How to Train Abs for Max Definition?

Training
21

[quote]Chris87 wrote:
Colucci knows his shit. He has most likely been making people great for longer than you have been alive.[/quote]
Thanks man. I do appreciate that. But are you saying this because OP sounds like a snotty teenager or because you think I’m like 50? :confused:

[quote]NYWanderer1982 wrote:
R u saying that the idea of training abs for hypertrophy has no merit? Because that would put every article ever written by bodybuilding authors, including those on TNation (gasp) in the pure fluff category. In the articles they say you should train your abs to grow w/weighted excercises.[/quote]
If only there was a TNation author who could wander into this thread and chime in with his opinion.

Thanks for taking the time to write out a huge premenstrual rant pissing on the people who invested time into helping you instead of being open to constructive criticism.

No it isn’t. The cause of an injury is much less important than the treatment and its current state. It doesn’t matter if you tore your knee parachuting into Kabul or slipping in the shower.

[quote]Did you know that I had an articular cartilage repair surgery two years ago, and I still have to work around that? No.
Did you know that I severely strained my back and got some pretty bad adhesions in the subgluteal fold on my right hamstring? No.[/quote]
I asked. You decided not to answer because it was more important for you to whine about people offering input on the big picture instead of answering what you think is the issue at hand.

P.S. - if your back is “severely strained”, you’re probably making it worse with the fucked up ab training you’re currently doing. Nice work.

[quote]Did you know that I am an IT Mgr at a financial services company? No.
Did you know that in addition to work I am enrolled in school? No. But combined with work that places 60-70 hours of a specific type of stress per week that affects my recovery ability, along with affecting how much sleep I can get.[/quote]
If you weren’t following a shitty training program and a fat loss diet, recovery wouldn’t be as issue. People with schedules busier than yours have gotten results. You are not a unique little snowflake.

[quote]FIY,

Do you know how infuriating it is to sit here and listen to people try to beat you over the head with bad advice? [/quote]
FIY, do you know how infuriating it is to be asked for advice, invest time and energy into offering advice, and then have that person be a condescending shit and say, “FIY, no that’s not it. Here’s all the reasons you guys need to give me better advice.”?

You mean like a guy with a bad back and bad knee who has soccer games and practices weekly while following an imbalanced and poorly designed weight training program on a reduced calorie diet who believes his current priority is figuring out the best ab exercises?

That’s context, bud.

So, go use the Search function, find your own answers, piss off, and have a Merry Christmas.

22

FIY, do you know how infuriating it is to be asked for advice, invest time and energy into offering advice, and then have that person be a condescending shit and say, “FIY, no that’s not it. Here’s all the reasons you guys need to give me better advice.”?

You mean like a guy with a bad back and bad knee who has soccer games and practices weekly while following an imbalanced and poorly designed weight training program on a reduced calorie diet who believes his current priority is figuring out the best ab exercises?

That’s context, bud.

So, go use the Search function, find your own answers, piss off, and have a Merry Christmas.[/quote]

SNAP.

23

[quote]NYWanderer1982 wrote:
What’s the best way to get the abs to pop? Should I train them with heavy weights once a week, same as any other body group?[/quote]

Ab definition is made in the kitchen. That’s pretty much common knowledge to people who lift. Just keep lowering your bodyfat percentage. Doesn’t matter how much you work or how many injuries you have. None of that disqualifies you from needing a lower bodyfat percentage if you want more defined abs.

But given the amount of bitching you’ve done, that’s obviously not what you wanted to hear. I sympathize, I hate dieting and messing with bodyfat percentages and shit. I’d much rather just lift heavy. Anyway, if you don’t want to listen, just let us know how your “ab hypertrophy training” goes and show some pics of your success in a few months.

24

[quote]csulli wrote:

[quote]NYWanderer1982 wrote:
What’s the best way to get the abs to pop? Should I train them with heavy weights once a week, same as any other body group?[/quote]

Ab definition is made in the kitchen. That’s pretty much common knowledge to people who lift. Just keep lowering your bodyfat percentage. Doesn’t matter how much you work or how many injuries you have. None of that disqualifies you from needing a lower bodyfat percentage if you want more defined abs.

But given the amount of bitching you’ve done, that’s obviously not what you wanted to hear. I sympathize, I hate dieting and messing with bodyfat percentages and shit. I’d much rather just lift heavy. Anyway, if you don’t want to listen, just let us know how your “ab hypertrophy training” goes and show some pics of your success in a few months.[/quote]

Haha yeah bro. It seems totally unfair that we can’t just lift heavy every other day and get amazing bodies. In a world ruled by logic and justice, abs would be created by training like a man, not eating like a bird. Unless the bird in question is a Terror Bird (Phorusrhacidae - Wikipedia) … eating like one of those would be fucking sweet.
Sorry for thread de-rail, OP. But at least it will give you something valid to grumble about =].

25

[quote]NYWanderer1982 wrote:
So, I’m leaning out and shedding bodyfat, but now I feel that I need to take my abs training up a notch in order to see some good development in my midsection.[/quote]

Weighted chins, heavy squats (with good form) and heavy deadlifts (with good form) will provide excellent abdominal development.

