whats a good ab workout?

[theghost]

I currently have some loose skin and some fat on me. I'm about 14-16% bodyfat. I know I need to loose some weight to see the abs. But I also want to tighten my skin, especially in the lower area. I need a good ab workout that will work my entire abs. Also, I'm not sure if it's ok, but I do abs on Monday through Friday for about 10 minutes. I was wondering if doing them 5 times a week was too much. Thanks.

[BodySculpting]

I currently have some loose skin and some fat on me. I'm about 14-16% bodyfat. I know I need to loose some weight to see the abs. But I also want to tighten my skin, especially in the lower area. I need a good ab workout that will work my entire abs. Also, I'm not sure if it's ok, but I do abs on Monday through Friday for about 10 minutes. I was wondering if doing them 5 times a week was too much. Thanks.

I don't really understand what you mean by "tightening" the skin...but in put in different words, I think to "tighten" your skin you have to lose the fat...PERIOD. As far as working your abs 5x a week for 10 minutes...I don't only think that's too much but unecessary. Heavy compound movements (deadlifts, squats etc) with some ab training (maybe 2x a week) will be more than enough to develop strong abs. To see them, you have to lose the fat, its really that simple.

[iBswole]

hmm i got the perfect ab workout for you my friend!

The tredmill!

[theghost]

I already know I have to loose fat, that's why I mentioned it. I just want a good ab workout so when I loose the fat, I will have a nice well define stomach.

[lucious]

I like 3-4 HEAVY sets of cable crunches. 8-12 reps. None of this high rep toning crap. Then something like twisting leg raises or twisting decline crunches for obliques. If I go heavy and hard on these it usually feels like a trucks hit my abs. Don't forget the transverse either, if you work that with your abs it'll allow you to have more definition in your sixpack.

No more than 3x a week either.

[iBswole]

hey man
I just got negged for being a smart ass now i'm back to 2! rep pts

I suggest searching for Hugo's ab workout regime here i body building .com and stick with it.

I learnt that roman chair leg lifts are awsome workouts and you should start with em first. Then move onto weighted swiss ball crunches (sitting on the swiss ball), and then either janda crunches or jack knifes, or even rope crunches.

The secret to

awsome upper abs = do regular crunches on a large swiss ball - you can feel the upper two burst out

the middle - any crunch workout - flat or normal etc

lower - leg lifts with small weioght in between your feet- careful don't chuck it at someone,

to get good seperation such as a good line down ure mid section - do lots of declines

and to break ure abs do weighted crunches that increase the cuts.

For even more ab exercises that aren't mentioned here in body building .com and that is responsible for me getting an awsome 6 pack TWICE is wayneluckys program. to find it you have to click on my user name and search for previous posts and you'll find a link to an ab question and aswer thread and i posted it there.

Now i'm praying i get my reps back.

[TheVirtualTaco]

hey man
I just got negged for being a smart ass now i'm back to 2! rep pts

I suggest searching for Hugo's ab workout regime here i body building .com and stick with it.

I learnt that roman chair leg lifts are awsome workouts and you should start with em first. Then move onto weighted swiss ball crunches (sitting on the swiss ball), and then either janda crunches or jack knifes, or even rope crunches.

The secret to

awsome upper abs = do regular crunches on a large swiss ball - you can feel the upper two burst out

the middle - any crunch workout - flat or normal etc

lower - leg lifts with small weioght in between your feet- careful don't chuck it at someone,

to get good seperation such as a good line down ure mid section - do lots of declines

and to break ure abs do weighted crunches that increase the cuts.

For even more ab exercises that aren't mentioned here in body building .com and that is responsible for me getting an awsome 6 pack TWICE is wayneluckys program. to find it you have to click on my user name and search for previous posts and you'll find a link to an ab question and aswer thread and i posted it there.

Now i'm praying i get my reps back.

The rectus abdominus is one muscle. You can't target different parts of the muscle.

