Best overall ab excerices/when to work them

How often do you work abs

  • 3 days a week (1 on 1 off)

    Votes: 15 36.6%
  • Every Day

    Votes: 4 9.8%
  • 1-2 times a week

    Votes: 20 48.8%
  • Never directly, indirectly through compound lifts

    Votes: 2 4.9%

  • Total voters
    41
jumpshot903

jumpshot903

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
Ok so i kind of neglected my abs for a while thinking that they would be fine just from squats and dl's and what not but i mean i have abs but not as prominent as i like i read over a few threads on what people find are best ab work and when to do them but they were also fairly dated so there may be new views. My first question is whats everyones favorite ab works currently i do as follows

Planks (side and normal)
Leg raises
Toe Touches
And variatons of crunches

Is this enough to get some solid core strength am i neglecting any part of the ab? What excerices do you think are better then these if any or work better for you?

Now theres a poll and im just looking to see how often you fellas work them since theres many different views from 1 day on 1 day off to every day id like to see your opinion.
 
zodiiac523

zodiiac523

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
I go twice a week, i hit them indirectly 3 other times though with squats and deads.. only exercise i make sure to always include is hanging knee raises, the others i do vary slightly.. but the knee raises are what work for me the best.
 
wontstop985

wontstop985

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
Decline board sit-ups w/45lb behind head
Hanging leg raises
 
jumpshot903

jumpshot903

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
i completely forgot about hanging leg/knee raises those work the abs very well if i remember correctly thanks guys.
 
Type O Hero

Type O Hero

Banned
Awards
1
  • Established
I've been starting my workouts with some warm-ups using the Roman Chair bench. I'll do maybe 3-4 sets on it but I won't really push myself. It's more for helping warm up the CNS. On the two days I actually train my abs, that pre-workout warm-up on the Roman Chairs helps because by the end of my workout when I do abs, they're already warmed up and ready to go.

When it comes to abs, I train mostly by instincts. I don't have class A abs at the moment, but they're coming along. I usually stick to regular crunches, incline reverse crunches, Roman Chair situps and hanging knee raises. After each set I'll do stomach vacuums for about 20 seconds (feels good afterward). Per ab workout I'll usually only do around 100 total reps, but each rep is deliberate rather than fast and choppy. Each rep I concentrate on rounding my lower back and pulling my sternum towards my pelvis, then squeezing the muscles.

For obliques, try standing (or seated occasionally) side bends. With a light bar across your back, bend over slightly and rotate at the waist bring your shoulder to your opposite knee and squeezing when you come in. This helps tighten obliques and also helps with side detail. These along with exercises like heavy shoulder presses and squats are all you really need for your obliques to look good.

For the serratus (I know it's not part of the abs but it helps with the overall effect) do DB pullovers. If you keep your butt low, get a good stretch and concentrate on pulling with your serratus, you can get a lot of response out of them. I like doing these on chest days sometimes.

Hope this helps some
 
JuveCalcio

JuveCalcio

New member
Awards
0
I voted for the 1 day on, one day off.

Oh and do you have any ab machines with weight at your gym? Cause at mine we have a few for upper abs, obliques, lower abs, and theres even a whole machine that you lay on and it works everything when you do a crunch. Those seem to work a lot quickly if you've never done them before.

What I normally do is something like this.

-15 Leg Raises..30 Sec Rest..30 Leg Raises..45 Sec Rest..15 Leg Raises
-Upper Ab Crunch Machine 3 Sets of 15 Reps
-Decline Reverse Crunches 3 Sets till Fail. I normally do about 15, 10, and 8 for my 3 sets.
-Back Extensions 3 Sets of 30 Reps

That's what seems to work for me. There's also this thing called a 10 Series and a 12 Series, they do it a lot in gymnastics. If you haven't noticed or watched gymnastics, gymnasts have some of the strongest abs. Just look up a Maltese Cross for gymnatics on youtube and you'll see what I'm talking about.
 
Rodja

Rodja

Board Sponsor
Awards
3
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
There's not nearly enough emphasis on the transverse abs and the erector spinae. Halos, woodshoppers, trunk rotations, hypers, etc. are just as important.
 
JuveCalcio

JuveCalcio

New member
Awards
0
There's not nearly enough emphasis on the transverse abs and the erector spinae. Halos, woodshoppers, trunk rotations, hypers, etc. are just as important.
I'm going to second that for sure.
 
Blacktail

Blacktail

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Twice a week heavy cable crunches, wheel n stick , roman chair w/weight,leg raise w/ weight if I feel like it+ indirect work with compound lifts.
 

spadesofaces

New member
Awards
0
Decline board sit-ups w/45lb behind head
This, combined with:

Twice a week heavy cable crunches, wheel n stick , roman chair w/weight,leg raise w/ weight if I feel like it+ indirect work with compound lifts.
I dont know why so many people still focus on really high rep ab work; abs are like any other muscle, so train them hard and heavy.

I'm also a fan of heavy, low rep circuits:

A1. Hanging knee raise with DB 5x5
A2. Decline sit up with weight 5x5
A3. Wheel/bar rollout 5x5
A4. Knees to elbows 5x5

10s between exercises, 2 minutes between circuits. Try it.
 
Jurassic

Jurassic

Member
Awards
0
Windshield wipers
V-ups
L-seats and V-seats if you can do them
Those are my personal favorites, most people have trouble with the windshield wipers and the v-seats though.

I also really like the ab crunch machines, good for a heavy lower rep set.
 

Similar threads


Top