Challenge: All I want for Christmas is a six pack....

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  • jayb0ne
    jayb0ne Posts: 644 Member
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    Yeah, I'm rocking it! Eating clean and working out. I can feel some fairly defined abs underneath, just covered by that last stubborn little bit of belly fat! I'm so close to a 6 pack I can almost taste it :)

    Cardio and core work is the order of the week this week to try and reduce overall BF%. Back to resistance and ab workouts next week. I reckon I'm 3 or 4 weeks off seeing my abs.

    Here's a tip. Try and have most meals - or at the very least your evening meal- include a protein source (fish, chicken, turkey, quorn, eggs (twice as many whites as yolks), lean red meat etc), a complex carb source (potato, brown rice, bulgar wheat, cous cous, wholemeal pasta) and a veg source (peas, carrots, broccoli, sweetcorn, cauliflower, cabbage) or salad (lettuce, tomato, raw carrot, cucumber, sugar snap peas etc). If you can split your meal into those 3 groups and work on portion control to ensure they're in balance with your macro split and calorie allowance, you can hardly fail!

    Jay
  • TreadmillManiac
    TreadmillManiac Posts: 20
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    i've added my current abs to my profile pic. Looks like i have quite a few more pounds to go.Hoping i am on track for an xmas washboard.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
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    Just re-measured...lost a half inch off my waist in a week!! Going to take new pics here in a few minutes and see if the difference is visible.
  • Mimi6389
    Mimi6389 Posts: 2
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    I'm definitely going to join in on this challenge!

    I haven't worked out in FOREVER (since June!) and I am running in a 5K the day after Thanksgiving, so I've got to stay motivated to run every day. And this ab challenge will be perfect!!

    I'll be using the p90x ab ripper, and I'm going to take pictures, too.

    Good luck everyone :)
  • gavini
    gavini Posts: 248 Member
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    i think i might need to lose 5 lbs and also make ab work part of my daily routine which are two things i am committing to do btwn now and christmas. i am training for the surf city marathon (feb 5th) so that is my main focus but i can do ab work after my runs and bikes,

    do you all think that doing some planks and bicycle crunches would be enough if i start doing them every day after my main workout or do i need to do more than that or vary it more?

    appreciate your thoughts on this.
  • bstamps12
    bstamps12 Posts: 1,184
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    Gavini- planks are awesome for total core workout but if you are talking about getting a defined 6 pack I would think you need a more complex routine with a variety of ab workouts: regular crunches, reverse crunches, scissor kicks, etc. Also, I have heard that it's best not to work your abs every day, that 4 days per week is recommended. Tony Horton (p90x coach) finishes the Ab Ripper X workout by saying "Tip of the Day: Don't do this every day. You don't work other parts of your body every day so don't work your abs everyday."
    Anyone else have comments about working abs everyday vs. 4 days per week??

    I can't find my body measuring tape and I keep forgetting to buy a new one at the store. I would love to see the inch difference that you guys are, especially since I'm so close to my GW so changes on the scale are minimal at best.

    Just a random question for everyone: Do you believe in certain foods making you store fat on your belly? I have seen several threads saying wheat, sugar, ___fill in the blank____, causes your body to store fat around your belly. Not sure if I believe it because there seem to be so many intervening variables, like genetics. What's your take?
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
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    I don't buy it, personally.

    RE: taking a rest day...It is quite important to give any muscle group 48 hours to recover after you hit it hard, making every other day the maximum frequency with which you should really do any focused workout on any muscle group. This is especially important with abs because even if you aren't doing side planks and ab bicycles, you are still engaging your core to a certain extent with many other workouts you may be doing. Did you do shoulder presses? You worked your core. Kettlebell swings? Better believe it. Deadlifts? Bent over rows? ...anything at all that involves standing and moving weight at the same time? Yeah...you worked your core.

    In terms of a body measuring tape, I found a "one handed operation" one on Amazon for like 4 bucks that I'm really really happy with.
  • jayb0ne
    jayb0ne Posts: 644 Member
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    << took a new picture. Reckon I'm not too far off seeing them come through. Coming out of 2nd recovery week of p90x, so should be able to kickstart the six pack progress with 4 more weeks of an ripper x!

    With regards rest days, I'd certainly take them, just make sure you hit em hard on your ab days! If you have to go every day, at least do a core routine (as opposed to an ab routine) on the off days.

