Abs/6 pack - help me beat my pharmacist housemate!
Discussion
I've mentioned here I've been trying to get fit(ter) of late. I'm running 3 times per week (~5km) and play football on Tuesdays (decent 5-a-side for 90 mins). As per a recent thread I've even bought a set of weights to do some upperbody work!
However, during a night out last Thurs, my pharmacist housemate proclaimed he is planning to return to the gym in order to recapture his 6 pack (to be fair he has got a little chunky of late). In my pissed state I stated that I'd be able to obtain a 6 pack quicker than he! As such, the gauntlet has been laid down and I need your help!
I'm already ahead of him imo. I'm pretty trim, minor abdo fat so any underlying muscle work should show ok.
- Best exercises? I hear ab crunches (held ~10 sec) are more effective than regular sit ups.
- How many reps? I gave a go at 10 second hold crunches and I honestly struggled past 15!
- How often? Some sources say every day, others state a rest day between sessions to allow the muscles time to repair and grow.
- Is there any role for those Slendertone belt devices. My cousin bought one a few months ago (did a thread here) but as predicted he has given up with it as it did not produce the desired results (he was doing no aerobic exercise at the time). Should I steal it off him and give it a go?
- Hand in hand with the upper body arm weight work - are those protein shake things useful? A colleague swears by them and states he drinks one immediately on returning from the gym every time (he is a bit of a keen git though).
The extra incentive is that myself and the housemate are often on opposing teams when playing footie as we play medics vs pharmacists. As such, the sense of competition is even greater!
TIA
However, during a night out last Thurs, my pharmacist housemate proclaimed he is planning to return to the gym in order to recapture his 6 pack (to be fair he has got a little chunky of late). In my pissed state I stated that I'd be able to obtain a 6 pack quicker than he! As such, the gauntlet has been laid down and I need your help!
I'm already ahead of him imo. I'm pretty trim, minor abdo fat so any underlying muscle work should show ok.
- Best exercises? I hear ab crunches (held ~10 sec) are more effective than regular sit ups.
- How many reps? I gave a go at 10 second hold crunches and I honestly struggled past 15!
- How often? Some sources say every day, others state a rest day between sessions to allow the muscles time to repair and grow.
- Is there any role for those Slendertone belt devices. My cousin bought one a few months ago (did a thread here) but as predicted he has given up with it as it did not produce the desired results (he was doing no aerobic exercise at the time). Should I steal it off him and give it a go?
- Hand in hand with the upper body arm weight work - are those protein shake things useful? A colleague swears by them and states he drinks one immediately on returning from the gym every time (he is a bit of a keen git though).
The extra incentive is that myself and the housemate are often on opposing teams when playing footie as we play medics vs pharmacists. As such, the sense of competition is even greater!
TIA
^This, I do a fair bit of core work, situps, weighted situps, leg raises, crunches, planche etc. I could do twice as much and still not get a six pack, because its all down to body fat. I'd need to drop a stone to have a 6 pack. You need 12-15% body fat or less ideally. The less the more definition.
jackh707 said:
^This, I do a fair bit of core work, situps, weighted situps, leg raises, crunches, planche etc.
Do most of these actually build the muscle (weighted situps excluded) as if you do 100 bicep curls with a pencil a day, you wouldn't expect to grow nice upper arms, would you?What OC once posted made me think - IIRC he said that if he wanted to build his abs, he'd treat it like any other muscle and use resistance. So that would mean 3 x 6 reps maximum ie a heavy weight on your chest or attached to your feet (if you're at home; one of those pull-down machines if you're a gym member).
Still, if anyone has used one of those ab cruncher devices and does 200 crunches a day and now has perfect abs, let me know.
Edited by RemainAllHoof on Monday 31st October 08:42
Lunja said:
Don't forget to work on your back. Strong abs with a weak back will do no good for your posture!
+1I've suffered at times due to having spent too much time concentrating on the abs.
All round core exercises - back and sides need to be brought in.
And lots and lots of cardio, along with truly nailing the diet - otherwise you'll have nicely toned abs sitting under layers of lard.
hollydog said:
Drink distilled water.Body builders drink it before they do these shows .Think it helps with the cut and definition.Don,t think you keep drinking it though .Or clenbuterol but think that might be an illegal drug .
