Need help with abs [Forum Archive]

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Need help with abs

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Posted by: Salil

Hello friends,
I need help with my ab muscles. I have been exercising my ab muscles for a long time and my upper abs are developing well. but my lower abs are not coming out. I have only 8% body fat or less. What should I do develop lower abs? I read in one of the posts that our abs are one muscle and doing crunches should develop lower abs too. The reason why we don't see lower abs is that there is a layer of fat on our waist. What can I do to reduce this fat layer? Being very busy I eat out a lot and can't go on a strict diet. Is there any diet that I can purchase from the US market that would be low fat?

Posted by: JonnyStead

If you're really 8% BF they should be well on show - try varying the exercises you do - sit ups, crunches, leg raises, the wheel etc - all that stuff - you shouldnt have a problem

Posted by: Gazhole

Sorry, but i call bullshit on the 8% bf. How are you measuring that?

Posted by: ABLQ2

a few things i would like to address.

1) your body fat is probably not 8 percent. 8 percent is very low, and implies that you would be very ripped. you would not be here asking about a 6 pack if you had so little fat... especially if you eat out a lot, as you say you do.

2) there is no distinction between upper and lower abs. the 6 "pack" is all located on the same slab of muscle. crunches work all 6 "packs". your lower abs do not show because your body fat is not 8 percent : ) .

3) if you want a low fat US diet, do not eat at restaurants. eat foods that are low in fat around the entire world. some examples are chicken, turkey, brown rice, oats, VEGETABLES. when trying to get a 6-pack, it is also important to remember that you need to eat less CALORIES than you burn. just eat foods that you consider to be healthy. if you don't loose a little bit of fat over the course of a month, then you need to eat LESS calories.

here is a general guide....

measure your wait, and then view the chart on this website to get a general idea of how long the process takes.....

How long will it take to get six pack abs, fast abs in weeks with the right exercise, workout, training program and diet

Posted by: Metallibanger

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salil

Hello friends,
I need help with my ab muscles. I have been exercising my ab muscles for a long time and my upper abs are developing well. but my lower abs are not coming out. I have only 8% body fat or less. What should I do develop lower abs? I read in one of the posts that our abs are one muscle and doing crunches should develop lower abs too. The reason why we don't see lower abs is that there is a layer of fat on our waist. What can I do to reduce this fat layer? Being very busy I eat out a lot and can't go on a strict diet. Is there any diet that I can purchase from the US market that would be low fat?

Prioritize your lower abs starting your workouts with some sort of WEIGHTED leg raise

Posted by: Petri-81

Analyse your diet. I wonder, that your body fat % is 8 and your lower abs are not visible...hmm

Then you should focus more on leg raises, revense crunches etc..

Below is the copy of my Lower abs article, maybe you will get some help from my article.

You will get much stress in your lower abs by doing leg raises from different angles. I see that most people in the gym are working mostly their upper abs. Their are doing lots of sit-ups with additional weight and crunches with machines or flat on the floor. These are good exercises to strengthen your middle and upper abs, but the problem is the weak lower abs and incorrect training techniques.

Ab exercises for lower abdominals gives you the nice burn especially in your lower abs and the top on your thighs as well. You don't need to do 20 different ab exercises to blast your abs, instead pick up 3 exercises, that works in each upper, middle and lower area. If you have tendency to have problems to develop lower abs, always do the exercises for lower abs first and keep the focus of lower abs.

Training your abs is a little bit different than for example training chest or biceps, but not much. You don't need any special techniques to develop lower abs as well as upper abs. I recommend you to follow strict technique and concentrate to slow controlled reps. Sometimes I see, that people are doing the movement by jerking with their body.

1) Reverse crunches

This is on of my favourite and best lower ab exercises. I and many other athletes have achieved great result performing this ab exercises slowly and under control. This exercises has many variations, but in my opinion it's best done lying on the bench press bench that allows you to take a firm grip at the end of the bench.

This is a basic exercise for lower abs, that anyone can do it anywhere. You can perform this comfort at home by lying on the floor. Or hanging by your hands from a bar or resting on your forearms on a hanging Leg raise bench instead of lying on a bench. The technique will be the same. In the example, I'll show you how to build your lower abs by doing leg raises on a bench.

Execution: Lie on your back on the bench take a grip from the rack (at the end of the bench) behind your head with both hands for support. Bend your knees so that your butt is slightly off the bench. Bring your knees up as fat toward our face as you can without lifting your pelvis off the bench. Bring your knees towards to your face, rounding your back and crunching up toward the rip cage. Hold this position for a moment and squeeze the ab for full contraction. Lower your legs slowly back to the starting position, until your lower back is resting on a bench.

