i hate running, always have really.
But today, i ran in place and felt the burn quicker than i ever had in my entire life. It was awesome. It was more like high stepping than running in place. My abs started tightening really quick, and I only did it for about 4 minutes. Running itself always felt weird and it always tired me out. I might not have been doing something right, but oh well, i wouldn't have liked it regardless. Plus when I run, my balls feel like they're going to fall through my sack :O ouch! That didn't happen once with what I tried today.

Also, I'm giving the Atkins diet a try (sort of). I haven't eaten bread for the past two days and its killing me not to, but I feel better. I think I'll just not worry about it and keep up this running in place stuff and benching.

I think running in place only really helps you with your lower ab muscles.

It sure does, really gets them burning after just a minute or two.

I'm guessing that losing weight is your goal (read: losing bodyfat, not muscle) since you're both running and on Atkins.

I don't like running either (you might find that you like cycling or something else better), but there's a form of cardio that you do literally only 12-15 minutes a day, tops (and those who first start out should begin at about 4 or 5 minutes!). It's called HIIT. Search this board. Learn it. Love it.

There's also a different version of Atkins called a CKD (Cyclic Ketogenic Diet). The idea of being in ketosis is all the same, but the difference is there's a ~36 hour "carb up" period where you can pig out a little on the carbs. The caveat is that you had better be a bodybuilder, since the carb-up is meant to replace depleted muscle glycogen while you've been working out during the week.

Oh, and I've heard warnings to the effect that straight Atkins was meant for sedentary people and not meant for active people wanting to maintain/gain muscle mass; CKD is much better for bodybuilding. You might want to look into that.

Those are just the tips of those two icebergs, but you might be happier with your exercise and nutrition programs if you consider those.