Ab workouts- When is it worth working them out

lorrpb

crossfit_dottir wrote: »

To have your abs visible you have to be lean and to get lean you have to watch what you eat.. so yes, visible abs are created in the kitchen.

Meet your spine:



It's an important part of the body yet there's a part of it that's only protected by muscle tissue,ligaments, discs and the small vertebrae bones. The muscles being the largest protector of the three.

Now when folks talk about abs they usually mean the six pack you see on the lean body builder who just ripped his T-sirt off in the gym and now has all the girls staring at him while thanking god they brought a towel to wipe down the seat of the equipment they're just using.

Those visible abs don't really matter unless you wanna be the reason girls sit on their towels at the commercial gym.

Now meet the muscles of your core.



Your core are the muscles around your spine. Those protect that bloody thing and keep you upright. They're the reason we can balance and stay stable. They're not just the six pack, they're the muscles in your lower back, your pelvis, hips and abdomen, making the "six pack" only a small part of a rather large group of muscles that work together to keep you upright.

A weak core can be the reason of back pain and bad posture among other things. Those things can often be fixed by strengthening the core muscles.

And here's what I tell most of my clients to help them make decision on how important a strong core is.

Sex... When you're dancing the tango with your partner it's gonna take a lot out of you physically. And if you've got a strong core you're gonna increase your stamina and perform better for longer periods of time.

TLDR version

Abs = made in the kitchen
Strong Core = Improves posture, fixes back pain, better sex.

Overall a good explanation, but strong abs are made in the gym not the kitchen!

cwolfman13

I don't and won't ever have a visible 6 pack...I don't have the dietary discipline to cut to that low of a BF%. I still train my core...mostly with compound lifts. I do some, but minimal direct ab work...like maybe a few sets of hanging leg raises or the ab wheel about once or twice per week.

Roadie2000

Same with me, I don't think I'll ever have a real six pack but I work my core because it helps with my lower back pain and most other areas of fitness.

The real question is how much should you do. There are many exercises that will work your core indirectly, but is this enough? I try to do a good core workout at least once a week

Cherimoose

Muscleflex79 wrote: »

for someone that has never directly worked core (aside from compound lifts), are there certain exercises or a program targeting abs that you (or anyone) would recommend?

Yes, but it helps to know what your goal is, and also which strength program you're following, so the exercises complement it without redundancy.

lorrpb

crossfit_dottir wrote: »

lorrpb wrote: »

crossfit_dottir wrote: »

To have your abs visible you have to be lean and to get lean you have to watch what you eat.. so yes, visible abs are created in the kitchen.

Meet your spine:



It's an important part of the body yet there's a part of it that's only protected by muscle tissue,ligaments, discs and the small vertebrae bones. The muscles being the largest protector of the three.

Now when folks talk about abs they usually mean the six pack you see on the lean body builder who just ripped his T-sirt off in the gym and now has all the girls staring at him while thanking god they brought a towel to wipe down the seat of the equipment they're just using.

Those visible abs don't really matter unless you wanna be the reason girls sit on their towels at the commercial gym.

Now meet the muscles of your core.



Your core are the muscles around your spine. Those protect that bloody thing and keep you upright. They're the reason we can balance and stay stable. They're not just the six pack, they're the muscles in your lower back, your pelvis, hips and abdomen, making the "six pack" only a small part of a rather large group of muscles that work together to keep you upright.

A weak core can be the reason of back pain and bad posture among other things. Those things can often be fixed by strengthening the core muscles.

And here's what I tell most of my clients to help them make decision on how important a strong core is.

Sex... When you're dancing the tango with your partner it's gonna take a lot out of you physically. And if you've got a strong core you're gonna increase your stamina and perform better for longer periods of time.

TLDR version

Abs = made in the kitchen
Strong Core = Improves posture, fixes back pain, better sex.

Overall a good explanation, but strong abs are made in the gym not the kitchen!

I thought I just said that...

I was responding in contrast to your statement "visible abs are created in the kitchen."

SonyaCele

i hate the expression that abs are made in the kitchen. Abs are made in the womb, we all have abs we were born with them, well unless you have a condition that you are born without them which is a real condition. Abs are bulked and strengthened in the gym or with other types of exercise. And people with very low body fat will have visible abs. Whether those visible abs are aesthetically pleasing or not is another story. Not everyone with low body fat has a healthy muscular look, its easy to have a malnourished look if all you do is diet to have "abs". So to say abs are made in the kitchen is just a stupid cliche phrase.

Wheelhouse15

SonyaCele wrote: »

i hate the expression that abs are made in the kitchen. Abs are made in the womb, we all have abs we were born with them, well unless you have a condition that you are born without them which is a real condition. Abs are bulked and strengthened in the gym or with other types of exercise. And people with very low body fat will have visible abs. Whether those visible abs are aesthetically pleasing or not is another story. Not everyone with low body fat has a healthy muscular look, its easy to have a malnourished look if all you do is diet to have "abs". So to say abs are made in the kitchen is just a stupid cliche phrase.

Yes, but that's really overanalyzing the reason why the cliché is used. It's not denying the obvious biological origins, nor the issues of emaciation and/or anorexia in pursuit of a desired body shape, but rather it is used because most people don't, or at least didn't, realize that abs don't just appear because you work on them. You need to have sufficiently low enough body fat for them to be revealed, but I guess "Abs are revealed by hard work and diet to promote sufficiently low body fat" isn't as catchy.

I kind of got a laugh because I do this too.

canadianlbs

Muscleflex79 wrote: »

for someone that has never directly worked core (aside from compound lifts), are there certain exercises or a program targeting abs that you (or anyone) would recommend?

i like front squats. overhead press makes a surprisingly big demand on your abs for stabilization. it seemed to hit my obliques when i did them 'normal' style, and my rectus etc when i was keeping my heels clipped the whole time.

less dramatic but also good are weighted carries, especially uneven weights. and pullups, oddly enough.

you should get some kind of introduction to form though, if you've never lifted before. all of these things can be great if you learn to call on your abs. but they also have lots of ways in which you can bypass your abs, which usually dumps more of the load than is safe into other zones, like your spine.