My abs are my worst problem area, and unfortunately, I hate working them (no connection there I'm sure! ). Anyway, I used to do the Firm's 5-day abs, and that really does work for me. However, it's a real pain to have to watch the video every time I want to work my abs. It's just another step in the process and another reason for me to not do it. Besides, the boredom factor on it is big.

I'd like to do abs without a video. I did 60 bicycles the other day (i.e., counting one as touching the left & right knees), but I didn't feel sore at all the next day.

Can someone share with me a good ab routine that doesn't involve any bells and whistles (no balls, no need for the t.v., etc.)? I want a rountine that will make the sore the next day (that way I know it's working).

Thanks!

Abs Diet workout.

Lynn:

Here's one that kicks my butt repeatedly. It's a CrossFit Hero workout called "Michael":

3 rounds for time
Run 800 m
50 situps
50 back extensions (I use a 35 lb kettlebell)

That's takes me about 25 minutes at high intensity.

Another good one is ramping sets from 10 to 1 of knees to elbows and burpees.

Knees to elbows (link = movie) involves grabbing a pullup bar and pulling your legs to your chest so your knees touch your elbows. If you don't have a pullup bar, lay on the floor in front of the couch (feet away from the couch), and curl your whole body up and touch your knees to your elbows.

Burpees are fun and will make you cry. Stand up, clap above your head, squat down, put your hands on the floor, kick your legs out to full pushup position, do a pushup, bring your legs back under you, jump into the air. Here's how you do them. (WMV video).

Take it easy on yourself. This stuff is pretty intense, so don't go overboard at first. They don't seem like abs work, but they are multi-system exercises that will work your core like crazy.

Good luck.

Apollo's got the right idea for more full body workouts, but if you're really trying to target your abs you don't need to do a lot of complicated exercises (some of the things people do at the gym boggle my mind).

Obviously, crunches and leg raises are great for targetting your midsection, but also remember the purpose of your core is to PREVENT motion, so things like planks are also really, really good, but a little too boring for me to do too often. If you're like me and you just don't want to do 1000 reps to work the muscles, you can grab some weights to add resistance... this will kick your ass while strengthening your abs really, really fast.

When you say your abs are a problem area, do you mean that they're weak or that theres more fat than you'd like on your midsection? If they're weak, then yeah, do these things; if it's a fat issue, you can't target the fat in that area so doing Apollo's suggestions would be better for lowering your overall body fat.

Another really good thing to try is L sits.

You might need an assist at first. And lots of practice almost getting it before you get it. Use a pair of chairs side by side or, if there's a parcourse in a park near you, you might have access to parallel bars. If you have a pullup bar, you can also hang from the bar and hold that L as long as you can.

It's really hard. And then, one day, you've got it.

Oh dear God, you evil man!

Haha, I used to do those a lot when I was breakdancing because I found out, by accident while holding it for fun one day that it tore my abs up. Those kinds of exercises are really good though, even if they hurt like hell to do. ESPECIALLY because they hurt like hell

The most underated piece of equipment which works the abs is a Slendertone belt. They are genius.

I'm not a big sit up fan as it hurts my lower back after it starts to hurt my stomach.

Seriously, hit the slendertone and u will defo see and feel the difference. Totally worth it. You won't be disappointed.

Other great ab exercises:

- Squats
- Deadlift

Sure, when coupled with <11% BF. Since I like beer, the reliable SQ/DL wouldn't be enough. Hell, curls will give you abs if you have 9% BF.

If you want to maintain a slightly higher level of BF and still have some visible abs showing through, you need to target them with heavy, lower rep exercises. Weighted decline sit-ups, weighted serratus crunch, and weighted low ab pull-in have been the only three I've used and so far I have had decent return on my investment.

Ain't that the truth .

I was being a bit facetious, but the reason I suggested squats and deadlifts is because they get away from some of the boring ab exercises to do a full body workout and they should be a part of any workout routine. Both of these exercises strengthen your core and they use your abs as stabilizers.

Are you saying that spot training works?

Spot training absolutely works.

How else to get him to stop peeing on the carpet?



He'd have to be trained.

Heh. Otherwise, your best bet in abs training is core training. Core training means midline stabilization.

Is the deadlift and the squat the sum total of everything you need? Absolutely not.

Are they fundamental exercises for every regimen? Yes.

No, you need bench press and row, then that is all you need.




Yeah, but it is important to relegate spot training to the same category as assistance or secondary lifts. You'll never want to cut your squat routine short to get in a killer sweet abz session.

But on my days off I don't want to do anything heavy, and core work recovery happens fast enough it doesn't affect my important lifts. So yeah, spot training does work...it shouldn't be your focus, and certainly should not comprise more than a fraction of your effort and time in the gym.

I think Mark Rippetoe would argue that presses are more important than bench presses and you should be doing at least as much pressing as bench pressing so as not to create muscle imbalances. I'm sure rows probably help with keeping muscle balance, though.

"We train the bench press to build chesticles." - Mark Rippetoe.

Nope. There is no humerus adduction with the standing press (god I love them though). If you want a big bench, you train shoulder and humerus adduction, not abduction.

Neglecting your anterior delts would be stupid though, and standing presses have a place in your workout (I'd about 1/3 of all your pressing), but the bench is, and always has been about two things: elbow flexion (so train your triceps) and humerus adduction (so keep benching. flat.)

I haven't read Rippetoe, but if his workout is designed to maximize your bench, then I am sure he advocates benching most of the time. I thought he was all about Oly lifts though? if so, I'd see why he'd have a hardon for presses and cleans.

I didn't mean to say that doing presses will help your bench press more than doing bench presses, just that the press is a more balanced exercise and if you're doing a lot of bench pressing, you should be doing a lot of pressing, too.

I have Rippetoe's Starting Strength book, but I'm at work right now. If I remember correctly, he advocates doing at least 1:1 press to bench press ratio. ie, do at least as much pressing as bench pressing. At least one of the reasons he cites (I'm not sure if there are any others) is to keep muscle strength balanced so you don't make yourself more prone to injury.

You're right though, he's more about pure strength training and Olympic lifts