Sound like a reasonable abdominal workout?

[PhenomenalOne]

I'd just like to get a quick opinion on this. I'll be honest, I hate doing abdominals, I used to be the fat kid so even still not fully being able to have fully visible abs bother me and stresses me at times and makes me want to say screw it. I don't but I'm thinking of trying this out and I'd like to get an opinion, on how many days a week, 2 or 3? How many sets, and if the exercises I've picked are decent.

-First is a regular crunch, lying across a bench with lower back and a weight behind the head. I believe I've seen this done a few times, I thought it may be a good swiss ball substitute, because I cannot, with or with a weight balance on a swiss ball, always fall onto my head. I'm trying to find something that I do and feel in the middle part of my abdominals, they never seem to get work as much.

-Second, just leg raises while laying on a bench and crunching the pelvis forward a bit when the legs are raised. Unless there is a better one for lower abdominals region.

-The third is just side planks, 30 seconds for each side. I feel it ALOT the next day after 3 or 4 sets.

For any leg raises, crunches, I a lways go for 30 perfect form, I usually flounder towards the end but I try to keep it up and always do thirty but if doing more is usually better I'd really like some suggestions. Thanks you for any help. I know working you abs every day never works and I'm not looking for anything fancy I'm just trying to clean up my diet and build up the muscles and build them to make my torso look longer and get rid of the excess obliques and lower abdomen fat and jsut trim off the last light layer thats hiding my abs so any help is great. Thanks!

 

[CowPimp]

First of all, I'm glad to see that you understand the necessity of losing fat to reveal the rectus abdominus muscles. This is first and foremost. The diet and nutrition section of these forums offers a lot of useful information to help you in this department.

Now, in terms of training, I suggest trying some weighted ab work. Work in the rep range of 8-15. More than that is for muscular endurance, which is not going to cause the abdominal muscles to undergo hypertrophy. In particular, I like situps and hanging leg raises. Both with help strengthen one's lower back as well, which is just as important as the abdominal muscles.

Another thing to note, you have a misconception about the rectus abdominus. It is one muscle. Therefore, you cannot target certain portions of this muscle. It contracts and grows as a whole. Where you feel it doesn't indicate more growth in that area. The obliques, however, are different and can contract separately.

 

[fifteecent]

Hey your workout looks pretty good. You're probably advanced enough to know that at one point you will stop getting sore from this workout and you'll have to change it up. Many people say work your abs out like regular muscles, so do 3 sets of an exercise. I find that abs are pretty easy to workout. At my gym, we had this thing that was in an L shape. You lock your feet at the top and then you lie your back on the horizontal part. You then do the ab exercise by lifting your body up. It's really fuckin hard at first and I couldn't do 3 reps. Now I can do 3 sets of 30, 25, 20. My abs come out a lot and they are at a point where I work them out every once and a while because i'm scared they'll get too big and pop out of my stomach.

 

[Duncans Donuts]

Use heavy weights for your abs and few sets. Work on the diet and your abdominals will look fantastic.

 

[Vieope]

I hate abs work almost as much as I hate leg work. Although leg work is getting better. If you hate that much, don´t do it. You will still get a fairly good abs from diet.

 

[wtfzor]

if you want visible abs, then look at your diet, if your diet is good then almost any form of ab workout will get you a 6 pack (assume you have ok genetics). The only reason I do ab work is to strengthen my abs, I dun have to worry about my 8 packs now, they cannot be improved any further. I work my abs 4-5 times a week, first workout low rep, second workout high rep etc etc, and I use all advanced exercises. many exercises you do now already work your abs, like squat, deadlift, pull-ups etc etc.

 

[CowPimp]

I hate abs work almost as much as I hate leg work. Although leg work is getting better. If you hate that much, don´t do it. You will still get a fairly good abs from diet.

I don't agree. Working your core muscles is very important to help stave off injury when doing large compound lifts. Granted, those compound lifts certainly give the core some significant work, but I still recommend direct core training.

 

[DOMS]

There are things in bodybuilding that I don't feel 100% about, but a good solid trunk (abs, obs, and erectors) are not one of them.

It's my understanding that some of power for various (non-isolation) exercises comes from the torso. Is that true?

 

[ponyboy]

The only thing I would add is some back extensions for your lower back - which could become neglected and weak if you only focus on the front. To have a strong midsection you need to work all parts of it, and that's including the lower back. I'm not talking about esthetics here, but too many weighted crunches and your posture and lower back are going to suck in a hurry.

Everything else said here is pretty sound though.

 

[Riptide]

Well FWIW I'm not sold on the idea that it's possible for everyone who has been fat @ one time or another to completely lose that bit of padding on their stomach.

Even @ 8% body fat I still can't get my abs defined and it's not from a lack of trying believe me. I'll need surgery to fix it.

 

[PhenomenalOne]

Another thing to note, you have a misconception about the rectus abdominus. It is one muscle. Therefore, you cannot target certain portions of this muscle. It contracts and grows as a whole. Where you feel it doesn't indicate more growth in that area. The obliques, however, are different and can contract separately.

Sorry, this was my a fault on my part. I know that it is one full muscle and is not at all seperated, I'm just wondering or maybe more so worried that the muscle might grow uneven and not even out over time? How to explain, I don't know, theres just no chance that even if you can't always feel the hypertrophy so much in the midsection area but more below and above it doesn't mean they they will overgrow the middle and become uneven? I just wasn't exactly sure if the muscle, even as it is one and not sectioned may do that. Also by stups, do you mean like on a decline board, feet/legs hooked with a weight kind of thing? Just to clarify.

I hate abs work almost as much as I hate leg work. Although leg work is getting better. If you hate that much, don´t do it. You will still get a fairly good abs from diet.

I don't hate it because it's tough, I know many people will understand why I do though. I hate when I feel like my forms bad and it makes me worry about not getting the results I strive for, thats what I hate, and I tend to screw up the form on some ab workouts on a regular basis as I get used to them, thats the reason I'm really no fond of them.

The only thing I would add is some back extensions for your lower back - which could become neglected and weak if you only focus on the front. To have a strong midsection you need to work all parts of it, and that's including the lower back. I'm not talking about esthetics here, but too many weighted crunches and your posture and lower back are going to suck in a hurry.

Everything else said here is pretty sound though.

I feel the same way, I slump from a bad lower back from when I was heavier and still haven't gotten over it, so I will put in som hyperextensions, thanks

Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

[CowPimp]

Sorry, this was my a fault on my part. I know that it is one full muscle and is not at all seperated, I'm just wondering or maybe more so worried that the muscle might grow uneven and not even out over time? How to explain, I don't know, theres just no chance that even if you can't always feel the hypertrophy so much in the midsection area but more below and above it doesn't mean they they will overgrow the middle and become uneven? I just wasn't exactly sure if the muscle, even as it is one and not sectioned may do that. Also by stups, do you mean like on a decline board, feet/legs hooked with a weight kind of thing? Just to clarify.

My point of saying it's one muscle is that you cannot cause localized hypertrophy in different parts of a muscle; it grows as a whole.

It is not possible to feel hypertrophy. Being sore does not indicate hypertrophy. You might be sore, but not have sufficient nutrition in you to supercompensate for the degraded contractile proteins of the muscle. In this case, hypertrophy would not occur. Even if you did have sufficient nutrition, you may not have overloaded your muscles sufficiently to cause hypertrophy, yet, at the same time, you caused enough tissue damage to feel sore.

I do situps on a decline, but they don't have to be. I like situps because they incorporates both the ab and lower back muscles.