Best workout

Hi, everyone. I have been working out for 3+months trying to get abbs on my stomach and the sides. I am able to get partual, but not full. I have about 6(squares). I can't get the last 2, or the one of the side. In fact, the side looks fat. I can pull a huge amount of skin from there.

I usually do sit ups. I also workout on the pull up bar and lift my legs on the side and as high as possible. Though, this is very hard. I do about 5-10 and my stomach hurts. Is there any other workout that's easier. This is a pain

Original Post by xjlxking:

I also workout on the pull up bar and lift my legs on the side and as high as possible. Though, this is very hard. I do about 5-10 and my stomach hurts. Is there any other workout that's easier. This is a pain

Do half a mile of butterfly-kicking on your back, followed by 10 minutes of treading water (but dolphin-kick style with your hands up). That'll get you some abs.

But seriously, abs are a muscle, you build muscle through pain... it shouldn't be easy!!

There's nothing wrong with 5-10 reps. As you build more muscle on the sides you will be able to do more.

Original Post by tryatri:

Original Post by xjlxking:

I also workout on the pull up bar and lift my legs on the side and as high as possible. Though, this is very hard. I do about 5-10 and my stomach hurts. Is there any other workout that's easier. This is a pain

Do half a mile of butterfly-kicking on your back, followed by 10 minutes of treading water (but dolphin-kick style with your hands up). That'll get you some abs.

But seriously, abs are a muscle, you build muscle through pain... it shouldn't be easy!!

What are those butterfly kicking? And treading water?

Original Post by tryatri:

Original Post by xjlxking:

I also workout on the pull up bar and lift my legs on the side and as high as possible. Though, this is very hard. I do about 5-10 and my stomach hurts. Is there any other workout that's easier. This is a pain

Do half a mile of butterfly-kicking on your back, followed by 10 minutes of treading water (but dolphin-kick style with your hands up). That'll get you some abs.

But seriously, abs are a muscle, you build muscle through pain... it shouldn't be easy!!

 WTF? I think you mean scissor kicks. How in the world would you measure half a mile from that? Dolphin-kick? Dolphins don't have legs, how do they kick?

Do these after your regular workout. Only do one of these ab routines per day        &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;     

Workout number 1

Straight Leg Crunch 3 sets/10 reps

Standing Cable Crunch 3 sets/12 reps

Decline Bench Crunch 3 sets/15 reps

       &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp; 

Workout number 2

Hip Thrust on Incline Board 3 sets/10 reps

Knee Ups 3 sets/12 reps

Reverse Crunch 3 sets/15 reps

       &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;            

Workout number 3

Decline Russian Twist 3 sets/10 reps

Standing Oblique Cable Crunch 3 sets/10 reps

Crossover Split Leg Crunch

Hope this helps! Let me know if you need explanations for any of the exercises

 Sorry about all those random letters and symbols, I'm so bad with computers I don't know how those got there..... &nb sp;

6 packs are made in the kitchen, not the gym!  You can do all the crunches in the world, it won't make a blind bit of difference if your diet isn't on point.

Of couse its determined by what you eat and the amount of cardio you do also.

Original Post by bmx419:

Original Post by tryatri:

Original Post by xjlxking:

I also workout on the pull up bar and lift my legs on the side and as high as possible. Though, this is very hard. I do about 5-10 and my stomach hurts. Is there any other workout that's easier. This is a pain

Do half a mile of butterfly-kicking on your back, followed by 10 minutes of treading water (but dolphin-kick style with your hands up). That'll get you some abs.

But seriously, abs are a muscle, you build muscle through pain... it shouldn't be easy!!

 WTF? I think you mean scissor kicks. How in the world would you measure half a mile from that? Dolphin-kick? Dolphins don't have legs, how do they kick?

I call it butterfly kick, because you kick like that when you swim butterfly. And it's easy to measure half a mile, a standard lap pool is 25 yards (down one way) a swimming mile is 1650 yards (or 33 laps -lap being down and back). So kick 16.5 laps and you have half a mile.

This is what I mean by butterfly kicking on your back (you're gonna want to start out with hands by your head though... it's extremely hard to do it with hands in the air) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA3wI2M_xVs

And treading water is a way to stay afloat in deep water, the hard way I was talking about is to do that same dolphin kick (in deep water), vertical, with hands in the air. I know this isn't "real" treading water, but it's a million times harder and a great ab workout.

