Well, I’m going to try to do a log. A little about me: I’m 5’7 and 180 lbs, most of it is between my knees and my stomach. I have often been asked when I’m due and how many weeks along I am. Considering my family has lots of health problems, generally due to being overweight, I need to start now to keep that from happening to me.
Since it’s past my bedtime, this is all I’m going to write for now. And post a cat pic, b/c why not?
Since I workout at work, a hotel, my resources are limited, but since I’m a true newbie, it’s okay. I know when I move to Philly I will get the chance to be in a real gym.
So, my first newbie question: What would be the best exercise for abs? You hear about crunches not being so good, so what else is there? We have an ab curl machine, so I’ve been using that. But are there other exercises?
I think there’s a huge misnomer that by doing ab exercises you will have great abs. One has great abs by removing the fat layer that is often on top of them. I rarely do ab-specific exercises but have decent abs because I don’t carry any weight there.
If I were you, I’d focus on the compound lifts, which will help drive your metabolism up and subsequently cause you to burn more calories and lose weight. Also, compound lifts require great core stabilization (and hence work the abs). That’s my two cents’ worth.
ab exercises aren’t for naught, most people have an incredibly weak core anyway. whether or not you see them is a barometer of your BF% (usually), but they do need to be strong for the safe and correct execution of those compound lifts.
hanging leg raises, front and side planks, russian twists, back extensions, cable crunches… do em all. you’ll need em for when you get into a real gym again.
I think you’ll need to be specific about how “real” your gym is.
Do you have barbells? Do you have dumbbells? Do you even have a place to do hanging leg raises? Chin-up bar?
The best thing to do depends on what resources you have.
Hi grneyes! Great to see you over here with a log.
I just wrote in my own log that I hate training abs, but I do it for the reasons CBear mentioned. Planks and side planks will hurt you hard enough to start, for sure.
what they all said - my abs get enough training when I do everything else properly. Once maybe twice a week I’ll throw in some abs specific stuff like back extensions, leg raises, rusian twists or declined crunches but that makes up a total 15-20 minutes a week at the most. Do the big compound moves properly to get results.