Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Ab Exercises?

Ab Gym Equipment?

Ab Gadgets?

All of the above?

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Reality Based Training = HardGainer.com

Weighted crunches with 25 pound dumbbells. Not sure if it's working because I still have bodyfat.

Pilates core exercises, leg raises, bicycles, decline weighted crunches (occasionally), and yoga. Of all the core/ab exercises I've tried I find yoga and pilates to be by far the most effective. I like that they balance out lower back and oblique strength with abs. Most of the machines I've tried at the gym just feel like they are stressing my lower back.

deadlifts:)

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My progress pics: http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=21924
My training diary: http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=22216

Deadlifts is one of my primary exercises.

I don't like crunches, so I have been thinking of getting the ab wheel like the one pictured below.

Anyone here use one?

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Reality Based Training = HardGainer.com

Some important things about abs:

1. Abdominal training is primarily flexion of the spine and not flexion of the hip joint. The flexion of the spine works the abdominal muscles and the flexion of the hip joint works the hip flexors on your thigh.
2. Half of your abdomen are the obliques. A good method to keep your abs clean is to train front abs one day and obliques the next day. Example: Monday - chest, triceps, shoulder, obliques; Tuesday - back, biceps, forearm, front abs; Wednesday - legs, obliques; etc. This will keep the area activated for a longer time - more blood there, better metabolism.
3. The only way to 'cut' your lower abs is to lift your legs.

The 'prayer' and lifting your legs are awesome exercises.
I got my abs out with 'truck crunches' (I don't know if this is the correct term, I got it from bodybulding.com). I didn't know why back then but now I know they give a really good spinal flexion:)

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Into the fire with your soul!

Heavy ass squats and deadlifts

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My training log

Also don't forget, your abs won't show if you have fat over them. No matter how much you work the muscles underneath, they're still underneath. Get some good cardio in, HIIT, sprints, that sorta of thing and make sure your diet is clean. The ab wheel rocks, I've heard nothing but good about that little piece of equipment from every training forum I ever been on.

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Success is only defined as getting up one more time than you've been knocked down.
It’s not about how hard you can hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward…

Yes, very good for the "inch worm"

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I don't even have a gym membership yet and in the meantime I've been doing leg raises. Would the ab wheel be a better at-home tool for ab definition?

well executed crunches are also very effective

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My progress pics: http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=21924
My training diary: http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=22216

Personally I don't like crunches, especially while holding extra weight. Last time they just ended up making my lower back pain worse. Kettlebell windmills and turkish get-ups are interesting, but my shoulders tend to get tired far before my midsection. Ab wheel and various plank positions are pretty awesome. I've also had good experiences with various simple mobility drills centering around midsection. I feel they have made my core stronger in differend positions, improved mobility and reduced lower back pain.

I try to do a mix of everything, but mostly I'll just do ab exercises.

Some examples are crunches, situps, bicycle kicks, leg raises, planks, etc.

Every once in a while i'll do the ab machines, but I try to do high reps with them so that it really burns the abs.

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No Nonsense Muscle Building
Fat Burning Furnace

Individual exercises:
Plank static hold [this is the single best exercise IMO, I do a 1 minute plank on top of a medecine ball while rolling it in circles on Mondays and then a 2 minute plank on the ground on Thursdays every week].
Wallsits [I do a 2 minute one every week, brutal but definitely uses the core]
Ab roller (these work great, but you gotta know what you're doing with it our you can tweak your back and not even really use your abs)

Compound exercises:
Squats
deadlifts

I agree, if you want definition of your abs (do you have a "six pack" underneath your "two-liter"?) you have to clean up your diet. Robert also goes into pretty good detail on this in his book about how you have to eat to get definition after you've spent time eating enormous amounts of calories bulking up.

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Musclemag has a Abs Special on the stands now

The entire issue is devoted to abs and covers most everything about abs

Tons of exercises illustrated and explained

Definitely helped me reduce the confusion I had about how to develop abs

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Reality Based Training = HardGainer.com