ABS - UGH!

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MelisaBegins
MelisaBegins Posts: 161 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Why do I dread doing ab workouts so much? It's 15 minutes out of my life and I find every excuse in the book to avoid it.

Any great tips? Routines you love? Just want to commiserate with me? :)
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  • JenniBaby85
    JenniBaby85 Posts: 855 Member
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    LOL. I am just beginning to find my abs :tongue:

    Strength training and cardio help a great deal, and I do "bicycle crunches" intermittently between workouts.
  • diodelcibo
    diodelcibo Posts: 2,564 Member
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    Why do I dread doing ab workouts so much? It's 15 minutes out of my life and I find every excuse in the book to avoid it.

    Any great tips? Routines you love? Just want to commiserate with me? :)

    If it's only 15 minutes your abs are probably not getting stronger.
  • Kmenczynski88
    Kmenczynski88 Posts: 70 Member
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    Why do I dread doing ab workouts so much? It's 15 minutes out of my life and I find every excuse in the book to avoid it.

    Any great tips? Routines you love? Just want to commiserate with me? :)

    If it's only 15 minutes your abs are probably not getting stronger.

    mmm time = strength now?
  • MelisaBegins
    MelisaBegins Posts: 161 Member
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    Why do I dread doing ab workouts so much? It's 15 minutes out of my life and I find every excuse in the book to avoid it.

    Any great tips? Routines you love? Just want to commiserate with me? :)

    If it's only 15 minutes your abs are probably not getting stronger.

    OK, it's 16 minutes - it's the AB RipperX routine for P90X. Seems like a good workout. If 15 (or 16) mins isn't enough, do you have suggestions?
  • kluaneb
    kluaneb Posts: 13
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    I don't know if it will help you, but I downloaded songs onto my iPod they are for a certain amount of time. They are hip hop songs and honestly, the time flies by when I am listening to them. My stomach workout is 20 minutes long daily and it feels like it is only a couple of minutes when I am be-bopping to the music. Just my two cents worth. It helped in the beginning that I couldn't feel my stomach as a result from a surgery and the feeling is just now coming back after almost 2 years. But now I can feel it and I still love to work on it.
  • MelisaBegins
    MelisaBegins Posts: 161 Member
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    I don't know if it will help you, but I downloaded songs onto my iPod they are for a certain amount of time. They are hip hop songs and honestly, the time flies by when I am listening to them. My stomach workout is 20 minutes long daily and it feels like it is only a couple of minutes when I am be-bopping to the music. Just my two cents worth. It helped in the beginning that I couldn't feel my stomach as a result from a surgery and the feeling is just now coming back after almost 2 years. But now I can feel it and I still love to work on it.

    Thank you! What ab workout do you do? The P90X routine I do has abs every other day - Tony Horton says not to do abs every day, but sometimes I wonder if it's OK. Do you feel like you are seeing results with doing abs every day?
  • martinh78
    martinh78 Posts: 601
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    Why do I dread doing ab workouts so much? It's 15 minutes out of my life and I find every excuse in the book to avoid it.

    Any great tips? Routines you love? Just want to commiserate with me? :)

    If it's only 15 minutes your abs are probably not getting stronger.

    Gonna hang around and wait for a further explanation. Actually I might "plank" whilst I'm waiting...
  • diodelcibo
    diodelcibo Posts: 2,564 Member
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    Why do I dread doing ab workouts so much? It's 15 minutes out of my life and I find every excuse in the book to avoid it.

    Any great tips? Routines you love? Just want to commiserate with me? :)

    If it's only 15 minutes your abs are probably not getting stronger.

    OK, it's 16 minutes - it's the AB RipperX routine for P90X. Seems like a good workout. If 15 (or 16) mins isn't enough, do you have suggestions?

    Well if it's the pain during the ab workouts or the DOMS afterwards (that sore feeling) then if you increase the frequency (I'd say to at least 30 minutes) your body will get be in pain less often even though you are working out harder.
  • MelisaBegins
    MelisaBegins Posts: 161 Member
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    Why do I dread doing ab workouts so much? It's 15 minutes out of my life and I find every excuse in the book to avoid it.

    Any great tips? Routines you love? Just want to commiserate with me? :)

    If it's only 15 minutes your abs are probably not getting stronger.

    OK, it's 16 minutes - it's the AB RipperX routine for P90X. Seems like a good workout. If 15 (or 16) mins isn't enough, do you have suggestions?

    Well if it's the pain during the ab workouts or the DOMS afterwards (that sore feeling) then if you increase the frequency (I'd say to at least 30 minutes) your body will get be in pain less often even though you are working out harder.

    Thank you! Do you have an ab routine you could recommend?
  • diodelcibo
    diodelcibo Posts: 2,564 Member
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    Why do I dread doing ab workouts so much? It's 15 minutes out of my life and I find every excuse in the book to avoid it.

    Any great tips? Routines you love? Just want to commiserate with me? :)

    If it's only 15 minutes your abs are probably not getting stronger.

