Do you all do direct ab work? I haven’t done any in a long time and am wondering whether or not I should get back into, you know, to make my abs look better ;}
I deadlift and squat regularly.
FWIW, I just started adding in a few sets of abs (like 3 or 4) on each of my training days. I think it has helped a little, but hard to tell because I’m the leanest I’ve been.
I feel like it is helping. I think CT said you have to create some degree of hypertrophy in the abs to really have a dramatic 6 pack, because the muscle belly will pop more. So a few sets of abs probably won’t hurt.
There, I successfully didn’t answer shit.
I do some direct ab work. I would recommend at least some weighted work. It didn’t take me long to be able to do endless crunches. It’s no secret that strong abs contribute to good posture and a strong back too.
While there is literally tons of literature pertaining to the fact that abs can be trained without direct work (ie: squats, deads, etc) - I’ve always been of the mind-set that doing isolation exercises in conjuncture with larger compound movements wont hurt in the long run.
This can be with any body part… Will the bench press build large/strong tri’s over time? Yes it will, but I don’t rely on just bench to build my tri’s - I throw in dips, skull crushers, rope pulls, etc. etc. (obviously not every workout) to help stimulate them.
Point being - I never think its a good idea to skip a body part.
Just my 2 cents.
- AB
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
It’s no secret that strong abs contribute to good posture and a strong back too.[/quote]
Word, they will also help with your main lifts.
I might do a few sets of med ball abs once or twice a week but thats about it. On the other hand i am squatting two times a week and doing alot of olympic lifts so i feel like my core is getting alot from my lifts. When i was leaner, around 8% bf, i did alot more direct ab work since i could actually see them.
I’ve had strong/visible abs for as long as I can remember, so I don’t do any direct work and rely on indirect stimulation for abs.
I think you can develop abs without doing direct ab work though I’ve found that unilateral work does this better than bilateral.
Anyone familliar with Abzilla? Ahmad Haidar. The best abs in the industry. He works out high sets of abs daily.
Here, watch this and you will be convinced: - YouTube
Just watch his abs transform from relax to a set of perfect 6 hard rocks. Amazing.
Ab cable pulldowns 3 sets of 8-15 reps at the end of lower days
I haven’t done any direct in awhile but when i do deads the next day they are really sore like i went thru a series of ab exercises , my wife does believe it or not the p-90x ab disc i did it 1 time and could not get all of the way thru it, their is something like a total of 350 contractions you go thru in 12 min, call me what you will but it was damn hard.
[quote]Hussayn wrote:
Anyone familliar with Abzilla? Ahmad Haidar. The best abs in the industry. He works out high sets of abs daily.
Here, watch this and you will be convinced: - YouTube
Just watch his abs transform from relax to a set of perfect 6 hard rocks. Amazing.[/quote]
Wow. His physique is truly a work of art. Reminds me of the golden age. Sculpted perfection.
[quote]Hussayn wrote:
Anyone familliar with Abzilla? Ahmad Haidar. The best abs in the industry. He works out high sets of abs daily.
Here, watch this and you will be convinced: - YouTube
Just watch his abs transform from relax to a set of perfect 6 hard rocks. Amazing.[/quote]
Wow thats rediculous, new inspiration.
Weighted ab pull-downs on cable. Get on your knees and bend your head towards your crotch while holding a metal handlebar. While your doing it think of bowing down to your king and how degrading that is. Then you will want to keep going and pushing harder.
[quote]jokerpua wrote:
Hussayn wrote:
Anyone familliar with Abzilla? Ahmad Haidar. The best abs in the industry. He works out high sets of abs daily.
Here, watch this and you will be convinced: - YouTube
Just watch his abs transform from relax to a set of perfect 6 hard rocks. Amazing.
Wow thats ridiculous, new inspiration.
[/quote]
He is in the IFBB. Unfortunately the judges like the overly massive bloated guys like Ronnie and cutler (all due respect to them). This guy is symmetrical, not overly large and just separated. Search him on youtube (and search by date added).
When me and my buddies first saw this, we all couldn’t stop yelling and laughing because were in such awe.
I hadn’t done direct ab work for 2 years. Last month I started doing direct weighted ab work, 3 sets of 1 exercise every workout. I feel my abs were my limiting factor in increasing my front squat and deadlift. Deadlift has been going up and my abs feel harder.
[quote]triple-10sets wrote:
Weighted ab pull-downs on cable. Get on your knees and bend your head towards your crotch while holding a metal handlebar. While your doing it think of bowing down to your king and how degrading that is. Then you will want to keep going and pushing harder. [/quote]
Yes this is what i was talking about, if your gym has a rope attachment use that and hold the ends just under your neck.
When I squat and deadlift I definitely feel my abs getting worked. My brother and I were talking about it and we both agree that direct ab workouts are something that we should both add to our workouts (and therefore are).
Anyone have any suggestions as to good workouts? The cable pull-downs seem good. Any others?
[quote]GetSwole wrote:
Do you all do direct ab work? I haven’t done any in a long time and am wondering whether or not I should get back into, you know, to make my abs look better ;}
I deadlift and squat regularly.[/quote]
This takes 15 minutes
-25 bicycle kicks
-25 Mule kicks (rather than the standard you want to start with your legs straight, pull them into your chest and kick straight up so your lower body rolls off the floor)
-25 Cross crunches (left elbow to right knee for 25 then switch)
-25 leg lifts
-25 standard crunches
-25 V ups
Or you can pay the $37 for the Killer-Ab-Workout system.
Either way abdominal endurance is important… ask my wife 
When I leave work I am going to check out the YouTube link.
How do you stop yourself from swinging when doing leg raises from a bar?