Trainer won't let me work on my abs yet :(
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Are you killing it with cardio yet? Until you do, working your abs is going to translate to a failure when you look for results.
Trust your trainer. As exciting as it is to see abs and all that glamour with a 6 pack, he is not leading you astray.0 -
Please help me understand too. I paid a trainer for the past month. We met once a week for 1/2 hour and he gave me taught me the things to do for that week, so bascially now that I am done with the trainer (until I save up more money again), he asked me what I wanted to work on and I said abs. We did core strengthening, pulls downs, used the bar weights, sliders side to side for upper thighs, etc. I have really not noticed any difference on inches or weight lost. ( I should mention that I also do cardio - interval training on the treadmill, or zumba or tone and tighten classes as well) but nothing budges. Did I just waste money on the trainer?
It is hard when you don't understand all of this, so anything education you can put out here is welcome!0 -
Until you cut the majority of the fat around your abdominal area, there really isn't any point in doing specific ab training. There are tons of workouts you can do that can develop your abs without you doing any ab-specific workout at all. Things like tricep-pushdowns, squats, dumbbell rows...anything that requires that you brace your body is basically going to engage your abs. Listen to your trainer. Stick with it. He knows what he is talking about and is only trying to help you. I hope this helped!
this
He could let you work your abs, but he has only so much time with you and it would be a waste of your money. He is saving you frustration and money by waiting. I think you have a winner in him. Good luck with your goals!0 -
I agree with those that say listen to your trainer. Yes you are paying him, but if you knew what to do to get in shape you wouldn't have hired him. I hate some of the exercises my PT has me do, my biggest "trouble spot" is my abs, and the only core exercise he has me do is planks. This is to strengthen my core and not specifically targeting my abs, although it does work them. He told me at our first appointment that any ab specific work would be a waste of my time at this point.0
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If you are trying to spot reduce realize now that you really can't... You have to focus on losing the weight first before toning up...
Running, Weight Training, Walking, Yoga, and Swimming are just some of the great cardio and strength building exercises that will help you focus on burning fat...especially stubborn belly fat!
From the sounds of it your Trainer is just trying to ensure you maximize your time at the gym. Ab exercises are only good for developing your abs, not for losing weight. Those exercises will come later.
For now focus on eating right and cardio/strength training and you will lose the fat in no time!
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Why don't you ask your trainer about compound lifts? Then you'll both get your way.0
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Until you cut the majority of the fat around your abdominal area, there really isn't any point in doing specific ab training. There are tons of workouts you can do that can develop your abs without you doing any ab-specific workout at all. Things like tricep-pushdowns, squats, dumbbell rows...anything that requires that you brace your body is basically going to engage your abs. Listen to your trainer. Stick with it. He knows what he is talking about and is only trying to help you. I hope this helped!
this
He could let you work your abs, but he has only so much time with you and it would be a waste of your money. He is saving you frustration and money by waiting. I think you have a winner in him. Good luck with your goals!
agreed! Literally 10,000 sit ups a day is not going to give you the abs you want. Gotta lose the fat :grumble:0 -
Until you cut the majority of the fat around your abdominal area, there really isn't any point in doing specific ab training. There are tons of workouts you can do that can develop your abs without you doing any ab-specific workout at all. Things like tricep-pushdowns, squats, dumbbell rows...anything that requires that you brace your body is basically going to engage your abs. Listen to your trainer. Stick with it. He knows what he is talking about and is only trying to help you. I hope this helped!
^^ This.
Here's the thing - you need to do cardio to burn off the fat. Doing arm and leg workouts will give you more immediate, positive results that you can be proud of and will push you to continue your efforts. Doing a bunch of crunches, planks, etc, now, will NOT give you the results you want. You need to burn the fat off, slim down, then work on building up your core. He's trying to put you on a track where you won't feel discouraged at not seeing results and quit.
Listen to him. You're paying him money for a reason. Give it a month. Then ask again.
All of the above!
I was going to say myself, that you really don't have to work just abs to get a great ab workout.
