Bodybuilding Forums

I'm currently doing a 4 day split as follows, but I don't really feel like I've ever worked my abs particularly hard, and I'm not really making the progress I expected.

Monday: legs
Tuesday: Chest, Triceps
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: Biceps, Back
Friday: Shoulders, Abs (2 sets decline crunch, 2 sets crunch, 2 sets leg raise)
Saturday: rest
Sunday: rest (gym is closed)

Any thoughts on doing more abs work? Apart from abs my routine is working really well, so I don't want to throw it off balance by adding in say 6 more sets with Monday's leg workout, and I've already got a busy day in the gym on Tuesday. Or do I just plug away with my existing routine?

Abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym. What's your current body fat percentage? Is it below 10%?

--Matt B.

redgiki wrote:Abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym. What's your current body fat percentage? Is it below 10%?

--Matt B.

Currently I'm 12.7% and I can see a decent portion of them (top 4 and obliques) though they clearly have belly fat on them and aren't exactly chiselled. Ironically they were at their best ever back in March just before I started training again, after I'd done 3 months of pilates. I've stopped going to pilates classes in favour of the gym and they aren't getting anywhere near the same intense workout. It's more a case of after my abs workouts I just don't feel like I worked them, and there is no DOMS.

I'm tempted to add 4-6 sets to my monday workout, as follows, though I suspect tampering with my programme will affect the overall results because the recovery from my legs workout will be different.

Reverse crunches - 2 sets
Crunches - 2 sets
(And possibly) lying leg raise - 2 sets

Adding more sets or more abs exercises might make your core stronger but won’t make any difference in seeing those babies. You need to lower body fat. Make sure your using good form and slow contraction makes a big difference to the intensity, have you tried weighted crunches on a swiss ball really is intense or cable crunches are good.

Are you doing these crunches and leg raises with weights? If you are not, and aren't reaching failure at the typical rep range (8-12), then the exercise is too easy and that's why you aren't getting any ab development (aside from the body fat level of course). The more you grow your ab muscles the more leeway you have in body fat level for when they start becoming more visible. So work your abs like any other muscle, with intentions for them to build up and grow, not like they do in the infomercials.

I do abs once a week and these are 3 exercises I do for them, all very easy to increase the level of resistance so you can progressively overload the muscles.
Upper Abs: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Rec ... runch.html
Lower Abs: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Rec ... Raise.html (hold dumbbell with feet, do it like the picture with your lower back coming off the pad)
Obliques: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Obl ... eBend.html

SurferX wrote:Are you doing these crunches and leg raises with weights? If you are not, and aren't reaching failure at the typical rep range (8-12), then the exercise is too easy and that's why you aren't getting any ab development (aside from the body fat level of course). The more you grow your ab muscles the more leeway you have in body fat level for when they start becoming more visible. So work your abs like any other muscle, with intentions for them to build up and grow, not like they do in the infomercials.

I do abs once a week and these are 3 exercises I do for them, all very easy to increase the level of resistance so you can progressively overload the muscles.
Upper Abs: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Rec ... runch.html
Lower Abs: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Rec ... Raise.html (hold dumbbell with feet, do it like the picture with your lower back coming off the pad)
Obliques: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Obl ... eBend.html

Yeah I'm using a bit of weight, at the moment 2.5kg for crunches and 3kg for leg raises, in the range of 8-16. At the moment I'm hitting 14-16 reps with good form and next week I'll be upping the resistance. I just don't really 'feel' like I've had a tough workout though. Cheers for the exercise links- am a big fan of cable crunches, I'll be adding those in on my next training cycle.

SurferX, what's your take on seated leg tucks with a dumbell? I've been doing these and they seem to hit more abs, less hips than the link to the lower ab exercise you posted. You've actually studied this though, I haven't though, so hence my curiosity.

I like seated leg tucks also, the only thing I don't like about them is that resistance doesn't get added evenly because one weight could be very easy when your legs are inward but very difficult to hold up when your legs are extended. Although they will probably feel more effective because the entire rectus abdominus is being worked rather than targeting a portion of it. I honestly think many ab exercises come down to preference and comfort level.

Lower abs kind of suck in general because none of their exercises are particularly easy or very comfortable to do and small variations can throw it off. I think its important to find the exercise you are most comfortable with doing that allows you to get that good pull in the lower abs that happens when you get spine flexion resulting in movement of the pelvis rather than just the legs.

SurferX wrote:Lower abs kind of suck in general because none of their exercises are particularly easy or very comfortable to do and small variations can throw it off. I think its important to find the exercise you are most comfortable with doing that allows you to get that good pull in the lower abs that happens when you get spine flexion resulting in movement of the pelvis rather than just the legs.

True; and jumping from 10lbs to 15lbs in leg tucks tends to be more than a small variation.

Lately I've been also putting a decline bench all the way, putting 30lbs behind my head, and crunching up to each side. Your lower abs and obliques burn enough that you're choking back tears in front of everyone else at the gym.

Just got back from the gym and I had an awesome abs workout. I've been thinking about some of the comments on here, so changed things around a little. I'm going to continue with abs once a week, but have changed the order of exercises, added 2 sets of reverse bench crunches and had a think about comfort and form. The reverse bench crunches are a very natural exercise for me, and very comfortable. So I now have:

Decline crunches: 2 sets (doing 14 with 2.5kg)
Crunches: 2 sets (doing 14 with 5kg)
Lying leg raises: 2 sets (doing 14 with 2kg)
Reverse bench crunch: 2 sets (doing 14 with 2kg)

On the leg raises, I dropped the weight from last week as I don't think my form was good enough, though now I pack more power in the 'up' drive of my ankles and lower slowly I feel the muscles working a hell of a lot more. I'm doing all of these reps a little bit slower and more controlled and am forcibly contracting my abs more to add more feeling into it which certainly feels more intense.

So cheers for the comments, appreciated.