Abs to Drool For!!!
- Thread starter rip
- Start date
Shrina, that is an excellent plan! If you stick to that it will work. Just remember to adjust it according to your numbers. i.e. If you are trying to lose weight, drop some calories each week that you don't. And, if you are trying to gain muscle mass, add some calories each week until you do.
Dax is right about late dinner. What time do you hit the sack? I wouldn't eat for 2 hours before sleep.
How much water do you drink a day? Make sure it is more than a gallon. When you pee, it shouldn't be yellow.
Congratz on the great plan... Stick with it!
-Rip
Dax is right about late dinner. What time do you hit the sack? I wouldn't eat for 2 hours before sleep.
How much water do you drink a day? Make sure it is more than a gallon. When you pee, it shouldn't be yellow.
Congratz on the great plan... Stick with it!
-Rip
It's more than just reading the Nutrition Label - you must read the ingredients list. The FDA allows companies to say the food has 0g trans fats if it falls below a certain amount. Foods like peanut butter (NOT natural, of course), some crackers, and others say they have 0g, but look on the ingredients and you'll surely see "partially-hydrogenated oils."shimmering said:
Most snack foods have them - microwave popcorn, crackers, cookies, graham crackers, cereal (yes, even cereal - the honey-nut shredded wheat my mother bought *ugh* has it), peanut butter, granola/protein/breakfast bars, etc.
I forgot to mention the Transverse Abdominis muscle in the core section... This is a key muscle that surrounds your waist under the other muscles. It helps hold your tummy in and stabilizes you. Work it out by doing ab vacuums. Essentially suck your belly in as far as you can (it helps to keep your anus very tight) and hold it for as long as you can. Repeat this several times. I also do vacuums while I am stretching and driving.
I'm a short, stocky guy, and doing these doesn't feel quite right. If I can manage to lie on my side and twist so my shoulder blades are parallel with the floor, I can barely lift my shoulder blades off the ground, no less hold them there. Any suggestions?
Also, is it ok to do these with your legs folded up--which, in my case, is to add leverage?
The rectus abdominus(RA) are NOT divided into upper and lower. The RA work from 15 degres of hyperextension to 30 degrees of flexion of the hip. So I suppose that if you did crunches not on a stability ball, or sat up to only 15 degrees, you would be working only part of the muscle fibers in the RA. Like doing a bicep curl, but but only from 0 degrees of flexion to 90 degrees-your working only "one part" of the muscle by not taking it thru the full rabge of motion, but why would you want to?
Do the exercise the right way and hit 'em all at once.
Wes Norris, CSCS
Do the exercise the right way and hit 'em all at once.
Wes Norris, CSCS
I tried this 'abs to drool for' routine today before my usual workout and have a few questions.
First off, a warning to all men. While doing the lying leg raises I had my feet together at the ankle without my thighs touching (about an inch apart). Not sure if you're supposed too but that's how I did it. This was ok on the way up but when I hit the top I found out a certian part of my anatomy went south and on the way down got crushed in a massive vice which was my thighs. Had to take a 2 min. breather there. =)
Now to the questions. Side crunches...perhaps I read this wrong but I found it incredibly difficult to lay on my side and make my shoulders parallel to the floor. What was even more difficult was raising my shouders. Granted I'm way out of shape but perhaps I was doing it incorrectly? Is my face supposed to be facing the ceiling or the ground?
Crunches. Exactly how far up should my shoulders go? I found that going up to a certian height was fine but when I tried to lift the lower part of my shoulder blades from the ground the majority of the strain was on my neck so I didn't get far.
Finally, how do you do straight leg dead lifts without any machine? Is it any different from a normal deadlift?
First off, a warning to all men. While doing the lying leg raises I had my feet together at the ankle without my thighs touching (about an inch apart). Not sure if you're supposed too but that's how I did it. This was ok on the way up but when I hit the top I found out a certian part of my anatomy went south and on the way down got crushed in a massive vice which was my thighs. Had to take a 2 min. breather there. =)
Now to the questions. Side crunches...perhaps I read this wrong but I found it incredibly difficult to lay on my side and make my shoulders parallel to the floor. What was even more difficult was raising my shouders. Granted I'm way out of shape but perhaps I was doing it incorrectly? Is my face supposed to be facing the ceiling or the ground?
Crunches. Exactly how far up should my shoulders go? I found that going up to a certian height was fine but when I tried to lift the lower part of my shoulder blades from the ground the majority of the strain was on my neck so I didn't get far.
Finally, how do you do straight leg dead lifts without any machine? Is it any different from a normal deadlift?
Undesrtood about the transfat...a lot of the knowledge came from my college Biology professor who harped on the dangers of these transfattyacids. Also I thought I was safe with diet soda and learned they contain phenalyne(spealling?) or some bad ingredient.
side crunches = face toward ceiling.
That's what I did and wasn't working for me. Guess I'll stick to hanging on the chin bar and raising the legs from side to side.
crunches = your neck shouldn't hurt, are you pulling on your head with your hands?
Nope. I have to have my hands behind my headby my ears but not touching otherwise I find I pull my head forward. It's just me going up I find I'm straining my neck.
That's what I did and wasn't working for me. Guess I'll stick to hanging on the chin bar and raising the legs from side to side.
crunches = your neck shouldn't hurt, are you pulling on your head with your hands?
Nope. I have to have my hands behind my headby my ears but not touching otherwise I find I pull my head forward. It's just me going up I find I'm straining my neck.
Well I'm not sure if this is a testament to the workout but my abs are completely mush today. A little much or is this a good thing?
im having an annoying problem. i mean apparently my bf% is low enough to visibly see abs, yet i dont unless im at a certain angle or if i flex them. my top left ab is buldging out, and the top right one is not as big and definately not as visible. and my other 4 arent visible unless i flex them. any idea what i should do?
im thinking since abs are muscles like any other muscle, doing Fil's idea of 15x10 w/ a moderate weight size would be good. Because high reps and sets are the formula for building size.
im thinking since abs are muscles like any other muscle, doing Fil's idea of 15x10 w/ a moderate weight size would be good. Because high reps and sets are the formula for building size.
