What are the best exercises to strengthen your abs?

[justanothagirl]

How do you train your abs?

Abs are probably one of my lacking bodyparts. Now with the left side of my lower back slightly injured (Tnx bitch who sabotaged my weights on purpose while I was being really nice/unaware she hated me/was jealous, I'm still pissed about it man) it's probably a good idea to take some of the load off by getting stronger abs, so I want to put more focus on them.

Thanks.

[SquattsAndOats]

Abs is 75% bodyfat% and 25% working them.

If you're on about increasing ab size, weighted exercises I find are a good one. Weighted Situps, Weighted crunches, Ab Machine etc.


Get that body fat down though!!

[MichaelCJ]

Hanging pike (and other more advanced bodyweight shenanigans), cable crunches, and weighted decline situps.

And weighted planks, for extra torture.

Well, that's my sh!t list, anyway.

[justanothagirl]

Hanging pike (and other more advanced bodyweight shenanigans), cable crunches, and weighted decline situps.

And weighted planks, for extra torture.

Well, that's my sh!t list, anyway.

Thanks brahs, I'll google those.

How do you do weighed sit-ups? With a plate?

[AdrianPerry]

Thanks brahs, I'll google those.

How do you do weighed sit-ups? With a plate?

Plates, dumbbell, weighted ball (holding it above your head). Anything really that's going to add weight around your shoulders/head area which cause the abs to work harder to "sit-up" with the extra weight.

[cparrott133]

Planks, your abs are designed to resist movement not cause movement

[PeterGibbons316]

Thanks brahs, I'll google those.

How do you do weighed sit-ups? With a plate?

I've started doing them with a barbell. I lay down on a bench with the attachment on the end that I can lock my legs into. Hold a barbell above my chest like at the top of a bench press, and sit up while rotating the bar above my head - finishing like I would at the top of a seated OHP. Great way to add weight and track progress on an ab exercise. You can do these on a decline bench, but I just use a flat bench and that works well enough for me.

[cparrott133]

I've started doing them with a barbell. I lay down on a bench with the attachment on the end that I can lock my legs into. Hold a barbell above my chest like at the top of a bench press, and sit up while rotating the bar above my head - finishing like I would at the top of a seated OHP. Great way to add weight and track progress on an ab exercise. You can do these on a decline bench, but I just use a flat bench and that works well enough for me.

Also a great way to load tons of pressure on your lumbar discs, excellent advice. i'm always amazed that people still do full on sit ups, a bunch of neandertals on this board

[BZBantam]

Your abs also get a fair amount of work as stabilizers during compound lifts like the squat, deadlift, miltary press etc. If your lower back is injured I would avoid crunches or anything you feel adds pressure to the lower back area. For direct ab work, I like planks, hanging leg raises, flutter kicks.

[cparrott133]

in regards to your back injury, take care to protect it. do mobility excercises before you start lifting. planks will help alot with stability to protect your spine. 1 legged bridges and reverse lunges are also great choices. make a habit of working on mobility and stability and your back will thank you. if you do weighted sit up and weighted crunches it's going to make your back worse, so i wouldnt listen to most of the ppl that posted early in here, BZbantam gave good advice.

[mastdog]

cparrott if you were to run and jump off a cliff do you think you could fly? cos they be some serious wings youve get there son. 1 excercise for lats like that? go....

[Tommy W.]

Abs is 75% bodyfat% and 25% working them.

If you're on about increasing ab size, weighted exercises I find are a good one. Weighted Situps, Weighted crunches, Ab Machine etc.


Get that body fat down though!!

at 5-2 and 103 I doubt if there's much fat there

[justanothagirl]

Thanks everybody for the suggestions, I'm going to look all of these up and see which I can do. Definitely going to include planks. Is doing them 3x1 minute ok?

[-Lucifer]

How do you train your abs?

Abs are probably one of my lacking bodyparts. Now with the left side of my lower back slightly injured (Tnx bitch who sabotaged my weights on purpose while I was being really nice/unaware she hated me/was jealous, I'm still pissed about it man) it's probably a good idea to take some of the load off by getting stronger abs, so I want to put more focus on them.

Thanks.

Oh, hay! It's you again!

- let back heal
- then do weighted decline situps [it isn't a dangerous movement]

[justanothagirl]

in regards to your back injury, take care to protect it. do mobility excercises before you start lifting. planks will help alot with stability to protect your spine. 1 legged bridges and reverse lunges are also great choices. make a habit of working on mobility and stability and your back will thank you. if you do weighted sit up and weighted crunches it's going to make your back worse, so i wouldnt listen to most of the ppl that posted early in here, BZbantam gave good advice.

Thank you so much. I'll definitely start doing those things and what BZbantam suggested.

Oh, hay! It's you again!

- let back heal
- then do weighted decline situps [it isn't a dangerous movement]

Lol, thanks brah, looks like I'll have to wait with the weighed ab stuff for now.

[cparrott133]

cparrott if you were to run and jump off a cliff do you think you could fly? cos they be some serious wings youve get there son. 1 excercise for lats like that? go....

Lol thanks i appreciate that. Back training is pretty complex but for width my favorite is reverse grip pulldowns

[Oriainarama]

Lol thanks i appreciate that. Back training is pretty complex but for width my favorite is reverse grip pulldowns

sweet, definitely going to try them tonight! your back is huge and defined.

[darscogre]

Thanks brahs, I'll google those.

How do you do weighed sit-ups? With a plate?

You've been here since 2005 and you dont know what a weighted sit up or a weighted plank is?

[Concat]

You've been here since 2005 and you dont know what a weighted sit up or a weighted plank is?

Miscer.

[KarmicEffects]

Cable pulls (personally would have elbows higher up to ears to get better extension)



Dumbbell leg lifts (really focusing on contracting not rounding back, DB between thighs, and can be done on dip machine with pad for elbow placement)



One on each day you train abs is all I've really needed with deads/squats/etc. on my upper/lower 2x BP a week routine (would do both on same day if you only hit abs once a week) and core shot up in strength dramatically after dropping the 4-5 exercises per ab day was doing before. Had a herinated disk a while back and out of every ab target these cause the least unnecessary stress for me.

[Faust24]

Frog Crunch >All.

[sgttom]

Planks are all I do. They can be pretty intense. Look em up if you don't know of them.