Here's a good article on ab workouts:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/rob8.htm

[AnaerobicAndrew]

awsome upper abs = do regular crunches on a large swiss ball - you can feel the upper two burst out.

WRONG

the middle - any crunch workout - flat or normal etc.

WRONG

lower - leg lifts with small weioght in between your feet- careful don't chuck it at someone, .

WRONG

to get good seperation such as a good line down ure mid section - do lots of declines.

WRONG

and to break ure abs do weighted crunches that increase the cuts..

WRONG AGAIN

Now i'm praying i get my reps back.

^^^Youre not going to get any positive rep points for making bull**** like that up. In fact, youve got a neg headed your way courtesy of yours truly, and that post really deserves it. I mean, come on man. Literally everything you just said above was completely wrong.

Youre making it sound like you can spot work your abs with precision. Guess what? There are no such beasts as your "upper" and "lower" abdominals. The rectus is ONE muscle, and they flex as one. Dont waste your time trying to isolate different parts of the muscle.

[rukous]

lol crazy german. i have a 6 pack so that means i have 6 different ab sections i can work out..duh *sarcasm*

honestly bro, your not gonna start seeing abs anytime soon until you lose the body fat and get your diet in check (assuming it isnt since your bf% is so high). ever wonder why skinny people usually have abs? ask em how hard they work them out. bet you most of them that arent gym rats barely work at them at all.

[iBswole]

ouch!

So leg lifts don't target lower abs !

so declines won't break ure inner section?

and by god almighty - your entrie ab section won't be worked with basic crunches ...

and *shudder* tredmills won't help with fat loss , my bad i forgot to say keep ure diet in check but every damn person here told you to do so.

damn i better keep my advice to myself granted I got my six pack - no need to share the info when we have net bullies around. Fine by me - lower ure bf% and keep ure bacon strips

- i'm out you got some 'IFBB pro' help coming ure way kid

good luck!

[AnaerobicAndrew]

So leg lifts don't target lower abs !

No, they dont, they hit the hip flexors.

so declines won't break ure inner section?

Again, anything that invloves your feet locked like that puts the tension on your hip flexors, not your "inner" section, which BTW, are called rectus abdominals. The only way to really isolate the rectus over the hip flexors is to do some sort of flexion movement with your legs in a position that keeps your hip flexors relaxed, like indian situps.

and by god almighty - your entrie ab section won't be worked with basic crunches ...

I never said it would be.

Trickae, you dont know much about training your abs. Good for you for having a 6 pack, but honestly man, you have one in spite of some obviously bad training habits.

Do some basic research on biomechanics and anatomy. You think declines will give you that line down the middle? Thats all about %bf and genetics, NOTHING else. Where the hell did you *learn* that little snippet?

BTW Trickae, your "lower" and "upper" abs are completely seperate conceptually than your upper and lower pecs. Cant compare the two. IFBB, WTF are you talking about?

[iBswole]

ahh well ...

roman chair leg lifts helped me man - i had a low bf% percentage and couldn't see anything around my lower 'rectus abdominals' untill i did leg lifts, with weights.

The cut in the middle - i just read a tonne of articles, not forum chatter, about getting deeper cuts and grooves inbetween our abdominal seperations and weighted declines did the job. As in its not a reverse crunche but your actually hanging by your feet on a decline bench for added resistance. My gym buddies all did their 400+ SITUPS while i was there doing 3 sets of 20 with weights. I got my deeper grooves, it worked for me, and now its my advice for gains.

If you really want to take out hip flexor activity from your ab workouts then janda's are awsome if do it right. Thats including doing a semi TVA suck in and then tensing your hams and glutes while completing the sit up. Its excellent in terms of intensity.



The lower upper condundrum is simply put that a trainer told me to do crunches on a higher/larger swiss ball as i had tiny upper abs back in november. Now they are more prominant and i have the actual hook where the upper abs actually have a sharp hook that portrudes up near my opening of my rib cage and now curl down over the middle two.

air bikes also helped give a curvature to my obliques.

