What do you guys do for abs?

**ruwet** · 09-10-2008, 04:20 PM

Just wondering what you guys do for abs as well as how often??
At the moment mine is pretty simple 3 x 20 sit ups, 3 x 10 crunches, 3 x 12 lying leg-hip raise , 3 x 20 kneeling rope crunch

At the moment I am only doing this once or twice a week should I really be aiming for more like 3 x a week?

**jc95605** · 09-10-2008, 05:06 PM

I like hanging leg raises. Really gets your lower abs.

**AdamGH** · 09-10-2008, 05:33 PM

Originally Posted by ruwet

Just wondering what you guys do for abs as well as how often??
At the moment mine is pretty simple 3 x 20 sit ups, 3 x 10 crunches, 3 x 12 lying leg-hip raise , 3 x 20 kneeling rope crunch

At the moment I am only doing this once or twice a week should I really be aiming for more like 3 x a week?

never been a fan of the rope crunch. I felt it more in my other body parts before i felt anything in my abs. I think 2 to 3 times a week is plenty. I dont care what anyone says, your stomach is a muscle and needs a break once in awhile. Never understood the people who work it everyday.

One thing i like to do is do kinda of like a circuit for my abs. Like do what you have posted but dont take breaks in between. At most 25 sec in between exercises. That wears my ass out.

**ruwet** · 09-10-2008, 05:39 PM

Yeah to be honest I don't find the rope crunch does a great deal for my abs either like it does a little but I usally do more then sets of 20 just so I can feel something.
after my sit ups when I do the crunches and leg raises I try not break for longer then 30seconds.
I had the same view to that like any muscle it needs time to repair just wasn't 100% sure seeing as I am not working it anywhere near as hard as say my chest

**Mazzive_T** · 09-10-2008, 06:00 PM

twice a week (every 3.5 days, i do them before my jabs strangely) i do:

crunches 3 x 30
leg raises 3 x 20

and im v.happy with my abs :-)

T.

**guitarzan** · 09-10-2008, 06:18 PM

Remember, you cannot isolate fat loss, doing more will not make you loose fat off your belly. Just like adamgh said, its a muscle too, treat it like any other muscle you wanna train.

**ruwet** · 09-10-2008, 06:58 PM

thanks guys

**Stoneco|d** · 09-10-2008, 10:47 PM

I do abs Mon, Wed, Fri. For no more than 10 mins per day. I just do crunches and leg raises, superset them. Anyways to get abs is all about diet if you want to see them.

**ray0414** · 09-10-2008, 11:02 PM

Originally Posted by AdamGH

never been a fan of the rope crunch. I felt it more in my other body parts before i felt anything in my abs. I think 2 to 3 times a week is plenty. I dont care what anyone says, your stomach is a muscle and needs a break once in awhile. Never understood the people who work it everyday.

One thing i like to do is do kinda of like a circuit for my abs. Like do what you have posted but dont take breaks in between. At most 25 sec in between exercises. That wears my ass out.

u may not be doing the rope crunch correctly, i get a pretty good burn from it, u just gotta make sure u hold your arms pretty stiff without much movement and focus on your midsection. and u can work abs more often than other muscle groups becuase the average person dont work their abs for an hour like most body parts and u dont use heavy weighted resistance to rip the muscle fibers.
i do the rope crunch 10 down the middle and 10 down to the right and left sides, i also use the decline ab bench, works very good. twice a week.

**AdamGH** · 09-10-2008, 11:08 PM

Originally Posted by ray0414

u may not be doing the rope crunch correctly, i get a pretty good burn from it, u just gotta make sure u hold your arms pretty stiff without much movement and focus on your midsection. and u can work abs more often than other muscle groups becuase the average person dont work their abs for an hour like most body parts and u dont use heavy weighted resistance to rip the muscle fibers.
i do the rope crunch 10 down the middle and 10 down to the right and left sides, i also use the decline ab bench, works very good. twice a week.

I thought the same but ive many many people do it right in front of me. Ive watched videos, ive read how others have done it. I dont feel it. i feel it more in my arms and grip. Ive tried many many times to give it another shot.

**Voland** · 09-11-2008, 03:09 AM

Seriously, i never do abs.

**ruwet** · 09-11-2008, 05:33 AM

Originally Posted by Stoneco|d

I do abs Mon, Wed, Fri. For no more than 10 mins per day. I just do crunches and leg raises, superset them. Anyways to get abs is all about diet if you want to see them.

that's why they say Abs are made in the kitchen not the gym haha
Yeah I am dieting now tryng to loose BF but even if you never see them still wanna work them, hopefully one day they will show through

**Dukkit** · 09-11-2008, 06:33 AM

dont work my abs.

honestly and no bullshit... sex is my ab exercise. i and the women im with, love my abs.

**40plusnewbie** · 09-11-2008, 05:14 PM

Stomach vacuum 20mintues 3x/week

To be started shortly:
upper abs 3 sets on an exercise ball with weight on my chest/behind my head
lower abs (very weak) 3 sets of leg raises, holding legs off ground, etc

obliques 3 sets of crunches or whatever for each side with weight behind opposite ear

I like to use heavy weight so I max out at 8-10 reps and give a nice squeeze at the culmination of each rep

**wakatak87** · 09-20-2008, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by 40plusnewbie

Stomach vacuum 20mintues 3x/week

the stomach vacuum...you mean where you basically suck in for half a minute or so?