I havent done em in years but back when I did, no amount of hanging leg raises/swissball crunches/roman chair stuff ever produced the same soreness as good, controlled sets of weighted pullups. Go figure.

26

And I thought I respected Colucci before this thread…

27

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]Chris87 wrote:
Colucci knows his shit. He has most likely been making people great for longer than you have been alive.[/quote]
Thanks man. I do appreciate that. But are you saying this because OP sounds like a snotty teenager or because you think I’m like 50? :confused:

[quote]NYWanderer1982 wrote:
R u saying that the idea of training abs for hypertrophy has no merit? Because that would put every article ever written by bodybuilding authors, including those on TNation (gasp) in the pure fluff category. In the articles they say you should train your abs to grow w/weighted excercises.[/quote]
If only there was a TNation author who could wander into this thread and chime in with his opinion.

Thanks for taking the time to write out a huge premenstrual rant pissing on the people who invested time into helping you instead of being open to constructive criticism.

No it isn’t. The cause of an injury is much less important than the treatment and its current state. It doesn’t matter if you tore your knee parachuting into Kabul or slipping in the shower.

[quote]Did you know that I had an articular cartilage repair surgery two years ago, and I still have to work around that? No.
Did you know that I severely strained my back and got some pretty bad adhesions in the subgluteal fold on my right hamstring? No.[/quote]
I asked. You decided not to answer because it was more important for you to whine about people offering input on the big picture instead of answering what you think is the issue at hand.

P.S. - if your back is “severely strained”, you’re probably making it worse with the fucked up ab training you’re currently doing. Nice work.

[quote]Did you know that I am an IT Mgr at a financial services company? No.
Did you know that in addition to work I am enrolled in school? No. But combined with work that places 60-70 hours of a specific type of stress per week that affects my recovery ability, along with affecting how much sleep I can get.[/quote]
If you weren’t following a shitty training program and a fat loss diet, recovery wouldn’t be as issue. People with schedules busier than yours have gotten results. You are not a unique little snowflake.

[quote]FIY,

Do you know how infuriating it is to sit here and listen to people try to beat you over the head with bad advice? [/quote]
FIY, do you know how infuriating it is to be asked for advice, invest time and energy into offering advice, and then have that person be a condescending shit and say, “FIY, no that’s not it. Here’s all the reasons you guys need to give me better advice.”?

You mean like a guy with a bad back and bad knee who has soccer games and practices weekly while following an imbalanced and poorly designed weight training program on a reduced calorie diet who believes his current priority is figuring out the best ab exercises?

That’s context, bud.

So, go use the Search function, find your own answers, piss off, and have a Merry Christmas.[/quote]

You’re the best Chris! Never leave. :slight_smile:

28

Weighted hanging leg raises, weighted lag raises while lying on your back, weighted crunches (be careful because of the disc pressures), Weighted planks, dragon flags.
All useful exercises to include in your routine if your technique is good.
You need to include going heavy in your training for maximum development.

29

OP, you shouldn’t be surprised that this thread has gone up in flames.

Any time “beginner” and “abs pop” are in the same post, it’s gonna be done before it even started. In fact, the only way it’s ever been pulled off successfully was when a guy had the foresight to include a picture of himself holding a shoe along with his question. Brilliant.

Anyway, there are many effective approaches to address your needs. My recommendation would be to increase the frequency first and learn how to really focus on learning to maximally recruit and contract your abs.

Nothing wrong with wanting to improve your abs…just don’t tell anyone about it.

30

[quote]NYWanderer1982 wrote:
Not doing weights for legs at the moment, as they will not have sufficient time to recover for soccer.[/quote]

why lie? just say that you wont train legs. ever. also, i stopped reading after that abomination of a sentence :slight_smile:

31

[quote]Kooopa wrote:

[quote]NYWanderer1982 wrote:
Not doing weights for legs at the moment, as they will not have sufficient time to recover for soccer.[/quote]

why lie? just say that you wont train legs. ever. also, i stopped reading after that abomination of a sentence :)[/quote]

Ditto. My brother is an assistant strength coach at a college, he trains soccer players…and their legs. He laughs at them because they’re all so weak and they whine a lot. No, I’m not joking, and no I’m not surprised either. His female cheerleaders train legs harder than the soccer players, he has to constantly get on them about sandbagging.

Look, soccer is a great sport. But if you want to train for soccer, you also need to get some work in for the legs. I realize you work a demanding schedule outside of soccer. But really, 2 days a week whole body workout should be doable.

As far as abs go, constant tension during the exercise is key I find. But really, the only “pop” you get to see is from successful nutrition leading to fat loss. There’s no secret.

32

[quote]Serge A. Storms wrote:

In fact, the only way it’s ever been pulled off successfully was when a guy had the foresight to include a picture of himself holding a shoe along with his question. Brilliant.
[/quote]

OMG great reference. That was amazingly epic. Truly one of the all-time great threads on teh interwebz

33

if you can do 20 ab rollers from the toes and you eat well…you will have abs of doom!! I have never met anyone that can do 20…If you can, they are very strong not to mention all your core and small muscles you never knew you had.