Weighted ab workouts?

[KQguy]

I am trying to get my abs conditioned to where I have a 6pack,I know it mostly depends on BF levels.But I feel like my abs are under developed,no matter how lean I get,I just dont get much ab definition,even though I have little fat around my stomach.Would it be beneficial to do more low rep ab workouts with weights,rather than tons of sit ups and crunches.I was thinking leg raises with dumbbells,and sit ups while holding a plate on my chest.Should I treat my abs like any other muscle for developement,hit them with weights once or twice a week?

[Fifty+]

I am trying to get my abs conditioned to where I have a 6pack,I know it mostly depends on BF levels.But I feel like my abs are under developed,no matter how lean I get,I just dont get much ab definition,even though I have little fat around my stomach.Would it be beneficial to do more low rep ab workouts with weights,rather than tons of sit ups and crunches.I was thinking leg raises with dumbbells,and sit ups while holding a plate on my chest.Should I treat my abs like any other muscle for developement,hit them with weights once or twice a week?

Learn how to crunch. Weighted incline crunches and cable crunches. It doesn't take 100s of sit ups to develop your abdominal muscles/obliques.

[KQguy]

fifty,
If I do weighted crunches and cable crunches,how many day's a week should I do them?Can they get overtrained like other muscles,or should they be hit several times a week?

[stayfit2008]

fifty,
If I do weighted crunches and cable crunches,how many day's a week should I do them?Can they get overtrained like other muscles,or should they be hit several times a week?

Treat them like you would any other muscle group,..2x/week is enuff,..and yes,..you can overtrain abs.

[DSUP]

Would it be beneficial to do more low rep ab workouts with weights,rather than tons of sit ups and crunches.I was thinking leg raises with dumbbells,and sit ups while holding a plate on my chest.Should I treat my abs like any other muscle for developement,hit them with weights once or twice a week?

Yes.

[Artunsan]

I gave up on abs because I realized it was borderline retarded to have sweet abs when i was 6'2" and 170 lbs. So, I started on SS and put on 30 lbs and magically something very close to a 6pack just appeared.

Squats and Military Presses FTW!

Did you add any assistance ab exercises to SS? I am doing leg raises (on captain's chair) and (weighted) swiss ball crunches on mondays and fridays after the workout. I wonder if they are any good.

[BrotherWolf]

I am trying to get my abs conditioned to where I have a 6pack,I know it mostly depends on BF levels.But I feel like my abs are under developed,no matter how lean I get,I just dont get much ab definition,even though I have little fat around my stomach.Would it be beneficial to do more low rep ab workouts with weights,rather than tons of sit ups and crunches.I was thinking leg raises with dumbbells,and sit ups while holding a plate on my chest.Should I treat my abs like any other muscle for developement,hit them with weights once or twice a week?

This is what you need

http://www.lonkilgore.com/usawrdc/Ab..._Intensity.pdf

[BrotherWolf]

Squats and Military Presses FTW!

this for sure .. weighted situps or crunches are done as an accessory exercise but in reality you could get a six pack by simply doing the compounds lifts given enough intensity in the workout

[Bob45]

I did see my abs a couple times about 25 years ago, haha. I did do weighted ab work.

[stayfit2008]

This is what you need

http://www.lonkilgore.com/usawrdc/Ab..._Intensity.pdf

great find!

[Guff]

Very interesting. I've been in that same boat, got my BF down but the abs just won't 'pop'. I do 5 minutes of body crunches a day. Maybe I should change around to a weighted program instead.

[BrotherWolf]

great find!

Yeah it's a good "article" you can see a lot of strongman or powerlifters with huge abs
but with a layer of fat covering them , but when those guys lose a few lbs the abs just comes popping out

[Marius_Ursus]

I also decided I wanted a 6 pack a while back. For a 5 month time period I did 5 sets of 200 sit ups every other day. AT the end of that time I was about 9-10 % Bf and I had nothing in terms of a six pack - NOTHING!!

I don't think any amount of unweighted ab exercises will get you a true 6 pack, certainly not sit-ups. (unless 3000 a week just wasn't enough)

I gave up on abs because I realized it was borderline retarded to have sweet abs when i was 6'2" and 170 lbs. So, I started on SS and put on 30 lbs and magically something very close to a 6pack just appeared.

Squats and Military Presses FTW!

Bingo! Nothing has ever activated my ab muscles like squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, amd military presses.

[TreeHouser]

I'm gonna try weighted, reduced reps. I'm doing too many, I imagine.

I think I'll still keep overtraining my obliques, however. I don't really want them to grow.

[ehode]

I've had decent luck using the weighted ab machines at the gym.

[BrotherWolf]

Bingo! Nothing has ever activated my ab muscles like squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, amd military presses.

Turkish getups ?

[Hey-Iwas51]

This is what you need

http://www.lonkilgore.com/usawrdc/Ab..._Intensity.pdf

Always have done weighted sit ups, just because I am always in a hurry, and unweighted I end up with too many reps, takes too long that way. But have only used like 15 lb.

Out of just having a feeling that weighted situps was a valid idea (using the logic in the link write up), I recently bumped it to using a thirty pound dumbell in each hand and just doing sets of 20 sit ups... just recently started this, hoping that the abs would grow enough to push through the fat! (Maybe I am on the right track.)

[Fifty+]

Always have done weighted sit ups, just because I am always in a hurry, and unweighted I end up with too many reps, takes too long that way. But have only used like 15 lb.

Out of just having a feeling that weighted situps was a valid idea (using the logic in the link write up), I recently bumped it to using a thirty pound dumbell in each hand and just doing sets of 20 sit ups... just recently started this, hoping that the abs would grow enough to push through the fat! (Maybe I am on the right track.)