Okay, I want to make this clear. I eat healthy food. The only bad stuff I eat is patato chips. I only eat fast food about 2 times a month. I eat a lot of vegetables and fruit.

tryatri, I tried doing the dolphin kicks, but I am not good whatsoever. I am not a good swimmer, so that is not really a good option for me.

acare013, I don't understand what those letters and symbols mean. I believe   is space. Do you mind explaining?

To be honest, the spacing is due to the fact i'm horrible with computers. I tried to space the routines out so they would be easy to read and when I posted it, all that crazy stuff was added some how.

Also, there is a typo on workout number 3, this is what it's supposed to look like...

Decline Russian Twist 3 sets/10 reps, Standing Oblique Crunch 3 sets/12 reps, Crossover Split Leg Crunch 3 sets/15 reps

Thanks, but is there any chance you can show me what those are? Is there a vid somewhere?

it is true that diet and cardio is much more important than specific ab exercises if trying to reduce the body fat % in order to see the abs that have been built up underneath. By all means ab exercises are important and abs should be worked in the same way as other muscles, weighted ab exercises to build up the muscles. However as you mentioned that you can still pull fat from there it seems highly likely that your issue is not the strength of the ab muscles but rather the visibility of the overlying layer of fat.

as a previous poster mentioned "abs are made in the kitchen" and it is very true that they are revealed through diet. eating significant amounts of fruit is not necessarily a positive thing in terms of reducing ab fat. try to structure your calorific intake around 6 smaller meals a day to ensure that your metabolism stays high to ensure that the fat is burnt off. include lots of protein to feed those muscles and stay away from anything that will bloat you especially simple carbs (refined carbs but also it is advisiable to keep an eye on your fructose levels i.e. 2-3 pieces a day should suffice for vitamins). fill up on vegetables and aim for a suitable macro nutrient breakdown in order to lower the body fat percentage whilst retaining a healthy balanced diet. eating clean at least 80% of the time will help.

many people have found HIIT highly beneficial when aiming to reduce body fat whilst retaining muscle mass. perhaps 3 20 minutes of this a week topped up with 2 45 mins-1 hour LISS sessions would help for long term cardio health.

For your abs to really show you need to be shooting for 10% bodyfat or less.  A buddy of mine who thinks he is skinny and he is at 5'10" and 150 lbs, just got a body fat test done and can't believe he's at 17%.   That's why his abs don't show much...too much fat on top.   That's something you have to really work at and it's mostly done in the kitchen, not in the gym.  You need to continue working out and run a calorie deficit to get your body fat down to the target zone and you'll see your abs.  Then you'll know what you're working with  and where to go from there...

Thanks for all your help fellows. Okay first thing is first. How do I get a body fat exam? Also, I'm currently trying to gain extra weight ( about 10), so I try to increase the intake of calories, protein, CH, and other stuff. My stomach always grows when I eat though, but the abs are still visible (6).

Any ways, how do i keep a low body fat while gaining weight?

That's easy...eat more...lol.  You need a calorie surplus to gain weight and lift heavy weights with low reps to build it into muscle instead of fat.  Lots of high quality protein, 1 to 1.5 grams per pound of body weight every day.  A calorie surplus of 500 to 1000 per day should gain you 1 to 2 pounds per week.

So is it better to lift heavier weights, or less weight if I want more cuts (I don't know the proper term)?

Also, what do you mena low reps?

Generally speaking you'll get better results lifting heavier weights with less (low) reps, but you have to work up to it gradually.  Just because you can bench 150 your first time for example doesn't mean that's where you should start, if you want to progress steadily and avoid injury. 

Check out a program like stronglifts.com as an example of what I'm talking about, and there are lots of similar programs out there that focus on doing lifts that exercise major muscle groups and build usable strength and muscle.  There is tons of information there too. 

Original Post by johnnypenso:

Generally speaking you'll get better results lifting heavier weights with less (low) reps, but you have to work up to it gradually.  Just because you can bench 150 your first time for example doesn't mean that's where you should start, if you want to progress steadily and avoid injury. 

Check out a program like stronglifts.com as an example of what I'm talking about, and there are lots of similar programs out there that focus on doing lifts that exercise major muscle groups and build usable strength and muscle.  There is tons of information there too. 

Alright, thanks a lot man. I'll check it out.