working out abs?

RGv2

deleted

Probably a good thing you did...

It was a pretty *kitten* comment about someone's' profile pic.

CantStopWontStop92

Hi hi:) So yeah I'll disagree with the "abs are made in the kitchen" thing. Nutrition is very important, you need to up your protein, but focusing on nutrition alone will give you a flat stomach, not a defined one. Trust me, I know:) And like the very sexy Lumpy stated earlier, crunches are useless. I did hundreds every day in high school and got nowhere. Switched to more effective routines including plank variations (love love love these), squats, and other compound exercises and *poof* I now have 3 defined lines running the length of my stomach. Youtube is a fantastic resource to learn form and new routines, personally it's helped me a lot.

I still have a long ways to go but that's just my experience, hopefully it helps! Best of luck OP:)

edited: my spelling sucks... #engineeringstudentproblems

arabianhorselover

It helps that you're only 20 years old, of course!


quote]
Hi hi:) So yeah I'll disagree with the "abs are made in the kitchen" thing. Nutrition is very important, you need to up your protein, but focusing on nutrition alone will give you a flat stomach, not a defined one. Trust me, I know:) And like the very sexy Lumpy stated earlier, crunches are useless. I did hundreds every day in high school and got nowhere. Switched to more effective routines including plank variations (love love love these), squats, and other compound exercises and *poof* I now have 3 defined lines running the length of my stomach. Youtube is a fantastic resource to learn form and new routines, personally it's helped me a lot.

I still have a long ways to go but that's just my experience, hopefully it helps! Best of luck OP:)

edited: my spelling sucks... #engineeringstudentproblems
[/quote]

pavrg

No, no you don't...., it could be arguing semantics, but...

Isolation is not necessary to have good abs...sorry.

Isolation isn't necessary to have good anything. If one gets to a low enough bodyfat percentage, then muscle definition will show regardless.

But it's fairly widely accepted that strength training leads to hypertrophy which makes people look better at higher bodyfat percentages and retain lean body mass as they drop weight.

Lots of muscles get worked as accessories in exercises. Like I said above, lats get worked in bench press, so why do pullups? Or traps get worked in deadlifts, so why do overhead press? It's because you have to target those muscles specifically with heavy weights to build strength and size in them. Working them as accessories to other lifts isn't good enough. So I'm curious why you think that your abdominals are different than every other skeletal muscle in your body and will magically grow on their own, especially by doing exercises that work the lower back contraction, not the abdominal contraction (squats and deadlifts). That's like saying you'll get pectorals by doing rows.

The correct answer is abs aren't any different. If you want to enhance your abdominal muscles, you need to train them with weights like any other muscle in your body. Also like every other muscle in your body, they won't show definition through inches of fat; it's just that most people tend to retain more of their fat in their midsection than on their arms.

RGv2

No, no you don't...., it could be arguing semantics, but...

Isolation is not necessary to have good abs...sorry.

Isolation isn't necessary to have good anything. If one gets to a low enough bodyfat percentage, then muscle definition will show regardless.

But it's fairly widely accepted that strength training leads to hypertrophy which makes people look better at higher bodyfat percentages and retain lean body mass as they drop weight.

Lots of muscles get worked as accessories in exercises. Like I said above, lats get worked in bench press, so why do pullups? Or traps get worked in deadlifts, so why do overhead press? It's because you have to target those muscles specifically with heavy weights to build strength and size in them. Working them as accessories to other lifts isn't good enough. So I'm curious why you think that your abdominals are different than every other skeletal muscle in your body and will magically grow on their own, especially by doing exercises that work the lower back contraction, not the abdominal contraction (squats and deadlifts). That's like saying you'll get pectorals by doing rows.

The correct answer is abs aren't any different. If you want to enhance your abdominal muscles, you need to train them with weights like any other muscle in your body. Also like every other muscle in your body, they won't show definition through inches of fat; it's just that most people tend to retain more of their fat in their midsection than on their arms.

Nope...

Weird how I did it, and don't do isolation exercises, haven't done them in years.....

Guess I'm a special snowflake.

Edit...Why would I want my abs to get bigger (that would take a hell of a lot of work) when I can see them now without having to do any isolation work?

Stage14

Definitely look into a beginner lifting program that uses compound lifts and heavy (for you) weight, rather than wasting hours and hours doing bicep curls and leg lifts and crunches.

