Best way to workout the my abs?

[BigToque]

I can do situps, crunches, use the ab machine at the university...

It seems like my upper abs are much stronger than my lower and sides. Whats the best way to go about working the lower and side abs? I've lost a lot of weight in the past year, but the stomach (while much thinner and smaller) is still too big and fat.

Ideas? I have a whole huge gym at the university for my use so I should have all equipment and facilities I would need.

Also, when doing cardio workouts, whats better for you... running the track or riding the bike? any difference?

 

[gump47371]

Well, Stef, looks like everyone here is like me, too much time at the Point and Click idol, with a "reserve tank". I was hoping to get an answer too, so I could procrastinate on putting it to work.

 

[Rallispec]

i htink running is actually more ofa workout, however riding the bike is much better for your joints.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Uh....are you trying to get rid of a gut? Situps will only help, but the ONLY way to get those "washboard" abs is to have a low body-fat percentage. And the only way to do that is to get your diet in order and with a sensible weight training/cardio workout.

Treadmill...Biking, both are fine...but regardless of which you go for try to do at least 20 minutes at least three times a week.

 

[Jfur]

there aren't really "upper" and "lower" abs, but the ones on the side are your obliques. ONLY way is to lose fat. Also keep doing crunches and put a heavy weight on your stomach for resistance. To build sides, hold a weight and bend over sidewise (look up oblique exercises). Warning: if you are not low body fat, building the sides will make you look fatter.

 

[BigToque]

Uh....are you trying to get rid of a gut? Situps will only help, but the ONLY way to get those "washboard" abs is to have a low body-fat percentage. And the only way to do that is to get your diet in order and with a sensible weight training/cardio workout.

Treadmill...Biking, both are fine...but regardless of which you go for try to do at least 20 minutes at least three times a week.

What I've been doing (since last monday) is riding the bike for 30 minutes at a pretty decent pace/intensity level 4x a week. Then I go and do some weight training 2x a week (mostly arms/chest) and then use the ab machine (which has a bunch of weight) for a little while (usually 3 reps of 15)

 

[gump47371]

Thanks guys. Knew you all weren't like me. Acutally I was there once, last summer, when my girl dumped me, and I lost about 20 lbs and got buff to win her back. I got her, so then all the motavation just kinda went *POOF*!!

But now got the 5 year reunion coming up, so gotta get going again.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Antoneo]

Great, now you've reminded me of my one pack... I lost my 6 after I stopped running.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Jfur brought up a good point. If you use super-heavy resistance on your ab workouts you may very well end up make your ab muscles larger. Which is a good thing except for the fact that if you don't get rid of the layer of fat covering the ab muscles then it is going to look like you have a larger gut. I have that problem right now as a matter a fact but since I am in a bulking cycle I don't worry about it too much.

Stefan- it sounds like you have an ALRIGHT workout routine for what you are trying to accomplish. Doing 30 minutes 4x a week for cardio is great.....how is your diet like? How often do you eat in a given day?

 

[BigToque]

Stefan- it sounds like you have an ALRIGHT workout routine for what you are trying to accomplish. Doing 30 minutes 4x a week for cardio is great.....how is your diet like? How often do you eat in a given day?

My diet needs to improve. I usually eat 4 or 5 times a day.

Breakfast 90% of the time is 2 or 3 medium sized bowls of cereal w/ 1% milk.

Lunch is usually a sandwhich w/ lunch meat, cheese, butter, mayo, mustard

Supper is any number of things. Usually pretty healthy, but there is the odd pizza, very rarely mcdonalds, the odd soft drink.

Usually between lunch and supper I will have some kind of snack that isnt too good like a tootsie roll or whatever kind of candy is around the house. About 1x a week, I go out drinking (not too much though)

 

[Nutdotnet]

Well one thing you are doing which is good is eating 4-5 times a day. That's a start...now you need to do some adjusting.

#1- Get rid of the 2-3 bowls of cereal in the morning. Way too many carbs. Change that out with a serving or two of oatmeal.

