Give me an ab mass building routine

y0lked

y0lked

Member
Looking for a routine for adding mass to the abs while on a strong bulk. Any good routines would be appreciated unless you guys think i should stick with this.

been doing

ab rope crunches 3 x 12
knee ups 3 x 20 (elbows in ab straps)
 
ehhh not really alot of mass routines for abs, i do crunch machines, side bends, leg lifts and oblique twists.
 
y0lked said:
Looking for a routine for adding mass to the abs while on a strong bulk. Any good routines would be appreciated unless you guys think i should stick with this.

been doing

ab rope crunches 3 x 12
knee ups 3 x 20 (elbows in ab straps)
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Weighted PLANKS!
 
y0lked said:
seems like it would tax the lower back instead? where do you place the weight? on the upper back im assuming?
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Yeah seems like that is a problem waiting to happen. I'm in for this as well. While I have good ab definition I want to see them grow!
 
ITW said:
Yeah seems like that is a problem waiting to happen. I'm in for this as well. While I have good ab definition I want to see them grow!
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or i could go with weighted decline sit ups (3 x 15), SS with rope crunches (3 x 10)
 
Pick up a fork, and put it in your mouth once it's full of food. Repeat 24/7. Mass building is due to diet.
 
Celorza said:
Pick up a fork, and put it in your mouth once it's full of food. Repeat 24/7. Mass building is due to diet.
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man thats twice youve said that to me. lay off it, my diet is good. you cant put on 30lbs in a few months without a diet
 
y0lked said:
man thats twice youve said that to me. lay off it, my diet is good. you cant put on 30lbs in a few months without a diet
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If you know it is a diet what you need...and that hypertrophy is required to build mass why not simply implement it?

Weighted Planks help? Yes , Bridges help? Yes...Will doing your reps in full ROM and with proper form help even more for the exercises you used to do? YES!

Then do that along with a caloric surplus and BOOM!

PS: you could learn to do Ab Wheels too.
 
y0lked said:
Looking for a routine for adding mass to the abs while on a strong bulk. Any good routines would be appreciated unless you guys think i should stick with this.

been doing

ab rope crunches 3 x 12
knee ups 3 x 20 (elbows in ab straps)
Click to expand...

Have you tried hanging leg raise? Not sure what knee ups are but if they're anything like "girl" pushups then you might want to trade them for hanging leg raise. I do slantboard crunches (vertical slantboard too), I know everyone says they're worthless but they make my abs burn, to me that means they're working. Also Ab-Coaster, machine crunches, & hyperextensions. Don't care for side-bends, I don't think a spine is supposed to bend that way. Also, why only 12 reps on the rope crunches? I usually do at least 15, I think 20 is even better.

For heavy weight/low reps, the best ab exercise I've found is deadlifting. Heavy squats work the abs too.
 
its the hanging knee raises with ab slings/straps. very similar to the version you explained yet the straps make it harder due to trying not to swing. looks like ill just keep doing what im doing since its the best solution here. see you guys in 20lbs
 
y0lked said:
its the hanging knee raises with ab slings/straps. very similar to the version you explained yet the straps make it harder due to trying not to swing. looks like ill just keep doing what im doing since its the best solution here. see you guys in 20lbs
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I also use the ab straps. The hanging leg raise I do I learned from an article I think here but I can't find it now. Anyway you raise your legs over your head and touch them to the bar, then lower them, also without swinging. The hard part is that you can't let your legs go all the way down, it's bad for your hips, so you have to stop a few inches short of fully hanging. I only do sets of 5. I tried 4 sets of 10 one time, it went, 10, 8, 7, 4
 
TBH your routine needs reworking. You do a lot of trunk flexion and hip flexion but no extension? Stability exercises? Needs more balance. The core does more than move up and down. :)
 
Jiigzz said:
TBH your routine needs reworking. You do a lot of trunk flexion and hip flexion but no extension? Stability exercises? Needs more balance. The core does more than move up and down. :)
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Could you be a bit more specific? What would you recommend for extension & stability?
 
Ab Wheel
Standing Cable Crunches
Full Hanging Leg Raises (start at a full hang at a pull-up station and lift heels to ceiling)
Weighted Decline Crunches

Contrary to popular belief, side bends do not work the abs; they primarily work the spine, but still aid in overall stability.
 
Rodja said:
Ab Wheel
Standing Cable Crunches
Full Hanging Leg Raises (start at a full hang at a pull-up station and lift heels to ceiling)
Weighted Decline Crunches

Contrary to popular belief, side bends do not work the abs; they primarily work the spine, but still aid in overall stability.
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Ab wheel will be implemented to go along with the cable curls and the full hanging leg lifts with straps (knees to elbows).
 
y0lked said:
Looking for a routine for adding mass to the abs while on a strong bulk. Any good routines would be appreciated unless you guys think i should stick with this.

been doing

ab rope crunches 3 x 12
knee ups 3 x 20 (elbows in ab straps)
Click to expand...

I would recommend these two circuits to start off:
1) machine crunch: do reps of 15. Exhale completely and really squeeze your abs in the crunch position.
2) weighted leg lifts: do straight legged leg lifts with a light dumbbell held by your feet.
3) medicine ball trunk twist: 20 each side with 20 lb med ball

Circuit 2:
1) weight cable rope crunches: again really exhale and squeeze in the crunch position. Reps of 20
2) standing oblique side crunch: reps of 15 with dumbbell
3) 60 bicycles then 40 flutter kicks

End with 2 minute plank.

Hope this works,
Justin M
 
As your hips roll up and into the motion your spine flexes. Straps enable you to contract and hold where the abs are contracted the most.
 
y0lked said:
As your hips roll up and into the motion your spine flexes. Straps enable you to contract and hold where the abs are contracted the most.
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You're still wrong on that, but what do I know. All they're doing is shortening the ROM to a more favorable leverage.
 
Abs really don't need a lot of direct work to get desired results. I used to do a ton of ab work to compensate the squat and deadlift. Anymore a few sets of standing cable crunches 1-2 times a week is all I've been doing.
 
You can grow ab muscles like any other muscle with heavy weight as well. I was doing crunches with a 90lb dumbbell on a decline bench and my Abs looked the best ever. But it eventually took a toll on my lower back.
 
I'll do a lot of mat exercises like crunches and stuff, a bunch of variations of those. I also do hanging leg raises and heavy weighted machine exercises. When doing sets of exercises make sure you're going for quality not quantity. For example with hanging leg raises the biggest mistake people make is swinging their legs. Make sure you control your crunch for every rep, and feel the burn. At the peak of a crunch you should be at a complete exhale to help get that full ab flexion. Keep training, no routine will build abs over night.
 
compudog said:
Could you be a bit more specific? What would you recommend for extension & stability?
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Back extensions, planks, and things of the like.
 
Rodja said:
You're still wrong on that, but what do I know. All they're doing is shortening the ROM to a more favorable leverage.
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tried your variation of the leg raises, not sure which ROM you suggested if it was just to 90 degrees, or legs to bar but i did both and ended up going all the way to the top for my sets, along with a set of cable crunches 4 x 12 with quality form.

the leg raises were more difficult than with straps which is probably good since im getting to nearly 30 reps per set before fatigue. I felt like with the leg raises tho i had to have all of the force at the bottom of the rep and basically lower with control on the way down. Not sure if that is due to lack of ab strength (please let me know what you think) or just the way the exercises should be done.

either way my abs were definitely worked hard and i will continue to try your method until i find what works best for me, possibly going back to the straps for more slow controlled MMC reps every other workout???

thanks for your time Rodja
 
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