ABS

Options
rdl81
rdl81 Posts: 220 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Currently I do not train my abs at all. I think I should start doing them now that I am cutting and getting lean I want something to show where should I start?

How many times a week?
What exercises
How many sets
How many reps

I currently train Mon-Fri so want something that works post my normal program.

Thanks

:-)

Replies

  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    Options
    I rarely train abs but when I do, it's a lot of supersets/circuits.

    I don't train obliques as it widens the waist which ruins proportions in my opinion.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,397 MFP Moderator
    Options
    i train abs 2x a week (lower body days). And I just take some of the routines from AthleanX's youtube channel. At this point, have a focus concentric day and a eccentric day.
  • rdl81
    rdl81 Posts: 220 Member
    Options
    I will check that out thank you
  • tattygun
    tattygun Posts: 447 Member
    Options
    I do a couple of light sessions a week or so precontest to make them pop otherwise I don't need to bother.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,982 Member
    Options
    I've never done any ab specific exercises and I've got them.

    Unnecessary if you're doing regular compund weight lifting - SQTs, DLs, OHPs & BP - which you should be doing anyway.

    Beyond that, BF loss is the key to achieving visible abs. In men, they generally begin to appear at 15% and start to become defined at 10%. That's how it happened for me.
  • Tyson88Rosen
    Tyson88Rosen Posts: 7 Member
    Options
    I do weighted abs in front (light weight) 5 sets 30 reps
    Hanging leg raises and to knee my waist small I do side planks at about one minute per side back and forth until I get 3-4 sets per side
    I am currently 6ft 1, 200 lb and have a 27 waist
    Everyone's different but this has worked for me
  • rdl81
    rdl81 Posts: 220 Member
    Options
    Thanks everyone obv I do a lot of compound lifts I am trying to cut at the moment so hopefully when I hit <10% bf they will be there I guess I just left maybe I should do some specific ab work k think I will do a couple of exercises twice a week
  • Selos448
    Selos448 Posts: 1 Member
    Options
    Start working out your abs 4 times a week
    2 days 1 rest 2 days
    You should do 3 exercises, 3 sets each, about 15 reps per set.
    Day1- Upper ab workout
    Day2- Lower ab workout
    Day3- Rest
    Day4- Upper
    Day5- Lower
  • gearhead426hemi
    gearhead426hemi Posts: 919 Member
    Options
    Add plyometric workouts a couple days a week into your workout and you'll be good.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    edited June 2017
    Options
    Kind of hard to tell you not knowing your "normal programming" actually is.

    You might be getting plenty of ab work currentlu without knowing it, or you might add too much & can't recover or adapt properly.

    A good program does consist of too much or not enough. You want the correct amount.

    Further more people telling your their ab exercises might not be helpful to you without knowing their program.

    It's all about proper programming not just doing exercises.


  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
    Options
    Should have trained them while you were bulking. Why wait for the cut? lol
  • taziarj
    taziarj Posts: 243 Member
    Options
    I picked up The New Rules of Lifting for Abs yesterday for $1 at the library book sale. Started reading it around the pool. Not sure how to fit it in with my regular routine or if I should just replace my current routine with one from the book. I am only about 40 pages in and will probably read it once cover to cover before switching things up. I am only today 12 weeks in to training using the M&S full body dumbbell routine.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
    Options
    taziarj wrote: »
    I picked up The New Rules of Lifting for Abs yesterday for $1 at the library book sale. Started reading it around the pool. Not sure how to fit it in with my regular routine or if I should just replace my current routine with one from the book. I am only about 40 pages in and will probably read it once cover to cover before switching things up. I am only today 12 weeks in to training using the M&S full body dumbbell routine.

    Did you mean this for your own thread?
  • taziarj
    taziarj Posts: 243 Member
    Options
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    Did you mean this for your own thread?
    Good point. I started the thread just mentioning the book but then got carried away asking my own questions :o . I just started my own thread. :)
  • evilokc
    evilokc Posts: 260 Member
    Options
    the first time I was lean enough to have visible abs (last summer) I found out that I didn't have enough abs. they were visible but had no thickness. I have been using the weighted crunch machine for about a year now and can really tell the difference. I also started doing some decline situps with a twist.
  • rdl81
    rdl81 Posts: 220 Member
    Options
    For those wondering during my bulking phase I was using "Mountain Dog Training" and "MI40" now I am cutting using a program on T Nation called GH Circuits reloaded its similar to a German Body Composition program I have done before.

    I am only doing this as a hobby not looking to compete etc, but I would like to get BF sub 10%
  • henryjamessimm388
    henryjamessimm388 Posts: 5 Member
    Options
    I like to do some isolation stuff at the end of every workout (along with endless calf raises cause they just won't grow :( ) but if you're doing compound lifts they're worked to a decent degree anyway, just the isolation stuff really helps on top! Obliques wise, try doing oblique targeted exercises with no weight, just go for reps, that way they shouldn't really bulk up!

Categories