2) Leg raises

Leg raises are the king of all lower ab exercises and it shouldn't be neglected! Even though leg raises works your abs only indirectly, you should include leg raises to your workout routine. No matter what expert says, Many athletes including bodybuilders have gotten great results by doing leg raises. Leg raises are not only emphasize your lower abs, but tighten your hips, buttocks and lower back.

You may want to bent knees during the exercises to lighten the stress to your hip flexors, (the muscle that raise and lower the legs). I use both variations. There are more variations, how you can perform leg raises. Hanging leg raises are very strict and intense exercises, that hit your lower abs hard. To make it more comfortable, support your back against the wall for example. To add more resistance, you can perform this exercises on a incline board. In the example, I'll show you, how to do leg raises in a vertical bench.

Execution: Position yourself on your arms on a vertical bench. Hold your upper body steady by supporting your back on vertical pad. From a starting position, bend your knees and bring them as high as you can as you would trying to reach the shoulders with your knees, until your hips are fully flexed. At this position, your hips are slightly off from the back support and your abs fully flexed through full range of motion. While squeezing your abs hard, hold this position for a second or two and with your knees bent, lower them again to the starting position.

3) Bicycle exercise

This is the third and final lower ab exercise of the 3 best exercises for lower abdominals. Bicycle exercise on a floor will develop both, lower abdominals, obliques and intercostals. This exercise is effective, because you hit each side separately. I always do this exercises at the and of my ab workout. It is best done without counting reps, instead do each set in 30-60 second periods depending of the experience levels and goals. My advice is that you first train with less time and then gradually increase the time.

Good news is, that you don't need any special equipments or tools to complete this ab exercise. In any case the best option is to perform this exercises by lying on the floor. Use a special exercise mat or carpet as a berth to make this exercise to be more comfortable.

Execution: Lying on your back on the floor, put your hands behind your head and place your knees to 45-degee angle, so that your soles are slightly off the floor. This is a starting position. Now begin a pedal motion, bringing your knees one by one toward your opposite elbow. Bring your knee as far as you can, until it will touch to opposite elbow. Then bring your knee to the starting position and simultaneously bring the opposite knee towards the opposite elbow.

Tips: Any variation of an exercise forces the muscles to respond in new and different ways. These ab exercises are confirmed to be the best lower ab exercises. The research has shown, that these 3 exercises activates more muscle in your abs, than for example regular crunches. It has been tested with the EMG (electromyography) equipment, which tests the amount of muscle activity. There were tested 13 common ab exercises and the above three are on the top 6, taking into consideration that these exercises build your lower abs and help you to get flat stomach.

You can have the best ab workout program for the lower abs, you can have the exercises for lower abs but you won't get any results, if you don't know the truth, how to get flat stomach and how to build lower abs.

I hope, you will get some help from this article!

Posted by: Salil

OK. I got my body fat measured at the YMCA again. It is 12.4%. They used calipers to measure my body fat. The largest amount of fat was on my waist line. White rice is a staple part of my diet. I posed the same question to the lady who measured me and she said that I should replace white rice with brown rice and try eating more salads.

Posted by: DontStop

White rice? Well that's a big nay nay

Posted by: lgkitfox

Get the diet dialed in if you aren't into cardio - that can make a few .% difference over time..complex carbs instead of the simple ones (brown rice pwns white for example), get some fiber in there, eat some kind of non starchy veggie with every meal even if its just a little. Proper sources of fats such as flax, fish oil, coconut oil, nuts, are a good way to get your EFA's amped up and prime your immune system..think of it this way, the less time your body spends guarding against sickness and recovering, the more it devotes the energy you provide/give it to building it up..get your nutrients, vitamins and diet all dialed in and you may find that makes a difference to knock that BF % down some.

I was training under some fellow named wesely, a very noteworthy trainer on another site, and he prescribes HEAVY ab work (ie. using a dumbell or plate sit ups, for lower repetitions then your used to, such as 3 x 10 w/ a 25 lb plate held on your chest), to really tighten up your abs. Personally, since i made the switch to heavy ab work less often, over your typical 5 times a week ab training program, my abs are much more pronounced, and more importantly, my core is ALOT stronger for stabilization in heavier lifts. It's worth a shot to see if it works for you too, because ultimately what works for you may not work for the next guy and you have to experiment abit to find out what get's you going.

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