of very concentrated body-weight only slow reps for good a good shape at a smaller size of the abs..

My abs program is supriosingly simple yet effective:


To get into gear:

off-season only 3 a week and it's with resistance (one of the better crunch machines). Purpose is to build basic strength and some thickness in the abdominal wall....

4 * 8 reps in a controlled 2-2-2 tempo
after each set i pose contract the abs for 30 seconds, this is very important, it extends the set but in another way, extending the TUT but with more static contraction, which is very important for peak/shape, yet you have the benefit (read:size) of doing isokinetic resistance work.

- After pose contraction: 1 minute rest and next set

followed up with:

4 * triple drop sets on the crunch machine , no pose contraction in between as the sets were already extrended. the set itself is done in the strict 2-2-2 tempo, but the drop sets are done in as quick as possible tempo, to work the abs with other motor recruitment patterns (speedwork is important for abs too)


When summer approaches and its time to show of the hard work
program changes are slightly.

First of all I include some bodyweight only exercises, prefferably starting with a "lower abs exercise" (there is still a debate whether or not it's possible to hit lower/upper abs, yet i have had the experience that doing roman chairs with plates only build two of the upper rows for me....

- 4 * reverse crunches on an incline bench or hanging leg raises
pose contracting

- 4 * crunches with bodyweight
pose contracting

- 4 * triple drop sets chrunchmachine

that's it, workz for me

 

[Robert Jan]

vortexx = glass full of donkey piss.

"What you say, it depends on the chest, If you have a pro-like chest, you might wanna do a lot of weighted resistance ab work and get bricks, but otherwise it would stand out easily and you may have to resort to a lot of very concentrated body-weight only slow reps for good a good shape at a smaller size of the abs..

**you cant change the shape of your abs, and whether you do high weight/low reps or low weight /high reps will not change the effect on the way they look. only perhaps either one is more effective, imo usually the heavy one

My abs program is supriosingly simple yet effective:


To get into gear:

off-season only 3 a week and it's with resistance (one of the better crunch machines). Purpose is to build basic strength and some thickness in the abdominal wall....

4 * 8 reps in a controlled 2-2-2 tempo
after each set i pose contract the abs for 30 seconds, this is very important, it extends the set but in another way, extending the TUT but with more static contraction, which is very important for peak/shape, yet you have the benefit (read:size) of doing isokinetic resistance work.

- After pose contraction: 1 minute rest and next set

followed up with:

4 * triple drop sets on the crunch machine , no pose contraction in between as the sets were already extrended. the set itself is done in the strict 2-2-2 tempo, but the drop sets are done in as quick as possible tempo, to work the abs with other motor recruitment patterns (speedwork is important for abs too)


When summer approaches and its time to show of the hard work
program changes are slightly.

**unless your on a heapload of gear bumping your recovery to sickness, your totally overtraining

First of all I include some bodyweight only exercises, prefferably starting with a "lower abs exercise" (there is still a debate whether or not it's possible to hit lower/upper abs, yet i have had the experience that doing roman chairs with plates only build two of the upper rows for me.... )

**You cant train lower/upper. At least not to a degree that its a different growth

- 4 * reverse crunches on an incline bench or hanging leg raises
pose contracting

- 4 * crunches with bodyweight
pose contracting

- 4 * triple drop sets chrunchmachine

that's it, workz for me"

 

[The Dude]

Bigger abs are noticed abs. Plus, when you do put a little fat on, you can still make them out. Girls love to see abs, even if they're faint and you feel fat after your lean summer. Do some exercise every ab workout that involes weight and progressive overload.

 

[Vortexx]

I don't mind drinking my glass of donkey piss 2-3 times a week as long as I get decent result from it.


I take it that you are one of the typical HIT jedi's that believe that heavy squats should take care of the abs (in fact they do to a certain degree) and that you cant can't change the shape of a muscle etc.....

Personal experiences and observations has led me to believe that while you can't change the genetic blueprint shape of your muscle you can shape it within it's bounderies ( for example if you do only standing calve raises, you are not developing them to their fullest potential, hence same blueprint / another shape than if you would add some seated calve raises also)

Regarding volume / overtraining , maybe it's just that you are so LOW in volume that you would never notice the difference in the way exercises effect you......

I truely don't think that I can ever convince you, but meanwhile I recommend everybody to taste some of that donkey piss, and come back to me later, telling me how it tastes....

 

[Robert Jan]

I`m breaking Prs every damn workout at the moment, doing an extremely low volume routine. Id be interested in seeing a before/after picture of somebody who changed the shape of a muscle. not the bf%, or the size, bbut the shape. good luck finding one