is that kosher? I could stand to lose a little weight but i want to make sure i work on my abs so when the weight is off i have something worth looking at. does daily work out of abs a bad idea as it is with other muscles groups? or could i do crunches and a few other things daily to build up and tone my ab ?????

2/13/2007 2:06:29 PM

You can and should do crunches, etc. every day. If you are using resistance/heavy weight above and beyond your own body weight you may not want to do that every day.

2/13/2007 2:10:18 PM

^ He is correct....Ab's every other day is more beneficial, and I am sure you know you can't spot reduce with ab work outs just strengthen your Ab's and back...which is very helpful....

2/13/2007 2:12:51 PM

I do abs about three days a week (about every other day). Its a good 30-minute exercise with a decent amount of resistance, but not heavy weights. My abs are always a little sore the next day, but not too bad. I've seen crazy good results. So that's my recommendation.

2/13/2007 3:43:14 PM

^what exactly is your routine? Reps and sets? Ive been working on mine for a while but I havent noticed any changes in a few months now.

2/13/2007 4:48:40 PM

Are you looking to do this on a short-term basis (i.e. for spring-break only) or on a long-term basis?

2/13/2007 5:05:42 PM

Quote :

"^what exactly is your routine? Reps and sets? Ive been working on mine for a while but I havent noticed any changes in a few months now."

I hate telling my routine, b/c it's really hard to describe in words, and most of my exercises don't really have names.

But here it goes.

- I always start off on a decline bench with a weighted medicine ball (I think it's 5-7lbs). I hold the ball on top of my right shoulder and do 12 decline situps going towards my left knee and then vice versa (left shoulder to right knee). Then sit up about 1/3 of the way and move the ball side to side for about 30 reps. I do three sets of these

- Next is a long combination of things. I go to a workout mat with 65lb dumbell and put it up against the wall. I lay on my back with my hands grabbing each side of the dumbell. I then lift my legs up and touch the wall with my feet above my head...turning my feet so that the outside of my left foot hits the wall, then I do another one with my right side hitting the wall....so it's also working the obliques. I do 20 reps of these (10 on each side). Then I stay on my back and lift my feet about 6 inches in the air and do scissor kicks up and down and side to side. I do a 10 count of each, and then a 5 count of each. Then I do 30 crunches. Then I do this exercise where I'm still on my back but my knees are bent...I lift my shoulders off the ground a couple inches start moving my torso side to side in a sort of circular motion...my hands are going in and out in the area underneath my legs/knees. I do a 60 count of these and then go directly into bicycle situps...40 reps of those.

All of that in succession is one set...and I do three sets of those.

- Next I get one of those big ab balls. I do 20 crunches going straight, then 20 crunches going left and right, and then 20 crunches straight again. Then I get a heavier medicine ball (I think its a 10lb ball) and sit down with my knees bent and my feet hovering a few inches above the ground. I then move the ball from one side of my body to the other...usually with my feet going in the opposite direction of the ball. I do 60 reps of that.

All of that in succession is one set...and I do three sets of those.

That's usually what my ab workout consists of. Every couple weeks I'll either add more reps or an extra set. Recently I've started to add an exercise or two depending on how I'm feeling. Last few times I've got on that machine/apparatus where you put your forearms on those pads and lift your feet up with your legs straight or bent. I've got a few different exercises I do with that too.

I use to be really sore after doing this. But after a couple months, it takes a really hard and fast workout for me to feel it the next day. But I'm pretty much sporting an 8-pack right now...so I can't complain. I've always had decent abs, but this is as defined as they've ever been.




Also....my cardio has picked up a lot recently too. You can't get results without the cardio.

2/13/2007 11:18:30 PM

I do Max/Dynamic/Rep Method Abs

2/13/2007 11:26:24 PM

Would like to add that at least 80% of my exercises target the obliques. In my opinion, other than the lower two abs, the obliques are pretty hard to get definition in. And when you're working your obliques, you're always working your other abs too. So why not just kill two birds with one stone and do a bunch of exercises that work the obliques??

2/13/2007 11:39:50 PM

compound movements ftw!

[Edited on February 14, 2007 at 3:26 AM. Reason : isolation work is for fairies]

2/14/2007 3:25:54 AM

ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO

2/14/2007 3:45:30 AM