#2-Cheese....Butter......Mayo.....yeah, they are not terribly bad to have on an occasional basis, but everday? Not a good idea for some one who wants to LOSE weight. And all at one time? Bad...bad...bad. Basically you are going from a Carb overload in meal #1 to a Fats overload in #2..you need to split them up.

#3- Where is the protein man? I'm sure that you are not only working out JUST TO get your abs flat. You need to definetly get some more protein in your diet man. Either with a protein shake, or eating more chicken and tuna (lean meats). You could get rid of the lunch meat and replace that with tuna. MUCH better for you.

You say your supper is pretty healthy, that's good. An occasional McDonald's or Pizza isn't gonna hurt ya TOO much, but just to let you know, Pizza is actually one of the worst foods you can eat, especially if you are trying to lose some fat.

 

[Maverick2002]

How many times you eat/day is irrelevant as that depends on your metabolism. I consume 4000-5000 calories a day. I also drink half a gallon of milk (hey, it tastes good, drinking a glass right now as a matter of fact). I wouldn't worry too much about your obliques, especially if you want to get thinner. Do a lot of crunches and similar excersises. If you run on a regular basis you don't have to do as many. Don't do a lot of weight either, your stomach should be trained for endurance (just like your calves), not strength. For stressing your "lower" abs, lay flat on a bench, put your hands on your chest and slowly raise/lower your legs (keep them fully extended at all times). After 20 or so you should start feeling the burn.

me, 18yrs, 165lbs

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: Maverick2002
How many times you eat/day is irrelevant as that depends on your metabolism. I consume 4000-5000 calories a day. I also drink half a gallon of milk (hey, it tastes good, drinking a glass right now as a matter of fact). I wouldn't worry too much about your obliques, especially if you want to get thinner. Do a lot of crunches and similar excersises. If you run on a regular basis you don't have to do as many. Don't do a lot of weight either, your stomach should be trained for endurance (just like your calves), not strength. For stressing your "lower" abs, lay flat on a bench, put your hands on your chest and slowly raise/lower your legs (keep them fully extended at all times). After 20 or so you should start feeling the burn.

me, 18yrs, 165lbs

Uh, the amount of times you eat per day is definetly NOT irrelevant. You try eating 4000-5000 calories in two meals and see how fast you gain weight, with the majority of it being fat. The best way for someone to boost a slow metabolism is to eat 5-6 smaller meals throughout the day as opposed to 3 large meals.

 

[Maverick2002]

*erm* correction how MUCH you eat per day ... I don't know anyone (aside from Sumos) who can consume that much in a single meal.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: Maverick2002
*erm* correction how MUCH you eat per day ... I don't know anyone (aside from Sumos) who can consume that much in a single meal.

Haha...yeah, I think it would be damn near impossible to actually eat that much at one sitting. Was just trying to get my point across.

BTW- the amount of food you eat actually matters too. If you eat more calories than what you burn then you will gain weight, if you eat less calories than you will lose weight. Pretty simple eh? However, the amount you SHOULD eat per day all depends on your weight, bodyfat percentage, and what your goals are. If you are trying to lose fat and you cut your calories too much then you will start losing a lot of lean body mass (ie. Muscle) as well as fat.

 

[Fritzo]

I had a nice set of abs about two years ago, but they're hard to maintain, so i lost them (they're still there if I flex hard enough heheheheh). Anyway, if you follow these steps, you MAY get washboard abs (I'll explain that MAY part later):