Have you or anyone else had any results with that?

**fit4ever180** · 09-23-2008, 11:39 AM

Lower abs are harder to isolate and pretty much anything you do to hit the lower section will inadvertantly hit the upper as well (imo), so everything I do is directed towards the lower abs. Hanging leg raises are the best!

Forward Hanging-Leg Raises- 4 sets x failure (usually 40-50 reps)

Side Hanging-Leg Raises- 4 set each side x failure (usually 20-30 reps)

Once you can start doing more reps than this, try holding a 5 poound dumbell between your feet.

***FireGuy*** · 09-23-2008, 12:58 PM

Cardio...

**audis4** · 09-23-2008, 01:03 PM

its important to hit abs at least 1x/wk to strengthen your core for squats/deads/even bench.

I do decline abs with a 45lbs plate for 3 sets

**redz** · 09-23-2008, 01:04 PM

cardio+ knee lifts/leg raises hanging from a bar seem to do wonders for me.

**SmittyTheOX** · 09-23-2008, 06:26 PM

I do heavy deadlifts and squats

**DSM4Life** · 09-23-2008, 06:29 PM

i punch myself in the stomach.

***FireGuy*** · 09-23-2008, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by audis4

its important to hit abs at least 1x/wk to strengthen your core for squats/deads/even bench.

I do decline abs with a 45lbs plate for 3 sets

I look at it from the opposing view I guess, it's important to do squats and deads to strengthen your core.

**DSM4Life** · 09-23-2008, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by FireGuy1

I look at it from the opposing view I guess, it's important to do squats and deads to strengthen your core.

I agree.

I hit them twice a week, once with squats then again with deads

I do throw in some light ab work but then again i could care less about abs.

**audis4** · 09-24-2008, 02:26 PM

^^ I know what you guys are saying, heavy deads/squats build abs great but decline weighted abs really tears them apart for myself

**Jiraiya** · 09-24-2008, 04:06 PM

For a long time, I never worked abs because I read in so many mags and been informed by so many people with freaking nice abs that it was all diet, or that by doing pull-ups, bench, and squats that my abs would grow. Well 14 years later at 172lbs, benching 335, squatting 385, and doing 23 bodyweight pull-ups my abs still sucked. Sure you could tell they were there, but compared to the rest of my body, they looked like crap. For one, I know my body tends to put every ounce of fat in my mid-section, but that really was not the problem. At one time I thought it was, until I got re-connected with my younger brother who is a bigger guy than me and usually sports 18% to 25% body fat. I am much leaner than him but his abs look freaking freaky despite the fat. He showed me his ab routine where he was doing decline crunches with 45 lb plates and normally goes 130 or so on the ab machines. He trains them like someone would train pecs or legs, meaning serious and heavy and he also does it daily. So after this discovery I started to work heavy on abs daily. After just 4 weeks, there was a drastic improvement. Now I believe that since abs recover alot quicker than most muscles trained, its pretty hard to overtrain them. I also believe that alot of people with nice abs are born with them. The rest of us, will have to work for it. I am sure we have all seen that super nerd in high school who had no fat or muscle and absolutel NO ABS, now explain that you diet guys. I am also sure you all have seen the roid beast bodybuilders in the offseason who have a huge gut, but there abs are still showing solidly. I think abs, like any muscle need to be worked on and built up if they are not already delivered to you by the gods.

**FallenWyvern** · 09-24-2008, 04:34 PM

Originally Posted by Jiraiya

For a long time, I never worked abs because I read in so many mags and been informed by so many people with freaking nice abs that it was all diet, or that by doing pull-ups, bench, and squats that my abs would grow. Well 14 years later at 172lbs, benching 335, squatting 385, and doing 23 bodyweight pull-ups my abs still sucked. Sure you could tell they were there, but compared to the rest of my body, they looked like crap. For one, I know my body tends to put every ounce of fat in my mid-section, but that really was not the problem. At one time I thought it was, until I got re-connected with my younger brother who is a bigger guy than me and usually sports 18% to 25% body fat. I am much leaner than him but his abs look freaking freaky despite the fat. He showed me his ab routine where he was doing decline crunches with 45 lb plates and normally goes 130 or so on the ab machines. He trains them like someone would train pecs or legs, meaning serious and heavy and he also does it daily. So after this discovery I started to work heavy on abs daily. After just 4 weeks, there was a drastic improvement. Now I believe that since abs recover alot quicker than most muscles trained, its pretty hard to overtrain them. I also believe that alot of people with nice abs are born with them. The rest of us, will have to work for it. I am sure we have all seen that super nerd in high school who had no fat or muscle and absolutel NO ABS, now explain that you diet guys. I am also sure you all have seen the roid beast bodybuilders in the offseason who have a huge gut, but there abs are still showing solidly. I think abs, like any muscle need to be worked on and built up if they are not already delivered to you by the gods.

This is quite contrary to what I have experienced my self.

I would like to see pictures.

**Jiraiya** · 09-24-2008, 05:10 PM

As you can see from the first sentence of my post, what I am doing is contrary to the norm. What I am pointing out is that if something is working for 90% of the people but not working for you, it may be a good idea to try something different. I have tried the route that worked for most people for over a decade and did not see results. I only wish I changed it up sooner. By no means am I saying my way is the way to ABsolute salvation. When I have time to take pics I will put one up as my avitar.