Basicly I've gotten to a six pack several times (about 4) but only twice have they been the ideal shape i wanted. I take all the advice i get and i try it - if it works fine - if it doesn't i'll change it.

but i'm up for your change to ab workouts which i've yet to experiance.

[iBswole]

Do some basic research on biomechanics and anatomy. You think declines will give you that line down the middle? Thats all about %bf and genetics, NOTHING else. Where the hell did you *learn* that little snippet?

fraid i learnt it from bodybuilding.com

but its a given that abs come from a descent workout + low bodyfat - the kid said he had it down. Single digits for bf is ideal for anything ab related - this the tredmill comment.

[Steeltoe]

Quick tip- when you do crunches, dont anchor your feet, it will take alot of stress of your abs....just my two cents, please noone cuss me out. lol

[Gambino]

you dont really have to do anything, i see stoners, skaters, alot of ppl who arent in teh gym, who have abs, get ur diet right, thats all u need

[$AJ]

any heavy core compound work works them (deadlift, squat, militiary, etc..)

[gutter2d]

ahh well ...

roman chair leg lifts helped me man - i had a low bf% percentage and couldn't see anything around my lower 'rectus abdominals' untill i did leg lifts, with weights.

The cut in the middle - i just read a tonne of articles, not forum chatter, about getting deeper cuts and grooves inbetween our abdominal seperations and weighted declines did the job. As in its not a reverse crunche but your actually hanging by your feet on a decline bench for added resistance. My gym buddies all did their 400+ SITUPS while i was there doing 3 sets of 20 with weights. I got my deeper grooves, it worked for me, and now its my advice for gains.

If you really want to take out hip flexor activity from your ab workouts then janda's are awsome if do it right. Thats including doing a semi TVA suck in and then tensing your hams and glutes while completing the sit up. Its excellent in terms of intensity.



The lower upper condundrum is simply put that a trainer told me to do crunches on a higher/larger swiss ball as i had tiny upper abs back in november. Now they are more prominant and i have the actual hook where the upper abs actually have a sharp hook that portrudes up near my opening of my rib cage and now curl down over the middle two.

air bikes also helped give a curvature to my obliques.

Basicly I've gotten to a six pack several times (about 4) but only twice have they been the ideal shape i wanted. I take all the advice i get and i try it - if it works fine - if it doesn't i'll change it.

but i'm up for your change to ab workouts which i've yet to experiance.

hey dude can u explain what declines are?

[DiamondDelts]

But he only wanted to tone.

[v8chev]

hi there use a swiss ball they are great you only need to work your abs for about 10 min. if you bring your legs towards your mid section you will work your lower abs if you bring your midsction towards your knees you will work your upper abs. and doing side twisting movements will work your transverse muscles aswell as your side obliques. easy aye.incorporate all these in your ab exercises. incline crunches and dcline crunches super setted are very good. plus as well as on your knees and grabing a rope on the cable machine and pulling it down towards your midsection hope this helps.

[afpunkdude]

any heavy core compound work works them (deadlift, squat, militiary, etc..)

So if I do all those regularly, is that enough to work them or should I still be doing Abs after every workout?

[racinghart]

take 220 and minus (your age) then take that number and multiply that by .65 or 65% whatevers easier to understand... that becomes your target heart rate for FAT BURNING. hop on a treadmill that allows you to measure your HR (heart rate) use the arrows on the machine to set the speed, and pace, and set the incline on the treadmill in which your target heart rate youve calculated above is maintained. i do this for 30 mins after every workout and i went from 169.3 lbs to 161.3 in one month. of course thats because of good diet and weight lifting too but i swear by the target heart rate low intensity cardio. if anyone else agrees.. REP ME! hehe

[Tyrbolift]

So if I do all those regularly, is that enough to work them or should I still be doing Abs after every workout?

I don't think those alone are enough, but only need to supplemented by a once or twice a week ab-specific workout that's longer than 10 minutes. People vary widely, but I never did go in for those daily short ab routines. For me, it was like a daily queasy.

