What's the best way to get BIG ab muscles.

The core is more of a member of the supporting cast during squats and deadlifts. You're not going to "get big" abs from those alone.

Definitely no need for an ab day... your time would be better spent working out the rest of your body. Instead you should work in 2-4 core exercises at the end of every resistance training day.

I've not seen anyone bring up the fact that if you're working for big abs, you'd better be working your lower back as well. Also strengthened during some of the more intensive exercises like squats, you still need to dedicate time and effort to strengthen your Erector Spinae and gluts to promote muscle balance.


a few of my favorites are:

-weighted slow crunches on stability ball
-v-ups
-weighted back extensions on stability ball
-planks and bridges
-straight leg deadlift
-leg raises
-the gambit of medicine ball and other plyometric abdominal training

-deep wall abdominal activation during all my resistance training

A key to remember here is to train how you are going to use them. If you're goal is to build muscle for the sake of building muscle, slow and steady wins the race (long concentric and eccentric phases, unless you do a lot of powerlifting) whereas in training for sport, you'd probably be better suited to plyometric abdominal training. In both cases, technique should be the focus.
 
Something i recently found that felt great and feel like its working is slow weighted crunches with a very slow eccentric motion.
 
no one has said squats and deadlift because everyone knows it. I'm sick of people asking for ab exercises and everyone says "squats and deadlifts!" that's gotta be so annoying if you're actually looking for some AB exercises :p. It's like saying pullups and rows are biceps exercises, they aren't. You should do them to get bigger bis, but if someone is looking to get big bis, he's gonna have to get some direct work done. It's the same with abs.
 
illiniphase4 said:
I've not seen anyone bring up the fact that if you're working for big abs, you'd better be working your lower back as well. Also strengthened during some of the more intensive exercises like squats, you still need to dedicate time and effort to strengthen your Erector Spinae and gluts to promote muscle balance.
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^^^That's a very good point

And Karky, the reason people always come out with deads and squats for core strength is that so few people actually do them and squats probably do far more for overall core strength than any direct ab work

I've never done ab isolation and I'm sure I have stronger abs than the majority of people I see slogging away with plates on their chest in the gym. I bet a 350lb bar over their shoulders would have them crumpled up on the floor
 
I know the reason why people do it, but see who created this thread. Realworksucks knows about squats and deads! When he makes a question like this he is beyond "squats and dead" for ab size.
 
Karky said:
I know the reason why people do it, but see who created this thread. Realworksucks knows about squats and deads! When he makes a question like this he is beyond "squats and dead" for ab size.
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I guess so, but then a lot of people reply assuming a lot of newbies will also read this and take the advice ;)
 
well, we simply can't start at year 0 everytime someone asks when Word War 2 was ;)

The article ciarzy_boy posted states that exercises like side bends are a waste of time for ab strenght/size. I do these, but mainly to improve power transfer and stabilization in squats and deadlifts. Can someone who actually knows the anatomy please comment on this.
What about the standing side-to-side exercise?
Many people think that side-to-side (lateral flexion) bending is a good exercise to shape the sides of the torso. This is not true because deeper spinal muscles can perform this exercise much more efficiently than the abdominal muscles. In fact, the quadratus lumborum muscle, which attaches from the crest of ilium to the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae and to the lowest rib, is actually a pure lateral flexor muscle.Anatomically, the quadratus lumborum is positioned so that it is more active than the external obliques during side bending (Rasch & Burke, 1978). The soreness that many people associate with a firming of the oblique muscles is actually a result of overstretching these muscles and doing the movements too fast. It should be noted that slow, controlled, alternating lateral flexion of the trunk is an effective exercise for increasing lateral range of motion for the spine.
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If the depper spinal muscles really do take most of the work in exercises like these, does strenghtening those muscles have any big advantages?
 
The reason I SAID squats and Dl's was because Realwork has been here for a while and has probably already progressed past using ab workouts as anything but supplementary. His core workout should now be coming from low back exercises and stabalization stuff.
 
Rws, everyone who has posted here is a fool. What you need is a pair of those shoes that let you hang upside down... what were they called... inversion boots! Do 15000 upside down sit ups per week and you will have abs like Thor and Zeus combined. :D

Edit: No but seriously, there is such a thing as overtraining your abs. Most people do it. Have you checked out Ross Enamait's website? He has some neat body weight stuff (including the previously mentioned ab wheel). Also, you could try adding more weight to your reduced volume of ab exercises (and including them as part of your weight training, at the end). Of course you're not going to feel it as much if you do less at the same intensity. Less at a much higher intensity, though... :)
 
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Lei, are you saying that to get big abs you don't have to do anything but the big lifts?
I'm not talking scrawny skinny 6 pack abs, but real big bulging abs.
 