I haven't isolated abs in at least a month, yet on Tuesday when I did a great workout on squats and deadlifts, I really felt it in my abs the next day. It hurt getting up off the bed / sofa and even hurt a bit when I laughed!
So with those, you're not only working your core, but you're also getting a great all over body workout, burning calories, and it hits your legs/butt hard too!
Yep they are all right. I have a trainer too and he does not have me do any exercises that "target " my abs. There are plenty of exercises that will work your abs and be more beneficial to you overall. Unfortunately great abs come from low body fat... and good diet! Good luck and keep it up, you will see a difference!0 -
The trainer I have we work out in combo's I do HIT or scupleting work outs 3 day's a wek the other days is either walking or free weight training or boxing. I will even jump on the WII as well. Your trainer knows best or at least they should. If you are not ejoying your self while training then I would say you need a diffrent trainer.0
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Until you cut the majority of the fat around your abdominal area, there really isn't any point in doing specific ab training. There are tons of workouts you can do that can develop your abs without you doing any ab-specific workout at all. Things like tricep-pushdowns, squats, dumbbell rows...anything that requires that you brace your body is basically going to engage your abs. Listen to your trainer. Stick with it. He knows what he is talking about and is only trying to help you. I hope this helped!
^^ This.
Here's the thing - you need to do cardio to burn off the fat. Doing arm and leg workouts will give you more immediate, positive results that you can be proud of and will push you to continue your efforts. Doing a bunch of crunches, planks, etc, now, will NOT give you the results you want. You need to burn the fat off, slim down, then work on building up your core. He's trying to put you on a track where you won't feel discouraged at not seeing results and quit.
Listen to him. You're paying him money for a reason. Give it a month. Then ask again.
love this0 -
Even you do abs work like crazy you won't see them until you go below 12% BF but arms and legs yes. Belly fat is the last to go (at least for men). For woman is thighs and then abs. Arms are the 1st you're going to see big results.
It seems that he knows what he's doing.Hello. I had a couple of sessions with my trainer and he asked me what I wanted to work on this month. I told him my abs. He flat out said no, either my arms or legs I had to choose. I kind of went back and forth with him because, you know, I paid for him and I know what my problem areas are and I know what I really want to work on but he did not budge. I am really discouraged now. I'm working on my arms and doing cardio but my stomach is still so big like i'm 5 months pregnant.
Is there something in the books that says you can't train your abs first or could this be something he just doesn't want to do with me? Another worker at the gym told me that since i'm paying for this gym membership and this trainer he should work for me and I agree.0 -
Its better to cut the fat first, Ive cut mine down to about 13%, been working on the abs for 2 months and I still can't see anything, the fat needs to be down to atleast 10% before you will see any abs coming through so all the cardio will pay off and in no time you will get them abs through
These numbers are not correct for everyone, especially women! I had a six-pack all summer with 12-14% BF.0 -
Its better to cut the fat first, Ive cut mine down to about 13%, been working on the abs for 2 months and I still can't see anything, the fat needs to be down to atleast 10% before you will see any abs coming through so all the cardio will pay off and in no time you will get them abs through
These numbers are not correct for everyone, especially women! I had a six-pack all summer with 12-14% BF.
wow, where did those original numbers come from? I think I was at 18% (could have been a little less, but not much) with great abs in November....0 -
Its better to cut the fat first, Ive cut mine down to about 13%, been working on the abs for 2 months and I still can't see anything, the fat needs to be down to atleast 10% before you will see any abs coming through so all the cardio will pay off and in no time you will get them abs through
These numbers are not correct for everyone, especially women! I had a six-pack all summer with 12-14% BF.
wow, where did those original numbers come from? I think I was at 18% (could have been a little less, but not much) with great abs in November....
Some guy earlier on.. And I've notice other mininum BF% get thrown around in here for seeing abs that simply aren't true! Like You said, it's different for everyone! I hold all my weight in the middle so I need to be leaner, you (obviously) did not and Looked amzing! Seeing the abs requies that one have a low BF and strong ab muscles and good genetics, but there is no magical BF number that one must hit ... that's just silly! 0 -
Of course is different but there should be a reference.
