Which of these two devices for achieving a six pack?

[MitchT]

In my ongoing bid to one day be powerfully built, in the way that only a PHer can be, I'm wanting to sort out my abs. I'm already making good headway with all of the other bits, but I need something to aid in achieving the proverbial 'six pack'. Which of these two devices would work best?

A: Sit-Up Bench:


B: Stomach Crunch Roller:


NB. Pics because I'm not sure if I used the right terminology for the devices!

[otolith]

The bench will make a better impromptu clothes horse, the eventual fate of most home exercise equipment

[W333]

I think that an option for a meal with a low carb content would probably be a more appropriate. Diet is 75% or greater a factor for this

I think that with those two devices, key levers are given assistance. On the first one, your knees are fixed, so that makes it easier. On the other one, you've got leverage through the arms, which makes it easier.

I'm what would be described as 'lean', but I've not got a six pack. I'd love to get one but it's more than just sit ups. In order to build fully developed, strong abdominals you need to work your core (abs, internal muscles, lower back for posture(?) and your obliques) through a wider variety of range and intensity. Straightforward crunches alone will not a six pack make!

Bored of working abs on their own?

• Start doing your chest press using a ball instead of a bench
• Do squats/plank/bicep curls/anything using a bosu
• Try working one side of your body independent of the other so your core has to balance, eg: lunges with one dumbbell
• I also find decline chest fly and dumbell pullovers very good because you must suck your stomach in to ensure you are flat on the bench with no back arch
• In fact, the above point in mind, make sure that you are sucking your stomach in and keeping those abs fixed whenever possible to create a firm, strong base for any set. I see so many people in the gym with poor discipline when it comes to this

Once you have implemented this stuff, look into HIIT for your non-weight days. Apparently it does a job. Even if HIIT doesn't give you a 6 pack, it will make you fitter

Edited by W333 on Sunday 29th April 21:01

[goldblum]

Don't be daft.

If you want big muscles then do weights.If you want to see those muscles then diet.

[Pvapour]

can of worms but...

studies have proven that targeting the area for fat loss with exercise will help the fat loss in that area, not much but it does help.

dieting alone will leave you with poverty / aldi abs to

[ShawCrossShark]

80% diet is what I am told. Just started mine today, low carbs and high protein.

For helpful advice, I would use the ab roller as it means less stress to the back and neck. Most people do sit ups wrong and risk hurting themselves

[deadmau5]

The best two abs exercises are bicycle crunches and captain's chair. You can do the crunches anywhere, but you will probably have to improvise with the captain's chair.

[balders118]

Pvapour said:

can of worms but...

studies have proven that targeting the area for fat loss with exercise will help the fat loss in that area, not much but it does help.

dieting alone will leave you with poverty / aldi abs to

Genuinly interested if you've got a link...?

Ab cradles are for elderly women by the way

[amare32]

None of the above.

it's 80% diet and the other training, recuperation and sleep.

It's all about getting rid of that layer of fat that is covering the ab muscles underneath the flab.

[balders118]

amare32 said:

None of the above.

it's 80% diet and the other training, recuperation and sleep.

It's all about getting rid of that layer of fat that is covering the ab muscles underneath the flab.

Ab work will of course develop the abs though! Owning a peice of kit is good inspiration to do the work, if nothing else.

[Celt]

If the bench secures your feet I believe that will work your hips more than your abs. But I'd echo the comments about diet. My abs are quite strong but under a stone of fat so no danger anyone seeing them.

[MacGee]

the kitchen...we've all got a six pack under all that fat!

[croyde]

[shakotan]

Crunches work for abs but bad for other areas.

Leg lifts are a much better method of ab building.

[didelydoo]

Ab wheel beats them all IMO.

[Halb]

didelydoo said:

Ab wheel beats them all IMO.

Indeed. And is a tiny piece of equipment. Get that one.

[dirty boy]

Neither.

As has been mentioned, the only way to get a six pack is through getting your body fat down to a percentage in the low teens.

Try this.

Lay on your back completely flat. Now try and sit up but stay completely flat, and push your fingers into your 'gut' as hard as you can. I suspect you'll find your abs are 'under there' and you'll feel the hardness. So to get that six pack, you need to strip the fat off the top.

Only way to do this is through diet and exercise. For getting more abdominal definition, planks are as good as anything for working abdominals, cost nothing, and also work the core and lower back area (stability stuff!)

Another way of effectively working the abs is, believe it or not, through push ups! (you're kind of in a plank position if you think about it)

[balders118]

^ doing no ab work and just getting lean will give you a skinny boy six pack.

[dirty boy]

balders118 said:

^ doing no ab work and just getting lean will give you a skinny boy six pack.

Sorry, I wasn't clear on what I meant.

What I do want to say, is that you can have very good abdominal muscles, but if there's a layer of fat on top, you'll never have a six pack, no matter how strong they are.

Work the abs, definitely...planks, crunches, leg raises, but without proper diet and exercise, you'll never have a six pack.

[Onemcs]

The option I wanted to click wasn't there! DIET

We all have a 6 pack, It's just covered by a blanket