Yeah that's what I'm saying. Look at PL'ers and strength athletes. They have thick, big abs. Ab work to them is always supplementary. If you look at BB'ers, that's another story but thickness always comes from squats, dl's, and back work.
 
LeiYunFat said:
Yeah that's what I'm saying. Look at PL'ers and strength athletes. They have thick, big abs. Ab work to them is always supplementary. If you look at BB'ers, that's another story but thickness always comes from squats, dl's, and back work.
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As far as the abs are concerned this statement serving as a domestic and international blanket, is simply not a fact.
 
Okay. I'm willing to concede that "always" is more like "usually" or "mostly"...But are you going to back up your claim or just leave it at that?
 
LeiYunFat said:
The reason I SAID squats and Dl's was because Realwork has been here for a while and has probably already progressed past using ab workouts as anything but supplementary. His core workout should now be coming from low back exercises and stabalization stuff.
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I don't know where this train of thought has originated, but it really isn't right. If anything, as a workout program progresses, the reliance on specific training for the core doesn't just end, it becomes increasingly complimentary to the rest of your workout.

It's all well in good to get "reactive" core training from the core working as the stabilizer during other exercises, but it's far more effective and safe to also train your core separately, just as you do your other muscles. This proactive approach, while further strengthening the core by focusing on it, also helps to prevent possibly injury when you start upping the weights during other exercises by providing an increasingly strong base from core specific training.

If you are training for muscular endurance, your core specific exercises should mirror that training style, similar to strength and power training.
 
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LeiYunFat said:
Yeah that's what I'm saying. Look at PL'ers and strength athletes. They have thick, big abs. Ab work to them is always supplementary. If you look at BB'ers, that's another story but thickness always comes from squats, dl's, and back work.
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Clearly you've never been witness to a plyometric core training workout for a football receiving core.

"Thickness" as you call it is merely a component of overall hypertrophy, which generally occurs far more rapidly and efficiently when a muscle is exercised through it's entire range of motion, something that does not occur during squats, dls, and backwork.
 
illiniphase4 said:
Clearly you've never been witness to a plyometric core training workout for a football receiving core.

"Thickness" as you call it is merely a component of overall hypertrophy, which generally occurs far more rapidly and efficiently when a muscle is exercised through it's entire range of motion, something that does not occur during squats, dls, and backwork.
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Well, you might be right about the first part, but I doubt it.

Spinal erectors are part of the core. It has been my experience both in doing and in observation that ab exercises only go so far, especially when the back tends to be neglected as part of that "core". I have seen more ab develpment in terms of thickness simply doing exercises like good mornings than all the time I wasted on ab exercises. It is also uncommon to see someone with thick abs that has a weak back. A corelation?

If anything, as a workout program progresses, the reliance on specific training for the core doesn't just end, it becomes increasingly complimentary to the rest of your workout.
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Like I said, ab training becomes secondary and supplementary as the person advances.
 
LeiYunFat said:
Well, you might be right about the first part, but I doubt it.

Spinal erectors are part of the core. It has been my experience both in doing and in observation that ab exercises only go so far, especially when the back tends to be neglected as part of that "core". I have seen more ab develpment in terms of thickness simply doing exercises like good mornings than all the time I wasted on ab exercises. It is also uncommon to see someone with thick abs that has a weak back. A corelation?
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Yes, which is why I noted a page earlier that no one had mentioned the erector spinae and that it cannot be neglected if you wish to achieve a strong core, preserve muscle balance, and prevent injury. A proper abdominal routine requires core specific exercises for both the frontal and posterior core. High level athletes are put through a vigorous core (abdominals, obliques, and erectors) regiment that mirror the required movements in their given sport.


Like I said, ab training becomes secondary and supplementary as the person advances.
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Did I say supplementary? No, I said complimentary, and integral to strength training. In essence, just as you shouldn't strengthen your upper body and neglect your lower body, you shouldn't neglect core specific training. As high level athletes enter the final periodized stages of conditioning, they do not cut back or stop core-specific training. Instead core-specific training continues to increase in volume and intensity in step with the rest of their resistance training program.

Even for those who are just the average everyday exerciser, core specific training is an important tool for preventing injury during other resistance and cardio training and improving overall core strength and stability so that the body as a whole can better support increased weights in other lifts. Core specific training is also necessary if you want maximize strength and size gains in the core muscles, because you can selectively target muscle fiber regions, similar to incline or decline vice flat bench presses.
 
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Upper RA - bringing torso towards knees
Lower RA - bringing knees towards torso
Rotation - twisting
Lateral Flexion - any side bending
Stabilization - anything that you hold for time like planks, side planks, bridges, etc.
Compression - holding the tummy in (vacuums)

All the different movements the core does, so that you know. =)
 
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