Buiding up your abs

smuckers

whats the best way to this, I do the aerobic excerises and then weights other days.

for my abs I lie on my back pull my kness in stretch one leg 45 degrees and pull other knee in and flex foot, I alternate. 10 reps 84.
Its good but can anyone reccomend something diff.

smuckers

By the way, I'm 6'1 slim, and about 14 stone.

Here's my usual days in gym:

Weights

The fly- level 7 10*4
Leg curl- 80 same as above
Leg Press 80- " "
Row seat- 130 " "
Hammer curl " "
Hammer tricep with plate- " "

Aerobic:

Warm up- 10 mins
Rower- 20 mins (sometimes very difficult)
Stepper- only 5
Cross Trainer- 10- 15
Ab Workout- 10*4.
Finsh off with 2 labs on track.

hunnymonster

I was just reading this earlier today. Might have some useful information for you?

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1579873

smuckers

why thankyou my dear might try some of them.

hunnymonster

why no problem sweetie, if you try the swissball one's may I come and watch? It's always so much fun to watch other people generate bruises by falling off things

smuckers

ha ha course, I recently joined westwood, (clontarf) much much better than total fitness.

I don't want to look like a beast, just wanna get toned up and a bit of muscle in arms, even though I have to say I'm proud of the way my guns are, boy that sounded v big headed didn't it?
The swiss ball is great, have one at home.

smuckers

me a couple of years ago. (no gym)

http://www.bebo.com/PhotoAlbumBig.jsp?PhotoAlbumId=694955256&PhotoId=695091866

now:

http://www.bebo.com/PhotoAlbumBig.jsp?PhotoAlbumId=4491590636&PhotoId=4491599849

smuckers

strange no access.

smuckers

http://forevablue.bebo.com

should work for ya, pics me now and years ago.

Malteaser!

I assume by building abs you mean having a six pack??

Basically the only way that's going to happen is to decrease bodyfat and increase muscle mass! You probably already have the beginnings of a six-pack but just can't see it yet because your body fat is not yet low enough!

A decrease in your bodyfat is going to come mainly from a change in your diet!

To increase muscle mass you need to be busting your ass in the gym, a good diet plan will only get you so far.

Your work-out regime seems very machine based, the best reults come from using free weights and they'll also be better for you in the long-run because they don't force you to remain in one plane of motion and its up to you to stabilise the weights!!

Boru.

Cough cheap plug for my ebook cough cough....

Seriously check this out, I'm sure you'd find it useful...
http://www.isometric-training.com/seven_second_abs.html

All the best,

smuckers

Strange my instructor hasn't told me to use free weights. Yes its that elusive six pack I'm looking for, its kinda there just not defined enough.
as for free weights, the normal bench press?

Malteaser!

If it's there but not defined enough then the amount of bodyfat you're carrying is the problem!

Free weights, like bench pressing, squating, deadlifting, barbells, dumbbells, basically anything that's not a machine! (although they can be useful the bulk of the work shold be done with free weights)

g'em

smuckers wrote:

Strange my instructor hasn't told me to use free weights. Yes its that elusive six pack I'm looking for, its kinda there just not defined enough.
as for free weights, the normal bench press?

Everyone has a six-pack whether they realise it or not, it's just that the visibility of that six-pack comes down to your level of body fat. The "fullness" of the abs in your six pack though will come down to how well-developed the muscles are. Just like biceps can be made bigger with weights so can your abs. Like Malteaser said, free weights will really help with that - when you do the compound lifts like squatting and deadlifting you use your core (abdominals) to help you stabilise yourself and lift the weight so they're inadvertently getting a workout. Overhead squats, back squats, front squats, lunges and single-leg work (virtually all variations) and deadlifts will all work your abs really well. Lunges and Bulgarian Split Squats I personally find very effective - when you do them contract your abs and really concentrate on using your mid-section to keep you balanced and strong.

smuckers

Cheers for that Gem. By the way I saw pics of you a while back, fair play to ya, you look awesome.

smuckers

Bulgarian Split Squats ? not sure bout these.

g'em

cheers

smuckers wrote:

Bulgarian Split Squats ? not sure bout these.

These are Bss. They're evilly good, but do take a few attempts to get right. Because it's a single leg maneouve there's an awful lot of stability involved, so your core gets pummelled (in a great way!!). Try doing them with just bodyweight first, then slowly increase the weight. Personally I'm not a fan of using a barbell across the shoulders - I like to do them heavy and with a bb my shoulders get too sore - but it's an each to their own thing.

rubadub

g'em wrote:

cheers
These are Bss.

They look good, I have no squat rack so can only get about 58kg up and onto my back, looks like this would be good for me and others without racks, I can do 20 reps at 58kg, and so am sure I could do a lot more with a rack. This looks like a good way to get more weight per leg.

Any other exercises like this? that would work 1 leg squating. I have tried pistols and look like a staggering drunk!

What % of your normal weight for squats do you think you could manage with these (don't worry I will start with nothing and work up, just interested)

g'em

Take your pick from here!!! There's enough variations in there to keep you going a while

Single-leg work will never be better than squatting, but it ccertainly has its uses. Bss + walking lunges are my favourites - I'm about 75kg so I use 25kg DBs for walking lunges and 20kg DBs for Bss - 66% and 50%-ish bodyweights respectively? My regular squat is ~ 100kg for 5RM. You can also use DBs to do straight-leg deadlifts which I personally really like for hamstring development.

smuckers

Thanks for that. I do like 2 machines though (Pec Deck and The Row Seater)
Getting tired of the leg curls though.

I did a good bit of free weights today lunges with dumbells, and the dumbell crunch but I was silly boy and decided to go over to the bench press and have a go at a 80kg weights.

MA

Agreed, getting abs isnt just about diet but it does play a significant part in the process. To get abs you do need to reduce body fat and gain lean muscle, this is done through diet and aerobic exercise also (a hell of alot of aerobic cardio depending on how easy you carry weight).
DONT reduce your food intake, if anything increase it - 1. you need the energy for your increased cardio and 2. if you burn off all the calaries youve eaten on a day your body will start to burn muscle!! (Suppliments can stop this, CLA, L-Carnintine)
Weights wise the cable machine can be good for total body workout, most exercises can target your core.
Abs exercises, make sure you include an Upper, lower and core exercise- you can do this as a circuit, ie 30 leg/chair raises (lower), 30 swiss crunches, 60sec bridges on swiss ball then repeat 3 times.
You should be working your obliques aswell, cable twists, swiss side crunches etc!

rubadub

g'em wrote:

Take your pick from here!!! There's enough variations in there to keep you going a while

Single-leg work will never be better than squatting, but it ccertainly has its uses. Bss + walking lunges are my favourites - I'm about 75kg so I use 25kg DBs for walking lunges and 20kg DBs for Bss - 66% and 50%-ish bodyweights respectively? My regular squat is ~ 100kg for 5RM. You can also use DBs to do straight-leg deadlifts which I personally really like for hamstring development.

Thanks for the link, will give some a go. I have to dig out by DIY weighted vest again for my squats, I have no rack so I can put 2 10kg plates in my vest for squats. I am putting 10kg plates in the dumbells now which get in the way since they are too big.