Abs

Okay, 100 sit ups a night is decent to allow me to pass the PT test (and more), but I'm looking for some exercises that I can do at home that would give them more definition. Any cheap suggestions that would give them more shape?

- Arkans

[theotherjohn]

ab wheel

Explain please.

- Arkans

[Bobmuhthol]

Crunches instead of sit ups. Go up 2 seconds, hold 3 seconds, go down 2 seconds. 5 sets 12-14, if you can do it, should be plenty.

[Jenisi]

Arkans, you are hot enough as it is.

So imagine me with even better abs :D

- Arkans

tons of :heart: to Jenisi

[theotherjohn]

Originally posted by Arkans
Explain please.

- Arkans

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=15274&item=7147322 395&rd=1

[DeV]

Crunches, reverse crunches, and leg lifts is what I do. Oh, and if you really want to go hardcore with it, 8-pack and all, I'd recommend using one of those exercise balls for doing situps.

[Bobmuhthol]

<<reverse crunches>>

Arch ups? They do nothing for abs. That's erector spinae business.

[Bobmuhthol]

Haha I have an ab wheel. Those things are fucking terrible.

[Edaarin]

Don't fall for any of that abscissor shit. Check out menshealth.com.

If you want ridiculous abs, take a kickboxing class.

This is my routine, I run through it about 4 times a week.

25 crunches on one of those Swiss balls
15 leg lifts
3 minutes of planks (1 minute on each side and then with stomach facing floor)
25 oblique crunches
12 reps on each side using 5 kg medicine ball while balancing legs slightly in air (sort of like a side to side motion, move your upper body in opposite direction of your legs)

Run through that three times, you'll be feelin it in the morning

What're reverse crunches? I'll definately start doing the leg lifts. Maybe get a good routine going on the evenings of run days. Hrm... It okay to work abs without a rest day?

- Arkans

[Bobmuhthol]

<<What're reverse crunches?>>

Without a machine...

Lie on your stomach, put your arms out by your side for support but don't exert with them, and bend your back to lift. It's good for the back, but won't give you any noticeable results.

I'd love the ridiculous abs, but I don't have the loot for a kick boxing class.. I would like to to know the following:

Planks?
Oblique crunches?
Swiss balls?
Medicine balls?

Where can I get the last two items and what are they?

- Arkans

[DeV]

Originally posted by Bobmuhthol
<<reverse crunches>>

Arch ups? They do nothing for abs. That's erector spinae business. They work for lower ab definition, the hardest area to define.

[Edaarin]

Oblique crunches for lack of my knowing what they're actually called. Basically, put one hand on your stomach, put the other near your ear, then lift up and in towards the leg opposite of the hand near your ear. You'll know what I mean if you do it right.

Swiss ball = huge ass ball that you sit on...I don't know, I feel like this does a better job of isolating ab muscles.

Medicine balls = relatively small but dense balls.

You can buy either off of Amazon; the Swiss balls are like $20.

Planks, check out menshealth.com, there's no easy way to describe what they look like.

Just started poking around the website. Looks like a good place to start.

- Arkans

[Bobmuhthol]

<<They work for lower ab definition, the hardest area to define.>>

Definition = retahded. Just do a bunch of intensive crunches after you get used to it and build the muscle mass/strength.

Definition makes women drool. Both is even better.

- Arkans

[Bobmuhthol]

Only metrosexuals do it for definition.

[DeV]

Originally posted by Bobmuhthol
<<They work for lower ab definition, the hardest area to define.>>

Definition = retahded. Just do a bunch of intensive crunches after you get used to it and build the muscle mass/strength. If retahded = my top 4 abs are already defined and I'm currently working on the bottom and can see the results from the reverse crunches, clearly, I'm defintely cool with that.

Please go to the metro thread and you'll see I'm hella metro :P

- Arkans

[Edaarin]

Advice from 120 lb adolescent for weight training != good idea.

First, start doing elevated situps, and if possible add weight. That'll help.

Two. Get a swiss ball, its those big bouncy things you lie on it and do crunches, it gives you more range of motion and helps stability, which is what I'm big on. Lie with your lower back on the ball and your shoulders and upper torso lying off the edge, as far as you can while remaining stable. Then curl up to you can' even more. If you can do 15-20 easily add a small amount of weight by holding it behind your head. It'll burn the fuck out of you.

You can also do leg raise, by holding the ball between your ankles and moving it from 6 inches off the ground to the point where you legs are perpendicular to the ground.


Three. To get an "8 pack" you have to incorproate your legs into it, by doing reverse crunches (which is you lie on your back like a flutter kick and you curl your legs up to the position of a crunch, so instead of moving your upper body you move your lower body) Supine bicycles (which clinically work more abdominal muscles than any other exercise) and the such. The roman chair is good, or you can hop on a pull up bar and do leg crunches with it. Let your arms hang and bring your knees up to your rib cage, bring them down so your thighs are parallel and twist them right, then left, and go back down. Thats 1.

If you can do that at least semi reguarly you'll be pretty decent. You don't seem too big so I probably don't have to say anything about cardio.

Incidently, I hate doing ab exercises and working my abs in general so I rarely if ever do em. maybe once a week if that.

I dunno why you would want to build "ab strength" without definition chances are that your body is capable of handling any loads on the abdominal muscles as is.

