weights for abs?

[barbells79]

ive done a search and cant find much thats revelant to this topic so here goes:


should i use weights when working my abs? ive always just done 3-4 exercises, high repetitions 2-3 sets, 3 time a week. any input is appreciated.

peace bb79

 

[Yellowbomber]

ABS respond best as other muscles do with heavy weights, low reps,low series

 

[barbells79]

thanks iceman

ive heard both trains of thought on this and really couldnt decide if i should do it . my abs are fairly cut but if this will help more then i will think about it.

peace bb79

 

[barbells79]

low reps and low sets?
oh boy ive been messing this up big time, funny they still look fairly decent though.

 

[Yellowbomber]

try this for 2 weeks and you'll notice the difference and the pump

 

[barbells79]

cool- i think i will try this and see,
yellowbomber- 2 weeks then im gonna come lookin for ya- LOL! ( IF I CAN STAND UP STRAIGHT THAT IS..)


PEACE BB79

 

[Yellowbomber]

you'll see, next day you'll feel so sore

 

[barbells79]

thanks again.......................

 

[Zyglamail]

Im with YellowB on this one. I work abs 2x a week tops. I do 3-5 set of 3-5 reps each and there are times I have to roll over onto my stomach to get out of bed.

Here is an exercise to try. Lay on your stomach on the floor. Stretch arm up overhead, palms down. Have your feet like your walking, but toes bent up so your balls of feet are on floor. Now with your arms full extended, try and lift your whole body off the floor about 2-3 inches and hold for a 3-5 seconds. Your body weight will be on the balls of your feet and elbows/forearms. My guess is with arms fully extended you will never get your body off floor so pull elbos back slightly until you can. You should not be able to hold yourself off floor for more than 5 seconds, if you can move elbows out farther.

The goal, and this sounds funny but true, is to use one of those stupid wheels with the handles sticking out on the sides. Hold it out at full length, contract fully and bring yourself up to a standing position with your feet flat on floor, bent at waist holding onto handles, wheel on floor. I sure as hell cant do it, but I have seen it done, its wild.

 

[barbells79]

that does sound pretty tough to do, probably never achieve it, but it would be fun trying..............LMAO!

 

[Yellowbomber]

I've tried it and no harm can compare with that.
Some fitness centers have ABS machines where you can put on weight, try putting 50pounds for the 1 series on 15 reps, then 60 pounds for 10 reps, 70 pounds for 8 reps and 50 pounds for 15 reps again
Then go to the lower ABS machine and you're done, you will have work to reach the shower

 

[Zyglamail]

With the movement I described it matches your hip flexors against your abs, both are contracting to lift you up and they grow together. Crunches and many other ab exercises, especially when done wrong put loads more stress on the hip flexors and dont target the abs.

As a demonstration of what I mean, get a buddy, lay on the floor, on your back, knees bent as if your gonna do a sit up. Now, like back in school when ya had someone hold your feet down, have your partner get down by your feet and instead of holding them down, have him reach behind your heels and apply resistance. Your job is to pull your heels in towards you gluts and while doing so, try and sit up.......pretty damn hard isnt it? The reason is reciprical inhibition. By pulling against your partners hands you are forcing your hip flexors to relaxe thereby putting all the straing of the crunch/situp on your abs alone.

Rolling over and doing the exercise I outlined above you work the hip flexor/abs against each other to lift you off floor.

 

[barbells79]

you guys have some decent thoughts on this and i am assuming youve tried many different things for your abs so im going to take this input and run with it. if you have anything to add or anyone else want to contribute, im listening .........................
i cant believe ive been so naive about this, and only trained my abs in one strict way, this has helped immensely.


peace bb79

 

[NinjaX]

they can only help my friend

 

[barbells79]

ninja
tell me about it..............these guys are great, and they always have new ideas- at least for me .

peace bb79

 

[Bulldog_10]

This might sound stupid, but how do you guys use weights when doing abs? Do you just use a light dumbell, cables, are there any other ways that you guys know of??

Thanks,
B-10

 

[curl45]

Bulldog...

You can use a variety of weights for abs.
My personal favorite, which noone else has mentioned is doing cable crunches with ropes. You can work upper, lower and obliques. These are awsome to do after your "normal" ab routine. Great burn.
Also, doing decline bench crunches with a 45lb plate is a great way to target the lower abs.
I'll agree fully w/Yellowbomber...the weighted ab machines are the shit. I love em!!!!

 

[RADAR]

for abs i usally do situps on a decline bench using a 25-35-45 lb plate on my chest...... finishing off with crunches.......RADAR

 

[Nathan]

I like doing regular crunches off the floor but with a 65lb. dumbell on mt chest. If you hold it and squeeze you can really feel it. I also like using ropes but I pile a few mats and then but my knees on them (facing machine) so that I can get an extra crunch by going below my knee level.

 

[curl45]

thats a damn good idea Nathan...

about doing rope crunches with mats...I'm gonna do that tomorrow

 

[Ironfoce]

I Really like weighted Swiss Ball crunches.
Not the wussy kind you see lots of people doing. You gotta put the ball closer to your feet towards the bottom of your butt and have your feet either held by someone or propped under something. You gotta feel the stretch in the abs they're a hell of a lot harder that way. Really hits the whole abs.