1) You need to cut fat out of your diet as much as possible. Consume no more than 20g a day.
2) If you're a man, drop down to 1600-1800 calories a day. If you're a woman, cut to 1200-1600 calories a day. You may have to do this drop gradually or you'll get headaches from elevated blood sugar levels. (You'll also pee a lot in the first two weeks I won't go into the reasons for that, you just will).
3) You need to drop your body fat down to around 10% or less. The abdominal muscles are naturally toned due to breathing, but are hidden buy a sheet of fat. The more and harder you breathe, the more they get worked and developed. Cardio is the best exersice for this---do 30 minutes a day three days a week. Combine this with 30 minutes of weight training (more if you have time).
4) Sit-ups are an outdated exercise. They do more harm than good, so avoid them. They can damage the tail bone and can actually cause your gut to get BIGGER since they work out the pelvis muscles more than the abs. The ab machines where you sit upright and you bend over against weight resistance are OK.
5) You have to drop to the bottom 10% of your ideal weight class before your abs start showing up. For instance, I'm 6'4", so I should weigh between 180 and 200lbs. So, I want to get my weight down to as close to 180 as possible.
6) Once you're at a level you want to stay, keep doing at least 15-20 minutes of cardio per workout, but keep up the weight training (increase the weight if you want to get bigger, keep the same if you want to keep the same). Start increasing your caloric intake to 2100-2300 calories/day for men or 1800-2000 calories a day for women.

After starting this program, you'll notice some BIG improvements in 3 weeks, and some good muscle definition in six weeks. It takes about three months before the abs show up-----if they ever do.

Here's that explaination of MAY that I promised you: The ability for the abs to stick out is purely hereditary It's more likely you'll be able to get them if your family is "thin boned", or naturally lanky. If your family consists of large framed people, you may have a layer of naturally occuring fat that you most likely will not be able to get rid of without surgery, so you may not be able to achieve your goal. If you can get them though, trust me, you'll have to beat the women off with a stick Just don't show them off too much, or people tend to think you're gay

Good luck.

 

[ElFenix]

/elfenix looks at fritzo's post

ok, i'll try that

 

[Koing]

I have a good 6 pack. I work out a l ot and at a club with a pro coach with a lot of free weights and things to work on. Strictly no machines. I find them crap unless you are reabilitating yourself.

I do sit ups at an incline. I have these hooks on the wall and bars across it. I have this long bench that is padded and I hook one end up so I am at an incline and I do sit ups on their. I do them with my legs STRAIGHT. This gives greater resistence, but is NOT AVISABLE if you do not have a strong back and neck. It puts a lot of strain on your back and neck if you keep your legs straight. Also don't bend your neck, keep it in line with your body throughout as much of the movement as possible.

Also I have weights on my chest to make it harder. 8 reps and 4 sets and your abbs look SERIOUSLY ripped after that.

If I were you I'd do that but without the weights and an easier incline and with bent legs. Work on your back then you can do them straight legged. All weight lifters do incline sit ups with weights and they have very strong abbs.

STRICT FORM IS THE KEY.

Don't use your arms to swing up. Your arms should stay in the same position relative to your body at all times during the movement.

You want to make each rep harder as it stresses your abbs more and thus increases in size.

The deciding factor is bf% though. If you have a low one then your abbs wil show with little effort. If you have naturally big build and have a bit of a gut then the 6 pack look is going to be much harder to get. Easy to build muscles over your body but hard to get the 6 pack look.....

Try doing sprints. 20m sprint then slow to rest then go back and repeat again for 7 reps then take a minutes rest and repeat for 3 sets. Do this on grass though as its easier on your joints. Your abbs get a good work out through this.

Another one to try.

This is what I do at Gymnastics to strengthen my abbs for endurance.

20 hip raisers with legs together and 90* to floor
20 oblique crunches to right side with legs and upper body arching together whilst I am on my side
20 oblique crunches to left side (same as above but on other side of body)
20 rows with legs and upper body coming together, legs bent
20 lie on flat and lift upper body and legs together off the floor arching together (works back and is great exercise)
20 reverse leg lifts when you are lying on your front. Upper body stays on the floor
20 upper body lifts when your on your front
20 Dish your body and rock backwards and forwards when you are lying on your front. (another great exercise for your back)

=160

Take 90 seconds rest and repeat for 3 sets.

Abbs will look VERY RIPPED after this. This really stresses your abbs and each of the exercises is part of the whole set so don't take any rest between them. After you finish one go straight in to the next one and just fire them off quickly.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Fritzo- dude....most of the stuff you said is pretty bad advice. You have the basic idea down but...well, let me explain by going down your list.

