Ab-building excercises

[phil_h_88]

Evening gents,
For the last year or so I've been trying to bulk up. I've got a naturally slim/lanky build, which is why I'm trying to fill out. I've been training at the gym 4-5 times a week, e.g Monday - Chest, Tues - Back etc and have put on some decent size (comparatively), and a fair bit of weight. One area that never develops much is my abs though. I tend to stick a bit of abs onto the end of workouts, but don't really know what is the best way to train them.
I tend to do some kneeling crunches on the cable machine, hanging leg raises, some medicine ball stuff but there doesn't ever seem to be any development.
Since trying to bulk up, I have changed my diet massively and am concentrating on eating lots of the right foods, but have developed a bit of fat round my abdomen.
How do you guys go about training abs, do you have a dedicated day for them or tack them onto the end of other workouts? Also, any tips for the best exercises to build muscle there. I want to lose the new layer of fat as I imagine any gains will be hidden behind it anyway, but at the same time I don't want to lose any weight that I've worked to put on!
Any help would be great, cheers.

[jumpingjackdan]

If you want to see abs you need to have body fat c.10-12%. Abs are like any other body part. If you want bigger abs, you need more weight. Things like squats and dead lifts are good for your core muscles.

Isolation exercises I use are:
1. Side bends (don't go too heavy, can really hurt you spine, think about the pressure on your spine if you side bend 50kg!) People say they make you wider, bks!
2. Leg raises
3. Sit ups (with plates on angled bench)

[dalzo]

Do you do any cardio?

I imagine losing the weight would bring them out if you have been training them ( even lightly)

[D1ngd0ng]

Suitcase dead lift.

[stew-S160]

Squat and deadlift. And sort diet out to reach low body fat levels.

[Vladimir]

You don't really "build" abs, you just tone them. However strong abs are critical to overall strength and conditioning and a fundamental part of good core strength. Doing a zillion sit ups will help the strength a bit but won't get you defined abs- just cardio yourself to near death.

[gjf764]

stew-S160 said:

Squat and deadlift. And sort diet out to reach low body fat levels.

What he said!

You didn't mention it in your OP but I presume that you are doing the big compound lifts, increasing the weight and sleeping well?

[phil_h_88]

Thanks for all the replies.
In response to some of the questions, I do some cardio, go running a couple of times a week but pretty low intensity tbh. What I'm concerned about is losing weight and muscle by going overboard on cardio,
I do bench press, squat and deadlifts, and have been trying to go up in weight but bench press is the one that's gone up the most.
I think my diet is pretty decent, and I usually get between 7 and 8 hours sleep.
So should I be doing extra core work or getting most of t done through compound excercises?
Thanks for the help.

[Vladimir]

I do very few squats and no dead lifts but have always had well defined abs and been able to take a hard kick/punch in the guts.
I concentrate on core strength and balance.

[Sargeant Orange]

I've seen some decent results from this, shame I pigged out over xmas though

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dnQv8jW99c

[Willy Nilly]

Why not find a sport that suits your build?

[gjf764]

Try the core exercises from this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Toz8BusDvkI was good enough for the British and Irish Lions

Have a look at 'Dragon Flags' too, a favourite of some bloke called Bruce Lee

[mattikake]

The common misconception is that abs only work from a crunched position to upright, covering anything from crunches to deads, but they actually have function and power from a hyper extended position (back hyper extended so you are bent over backwards).

Abs will benefit from a lot of power work in this position. Google "Roman Chair" or see here:- http://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk/back_machines/... even though it's a back exercise being performed, flip over and do your abs. These allow a full back hyper extension with maximum intensity for your abs.

Always lift heavy and hard - add weight with a chain with plates attached. Aim for a 6-12 rep range as abs are mostly fast twitch fibres, believe it or not.

[thesyn]

Take up boxing.

[thesyn]

.......

[General Fluff]

By all means train your abs but as we men tend to store fat around them you won't see them until you remove the fat. You can't choose where you remove fat from so the only solution is fat loss through calorie deficit. As you are aware this will be counter productive against your aims of building muscle so you have to decide when to do it.

[amare32]

Don't focus too much on ab work. Big compound lifts and massive leg training will help. More muscle you have the easier you will become at burning fat. I might spend 15 mins a week on ab work max.

You don't have to do insane amount of cardio either as you don't want to lose muscle so need to tread a fine line.

Finally eat clean and hydrate properly and get adequate sleep.

That's all there is to it.

[Badgerboy]

I normally throw a few sets of hanging straight leg raises (to 90 degrees) with each workout. I can normally crack out 20 before my arms start to complain. Thoughts on their effectiveness? Far prefer them to cruches/situps.

[WinstonWolf]

Get some hanging straps^^^

[Vladimir]

And watch your lower back too.