I started out with Starting Strength, and I'm currently doing New Rules of Lifting for Women. I like NROL4W better because it is less repetitive, but both are good programs. Stronglifts is another one that is really popular around here.

pavrg

No, no you don't...., it could be arguing semantics, but...

Isolation is not necessary to have good abs...sorry.

Isolation isn't necessary to have good anything. If one gets to a low enough bodyfat percentage, then muscle definition will show regardless.

But it's fairly widely accepted that strength training leads to hypertrophy which makes people look better at higher bodyfat percentages and retain lean body mass as they drop weight.

Lots of muscles get worked as accessories in exercises. Like I said above, lats get worked in bench press, so why do pullups? Or traps get worked in deadlifts, so why do overhead press? It's because you have to target those muscles specifically with heavy weights to build strength and size in them. Working them as accessories to other lifts isn't good enough. So I'm curious why you think that your abdominals are different than every other skeletal muscle in your body and will magically grow on their own, especially by doing exercises that work the lower back contraction, not the abdominal contraction (squats and deadlifts). That's like saying you'll get pectorals by doing rows.

The correct answer is abs aren't any different. If you want to enhance your abdominal muscles, you need to train them with weights like any other muscle in your body. Also like every other muscle in your body, they won't show definition through inches of fat; it's just that most people tend to retain more of their fat in their midsection than on their arms.

Nope...

Weird how I did it, and don't do isolation exercises, haven't done them in years.....

Guess I'm a special snowflake.

Edit...Why would I want my abs to get bigger (that would take a hell of a lot of work) when I can see them now without having to do any isolation work?

Why would anyone want to grow any muscle when they can see them without any isolation work? I mean, lifting weights is hard and takes a lot of work. I can just not eat and achieve the same results. Hell, why am I doing more than bench press, deadlifts, and squats... everything else is hit as an accessory to those exercises so I guess I'm wasting my time.

You're not a special snowflake. I specifically said muscle definition will show with fat loss regardless of workout plan everywhere in the body. I just don't get why you like having weak abs or maintaining lower bodyfat to see them, or why you think that 6-9 sets of 4-6 reps of weighted ab work twice a week is so much harder than anything else you do. But if you're happy with your results then great.

RGv2

No, no you don't...., it could be arguing semantics, but...

Isolation is not necessary to have good abs...sorry.

Isolation isn't necessary to have good anything. If one gets to a low enough bodyfat percentage, then muscle definition will show regardless.

But it's fairly widely accepted that strength training leads to hypertrophy which makes people look better at higher bodyfat percentages and retain lean body mass as they drop weight.

Lots of muscles get worked as accessories in exercises. Like I said above, lats get worked in bench press, so why do pullups? Or traps get worked in deadlifts, so why do overhead press? It's because you have to target those muscles specifically with heavy weights to build strength and size in them. Working them as accessories to other lifts isn't good enough. So I'm curious why you think that your abdominals are different than every other skeletal muscle in your body and will magically grow on their own, especially by doing exercises that work the lower back contraction, not the abdominal contraction (squats and deadlifts). That's like saying you'll get pectorals by doing rows.

The correct answer is abs aren't any different. If you want to enhance your abdominal muscles, you need to train them with weights like any other muscle in your body. Also like every other muscle in your body, they won't show definition through inches of fat; it's just that most people tend to retain more of their fat in their midsection than on their arms.

Nope...

Weird how I did it, and don't do isolation exercises, haven't done them in years.....

Guess I'm a special snowflake.

Edit...Why would I want my abs to get bigger (that would take a hell of a lot of work) when I can see them now without having to do any isolation work?

Why would anyone want to grow any muscle when they can see them without any isolation work? I mean, lifting weights is hard and takes a lot of work. I can just not eat and achieve the same results. Hell, why am I doing more than bench press, deadlifts, and squats... everything else is hit as an accessory to those exercises so I guess I'm wasting my time.

You're not a special snowflake. I specifically said muscle definition will show with fat loss regardless of workout plan everywhere in the body. I just don't get why you like having weak abs or maintaining lower bodyfat to see them, or why you think that 6-9 sets of 4-6 reps of weighted ab work twice a week is so much harder than anything else you do. But if you're happy with your results then great.

LOL, my core is one of the strongest portions of my body. Always has been.

And I don't have to "maintain a lower body fat" to see them.

Where did I say weighted ab work was harder than anything I already do?