ab workouts?

[scubadhp]

here is probably a question thats been asked a million times on here, but when it comes to abs, how much is too much/too often or too little/not enough?

i usually after i do my cardio do my abs:
50 standard crunches.
50 obliques (50 each side)
50 lower abs, (legs in the air)

total: 200 crunches.

is this enough, or too much since i do it everyday. any feedback is more than welcome! thanks!

 

[bizflawless]

try this... 8 min abs....[Video]

 

[Paddlacus]

Medicine balls are great for your core as well. I just made one using a basketball and a bag of sand (there's a pdf somewhere on how to do this if you need pictures, but really, cut a hole, pour in sand, seal hole).

A standard size basketball ends up being about 25lbs, which is heavy to start with, but good later on. You can add some rice instead of sand since it's lighter.

 

[missannie]

Personally I like Billy Blanks Ab Boot Camp.

 

[scubadhp]

this is going to sound stupid, but what movements do you do with a medicine ball? i really don't know much about abs, and if you saw pics you would know. any suggestions would be great.
thanks

 

[bipennate]

here is probably a question thats been asked a million times on here, but when it comes to abs, how much is too much/too often or too little/not enough?

i usually after i do my cardio do my abs:
50 standard crunches.
50 obliques (50 each side)
50 lower abs, (legs in the air)

total: 200 crunches.

is this enough, or too much since i do it everyday. any feedback is more than welcome! thanks!

Why 50 reps? Would you train your chest this way? The abdominals are like any other muscle: high reps will do nothing for them.

As far as what your routine should look like, what are your goals? If it's weight loss, "crunches" will do next to nothing. If it's for strengthening, standard exercises like squats and deadlifts have been shown to stimulate the "core" muscles as well or better than the majority of direct ab exercises. If it's for sport specific movement, then what you are doing will not have much carry-over.

There are some people that don't believe that any direct ab training is needed, but personaly, I think that it can have its place. But I also think that you need to understand the purpose of your movement and the reasons for doing them.