[Bobmuhthol]

<<If retahded = my top 4 abs are already defined and I'm currently working on the bottom and can see the results from the reverse crunches, clearly, I'm defintely cool with that.>>

Definition is not a reflection of well being. Your results suck and are useless for anything but eye candy (p.s. you're a chick and therefore should have this many visible abs to look good: 0)

<<Advice from 120 lb adolescent for weight training != good idea.>>

Advice from the nipple shark != good idea.

Actually definition comes along with muscular endurance, which is far more preferred unless your goal is to be big and massive and want to throw boulders around.

[Bobmuhthol]

<<I dunno why you would want to build "ab strength" without definition chances are that your body is capable of handling any loads on the abdominal muscles as is.>>

The greater muscle mass leads to definition through continued repetition.

[Edited on 4-7-2005 by Bobmuhthol]

Unfortunately, you need to do low reps with higher amounts of weight to significantly build muscle mass, which is not only difficult but dangerous with abdominal muscles. If you are doing anything less than you are simply doing endurance exercises which guess what?

Do the same fucking thing hes talking about.

Ton of great info, D, appreciate it. I'm weight at 170 at 6'0", but I still run every other day for the PT test and to keep the extra weight off. Ton of great info there though. Need to invest in some gear which I'm sure I can get at any sports store?

- Arkans

ROFL, nah, don't want to throw boulders around, just to add some more mass and definition. Super helpful though, thanks.

[DeV]

Originally posted by Bobmuhthol
Definition is not a reflection of well being. This is true. I just happen to really love the way my ab definition looks.


Your results suck and are useless for anything but eye candy
Just because you say so, I'm cool with that too. Many ladies happen to agree with the eye candy part. ;)

(p.s. you're a chick and therefore should have this many visible abs to look good: 0) That goes for men as well. But, yea, abs don't define a person's complete and overall look.

Yea probably. it shouldn't be too hard to find at all. Just ask for a swiss ball. You'll have to resist the urge to jump on and start trying to bounce around the store.

I havn't been kicked out of a store in a while. Time for some fun.

- Arkans

[Edaarin]

Amazon.com sells them pretty cheap

PS It's not safe to bounce on them. One of my jackass residents cracked his heads open bouncing up and downon mine whilst drunk.

Well, try and bounce with your ass on the ball otherwise some head cracking may be in store.

:rofl: FUCKING PWNED!!!!!!111111

- Arkans

[AnticorRifling]

Originally posted by RangerD1
Actually definition comes along with muscular endurance, which is far more preferred unless your goal is to be big and massive and want to throw boulders around.

Hell yes throwin boulders.

I actually thought of anticor when I wrote that.

[Gan]

Originally posted by Jenisi
Arkans, you are hot enough as it is.

Keep telling him that and he's going to be too busy working out other muscle(s) than his abs...

:whistle:

[Drinin]

I do 3 sets of 20 crunches 4 days a week. Pull up slowly, hold for about 2-3 seconds. 3 sets of cross-crunches 4 days a week, same deal. 3 sets of reverse crunches 4 days a week, again pull up slowly and hold for a couple of seconds. I get good results with what I do. I used to do situps with a 25lb weight on my chest like a couple of years ago, but after the first couple of months I just wasn't feeling 'the burn' anymore. With crunches I can feel that shit on every crunch. Not that I really need to worry too much about my abs, 6'0 and 160lbs isn't exactly overweight, heh.

Also, it was said that the spinae muscles weren't important which is wrong. The body is meant to be balanced and if you work one muscle set more than another an imbalance can occur leading to injury. Fortunately, the body knows the dangers of a muscular imbalance and will do the only sensible thing: Stop building muscle in the area that is imbalanced.

That means if you do nothing but the bench press all day you will reach a point where your body will refuse to grow any additional chest muscle until your back comes to a level suitable for additional growth, not to mention that the spine erectus is apart of the overall abdominal system.

[Bobmuhthol]

<<Also, it was said that the spinae muscles weren't important which is wrong.>>

It was said that working your spinae yields poor results for abs. Antagonistic, etc.

Okay, well read the rest of the post and see how you are still wrong.

[Sweets]

I have recently joined the gym to get rid of that pesky baby weight. My trainer corrected me when I asked about abs. Core training is now the buzz word. Reverse abs or back hyperextension is very important in balancing out the workout.

In short, RangerD1 knows his shit and Bob is just plain wrong.

[Edited on 8/4/2005 by Sweets]

[DeV]

Arkans, you might want to check this link for some added info... http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/abdominal.html

Lenny Kravitz is a Dr.?!?!?

:D

Thanks for the info though, much appreciated, DeV.

- Arkans

[Shari]

LKDMFGS;EOIRGNMLEFKGVM!

Here I am, scrolling through "Today's Posts" and when I this thread, immediate giddiness washes over me as I click on what I only assume is a thread of the guys on here showing off their abs.

The result of this thread, has made me very, very sad.

[Apotheosis]

Originally posted by Jesae
LKDMFGS;EOIRGNMLEFKGVM!

Here I am, scrolling through "Today's Posts" and when I this thread, immediate giddiness washes over me as I click on what I only assume is a thread of the guys on here showing off their abs.

The result of this thread, has made me very, very sad.

seeing some of the guys on these forums abs or "ab" in some cases might make you very, very sad, too

:rofl:

- Arkans

[Apathy]

Dehydrate yourself. Less water = more definition.

[longshot]

Ab definition has little to do with ab strength.

Get your body fat percentage to less than 10%, and they will come out.

You can have the strongest abs in the world, but if they are covered by a layer of Qdoba and Budweiser, nobody will ever know...