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my abs is a muscle group i've been ignoring for too long, so i've decided to do something about it and i need some help. i prefer weighted excersises, and i've found a couple of them that i like. but i need something for my lower abs. hanging leg raises isn't really cutting it, reversed crunches is okay, but hard to do with weights. any suggestions?

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As said above, there is no spot reduction. But I believe you should do some ab training.

 

I will however caution you. Weighted ab exercises will build the ab muscle (sure you figured that out, lol) .... but since abs are generally the last to lose fat, you are building the muscle under the fat making your waist larger (fat still on top)

 

... AND even when you lose the fat, since you are building, your waist will be bigger with weighted exercises. So if you are looking for a "V" taper your shoulders will have to compensate for the waist build. Crunches and reverse crunches would prob give you more optimum results once BF is dropped. Depends on the results you want really

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I used to have visible abs a few years ago, all I did was crunches, leg raises and side crunches. But mainly it was just crunches, no weights, probably about 100 - 150 a day something like that, in sets of about 30ish. But it depends on what kind of abs you want to get, if you want them to look like giant bubble wrap, bulging out, then most likely need to use weights. The main thing is to lose the fat though, that is #1 definitely.

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thanks for the inputs. the thing is, my four upper abs are visible. but i've never really seen my lower ones. and i didn't mean that i wanted to completely isolate the lower abs, just find good excersises that focus more on them. cause regular rope crunches, sit ups and so on focuses on the upper ones.

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Do heavy squats.

I agree. Not that I think it will help with this particular problem, but doing heavy squats is allways a good plan .

 

As for the abs, I would guess it is more related to BF-level than to developing the abs. Besides since the muscle fibers in the abs go along the abdomen I dont think it is possible to target the lower abs specifically. Either a muscle-fiber is activated or it aint, but it wont be activated for only a part of its length.

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Do heavy squats.

I agree. Not that I think it will help with this particular problem, but doing heavy squats is allways a good plan .

 

As for the abs, I would guess it is more related to BF-level than to developing the abs. Besides since the muscle fibers in the abs go along the abdomen I dont think it is possible to target the lower abs specifically. Either a muscle-fiber is activated or it aint, but it wont be activated for only a part of its length.

 

hahaha, squats solves everything, right?

 

i really don't think this is a bodyfat issue. i'm around 10-12% now and my four upper abs are showing. about a year ago i was down at 5-6% and still no lower abs. beach season is coming up, i gotta get a hold of this.

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Show us a picture dude, have you got any online?

 

There are other ab exercises you can try, to see if they get the lower abs working more for you. Also maybe you can try mentally to use the lower abs in your exercises, contract them more than the others? I dunno if that's possible

 

Have you tried the one where you lay flat on your back on the floor, then raise your feet (with straight legs) just a few inches off the floor, and hold them there as long as you can.

 

And then there's the thing they sometimes have at the gym where you sit in it, and there is resistance as you lean forward, to target the abs, I have forgotten what that is called

 

Also, you can use a cable machine, kneel down in front of it, put the handle behind your head (holding it with both hands behind your head), then pull down as if you were trying to head-butt the floor. Again, an ab exercise, not sure specifically what area of the abs it targets, but it's pretty hardcore

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thanks for the ideas.

i have no pic online, sorry. and my camera isn't where it should be.

 

the cable excersise is one of the ones im doing now. im pretty sure it targets the upper abs more. but i love it. now i am however not so siked on it cause people say my waist is gonna grow.

 

im gonna try the straight leg thing. i think i tried that one in gymnastics in high school. thanks a bunch

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I don't do ab work and it took me forever to get my lower abs showing up. I've now got a couple marginally visible veins in my lower abs and am *thinking* about starting to do some ab work. Upper abs come way easier. Everytime I used to do ab work it was like seasiren said, the fat just hid the muscle and I looked puffy in the belly.

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There really is no such specific muscle group as your 'lower abs'. That is just where your bf tends to be stored more. You can only train your Rectus Abdominus (ice cube, six pack muscle) as a whole and then there are your obliques (sides) and your transverse abdominus (underneath your rectus abdominus).

