Abs

[MS]

I'll put in another vote for diet. I almost never do direct ab work either. If your weight training is solid and you're doing plenty of heavy compound movements then you will have awesome abs underneath that layer of fat. All you need to do is get rid of the fat.

I'm sorry I missed missyd's post too!

 

[b fold the truth]

I train abs daily when I contest is comming up. Full range sit ups, roman chair sit ups, and weighted pull downs. If I am feeling froggy...I do side bends or leg ups.

B True

 

[Sassy69]

So do you consider abs a muscle group unto itself to be worked perhaps 1-2/week as with all the other muscle groups, or do they get worked enough as a consequence of the rest of the workout?

I'm currently doing 2-3 ab excerises 2/weeks, 3 sets of 15-20.

When I'm doing cardio (and when I remember during the course of the day)I also try to do the ol' throw-out-the-chest, suck-in-the-gut, tighten-the-ass thing too.

 

[b fold the truth]

For my purposes...my abs must be able to handle large amounts of weight bearing down on them. I train them as often as possible. I try to train them 4x a week, lightly. When a contest comes up...I'll train them 5-6x a week.

B True

 

[wyst]

One thing that most people miss I think is training the obliques. I used to do a zillion crunches and very little oblique work, without much in the way of results. I do more obliques now and less crunching (and far less ab work overall) and have seen much better results.

Oh yeah, mostly though, it's been because I've been obsessively tuning my diet. Some really good posts on here if you search...

Wyst

 

[b fold the truth]

Sounds like you have been getting some really great advice. I had a friend that told me the same thing about my abs once. He is a good friend in deed.

B True

 

[Arioch]

Gee Spats, I bet I know who told you this.

Perhaps you should post your new type of ab work.

 

[Jenny_rock]

spatterson, tell us your routine don't be shy.
can you guys, recommend some oblique exercises. It seems that lifting my legs and trying to touch the knee with my opposite elbow is too hard for me.
10x
Bye.

 

[FitFossil]

For most people, visible abs do have to do with diet. But there are some with low bodyfat and no abs, because the ab muscles aren't sufficiently developed.

My abs used to be concave. No fat but no 6-pack either. Weak too. Doing weighted ab exercises helped bring them out and strengthen them, which helped all other aspects of my training.

Training abs with weights will make them grow just like any other muscle, so don't overdo it and get too thick in your midsection, but you need some development there to see abs and have functional strength.

You can also get an ab workout doing core strength exercises like squats and deadlifts, but this is like the chicken and the egg - you need ab strength to do them and you get ab strength from doing them.

 

[Hannibal]

Yes, Hannibal "knows some stuff."

Well the way I look at it...someone had to teach me. So giving back just seems like the right thing to do. Besides the best way to learn something is to try to teach to someone else. I'm sure B True would agree with that.

Glad that what little bit that I know has helped. Give it a week or two and you will feel the difference.

Just dont ask me "why" the bands work???