What should I do to build up my abs?
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Answers:
abdominal crunches...every other day.
bowflex
bicycle crunches. Do not do anything else but do these EVERYDAY. May be 30 reps is enough. Then of course for the muscle to SHOW, you have to cut down on the body fat.
stomach crunches. they are like sit ups but different and more effective. u should do about 100-200 a day, or as much as ur stomach can take. remember, dont over do it. just do as much as u can and stop wen u feel u should stop. i do 300 a day and its fine for me. if ur just starting, though, do them every day. if u do them often, do them every other day to rest ur stomach muscles, because the muscles actually form during rest. cut down on carbs and starches and eat less junk food. also, try not to eat mash potatoes or ice cream or other food thats hard for ur stomach to break down.
u shouldnt do sit ups though because i read somewhere its the least affective adominal exercise and its really bad for ur back and neck.
if u dont know what stomach crunches are, you can go here:
http://www.great-workout.com/stomach-cru...
good luck :)
Having a flat stomach or more commonly, “washboard abs” is not just accomplished by working out daily, it has to become an all-encompassing lifestyle. The key components are healthy diet, cardiovascular training, and abdominal exercises. If a movie star stomach is your goal, you must realize that to achieve your goal you have to first concentrate on what you eat, not how many situps you do in a day. Of course, as with any fitness and health goal – nutrition and exercise are always the main ingredient.
#1 Healthy Diet
The most important factor in acquiring washboard abs is eating a healthy diet. Here is a list of recommended healthy ways to help you lose a few inches:
Drink at least three liters of water per day (100 oz)
Eat five servings of vegetables and fruits per day
Eliminate fried foods and cheese
Eliminate processed sugar (for example: sodas, cookies, candy)
Eliminate fatty red meat – only lean red meats (1-2 times weekly)
Diets like the Atkins and other high protein diets may help at first but to get rid of that last 10-15 pounds, it is recommended to lower calories to a range of 1500-2000 calories a day BUT you must exercise rigorously – both with abdominal exercises and cardio work.
#2) Cardiovascular exercise
Washboard abs, getting lean, and losing weight are all tied into a consistent cardiovascular workout program. You should do 30-45 minutes of activities like walking, running, biking, or swimming daily 4-5 times per week. It takes about four weeks before you start to see the physical benefits or your diet and exercise program. You will see almost immediate results in your energy level, overall mental alertness when exercising daily. Start off slowly if you have not trained with much intensity in the past several years. A good way to get started is to walk or run with the following six weeks program:
Week #1 - Walk/run – 1 mile a day for 5 days a week
Week #2 - Walk/run – 2 miles a day for 5 days a week
Week #3 - Non-impact week – bike or swim for 20-30 minutes a day
Week #4 - Walk/run – 2 miles a day for 5 days a week
Week #5 - Walk/run – 3 miles a day for 4-5 days a week
Week #6 - Walk/run – 4 miles a day for 4-5 days a week
NOTE: week #3 is non-impact due to high number of injuries that occur to legs (knees, shins, feet, hips) during the third week of beginning a walking or running program.
#3) The One Simple Exercise
The Ten-second Crunch is probably one of the best beginning exercises for firming up the belly. Simply lie on your back and lift your shoulder blades off the floor and hold for ten seconds. Repeat this at least for ten repetitions. Try repeating the 10 seconds crunch for 10 repetitions morning and night for starters. Also, stretch and flex your lower back for a few minutes after each set in order to balance the muscles that support your torso.
However, a variety of abdominal exercises will help build the muscles under the fat. Now – lose the fat by watching your diet and cardio vascular exercise and you will soon see the muscles!
Below are some beginning, intermediate and advanced abdominal exercises taken form every eBook sold on the Military.com Fitness ebook Store. Sample ab exercises are the following:
Hanging knee-ups – Bring your knees as high as you can as shown.
Advanced Crunch - (Legs up) - Lie on your back with your feet straight in the air. Keep your legs straight up in the air for the advanced crunches. Cross your hands over your chest and bring your elbows to your knees by flexing your stomach. (Do not do if you have previous lower back injury – place feet on the floor)
Reverse Crunch - In the same position as the regular crunch, lift your knees and butt toward your elbows. Leave your head and upper body flat on the ground. Only move your legs and butt. (Do not do if you have previous lower back injury)
Double Crunch – Add the regular and reverse crunch together in one motion…You will feel this one twice as fast…
Right Elbow to Left Knee - Cross your left leg over your right leg. Flex your stomach and twist to bring your right elbow to your left knee.