    OK, it's 16 minutes - it's the AB RipperX routine for P90X. Seems like a good workout. If 15 (or 16) mins isn't enough, do you have suggestions?

    Well if it's the pain during the ab workouts or the DOMS afterwards (that sore feeling) then if you increase the frequency (I'd say to at least 30 minutes) your body will get be in pain less often even though you are working out harder.

    Thank you! Do you have an ab routine you could recommend?

    Not an exact programme per se But I can recommend these exercises: planks , crunches, bicycles and leg raises. and for repetitions I'd say about 15-20 per exercises (if you can do more repetitions than this add some weight for extra resistance) and about 12-15 sets.
  • BlueInkDot
    BlueInkDot Posts: 702 Member
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    16 minutes is fine.
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
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    Ab xercises are not going to help you to "have abs" or be slimmer without your diet being in check. Abs are made in the kicthen. 15 minutes of abs is plenty, imho. Tyr Pilates inspired, "crunchless" ab workouts. YouTub has some from Coach Nicole that are good. The BeFit channel on YouTube has a 30 day 6 pack abs program that I use some of the workouts from (although I'm not following the plan perfectly). I really like some of their strength routines, and you feel them, and they're all 10-11 minutes or less.

    You will also engageyour abs and improve their strength by doing the big compound lifts with free weights. You really engage your core when squatting heavy or doing over head press (while standing) to help keep your balance.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    If you don't want to do ab exercises, then don't. IMO, they are a waste of time for most people anyhow. If you want to work your core -- your real core-- incorporate it into your other exercises.

    Life is too short to waste time doing ab exercises.
  • Going4Lean
    Going4Lean Posts: 1,077 Member
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    bump
  • jamesfire680
    jamesfire680 Posts: 10
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    some days I do a full body weight workout while standing on a BOSU Ball, this gives the buddy and unstable platform and engages your core to keep your balance!
  • FitBeto
    FitBeto Posts: 2,121 Member
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    If you don't want to do ab exercises, then don't. IMO, they are a waste of time for most people anyhow. If you want to work your core -- your real core-- incorporate it into your other exercises.

    Life is too short to waste time doing ab exercises.

    +64

    I do maybe 2 sets of abs that are weighted - all my other work comes from squats and compound lifts where I have to keep my core SO FREAKING TIGHT
  • martinh78
    martinh78 Posts: 601
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    Well if it's the pain during the ab workouts or the DOMS afterwards (that sore feeling) then if you increase the frequency (I'd say to at least 30 minutes) your body will get be in pain less often even though you are working out harder.

    Thank you!

    I gotta ask, "thank you" for what, because the above statement doesn't really mke any sense.

    If I'd have said "15 mins isn't enough you should be dong 45" would I have got a thank you?

    I'm not trying to start an argument, I genuinely don't see it...
  • FitBeto
    FitBeto Posts: 2,121 Member
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    Well if it's the pain during the ab workouts or the DOMS afterwards (that sore feeling) then if you increase the frequency (I'd say to at least 30 minutes) your body will get be in pain less often even though you are working out harder.

    Thank you!

    I gotta ask, "thank you" for what, because the above statement doesn't really mke any sense.

    If I'd have said "15 mins isn't enough you should be dong 45" would I have got a thank you?

    I'm not trying to start an argument, I genuinely don't see it...

    Its not how long you do it its what you do
  • FitBeto
    FitBeto Posts: 2,121 Member
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    Use A Variety Of Functional Exercises:

    The Top 3 Hip Flexion Exercises:
    1. Lying Hip Raise
    2. Incline Hip Raise
    3. Hanging Hip Raise
    The Top 3 Trunk Flexion Exercises:
    4. Swiss Ball Crunch
    5. Weighted Swiss Ball Crunches
    6. Weighted Cable Crunches
    The Top 3 Rotation Exercises:
    7. Russian Twist
    8. Weighted Russian Twist
    9. Weighted Cable Crossover
    The Top 3 Lateral Flexion Exercises:
    10. Lateral Flexion on back extension machine
    11. Lateral Flexion with medicine ball over head
    12. Lateral Flexion with medicine ball and twist
    Each of these exercises progresses from basic to intermediate to advanced. I suggest you master the first exercise of each before commencing to the next.
  • martinh78
    martinh78 Posts: 601
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    Ab xercises are not going to help you to "have abs" or be slimmer without your diet being in check. Abs are made in the kicthen. 15 minutes of abs is plenty, imho. Tyr Pilates inspired, "crunchless" ab workouts.

    You will also engageyour abs and improve their strength by doing the big compound lifts with free weights. You really engage your core when squatting heavy or doing over head press (while standing) to help keep your balance.

    Agree with this. If you do cardio as well you may already have pretty well developed "abs" and a strong core. Running is a good example of cardio that developes a strong core, or the rower.

    Don't forget to work on strengthening your back as well. It's important (as with all muscle groups) to balance the agonists and antagonists to prevent injury.

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