Re: Ab Exercises/Getting that 6-pack
 

on a side note id like to hear what anyone has to say about the following:

i was watching this infomercial on a product called slendertone. its one of those bands that go around your waist and is supposed to electroshock your muscles to work. in the past these things were said to be a scam, but this one looked like it might actually work especially since jerry rice was on the program talking about he himself uses it. people think that its a cakewalk to use this program, but it became apparent that the belt can certainly hurt as it simulates an actual workout.

i searched google for reviews on the product and it seems that people finding it to work. alot of people were mentioning how they toned alot of their muscles in their body and look much better. alot of people who appeared to be fat posted poor reviews saying that slendertone didnt do anything for them, but that is because slendertone is designed for slender people who arent overweight but just want to tone their muscles. a person with 4 inches of gut on them isnt going to suddenly become skinny. he will have stronger muscles but he wont even see them.

anyone know anything about this?

Re: Ab Exercises/Getting that 6-pack
 

lay off the donuts

Re: Ab Exercises/Getting that 6-pack
 

oh oh! here's a thread where i spread lots of misinformation about ab workouts.

i think the bicycle one is best.

Re: Ab Exercises/Getting that 6-pack
 

bicycle crunches and normal crunches. leg lifts as well. as others have posted.

for a while now i have been swimming laps on a regular basis and have found it is the best exercise i have ever routinely had.

has burned off a lot and toned up muscles i had never really worked before to give a better overall physique.

Re: Ab Exercises/Getting that 6-pack
 

[ QUOTE ]
yeah, cuz lifting weights just burns so much fat (thats sarcasm)

[/ QUOTE ]

Your sarcasm meter must be broken! Lifting weights alone will add muscle. The more muscle you have on your body, the more fat your burn at rest. It's called elevating the BMR. (Basil Metabolic Rate)

Re: Ab Exercises/Getting that 6-pack
 

Everyone has a 6-pack. How well it is shown is based on your body fat percentage. The best exercise for getting a 6-pack is done in the kitchen.

Re: Ab Exercises/Getting that 6-pack
 

Stomach exercises and back and side exercises are all important. What you're looking for is what peopple are popularly calling "core" strength or "core" stability. The muscles that support and move your trunk -- obliques, abs, muscles around the ribs, lower back, hip flexors -- qualify. For optimum back health, you need to develop all of them.

The link you gave is a bit lame. For one, it recommends one of those foolish "ab rocker" t.v. chairs. They suck.

Personally, I like ab wheels a lot. They can give all of your core muscles a tremendous work-out in almost no time at all. They're generally no more than 20 bucks, and some of the cheapest ones are half that, but you want one with at least some width to the wheel so you have a little stability rolling out. Roll out from the knees, and use your abs to pull you in, not your arms. Keep your arms with the elbows locked or almost locked. Feeling like you're pushing back with the butt instead of pulling back with the arms, back, or shoulders will do a lot to help you concentrate on firing your abs and making them do the work. They'll do plenty of work if you do the movement in a sloppy way too, but you really don't want to turn it into a back/arms exercise. You want those abs strong enough not to need to "cheat". When you get strong enough, do the ab wheel roll-outs from a full standing position. Start very slow at first; even half a dozen from the knees might give you a sore feeling.

There are also ab wheels with footstraps, and you use your hands to walk out along the floor. These are more comfortable for doing certain exercises like walking up and down your living room instead of doing static jack-knifing of your body.

You can work the abs every day.

To really get a six pack to show, it's mostly about diet, not muscle. Unless you know how to manage your diet to keep lean, you can probably forget about a six-pack unless you're a very committed athlete making serious work-outs a big part of your lifestyle. And maybe not even then. You can't spot reduce fat; it comees off your whole body. So lay off the six-packs if you want to have a six-pack.

Best Book EVER
 

The best book ever written on the subject (certainly the best I've ever read) can be found here.

Seriously, highly reccomended.

Re: Ab Exercises/Getting that 6-pack
 

Hey these are my abs:

http://www.geocities.com/larryownsyou/lng2.jpg

Sorry for the fuzzy picture. Anyways I've maintained these babies for well over 5 years now. I use to be a fat kid who had poor metabolism. If you want abs I'm gonna tell you how.

First off, abs won't show with fat over it. If you've got a gut, pot belly, big ass bowl in your tummy you need to get rid of it. To do that you need to do cardio, lots of cardio ..at least a good 40-50 minutes a session.

Do that consitently, cut down on hydrogenated, processed, refined [censored] too and keep your diet natural.

Now the key to maximizing any muscle group is isolate it and isolate that group only. The problem with sit ups and most other very repetitive workouts like the bike kick is that it's useless. Not only are they useless, but they hurt/strain your back and neck.

The abs are just like any other muscle group. You need to do sets, reps, and they need to work to the point of exhaustion to grow muscle.

1. At my gym I use a special ab machine ( I can't find a picture of it sorry) where you lie down and weights can be inserted either by the feet and/or near the head. Basically if the weights are inserted by the feet, it increases difficulty, if the weights are inserted by the head it decresases it.

The great thing about this machine is that you don't need to do like 100 sit ups. You can gradually add/take off more/less weights and just simply crunch up to get a full ab workout. There is no strain on your back or neck as you use your legs and arms to assist you.

2. I love the ab roller. Again this machine is great cuz there is no strain on the neck or back. To the use the ab roller well, you don't do 100 crunches. You bring yourself up as far as you can and then hold for either 5 or 10 or 15 seconds depending on how strong your abs are. Do this 4 times. Take a break, repeat, and then turn over and lie on your left/right side and do the same thing only this time working your side muscles. AGain hold each set for 5/10/15 seconds whatever your pain threshold is.

3. To do the lower abs I usually sit my ass on a bench, place my arms behind me on the bench for support, raise my legs and bring them in so they are in a tucked position towards my tummy. Then i stretch them out and bring them in again.

4. To get that horseshoe line around the abs, you can grab a weight with one hand, place your other hand on your forehead and just dip the weight down and bring it back up. Do this for about 10 reps and increase the weight each time.

Remember, the key thing is not to strain your back/neck and I find that resistance and adding weights is the best way to make the ab muscle grow and define itself. You will also have to work out other parts of your body too to keep the metabolism up, but intermixing the cardio/strength training will be most beneficial. Remember, abs are just like the chest muscle/back muscle. You need to work it out hard for a session and give it rest. I usually do abs 1 - 1.5 times a week and that's it. You don't need to do sit ups everyday otherwise it will actually backfire on you.

Sorry if the write-up is erratic, it's late I'm kinda tired.

Hope this helps.

Lawrence

Re: Ab Exercises/Getting that 6-pack
 

Get in the thinking position for as long as you can (hopefully at least 30 seconds). Gradually increase the amount of time you hold it.

To get into the thinking position lie flat on your stomache like youre about to do a push up. Instead of doing a push up, lift yourself up with your elbows and hold yourself rigid about a foot off the ground. Your abs should be tight.