Ab Exercises, Suggestions?

Training
41

[quote]iVoodoo wrote:

[quote]jp_dubya wrote:
If you work in a gym, try this. You need a chest press machine that has you sitting upright. Press the weight without any part of your upper back touching the back support. No one that I have had do this comes away without believing in it.[/quote]
Wow.
Do this guys, it really is pretty awesome.

It’s everything I ever wanted from planks![/quote]
Better than planks IMHO. You can manipulate the load. add variations.
Try two up one down.

42

Fletch would you just regularly do crunches with a foam roller between your adductors? is that it?

43

[quote]watermelon29 wrote:
Fletch would you just regularly do crunches with a foam roller between your adductors? is that it?[/quote]

I also do lots of leg raises with my legs together and spread. I’ll do spread eagle sit ups. I also do a lot of front squats, chins, lower and upper body unilateral work, standing presses, and z-presses. Squat’s, rows, and deads too but they don’t work my abs nearly as much as the other compound lifts I mentioned. That’s about it.

44

[quote]jp_dubya wrote:
If you work in a gym, try this. You need a chest press machine that has you sitting upright. Press the weight without any part of your upper back touching the back support. No one that I have had do this comes away without believing in it.[/quote]

i work in a gym. just did this. excellent.

45

I just want to give another + for Dead Bug.

Try doing it on a bench or elevated surface so that your legs/feet at NO time touch the ground. Perform at a 2x2 tempo or even slower, maintaining lower back on the surface and fully extending the arm reach and leg reach. Do about 15 reps per side and you should be burning.

Again like someone said before, there is a right way and a wrong way. You can learn to recruit the abdominals very well with dead bug assuming you are completely focused on the exercise at hand. You can progress using ankle weights or other forms of resistance.

46

[quote]anthropocentric wrote:
I just want to give another + for Dead Bug.

Try doing it on a bench or elevated surface so that your legs/feet at NO time touch the ground. Perform at a 2x2 tempo or even slower, maintaining lower back on the surface and fully extending the arm reach and leg reach. Do about 15 reps per side and you should be burning.

Again like someone said before, there is a right way and a wrong way. You can learn to recruit the abdominals very well with dead bug assuming you are completely focused on the exercise at hand. You can progress using ankle weights or other forms of resistance. [/quote]

Even better (from an ab standpoint), do them by actually fully contracting your abs first, then there is no need for an elevated surface.

To fully contract the abs:

  1. Lay on your back with arms at your sides, legs bent and feet flat on the ground
  2. Contract your upper abs fully, which should result in your head, shoulder blades and arms lifting up off the floor as much as possible while keeping your lower back on the floor. Oh, and try to keep your head/neck neutral with the spine (in other words your chin should not be on your chest, but still elevated off the floor)
  3. Now, holding the upper ab contraction, tuck your tailbone/posterior pelvic tilt as much as you can. This should result in the whole of the lower back being pressed firmly into the ground and you should feel both your upper abs and lower abs (which you will feel down around your pelvis area) contracting.

Now, from this position, without losing either the upper torso position or pelvic tilt try lifting your arms and legs straight up in the air. If you are successful, try performing a dead bug with one arm and one leg (again, you can’t lose the torso or pelvic positions, so your ROM might not be as big as you might have expected). If you can do that try it with two. When you can actually get a full ROM (which will resemble a “hollow hold” position) with both arms and both legs (legs together, straight and toes pointed) for a decent number or sets and reps, your core will be noticeably stronger and you should notice some increased abdominal area tightness as well.