how do you build abdominal mass?

[gorillahung]

Almost everything you read about abs tells you how to make them ripped. What about adding mass? I know the muscle fibers are different for abs but I know it's possible to make them bigger. I used to see powerlifters that may have had more fat than a bodybuilder or physique guy but their abs still showed because they were huge. How do you train for big abs? Conventional thought has always been that you train the fast twitch fibers with high reps/light weight. Does that build size? Would heavy weight and low reps build size? I never got up the nerve to ask some 275 lb. powerlifter about his abs LOL. However, some of them did have large abs that showed even through some fat.

 

[Zinergy]

Heavy weights.

If you squat 500+ and dead the same you're going to have a thick core. I doubt most power lifters even touch abs.

 

[gorillahung]

Heavy weights.

If you squat 500+ and dead the same you're going to have a thick core. I doubt most power lifters even touch abs.

That's true. I squatted 551 and deadlifted 501 in contest at 190 lbs. bodyweight (putting me in the 198 weight class) in my twenties but I'm 44 now and my back is so messed up that I can't do squats or deadlifts at all. I'm wondering what abdominal exercises I can do with heavy weight. My gym does have a crunch machine with a weight stack and a Nautilus style sit up machine with an adjustable weight stack. Most of the abdominal exercises I know of are bodyweight only exercises. Obviously it doesn't take long before bodyweight isn't enough resistance. I'm just curious what exercises bodybuilders do for abs. When I competed in powerlifting, I did just as you mentioned, and barely touched on abs as my squat and deadlift sessions gave me ab strength. I had big strong abs back then despite there being a layer of fat over them.

 

[muskate]

If you look at the anatomy of the abdominal muscles, yes they are skeletal muscles but they don't have the ability to grow like other muscles in your body do.

It's like your jaw muscles. Yes they are technically a skeletal muscle but they aren't able to enlarge the same way your chest, biceps, quads etc. can

People with abs that really 'pop out' just have very low abdominal fat so their abs appear really big and separated. They do not have larger abdominals then the average person.

 

[MasonicBodybuilder]

Muskate makes great points. It makes sense to me because I cant recall ever seeing someone who had "big" abs........other than the distended stomachs on pro bodybuilders from all the food, insulin, HGH, and gear they use.

 

[gorillahung]

If you look at the anatomy of the abdominal muscles, yes they are skeletal muscles but they don't have the ability to grow like other muscles in your body do.

It's like your jaw muscles. Yes they are technically a skeletal muscle but they aren't able to enlarge the same way your chest, biceps, quads etc. can

People with abs that really 'pop out' just have very low abdominal fat so their abs appear really big and separated. They do not have larger abdominals then the average person.

That's an interesting perspective. I've always thought every muscle had the capability to grow. Your heart can grow, but that's usually the result of something bad. I could swear some of the many powerlifters I've seen had large abs despite not being the leanest people. I could see their ab development even though they weren't really ripped. I always thought the reason I could see their abs at all was because they just had larger abdominal muscles than other men of their weight. I know powerlifting legend Ed Coan had some good abs but he was pretty lean for a powerlifter. He packed on as much muscle mass for his weight class that was humanly possible. You have to have some incredibly strong abs to squat 959 weighing only 220!