Building abdominal muscle mass

[gigiga]

hi people. i am 23, and had to take a year break from exercise due to injury.
i am not overweight (6" tall about 170), but gained around 10 pounds i want to get rid of.
a problem i've always had is that my ribs stick out - this means that my ab muscles are actually further "inward" than my ribs. this means that whenever i get skinnier, i have a dip between my ribs and my actual abs.
i figured that the best solution would be to actually build a lot of ab mass.
my problem is that my exercise routine includes abs every other day, but its nothing too focused.
what should i do? should i focus on burning fat first and then increasing abdominal mass?
or should i do a specific ab workout every so and so in addition to my normal training?

thanks!

[DJAuto]

Perform abdominal movements with resistance.

[keys_10]

Train them just like any other muscle, weighted and in the desired rep range.

[MuscleTechMarc]

^^^ Add weight to your ab exercises.
-weighted sit-ups
-weighted leg raises
-ab crunch machine

Here is a good advanced exercise you can do:

[ChinUp4Life]

Perform abdominal movements with resistance.

QFT. There are sooo many possibilities. Let me give you some ideas...

-Turkish Get Up
-Decilne weighted crunch
-Weighted Carries (BRILLIANT underused core builder, think strongman abs)
-Weight Vest walk around neighborhood... I have the 84lb xvest and it has noticeable increased my abdominal size just below at all angles below the chest. Basically made me thicker. It is pretty intense and cost $$, but no doubt it works.