 

 

Seasiren is correct in saying that weighted exercises will only build up your rectus and enlarge your waist. To reduce your waistline, train your transverse by incorporating it into your ab routines. Keep your stomach sucked in tight it will trigger it. It's shaped like a waist belt and it will tighten and keep your waist looking slimmer.

 

As far as seeing the lower half of your rectus more visibly, lowering bf would be the only way. If you had 5-6% bf, i'm pretty sure they would be showing, unless you're being very critical of yourself. That's a low bf even for an athlete and when at that level, it doesn't matter what your development is, your ab muscles would show even if underdeveloped.

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As far as seeing the lower half of your rectus more visibly, lowering bf would be the only way. If you had 5-6% bf, i'm pretty sure they would be showing, unless you're being very critical of yourself. That's a low bf even for an athlete and when at that level, it doesn't matter what your development is, your ab muscles would show even if underdeveloped.

 

that's what im saying. they should be showing, but they didn't. i had veins on my stomach and all that but only four abs.

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i dunno man, i'm with richard, a picture would probably help us to see what you are talking about. that just sounds odd...... with veins on your abs, something doesn't sound right. hopefully you get your camera back; it's hard to make a judgment call on this one for me without seeing what you're talkin about

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yeah i have to get it back i guess.

anyways, i tried the "lying leg raise" richard talked about. it felt great. and i didn't do any weights at all. just regular sit ups, some weird crunches on the side and finished of with the leg things. it felt great. thanks

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I've been working on bulking up for the past year or so now. I'm up to about 160lbs from an unhealthy low 120lbs at 5'11" (2yrs ago). I have the same problem with the extra fat over my lower abs as a result from taking in more calories and doing little to no cardio (only to initially add more weight). I personally like to do the bicycle crunches while laying on the floor and leg lifts. I also think that cycling in general could really help target that area (and also upper leg workouts).

 

Here's a resource that I like with simple animated .gifs: http://www.shapefit.com/training-abs.html

 

Cheers

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Wow 5'11'' 120. The lowest i got was 145 with about 4 percent body fat at 5'11'' what were your lifts like at that weight?

 

I got to that weight because I went through a rough break-up with a girl I was living with and my body and mind just shut off for a couple of months (I was around 135-140lbs before that point). I had no appetite and didn't really exercise much at all. After a couple of months went by I was feeling better and decided that I wanted to train for a triathlon (sprint distance) so I started eating better and incorporated running and swimming more frequently into my weekly schedule. I was running about 3+ miles 4-5 times a wk and the other 2-3 days I would be swimming (max about 32laps in the pool = 1mile in one hour's time).

 

After about 6-8 months(and a 20k race), I kinda stopped swimming and I run infrequently because I want to gain more mass. I started going to the gym a few days a week (basically for the first time in my life) last fall. I went on and off for about 3months, took about a 3month break and now I'm back at it more so than before. I am now eating much more and lifting about 4-5 days a week.

 

I'm still a weakling and trying to gradually increase my overall body strength. Two nights ago I put up 215lbs on the leg press for 8 reps, which is nothing I know, but it was the most I have ever done. Right now, I can only squat about 135-145lbs max and my flat dumbell press is maxed out at about 80lbs, haha! But, I'm working on it and it's making a difference. I put on about 10-15lbs very quickly and my friends started making fun of me about using roids since I have always been very narrow.

 

My goal is about 170-175lbs with a lot of upper and lower body strength, and at that point, I will start incorporating more cycling, swimming and running (and most likely increase my calorie intake quite a bit to maintain). I don't want to compete in a triathlon and end up spending $60+ to suck ass. I'll post some pics up once I am where I want to be.

 

Also, I don't really count calories, I don't keep a workout blog/journal, and I'm quite disorganized. I do however make an effort to eat about 4-6 meals today which include pre- and post- workout smoothies.

 

This board has helped my training along with Brenden Brazier's book called "Thrive". It's loaded with great information. (If you haven't already read it). http://www.brendanbrazier.com/book/index.html

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