what constitutes a good workout for abs?

[betheman]

currently doing push ups, chin/pull ups, dumbells, shoulder press, squats etc. to work on my abs I also do alternate days doing 4 x 1 minute sets of 'planks'.
when I walk I also do twists and pull in my gut as a form of toning

Is this enough long term to develop better abs? increase the amounts Im doing or do something different, no sign of the six pack yet but I can feel them. got a paunch and love handles to lose

 

[AAAgent]

wth? none of those are abdominal directed(focused) exercises. I'm sure there is part core in those workouts but I think you need to add in an ab routine as well to compliment those exercises.

On a side note, I'm about 180's sometimes a few pounds less. I want to lean out now fat wise. I have a decent back now, chest, arms, legs are getting better but my gut is still there.

I'm looking for some good ab workout suggestions. I'm currently doing the 300 workout with some strength routines worked in. I'm aiming at completing the workout in 30 minutes or less. right now my Personal best is 51 minutes.

 

[PDubb75]

I'm not too good with names of these moves, but I can describe some of the ab workouts my personal trainer has me do.

1) On an incline bench (like this: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT5lYLD_1D99iSCpFvQ6qwOc5jUf3VK4un89CoHU2_5XRhmbseEOQ ), legs between the leg pads at top, your head downhill on the bottom. Do sit ups as someone throws a medicine ball for you to catch over your head as you go down, throw it back to them as you come up.

2) Sit in an upright sit up position, lean slightly back and pick your feet up off the ground. Holding a medicine ball, touch the floor on each sit of your body, keep alternating: http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS66zOOL1LkTqbryUcWdvH6Icp7_RtwtnIIG7gSVOwlqYVWbYQsiw

3) Back onto the same incline bench as in #1, lay with your head at the top, arms over your head holding onto that black handle. Lift your legs up like a reverse crunch, then continue to move up so that your lower back comes off the bench as well, letting your knees touch your elbows.

4) With some plates on a barbell (doesn't matter how much or how little), place the bar on the floor and sit on your knees behind it. With your back straight, almost like in a pushup position, roll the bar forward, stop, then roll back.

A six-pack will show when you get to a very low body fat %. Obviously, the more you work your abs, the sooner they will show, but no matter what, you need the low BF%. The 4 exercises I just mentioned should hit your abs pretty damn hard, if done right with enough reps. I'm sure you can get some others to chime in, as well (Fuglydude comes to mind...)

 

[MrS]

Chinups / pullups!

 

[Fuglydude]

Chinups / pullups!

For someone claiming to be a personal trainer you should probably know that chin ups/pull ups involve flexion of the humerus about the trunk of the body. This will typically call for recruitment of the lats and the muscles that are responsible for scapular stability as well as the biceps and brachialis. Although you will get some sort of core work from these, there are much more focused exercises you can do to work core.

Betheman, I'm closing in on a 500 lb deadlift at around 185 lbs bodyweight and I feel like my core tightening up is really helping this. As far as ab training goes, here's what I recommend:

Take a varied approach. This basically means that you can use many different types of moves/exercises to hit abs. Personally I'm a huge fan of the big compound lifts. For abs front squats (w/ clean grip) and Zercher squats are fantastic. Just make sure you have a good amount of weight and work to a high level of intensity. Some vids for ya:

heavy fronts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-myIZh6is6Y

zercher squat:
(this is a dead start z-squat... extra nasty!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2OKweR-N-g

Other stuff that I "enjoy" include:

Windshield wipers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mypv_nTRP_A

Finally, there's your traditional ab exercises like crunches on a swiss ball, plank/bridge. Hanging leg raises:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW3Nu9Vi0us

I really like cable crunches as well, especially if you can anchor it well and avoid swinging too much as in this vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB_JBCkwOVE

There's tons of things you can do man. I think the key thing is to use a good combo of heavy stuff like front/zercher squats and other compounds along with more traditional ab work. PDubb actually gave you some decent suggestions.

Obviously if you're trying to get a 6 pack your diet is gonna be the most important thing by far. Otherwise, the exercises that have been highlighted above will help you to build a strong stable core.

Hope this helps.

 

[MrS]

For someone claiming to be a personal trainer you should probably know that chin ups/pull ups involve flexion of the humerus about the trunk of the body. This will typically call for recruitment of the lats and the muscles that are responsible for scapular stability as well as the biceps and brachialis. Although you will get some sort of core work from these, there are much more focused exercises you can do to work core.

Hey better watch my P's and Q's now I said I could train people if they wanted huh?

I never said they were the bestestestetesetest thing ever, I was just adding to the discussion.

 

[PDubb75]

Fuglydude - those z-squats scared the sh!t out of me. And as non-gay as I can make this.... I want to see you work out! hahaha

I can't believe I forgot Cable Crunches. I probably do those most.

The windshield wipers can be altered for more of a beginner exercise, too. You can just lay on your back with your legs straight out and do the same motion. Obviously not as good as the video example, but a good place to start. Those seem like some pretty advanced exercises (stuff I haven't even touched yet).

 

[ArcBound]

Betheman when pushups were getting easy for me I wore a backpack and gradually loaded it with my school textbooks to add weight... You have to push up extra with your abdominal area to counterbalance the weight and it helped me with ab work..

 

[Fuglydude]

Fuglydude - those z-squats scared the sh!t out of me. And as non-gay as I can make this.... I want to see you work out! hahaha

I can't believe I forgot Cable Crunches. I probably do those most.

The windshield wipers can be altered for more of a beginner exercise, too. You can just lay on your back with your legs straight out and do the same motion. Obviously not as good as the video example, but a good place to start. Those seem like some pretty advanced exercises (stuff I haven't even touched yet).

Haha, dude I've hung my cack out for gay guys to stare at when I've stripped at fag bars!! Nothing gay about what you said... now if you said you wanted to grab my ass while I'm doing squats, that would be something different!

Wipers can be kinda hazardous if you do them too fast. I've had lower back injuries from them and even had strained obliques. I haven't done them in years. What I do now is do a "big wiper" where you start in a basic wide grip chin up position with your feet hanging on the left and then slowly kind of trace an arc with your toes until you get to the other side. I think the fact that I do it slowly helps prevent injury. I only do around 6 of them and they're great in combination with other core work.

 

[Jitterbug]

Ab Wheel rollout works your abs harder than any type of squat or deadlift, IME.

 

[lateluvr]

No, they are not "made" in the kitchen. They might be REVEALED better to a viewer by a diet which reduces the fat that obscures them from external viewing, but making them larger-harder is NOT done without serious, focused exercise of the muscles themselves. Google for "Legendary Abs" routine, I've used it since 1987 and I can take ANYBODY'S bare-knuckle punch to my navel, provided that I am ready for it. If the guy is a black belt in karate, he might knock me down, but I won't be hurt by the punch.

 

[nmartinez12443]

best workouts I have found

I would do these every other day

8 minute abs- Easy, but pretty effective

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dnlMGd6tEc

after about 4 weeks......

PX90 Ab ripper X, BRUTAL BRUTAL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh1Ol3RpOEc

 

[betheman]

Thanks for posting the links to the various exercises, my shoulders, chest and arms are coming on a treat, got decent legs too, Ive lost 3" off my waist but some way to go there, upper abs have a lttle definition but ive got a paunch so reducing the body fat is obviously key there