    Oh, and the 'x food makes you store fat on your belly', I don't buy either. Certain food types assist your body in storing fat, but only your genetics determine where it's stored. Unfortunately for most of us the first place it goes and the last place it's burnt is the belly.

    Jay
  • JasonD334
    JasonD334 Posts: 94 Member
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    Good Monday morning Ab Challengers! I have to start with a confession... I did horribly this past week. I have been stuck in a funk here recently, taking weekends off and the whole bit, but that ends now. Okay, that's out of the way, and this week is going to be much better!

    Let's share successes this week, and if anyone feels comfortable doing so, how about posting a few exercises we can be working on this week. I know I would personally appreciate the advice.

    Okay gang, let's push each other. If you're a friend of mine, and you don't see any ab work postings for a few days, get on my *kitten* and tell me to quit being so lazy. I want this, and that means I have to work for it!
  • Phoenix24601
    Phoenix24601 Posts: 620 Member
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    I'm a little late on this, but after seeing my fiance getting ripped I decided to try this too. I, like everyone, go through highs and lows with this. Here goes nothin.
  • newbeetler
    newbeetler Posts: 194 Member
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    Good luck getting back on it JasonDeem.

    I'm coming off my back injury now.

    Went for a swim with the kids yesterday for an hour and I can still move and not seize up so that is a bonus from last week.Couldn't stand up from my desk most of last week without being doubled up. Today I got a small twinge. So no pain which is a big improvment.

    I also dropped 2.5-3 pounds this week with no exercise so heading in the right direction.

    Don't think I will have the six pack by christmas but gonna keep going for it and bulding up again.

    Start at a new gym in the next week or 2 with a pool so Swimming starts to strengthen the back then the targetted core exercises start.

    Although I might give some leg raises a try tonight to see how things respond.

    Keep it up all.
  • MsWriter
    MsWriter Posts: 44 Member
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    I'm a bit late but would like to join! :)
  • marthafox1
    marthafox1 Posts: 191 Member
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    How is everybody getting on with this challenge. Are you completing your ab exercises every other day mixed in with your resistence and cardio (or whatever your regime is) and being VERY careful with your diet. Only 8 weeks to Christmas, if we want this, WE CAN DO IT it but we are going to need to focus and stay motivated to our end goal.

    I used the randomabs.com website last night for a set of exercises - they hit the spot and if you don't have your own ab programme sorted, use this - the advice is work your abs every other day - but make sure your form is good (better to do 5 of something really well than 12 poorly).

    Unfortunately for you lot, I am an over achiever..... I will remind you, nag you, motivate you and applaud you..... whilst trying to be better than you.....ha ha ha only kidding (or am I???) well, only one way to be sure I am not better than you, and that is for you to be better than me..... SO COME ON, we are in this together (albeit that I am secretly competing with you all!). xxx
  • newbeetler
    newbeetler Posts: 194 Member
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    Didn't manage to get the leg raises done last night.

    Felt that twinge when I got home from the office so decided to not set myself back another week by pulling the muscle and see how I am tonight.

    Will look at starting the core exercises slowly this week and go from there.

    Slowly slowly catchy monkey as they say. Or maybe that should be catchy 6 Pack.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    I'm in. As you can see in my sig, my Christmas goal is to hit a healthy BMI (5lbs to go) and a healthy waist size (32").

    I'm recovering from illness and injury and building back up to training for a spring Marathon. For the next month I'm taking it relatively easy with 2 x running, 2 x weight training and 1 x swimming/water running a week.
  • SueGeer
    SueGeer Posts: 1,169 Member
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    My waist is 27" but still have nearly-18-y-o baby belly that's gotta go!

    Sue :smile: x
  • carlatz
    carlatz Posts: 6 Member
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    Thin by Xmas!
  • TreadmillManiac
    TreadmillManiac Posts: 20
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    I'm adding 5 more crunches to my total each time i do them (bicycle crunches),currently at 95. Will keep doing this until dec 24th !!!
  • marthafox1
    marthafox1 Posts: 191 Member
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    TMM - (Treadmillmaniac) that's awesome - I did 16 sets of 2 of them last night and made a big hoo ha about it at the time as well! 95 in one go though - I bow to your core strength!
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
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    I used the randomabs.com website last night for a set of exercises - they hit the spot and if you don't have your own ab programme sorted, use this - the advice is work your abs every other day - but make sure your form is good (better to do 5 of something really well than 12 poorly).

    This site looks very interesting. I'm going to start incorporating it into my core work starting today.

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