is it necessary to isolate the obliques?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

i'm doing hanging leg raises, weighted decline situps and occasionally the plank for my ab workout.
am i hitting my obliques enough or do i need to target and isolate them?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
i'm doing hanging leg raises, weighted decline situps and occasionally the plank for my ab workout.
am i hitting my obliques enough or do i need to target and isolate them?

Why would you need to isolate them? Unless you do a martial art, which requires you to attack in a way that utilizes the obliques (kimura, guard escape, etc), I don't see why you would actually need to do that if your abs are strong in general. That's just my opinion though.

 

[GenHoth]

That's plenty, isn't a big need to isolate them unless you have a specific goal in mind.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

the goal is a 6 pack naturally.
i was thinking about adding weight side crunches (machine), twisting side to side on the decline situps, or twisting my legs to the side on hanging leg raises.

 

[KoolDrew]

the goal is a 6 pack naturally.

What are your stats now?

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

the goal is a 6 pack naturally.

What are your stats now?

top 4 packs visible. bottom 2 nowhere to be seen.
love handles disappearing, slight muffin top.
digital scale says ~13% body fat.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
the goal is a 6 pack naturally.
i was thinking about adding weight side crunches (machine), twisting side to side on the decline situps, or twisting my legs to the side on hanging leg raises.

Working out your obliques really isn't gonna help you much in your quest of the 6-pack. You have to cut the fat off. That's why you have the love handles and the little pooch. Continue cutting. At ~10% BF, you'll probably have the desired 6-pack. That's really all you can do.

 

[Special K]

Isolating different abdominal muscles isn't going to help. You can't spot reduce. Do a couple of resistance ab exercises such as cable crunches or weighted leg lifts, and control fat loss through your diet.

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

the goal is a 6 pack naturally.

What are your stats now?

top 4 packs visible. bottom 2 nowhere to be seen.
love handles disappearing, slight muffin top.
digital scale says ~13% body fat.

I meant height, weight, and BF%. Either way it's all about getting your bodyfat down.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
the goal is a 6 pack naturally.
i was thinking about adding weight side crunches (machine), twisting side to side on the decline situps, or twisting my legs to the side on hanging leg raises.

Working out your obliques really isn't gonna help you much in your quest of the 6-pack. You have to cut the fat off. That's why you have the love handles and the little pooch. Continue cutting. At ~10% BF, you'll probably have the desired 6-pack. That's really all you can do.

I'm at about 7% and only have vague definition...hooray, genetics!

 

[GenHoth]

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
the goal is a 6 pack naturally.
i was thinking about adding weight side crunches (machine), twisting side to side on the decline situps, or twisting my legs to the side on hanging leg raises.

Working out your obliques really isn't gonna help you much in your quest of the 6-pack. You have to cut the fat off. That's why you have the love handles and the little pooch. Continue cutting. At ~10% BF, you'll probably have the desired 6-pack. That's really all you can do.

threeve!

It's all I hear now :laugh:

 

[Deeko]

I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
the goal is a 6 pack naturally.
i was thinking about adding weight side crunches (machine), twisting side to side on the decline situps, or twisting my legs to the side on hanging leg raises.

Working out your obliques really isn't gonna help you much in your quest of the 6-pack. You have to cut the fat off. That's why you have the love handles and the little pooch. Continue cutting. At ~10% BF, you'll probably have the desired 6-pack. That's really all you can do.

I'm at about 7% and only have vague definition...hooray, genetics!

Maybe you aren't really at 7% then. What method did you use to measure that 7%? Some bodyfat measurements are horribly inaccurate.

 

[Deeko]

Nothing fancy, just my scale. But I just finished a cutting phase in which I went from 11% to 7% on that scale, lost almost 15 pounds while making strength gains - 7% might not be fully accurate, but it damn sure is below 10%.

 

[KoolDrew]

Nothing fancy, just my scale.

Which are horribly inaccurate.

 

[Deeko]

Yea - read above where I said the 7% may not be accurate. In fact, from day to day the scale varies from 6%-8%, hence I went with the average of 7%

Again....whether my exact bf% is 7.000001% or 8.7776567322436%, it is below 10%.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Deeko
Yea - read above where I said the 7% may not be accurate. In fact, from day to day the scale varies from 6%-8%, hence I went with the average of 7%

Again....whether my exact bf% is 7.000001% or 8.7776567322436%, it is below 10%.

Those scales can be off + or - 5% or more. Go get a legitimate test done so you can feel better about it (bodypod, water test, caliper by pro). I bet you aren't at 7% and still have more you can lose and if you've already lost 15 pounds of fat, it won't be too hard to lose a bit more. Or maybe your abs just aren't very large. Have you done weighted ab work in the past?

 

[Deeko]

I could cut more if I really wanted to, but I got bored cutting and went back to bulking. I'm not really concerned with whether or not I have a defined six pack. I've done some weighted ab work but not a ton. As I said, 7% might not be a fully accurate number, but I'm not over 10%.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

the goal is a 6 pack naturally.

What are your stats now?

top 4 packs visible. bottom 2 nowhere to be seen.
love handles disappearing, slight muffin top.
digital scale says ~13% body fat.

I meant height, weight, and BF%. Either way it's all about getting your bodyfat down.

5'10"
160-165, fluctuates like crazy but then again i don't weigh myself at the same time everyday
12-13%, same as above