[iBswole]

answers -
Heavy compunds will work your abs - but thats only if ure going heavy and are at that stage already. Untill then i'd suggest hitting the abs 3times a week and doing your heavy compounds. Everyone should be doing squats, deads, weighted pull ups, weighted dips etc - once your lifting serious weights then you can cut back on your abs. I feel abs a hell of alot on leg day and i do partial deads just for legs and I feel em.

How to do declines

Take the bar off a decline bench and hop on - make sure your feet are in securely and what you do is first lie baCk and then tense your abs. You'll have a slight curve in your back when you do this and then start doing regular crunches but when you come down on the negative don't go all the way down but keep your upper body propped slightly below horizontal and then hold that position and then go back up for the crunch.

Best fat burning cardio
- it really depends on your level of fitness and its debatable wether ideal anarobic or aerobic cardio is needed. I suggest everyone should try getting their cardio up to 30-40 mins non stop - at a moderately paced speed. Then they should switch to HIIT or intervals where they run at a high intensity for a short period of time say 1.5 mins and then run a litlle slower or jog for a minute and then repeat the cycle. Soon the intervals should be closed so that you may be runningat 15 and then you drop it down to 12 on the tredmill and fluctuate.

But that doens;t work for me anymore and now i'm doing HIT - or high intensity cardio where i pace myself at speed 8 on an incline of 12. This kills me and i sweat out a coule of gallons.

give them all a shot.

now granted with my awsome luck on this specific thread where i got negged three times lets see how much worse i can get with this post

[rukous]

trickae...im not trying to be an ass..but do a google search on abdominal muscle. you will see its 1 muscle. saying that you can target upper and lower is like saying you could target the upper and lower bicep.

[iBswole]

It has nothing to do with upper or lower - theres a reason why all the pro lifters do roman chair lifts or crunches - variety is the key - either way you work them. Instead of debating this crap at a forum where we're not any wiser or have any life altering moments i can safely say that if you do your workouts right, do your cardio - then you will get results. happy? I still beleive leg lifts got me what i have today in the lower region of my rectus abdominals - we can't call em abs no more or else i'll get negged. I refuse to beleive i'll get the same shape i have today without leg lifts, air bikes and declines.

My 2 cents take it or leave it

[Tyrbolift]

It has nothing to do with upper or lower - theres a reason why all the pro lifters do roman chair lifts or crunches - variety is the key - either way you work them. Instead of debating this crap at a forum where we're not any wiser or have any life altering moments i can safely say that if you do your workouts right, do your cardio - then you will get results. happy? I still beleive leg lifts got me what i have today in the lower region of my rectus abdominals - we can't call em abs no more or else i'll get negged. I refuse to beleive i'll get the same shape i have today without leg lifts, air bikes and declines.

My 2 cents take it or leave it

Have to agree. Call them what you want and say what is possible or not, but weighted straight leg raises adds a dimension that makes my ab workout feel more complete in my gut when I'm done, and in the appearance and strength of my abs when recovered.

[lucious]

Have you guys heard about static motion? Its what the abs do when you do movements like leg raises. Hip flexors contract, the rectus abdominus stabilises the spinal column to prevent it from breaking off. You might think you worked them because they feel worked but thats just a buildup of lactic acid from the stabilisation. I see people doing another exercise too where they hold their upper body 45 degrees of the floor and have someone toss a medicine ball to them, thinking the abs get worked when they catch the ball. Nah, the abs are just absorbing the impact to prevent the veterbral column from moving awkwardly. The only way to work them, is to find exercises that CONTRACT the muscles. Watch yourself next time you do leg raises...is the muscle moving at all? No, its staying put and just working statically, you need something which decreases the distance between the ribcage and the pelvis.

[FarEastBeast]

So if I do all those regularly, is that enough to work them or should I still be doing Abs after every workout?

I say hit them directly as well. You'll be stronger on core lifts that way if nothing else.