There is a big difference between sit-ups and crunches. If you learn to crunch properly you can cut your ab work time in half. And no, your abs will not push through your body fat and look nice. You build 'em in the gym, you see 'em in the kitchen.

[*STEVE*]

There is a big difference between sit-ups and crunches. If you learn to crunch properly you can cut your ab work time in half. And no, your abs will not push through your body fat and look nice. You build 'em in the gym, you see 'em in the kitchen.

This ^ , as usual , your posts are rite on the money !

[Hey-Iwas51]

There is a big difference between sit-ups and crunches. If you learn to crunch properly you can cut your ab work time in half. And no, your abs will not push through your body fat and look nice. You build 'em in the gym, you see 'em in the kitchen.

Ouch... well actually you see 'em by not being in the kitchen! I hear ya...

[BrotherWolf]

You build 'em in the gym, you see 'em in the kitchen.

Right on

"You can build awesome abs with intense training but it’s up to you to make
sure that everyone gets to see the results of your hard work by making sure that you don’t bury the evidence under the results of high intensity eating"
Lon Kilgore, Ph.D. and Mark Rippetoe CSCS

[salatheel]

I have found that using weight is the most effective way to build abs. I am currently doing 3 sets crunhies for 50-60 reps with 50lbs held on the top of my head. I also do side bends with one 50lb dumbell at a time and incline situps with a 25lb plate. Any more than 50reps is a waste. I do 10-12 sets of abs twice a week and they are coming along real well now. I am also following a ketogenic diet and that has helped as well.

[BrotherWolf]

I have found that using weight is the most effective way to build abs. I am currently doing 3 sets crunhies for 50-60 reps with 50lbs held on the top of my head. I also do side bends with one 50lb dumbell at a time and incline situps with a 25lb plate. Any more than 50reps is a waste. I do 10-12 sets of abs twice a week and they are coming along real well now. I am also following a ketogenic diet and that has helped as well.

If you can do 50 reps you need to add more weight , the whole principal is to add weight every time you are able to do more than 3 sets of 8 reps ... otherwise it's no different than doing 100 crunches without weight, weight must be increased or there is no strength progress

[Marius_Ursus]

Turkish getups ?

LOL...you got me.

Still using the kettlebells?

[BrotherWolf]

LOL...you got me.

Still using the kettlebells?

Yes sometimes, I warmup with them , I do presses, snatches, swings
rows and even curls , I like that I can hold the ball rather than grip it
it helps my tennis elbow

Ohh and I do this thing where I squat down really low with a narrow stance and hold my 24kg with both hands and curl it while in a this position .. kind of weird to explain

[Marius_Ursus]

Yes sometimes, I warmup with them , I do presses, snatches, swings
rows and even curls , I like that I can hold the ball rather than grip it
it helps my tennis elbow

Ohh and I do this thing where I squat down really low with a narrow stance and hold my 24kg with both hands and curl it while in a this position .. kind of weird to explain

You'll have to show me next time I'm in Kingston or you're in Albany.

[BrotherWolf]

You'll have to show me next time I'm in Kingston or you're in Albany.

Come back soon...

[ectoBgone]

this for sure .. weighted situps or crunches are done as an accessory exercise but in reality you could get a six pack by simply doing the compounds lifts given enough intensity in the workout

Bingo! Nothing has ever activated my ab muscles like squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, amd military presses.

But which ab muscles are these compounds activating? From what I understand and have experienced, heavy compound work will do well activating the tranverse abdomonis, but it's not going to do much for your rectus abdominis, which is what you're looking at with a six pack. Direct ab work that involves the rectus abdominis is going to get you a lot more mileage for your effort than heavy compounds. Strengthening the transverse abdominis still has aesthetic value too because it tightens your abdominal wall keeping your belly from sagging, but it's not going to do much for your washboard effect.

As has been explained well already (by BrotherWolf included), lowering body fat and working the abs directly like other muscles is what you need to do. There are also other ab exercises that are challenging enough with body weight alone. Hanging leg raises done properly are difficult and effective. Reverse crunches and incline or inverted sit-ups are also good. When those get easy, try dragon flags and feel a whole new level of ab DOMS.

[BrotherWolf]

But which ab muscles are these compounds activating? From what I understand and have experienced, heavy compound work will do well activating the tranverse abdomonis,

Tthe "rectus abdominis" has many functions one of them is to create the intra abdominal pressure, occurring for example when:
squatting , deadlifting or doing an overhead press , even for just about any pushing or pulling exercises, Rows, chinups, pullups, farmers walks, pushups, atlas stone , throwing hammers and kegs etc.. plus in many of these lifts it is also working hard to stabilize the upperbody..

Everytime you lift something heavy your rectus abdominis is called into play, the intensity of your lift is what makes the difference

As has been explained well already (by BrotherWolf included), lowering body fat and working the abs directly like other muscles is what you need to do. There are also other ab exercises that are challenging enough with body weight alone. Hanging leg raises done properly are difficult and effective. Reverse crunches and incline or inverted sit-ups are also good. When those get easy, try dragon flags and feel a whole new level of ab DOMS.

Don't give me credit I was simply quoting Mark Rippetoes and Lon kilgore

[Mark42]

Hanging leg raises done properly are difficult and effective. Reverse crunches and incline or inverted sit-ups are also good. When those get easy, try dragon flags and feel a whole new level of ab DOMS.

^^
Generally I work ABS 2 x per week maximum. 1 workout may involve dragon flags 3x10, cable crunches 3x10 (heavy, slow with maximum contraction) & weighted crunches 3x10. Whilst another I'll do the Plank, hanging windscreen wipers & vacuums on + cable crunches.

A combination of weighted and unweighted tends to work for me.