#1- NO! Fats are vital to a healthy body. So is carbohydrates, so is protein. 20g a day? Nah man, that is way too little for the average person, even if they are trying to cut. What you should have said is that a person should cut out as much saturated fats as possible and boost the amount of EFA's (Essential Fatty Acids). I get most of my fats from Olive oil, Natural Peanut Butter (NOT the same as JIF), and Fish. If you are hardcore you could get some Flax Seed Oil but man..that stuff is NASTY tasting. If it was me I would reduce the amount of carbohydrates I ate first and foremost.

#2- 1800-1600 cals a day? Maybe, but it REALLY depends on your body makeup. There is no general rule here. For me to lose one pound of fat a week I would need to go down to 2500 cals a day. I could do more but then I would start losing lean body mass, and why would I want that? And my body makeup is a pretty average makeup. 5'10", 185lbs, 16% BF. People who are super skinny who try to eat only 1800 cals a day will probably end up passing out.

#3- I will agree with you here somewhat, a person does have to have a low bf% but there is no general rule. It really depends on genetics at what % your abs will start showing. For me it probably won't be until I hit 6-7%.

#4- Yeah situps suck. I will agree with you there!

#5- No. Plain and simple, it goes by BF% not weight.

#6- Again, the caloric intake levels are too general.


Before you get mad at me, I am NOT trying to upset you in anyway, shape, or form. I just want to educate the uneducated.

 

[Maverick2002]

Just goes to show that no one person is right. Take all advice from everyone with a grain of salt. No one has the same body type as you; even a clone wouldn't develop the same way. So just try out some different things and do what works best for you. There's no definite right way. I could tell you what I do but it would go against some people's advice here, so what's the point?

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: Maverick2002
Just goes to show that no one person is right. Take all advice from everyone with a grain of salt. No one has the same body type as you; even a clone wouldn't develop the same way. So just try out some different things and do what works best for you. There's no definite right way. I could tell you what I do but it would go against some people's advice here, so what's the point?

True, everyone's body is different, but there are some baselines to follow with training and diet to get the BEST results.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: Nutdotnet
Fritzo- dude....most of the stuff you said is pretty bad advice. You have the basic idea down but...well, let me explain by going down your list.

#1- NO! Fats are vital to a healthy body. So is carbohydrates, so is protein. 20g a day? Nah man, that is way too little for the average person, even if they are trying to cut. What you should have said is that a person should cut out as much saturated fats as possible and boost the amount of EFA's (Essential Fatty Acids). I get most of my fats from Olive oil, Natural Peanut Butter (NOT the same as JIF), and Fish. If you are hardcore you could get some Flax Seed Oil but man..that stuff is NASTY tasting. If it was me I would reduce the amount of carbohydrates I ate first and foremost.

#2- 1800-1600 cals a day? Maybe, but it REALLY depends on your body makeup. There is no general rule here. For me to lose one pound of fat a week I would need to go down to 2500 cals a day. I could do more but then I would start losing lean body mass, and why would I want that? And my body makeup is a pretty average makeup. 5'10", 185lbs, 16% BF. People who are super skinny who try to eat only 1800 cals a day will probably end up passing out.

#3- I will agree with you here somewhat, a person does have to have a low bf% but there is no general rule. It really depends on genetics at what % your abs will start showing. For me it probably won't be until I hit 6-7%.

#4- Yeah situps suck. I will agree with you there!

#5- No. Plain and simple, it goes by BF% not weight.

#6- Again, the caloric intake levels are too general.


Before you get mad at me, I am NOT trying to upset you in anyway, shape, or form. I just want to educate the uneducated.

I just posted what worked for me. This was a program that a trainer at the gym put together for me couple of years back. Worked pretty well too

 

[MusicSoundsBetterWithYou]

Leg lifts....lots of leg lifts....(then again thats how i ruined my back...you have to work ur back when u do ab excersises meant for women)