Left Elbow to Right Knee – Same as above just switch sides. Cross your right leg over your leg. Flex your stomach and twist to bring your left elbow to your right knee.
Hip rollers – This exercise will help you build your abs, back and hips to help with long ocean swims and balance out the hip flexors exercises. Twist to both sides keeping your shoulders on the floor and stay in the bent knee position when rotating left and right.
NOTE: Anytime you work your abs, you should also exercise your lower back to build balance in your torso.
Lower Back Exercise - Lie on your stomach with your arms extended over your head. Lift your right arm and your left leg off the ground at the same time and repeat for specified number of repetitions. Switch arms/legs and repeat.
Lower Back Exercise - Swimmers - Lie on your stomach and lift your feet and knees off the floor by flutter kicking repeatedly as if you were swimming freestyle.
Advanced Abdominal Exercises:
Do not do if you are a beginner! These exercises are not healthy for weak or injured backs. If you cannot do the above swimmer exercises for 1:00 – do not attempt these exercises.
Situps - Lie on your back with your arms crossed over your chest, keeping your knees slightly bent. Raise your upper body off the floor by contracting your abdominal muscles. Touch your elbows to your thighs and repeat.
Half Situps – With your hands on your hips, lift your torso off the ground higher than a crunch but not as high as a full situp. Your middle/lower back will be on the floor still at the up position.
Flutterkicks - Place your hands under your hips. Lift your legs 6 inches off the floor and begin walking, raising each leg approximately 36 inches off the ground. Keep your legs straight and moving. This is a four count exercise.
Leg levers - Lift your feet 6 inches off the floor. Raising both legs approximately 36 inches off the ground, keep your legs straight and off the floor until specified number of repetitions are complete.
Scissors – Lay on your back. Lift your feet 6 inches off the floor. Open and close both legs approximately 36 inches apart, keep your legs straight and off the floor until specified number of repetitions are complete.
Atomic situps - Lift your feet 6 inches off the floor as if you were doing a leg lever. Pull your knees toward your chest while simultaneously lifting your upper body off the floor. This is a mix between the situp and the leg lever
Read this and follow it to a T
http://www.t-nation.com/readarticle.do?i...
crunchies
I am guessing that you mean that you want more muscle to show. I found a great site on abs. I see that you have been given a lot of websites. Find one you like the best & go with it.
Here is a website all about abs:
www.flatstomachsecret.com
Good luck!!
Eat healthy, exercise at least three or four times per week. Exercise should be an even mix of cardio and weigh training. Allow one full day in between your weigh training to allow for muscle healing. Muscle burns fat and increases your chances of reaching your ab goals! In my opinion the best exercise for building your core (abs, back etc.) is doing planks. Do a search on Google video or youtube.com for core exercises/plank. Good Luck!
Abs are always the most admired muscle group on the human body, we all want them but few have them. The secret to great abdominal definition is simply diet and low body fat. Eat clean and healthy increase your cardio routine and you will see those abs ripping out. What I like to do is run early in the morning on an empty stomach, this will allow you to burn off fat reserves. I run for about 25 minutes and then jump rope for 7. Great Cardio workout.
Now if you want to add thickness to those abs you must do squats and dead lifts. I know it sounds odd but believe me it works. These two exercises will build the core strength that is essential to great looking abs. When finished with these two work outs find yourself a nice flat bench and lay on your back, you will want everything from your waist down to be off the bench, thus allowing your heels to touch the floor. Place your hands above your head and grip the bench. Now what you will do is keep your legs perfectly straight and raise them from the floor to a position in which they are pointing directly at the ceiling. Once you become used to the form have a friend push your legs down toward the ground while you are lowering them from the raised position, you will want to try your best to push against their pressure, once your heals touch the ground lift those legs straight up and repeat the cycle. This is a killer but it works.
Eat a high protein/low cab and low fat diet. Don't let yourself get hungry, and eat small, healthful snacks throughout the day. This will speed up your metabolism and help you build muscle mass.
Also, a great ab workout is hanging leg raises. You can work every ab muscle with these.
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