Abs

[ctownwhat]

Just a quick question

I'm 5'11", 241lbs. I'm wondering about ab workouts. The machine that I use at the gym seems to do absolutely nothing no matter what weight I put it at, but in just doing 20 sit ups yesterday my abs are burning. Can I do sit ups everyday, or should I space them out like the other muscle groups?

Chris

[statona]

its pretty important to give them a decent amount of rest. Several of the past BFL winners implemented a program that was much more rigorous than what is prescribed in the book... but from personal experience, the lessons in the book work. I have never been a big ab guy - but as I got to the end, they started to show up - and became very very strong (measured by the types of exercises I was doing - and the weights I was using).

[Chris]

You can do extra abs if you want. I wouldn't focus specifically on abs though... instead, I would suggest more core exercises that strengthen your whole mid section. This will give you much needed support for heavy lifting in other exercises. The thing with abs is most of us have a 6pack already, it's just hidden under too much fat. Almost all exercises work your abs and it would be good to think about holding them in and strong when you do all other exercises in your routine.

For suggestions for core, check out various pilates moves. There is a variety of good sites if you google pilates and core training.

Good luck!

[yakubu]

Originally Posted by ctownwhat

Just a quick question

I'm 5'11", 241lbs. I'm wondering about ab workouts. The machine that I use at the gym seems to do absolutely nothing no matter what weight I put it at, but in just doing 20 sit ups yesterday my abs are burning. Can I do sit ups everyday, or should I space them out like the other muscle groups?

Chris

abbs are just like anyother muscle in your body - they need rest in order to grown.

normal sits ups etc.. are better than any fancy machine. if you find sit ups arent intense enough just hold a plate to your chest or do them on an incline bench , increasing the incline for each set

[winnie]

What is everyone's obsession with abs? Seriously, having nice abs has never saved me from a shark attack.

Are the abs questions just because they don't seem to get worked as hard as the rest of the muscle groups, or do people just want really nice abs?

It's not just this thread, either. There have been several abs threads on here, but I don't recall ever seeing a biceps thread.

[Chris]

I would say cut abs, built pecs, and bulging biceps are about the top three for most guys... would the rest of you agree? It doesn't take nearly as long to see results in the bicep and pectoral department as it does in the abs... therefore it's natural to think there must be something wrong. Everyone has their own opinions on the best way to train abs (even training experts can't seem to agree). I offer my opinion from the framework of "this is what I do" not "here's how to save yourself from shark attack"

Good work team!

[Rhone]

Winnie, how many shark attacks have you experienced and which muscles would you say helped you the most when you escaped?

I think part of the obsession with abs is the old "spot reduction" idea... i.e. the notion that working your abs will specifically burn off abdominal fat, working your thighs will burn off thigh fat, etc. It's a known fact that's a myth, but it persists thanks to a combination of a blissfully ignorant populace and companies with ab and thigh exercise contraptions that are more than happy to exploit them.

There's also the fact that, for someone trying to get a lean and muscular physique, abs are generally the last muscle group that becomes visibly defined. So visible abs are a bit of a milestone for someone who wants a muscular but ripped appearance.

And a major thing that I think sparks a lot of ab questions is that, unless one does a lot of "extra" ab work, they just don't seem to get as sore as other muscles, leading people to believe that abs haven't really been worked enough. It also really doesn't help that, for some reason, Bill Phillips in the BFL book gives typical ab exercises without either suggesting adding weight or adding reps... how are your abs supposed to get stronger if you just keep doing the same number of reps without adding weight?? That alone makes me unsurprised that people starting BFL would have some serious ab questions.

Personally, my answer to the original question is that you probably could get away with working the abs up to 3 times per week, but that it's unnecessary. I think it works fine the way it's fit into the BFL plan (i.e. once or twice per week as part of the lower body workout, with the set/rep scheme given), but that you should add resistance like you would for any other weight-lifting exercise. For example, I've been doing crunches with dumbbells held to my shoulders. Whether or not the abs get sore is not as important as whether or not they are getting stronger, which is measured by whether or not you're able to add more resistance. (Of course, I'd recommend weighted sit-ups or crunches over an "ab machine" any day.)

[ctownwhat]

I have no obsession with my abs in particular, I just noticed that in doing my ab workout on a machine at my gym, I didn't even feel like I was working it out, even at the highest weight. Whereas if I do 20 sit ups, I feel it (and am still feeling it 2 days later). I just think that seeing muscle in my stomach looks a little better than the stretch marks I currently have around it.

Chris

[yakubu]

i have to say that a six pack looks incredible and is such a desirable thing fo me to have. a trim waist can make your chest look even wider than it actually is. not many people have a six pack and if youve got one you know that youve worked hard for it

plus it drives woman crazy

[winnie]

Rhone, that makes a lot of sense that it's just due to the way "spot reduction" gets sold so aggressively.

I guess my feeling on abs is that it's not particularly visible. They're either covered with fat or covered with shirt or both for almost everyone all the time. They never really get huge no matter how hard you work them. I mean, they get bigger, but they don't start bulging out of you like pects or biceps.

And getting stronger abs doesn't necessarily make you stronger overall. In general, it seems like strong legs, arms, and grip are the most important for fighting sharks, bears, in-laws, small woodland creatures, etc.

Oh, and I do abs with dumbbell crunches like you do. I also sometimes like to take the lat bar thingy and set the bench all the way forward and upright (in the leg extensions position) and hold the lat bar behind my head. Then just do vertical crunches. This only works if the leg extension machine has a lat bar, or if the lat machine has an adjustable bench wherever you work out.

[Rhone]

Muscles get the most sore when they have been worked more/harder than they've been worked for a while, or when they've been worked hard in a way that they are not used to. After that, they don't get nearly as sore anymore if you keep working them.

I'm guessing that the sit-ups stressed your abs in a way they weren't used to from the machine (which makes sense, considering machines restrict your motion and isolate muscles, leaving other muscles that would normally be involved in balance and stability unused). I'm also guessing that if you keep doing sit-ups you will stop getting (nearly as) sore from them.

If I were you I'd keep doing the sit-ups (or crunches), using the set/rep pattern prescribed by BFL, and use dumbbells to add weight as your able (like I described earlier).

[Chris]

Here's something else to ponder... Doing ab work makes the muscles bigger, right? Even under the fat they are growing. And training them more will make them more bigger (yes, more bigger)... so then comes the problem... If you build yourself a nice thick core it will push the fat out and make you look even fatter...

So the next time you see girls in the gym doing crazy weighted oblique routines you can smile to yourself and think about how they are doing the opposite of what they are intending. Is that mean?

Seriously though, don't focus on oblique training. It's important to have strong abs and core, this is the foundation for everything else, but if you over do it you'll make your love handles stick out more. It's true! Instead stick to various crunch moves and leg raises (hanging is great!)