Thread: Do you train your abs? What do they look like?

I don't particularly target the abs, but I do standard and side planks every other day. 40 seconds on one side, 40 seconds on the other and 40 seconds on the front. 2 sets, 1 at the start of my work out and 1 at the end. I pretty much only do it to strengthen my core for football (soccer). But it really brings out the abdominal obliques and looks good.

I tend to stay lean enought to see at least a 4 pack, even soft and off season. Even if I take months off of training and eat what I like but I think that is generally fromyears of intense training as well as good genetics.
I usually suggest a day or 2 per week with some ab and obl exercises.

Yes, I train my abs. I see no reason not to. Although they get a lot of peripheral work from other movements, it is good to subject them to isotonic movements as opposed to the static contractions they perform to stabilize your body during other movements. A strong core is vastly important to maintaining and injury free training career.

The training isn't boring and tedious unless you do endurance exercises, such as sets of unweighted crunches. I mostly do variations of situps and leg raises with weight. I usually stay somewhere between 8-20 repetitions each set. I also do Turkish getups on occasion, which definitely rape the core.

Very little direct Abb work here......for me its all diet..
plus my Abs get a ton of work from running and all the weight lifting I do.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

The training isn't boring and tedious unless you do endurance exercises, such as sets of unweighted crunches. I mostly do variations of situps and leg raises with weight. I usually stay somewhere between 8-20 repetitions each set. I also do Turkish getups on occasion, which definitely rape the core.

Yea I definitely will never do weighted ab training...I would not like my abs to grow...I like their size right now. Isn't 20 reps pretty much endurance.

What is a turkish getup

Originally Posted by lnvanry

Yea I definitely will never do weighted ab training...I would not like my abs to grow...I like their size right now. Isn't 20 reps pretty much endurance.

In general 20 reps is more is for endurance, but it also depends on tempo. For example, if you perform a set of 10 repetitions with a 4 down 2 up tempo and I perform a set of 20 repetitions with a 2 down explosive up tempo, then it's the same amount of time under tension, 60 seconds. Also, it depends on the inherent fiber type of the muscle in question. Abs are high in red fiber, so training in higher repetition ranges can be beneficial for strength purposes.

I think some ab growth is good. You can see in my pictures that my abs aren't disgustingly large, if there is such a thing. I still have never seen someone with abs that have hypertrophied too much. GH guts are another story though.

What is a turkish getup

http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.html

Check out the slideshow. This exercise is death. I think my shoulder is ready again.

Turkish shoulder breaker is what it looks like

The whole process looks brutal...Great for core power I guess

Originally Posted by lnvanry

Turkish shoulder breaker is what it looks like

The whole process looks brutal...Great for core power I guess

I usually use dumbbells. I can't use very much weight at all. That shit is killer. I really suggest you try it. I did them with dinosaur training going beyond failure with rest-pause sets. Jesus Christ I would sweat my asshole off from that.

I am a huge advocat of going past failure!

I can't imagine it w/ a turk getup though....

Originally Posted by lnvanry

Yea I definitely will never do weighted ab training...I would not like my abs to grow...I like their size right now. Isn't 20 reps pretty much endurance.

I agree 100%

Originally Posted by lnvanry

So do ya? Do you naturally have have a six pack

So I never train them for a couple reasons.

1. Have never got my BF above 10% even on a bulk
2. Everyone has abs anyway...just diet and a little early morning empty stomach cardio and they appear
3. abs training is soooo boring and tedious


When I cut before a competition I do 2 supesets of abs b/c I can't stand doing 15-30 crunchs or whatever else. I truley hate ab training! Fortunately I don't have to do them until March

So you're saying that running before breakfast makes your abs show better than running at any other time of day?

Originally Posted by lnvanry

So do ya? Do you naturally have have a six pack

So I never train them for a couple reasons.

1. Have never got my BF above 10% even on a bulk
2. Everyone has abs anyway...just diet and a little early morning empty stomach cardio and they appear
3. abs training is soooo boring and tedious


When I cut before a competition I do 2 supesets of abs b/c I can't stand doing 15-30 crunchs or whatever else. I truley hate ab training! Fortunately I don't have to do them until March

So you're saying that running before breakfast makes your abs show better than running at any other time of day?

i do quite a bit of ab training and i am thinking that it must be more diet than anythin else because i am not seeing a lot of improvemnet from when i1st started it?

Originally Posted by lnvanry

I am a huge advocat of going past failure!

if you can go past it, it's not failure.

Originally Posted by ForemanRules

I agree 100%

I disagree...

Using additional resistance to an ab routine is
good if you are using huge resistance on the opposite side of your body..

IE.. SLDL, DL, GM's,

You have to balance your torso out