Man 10%-12%
Women 12%-14%
You can see abs above these no. but you cannot see fat below these no.
Hope is clear now.Its better to cut the fat first, Ive cut mine down to about 13%, been working on the abs for 2 months and I still can't see anything, the fat needs to be down to atleast 10% before you will see any abs coming through so all the cardio will pay off and in no time you will get them abs through
These numbers are not correct for everyone, especially women! I had a six-pack all summer with 12-14% BF.
wow, where did those original numbers come from? I think I was at 18% (could have been a little less, but not much) with great abs in November....
Some guy earlier on.. And I've notice other mininum BF% get thrown around in here for seeing abs that simply aren't true! Like You said, it's different for everyone! I hold all my weight in the middle so I need to be leaner, you (obviously) did not and Looked amzing! Seeing the abs requies that one have a low BF and strong ab muscles and good genetics, but there is no magical BF number that one must hit ... that's just silly!0 -
Until you cut the majority of the fat around your abdominal area, there really isn't any point in doing specific ab training. There are tons of workouts you can do that can develop your abs without you doing any ab-specific workout at all. Things like tricep-pushdowns, squats, dumbbell rows...anything that requires that you brace your body is basically going to engage your abs. Listen to your trainer. Stick with it. He knows what he is talking about and is only trying to help you. I hope this helped!
^^ This.
Here's the thing - you need to do cardio to burn off the fat. Doing arm and leg workouts will give you more immediate, positive results that you can be proud of and will push you to continue your efforts. Doing a bunch of crunches, planks, etc, now, will NOT give you the results you want. You need to burn the fat off, slim down, then work on building up your core. He's trying to put you on a track where you won't feel discouraged at not seeing results and quit.
Listen to him. You're paying him money for a reason. Give it a month. Then ask again.
These people totally nailed your answer.
Yup. Although, he just should have flat-out explained that to you. If he's not willing to share this sort of basic knowledge, then you may want to find another trainer.
I agree with all this. He knows what he is doing but if he can't explain it to you so that you don't get frustrated and confused, maybe you should take that into consideration.0 -
He should have explained why:
Sit ups, crunches, and other ab work will not shrink your waistline. Losing bodyfat will. In fact, doing a lot of ab work right now could make your stomach look bigger, because you're building the muscle under the fat.
Doing abwork doesn't get you a sixpack. Losing bodyfat does.
You can't spot reduce. You have to drop bodyfat all over. There's nothing wrong with strenthening your core muscles, however. You want to be able to support your back as you exercise. Practice pulling your ab muscles in (not sucking in, you still have to breathe, just think about tucking them in towards your spine) during the day and as you work out. This way you are strengthening them and supporting your back, at least.
Keep doing that cardio, and lift hard and heavy! Your waist will trim down that way. 0 -
Your abdominals are muscles. They are not there just to look pretty. I FEEL results in no time if I work them at all, and lose inches too (when not eating at a deficit, so not through lost fat). For me, though, it was push-ups that were the most effective so far.
Back before most women thought of having six-packs, they still worked on their abs. I would never, ever risk my fertility by attempting to get to the body fat percentages associated with a 6 pack, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't aim to have strong abs!0 -
Yeah had he just explained the reasons I would have understood. I'm not trying to get a six pack. I just want my stomach to go down. Nothing's working and I'm depressed now.0
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Yeah had he just explained the reasons I would have understood. I'm not trying to get a six pack. I just want my stomach to go down. Nothing's working and I'm depressed now.
There's no point in trying to attack abs from every single angle when you're overweight/obese. The abs main function is to support your back, and they are worked with all the compound lifts usually. Some basic planks or crunches may help, but you don't need a lot of volume. Also, I'm typing this with the assumption that you know you cannot spot reduce fat. It doesn't matter that you do 200000000 crunches. Your belly isn't going anywhere until you drop overall bodyfat.
EDIT: Misread what you said. Yeah, that's a problem if he didn't explain. What kind of routine is he having you do anyways?0
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