Unsure on that distilled water; I was always under the impression that on the way up to shows/competitions that body builders went on one of those ketogenic diets to gain definition, nothing to do with distilled water.hollydog said:
Drink distilled water.Body builders drink it before they do these shows .Think it helps with the cut and definition.Don,t think you keep drinking it though .Or clenbuterol but think that might be an illegal drug .
clenbuterol is horrible! I used it last year for cutting the last bit of fat off and i couldn't concentrate all day at work, i had the jitters, felt really anxious, and my heart rate was raised! horirble side effects! Worked a treat though and i dropped 5lbs in a week! A better alternative is an ECA stack IMO. didn't experience any side effects on those!
clonmult said:
hollydog said:
Drink distilled water.Body builders drink it before they do these shows .Think it helps with the cut and definition.Don,t think you keep drinking it though .Or clenbuterol but think that might be an illegal drug .
Unsure on that distilled water; I was always under the impression that on the way up to shows/competitions that body builders went on one of those ketogenic diets to gain definition, nothing to do with distilled water.nick s said:
hollydog said:
Drink distilled water.Body builders drink it before they do these shows .Think it helps with the cut and definition.Don,t think you keep drinking it though .Or clenbuterol but think that might be an illegal drug .
clenbuterol is horrible! I used it last year for cutting the last bit of fat off and i couldn't concentrate all day at work, i had the jitters, felt really anxious, and my heart rate was raised! horirble side effects! Worked a treat though and i dropped 5lbs in a week! A better alternative is an ECA stack IMO. didn't experience any side effects on those!
Edited by hollydog on Monday 31st October 13:48
goldblum said:
If you want defined flat abs then it's less than 10% bodyfat high reps endurance.Like 100's of pointless crunches etc.
If you want defined abs that are huge then it's less than 10% bodyfat, resistance and low reps.
For both you'll need a smart diet and a fair amount of cardio.
For the former, I think it's purely cos you're not actually doing much work to build the abs but the millions of crunches combined with the cardio just means a lot of cardio in the end.If you want defined abs that are huge then it's less than 10% bodyfat, resistance and low reps.
For both you'll need a smart diet and a fair amount of cardio.
For the latter, I guess that you wouldn't necessarily need to have that low bodyfat if the muscle bulk in that area is big enough which would come due to the high load you're working with?
nick s said:
hollydog said:
Drink distilled water.Body builders drink it before they do these shows .Think it helps with the cut and definition.Don,t think you keep drinking it though .Or clenbuterol but think that might be an illegal drug .
clenbuterol is horrible! I used it last year for cutting the last bit of fat off and i couldn't concentrate all day at work, i had the jitters, felt really anxious, and my heart rate was raised! horirble side effects! Worked a treat though and i dropped 5lbs in a week! A better alternative is an ECA stack IMO. didn't experience any side effects on those!
Lunja said:
Don't forget to work on your back. Strong abs with a weak back will do no good for your posture!
Interesting you should mention this. Have struggled with my back in the past. I find I really have to concentrate on my posture when running otherwise I find myself causing more issues.I'm hoping decent exercises will help develop good abs and back muscles and thus minimise pain.
I'm interested to read how much emphasis is put on cardio and reduced fat levels. I'm feeling pretty trim at the mo (relatively).
With regards to training, is is worth going for the ab crunches daily or should one always follow an exercise day with a day of rest?
(Also stumbled on the 100 press up challenge thread! Dangerous!)
RemainAllHoof said:
goldblum said:
If you want defined flat abs then it's less than 10% bodyfat high reps endurance.Like 100's of pointless crunches etc.
If you want defined abs that are huge then it's less than 10% bodyfat, resistance and low reps.
For both you'll need a smart diet and a fair amount of cardio.
For the former, I think it's purely cos you're not actually doing much work to build the abs but the millions of crunches combined with the cardio just means a lot of cardio in the end.If you want defined abs that are huge then it's less than 10% bodyfat, resistance and low reps.
For both you'll need a smart diet and a fair amount of cardio.
For the latter, I guess that you wouldn't necessarily need to have that low bodyfat if the muscle bulk in that area is big enough which would come due to the high load you're working with?
In the second you'll still need low body fat,but with BIG abs you might get away with the odd pizza!
Flat abs,loads of cardio,no weights:
Big abs,(big tits n all) clever cardio,train abs heavy,short sets:
Main difference between the two is method of training.Admittedly these are both extreme examples but as a demonstration of different training methods they serve their purpose.
goldblum said:
Main difference between the two is method of training.Admittedly these are both extreme examples but as a demonstration of different training methods they serve their purpose.
Thanks. That was my thinking. I'm pretty much the first (only without the twig for a wife, the crap marks on the arms and the incredible salary). Personally, I want to achieve a little of the second... but not that much as it's a bit nasty... just want a more athletic than lean look.Back to the OPer, I think, therefore, that he will need to do weighted work as the bet wasn't about being lean but actually having a "6 pack".
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