Please Read, Need Advice! (Pics)

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Cincirnnr

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Hi, I'm 20 years old, I weigh about 150 LB, and am about 6 feet tall. I am trying to improve my upper abdominal muscles and would like some advice. Currently I run about 3-4 miles and do about 100 situps a day. I can't seem to get my upper abs looking right. I don't go to the weight room at all and was wondering if going to the gym would help me get the results I want. Also, any suggested excersizes would be very helpful.

Thanks a lot, I appreciate any input.
 
I think you could bulk up a significant amount, just my opinion. With gaining weight you will put on muscle, and of course your abs are muscles.

It would be extremely helpful to hit the weights and focus on compound lifts which hit your core pretty well.
 
I am in the same boat have a huge 4 pack and 1 little tiny upper ab and cant even get the other too show but i am more focused on the love handles now!!!
 
I personally think 100 situps a day is too much. Your abs are like every other muscle in the body, they need time to heal also. 2-3 days a week for abs is plenty. Persoanlly I think 3 is too much. That's just me though. Either way, your diet is the main factor in clearly seeing your "six pack"
 
If I were you, your upper abs would be the least of my worries. I would try and bulk up, what good is a nice set of abs if the rest of you is scrawny? I would hit the weight room and read about weight training for beginners in here. Just my opinion.

Mind you, to increase size, you are going to have to eat a boat load of food because you are very much an ectomorph. While in this caloric surplus, there is a chance you could gain some fat and lose some of your definition in your abdominals. I would not worry about this. Just as it is very hard to add muscle when you are an ectomorph, it is also very easy to lose fat. So I would bulk up now, and once you increase your muscle mass significantly, only then would I worry about cutting up and the definition of my abs.
 
Do Sit-Ups with weights. 100 reps is not going to strengthen your abs, and if you think it will tone them, your wrong. Do Ab Pulldowns, and dumbbell situps for about 10-12 reps.

Work all the muscles in your body too, not just your abs. If you want to look fit, you have to be fit.
 
I agree, bulk.

If you don't care, and just want those abs. Stop the 100+, heck even the 20+ sets. Stick with weighted ab exercises and reach failure around the 10-12 range.
 
Yep. What mreik said. doing 100+ of one exercize is getting you no where. Why? Because anything over 12 reps is training endurance, which you don't want to be doing. Joining a gym will help, because they have machines you can use, to add weight to your crunches.

If you plan to gain mass in other areas of your body, such as bicepts, tricepts, pecs, ect.. You should do that before you work on your abs.

Just eat, and eat, than when you can't eat any more, pound some more food into that belly!
 
Loads O Fire said:
Yep. What mreik said. doing 100+ of one exercize is getting you no where. Why? Because anything over 12 reps is training endurance, which you don't want to be doing. Joining a gym will help, because they have machines you can use, to add weight to your crunches.

If you plan to gain mass in other areas of your body, such as bicepts, tricepts, pecs, ect.. You should do that before you work on your abs.

Just eat, and eat, than when you can't eat any more, pound some more food into that belly!
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Dude, dude, it's BICEP and TRICEP.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm going to stop doing regular situps and want to try some of these "weighted ab excercises." How much weight would you suggest I use?
 
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Cincirnnr said:
Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm going to stop doing regular situps and want to try some of these "weighted ab excercises." How much weight would you suggest I use?
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20lbs dumbbell I use, you should try it
 
Squats, Deadlifts, Rows, Military press.. good movements. Dont do situps every day, a muscle needs 48 hours to rest ;)
Like others have said, you could bulk up, then cut. Remember, compound movements builds the abs, squats will make your abs stronger and perhapps bigger too, even though they dont work them directly.

And for how much weight on the weighted situps, if you want the big type of abs, you need to do between 8-12 reps, so pick a weight that makes it HARD to acomplish doing 8-12 reps, maybe even go to faliure. If your goals are not to get big abs you could choose a different rep range and do the same thing. But just remember, ab isolation isent nessicarily the best way to build the abs.

And if you do decide to bulk, then EAT. I am an ectomorph like you, atleast i think so. I did NOT see ANY gains until i started eating LOTS more than i did, eating sendt my squat and deadlift numbers up, and with them comes just about everything else:p
 
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