AB Routines..?

[YellowJacket]

Anyone have anyone have any suggestions and/or additions for good AB routines? I have been using the same one (or a variation of that) for almost 2 years now. While I consider it highly effective, let's face it, if its not new or entertaining, its going to become mundane and Im not going to do it and if I do, its going to be half-assed. I prefer using a slant board and using weight (obviously) for hyprtrophy. Also, I find the pause method to be very effective.

Any suggestions or entertaining ideas are welcomed and appreciated.

[Stonecold54]

My own thinking on the subject is that straight sit ups don't do much because of the nature of the abs...my own little knack (with a small shout out to rocky for the partial idea, lol). I use a free standing decline bench. I start with regular sit ups with my thumbs on my forehead (higher leverage makes them harder). Then after 10-20 depending on the day I twist but as I twist I slowly pull myself up and down in the range of motion of the situp. Its a very gradual motion but it burns the hell out of me. and as always I add a plate on my chest to make it harder. another ab exercise that I like personally is sitting with my legs straight out in front of me. Lifting myself off the ground with my hands and doing an isometeric hold. again you can add weight to make it harder on your legs.

[YellowJacket]

Yea, I have essentially the same routine, my slant board has several levels of decline, which is always helpful... the isometric hold is another key part of my routine too.... Im thinking of incorporating more medicine ball work..

[Stonecold54]

Originally Posted by YellowJacket

Yea, I have essentially the same routine, my slant board has several levels of decline, which is always helpful... the isometric hold is another key part of my routine too.... Im thinking of incorporating more medicine ball work..

well I don't know what to tell you then,


lots of sex is good to....but that is one thing where you don't want too much weight on the "other end" .

[YellowJacket]

Originally Posted by stonecold54

lots of sex is good to....but that is one thing where you don't want too much weight on the "other end" .

Hahaha..... wait, unless the plates are 'stacked'

[Mommie2Hottie]

I really slack in the ab dept. This past Wed, a friend showed me her routine but due to time contraints we only did 5-8 reps of each exercise vs. the 25 reps/3 sets that she normally does. I probably only did 40 reps altogether that morning. Later that night, as I was getting out of bed, I noticed these ripples on my tummy. "No Way!!" I thought. I poked at them and called my husband over. He verified that we were actually looking at my 6-pack!!!! I was sore the next two days but I'm looking forward to doing abs again this morning. I wrote down the exercises and I'll post them either tonight or tomorrow.

[Taylor]

ab routines are not fun and i dont think they ever will be...I just take 5 or 10 minutes every couple of workouts to get them done and then move on to business

[Slashmonay]

My favorite ab excersise is using a decline bench, lay with one leg under the pad. lay back but be laying sideways, thumbs on your temples, and twist and pull at the same time touching opposite elbow to knee under the pad. Hopefully you understand what i mean but this is an Awesome excersise.

[BBAddict]

two of my favorite for abs are rope crunches and doing crunches/situps while hanging from a bar on a powercage-that one really wipes me out!

[Stonecold54]

One of the other exercises I like that is tough for me...is the one where you hang from a pullup bar by your elbows in those straps...and then do leg lifts to the front left and right.

[Shibby]

Originally Posted by stonecold54

One of the other exercises I like that is tough for me...is the one where you hang from a pullup bar by your elbows in those straps...and then do leg lifts to the front left and right.

I like those because it's great on core strengthning. Zero support from a bench or floor. Kind of gives me a meditation feeling since it takes complete concentration not to swing and to do the lifts correctly.

[Stonecold54]

Originally Posted by Shibby

I like those because it's great on core strengthning. Zero support from a bench or floor. Kind of gives me a meditation feeling since it takes complete concentration not to swing and to do the lifts correctly.

I don't have a "core"


I hate that word...lol...Its like that new machine where they do the "infared camera" to show that the woman's muscles are "firing" whatever the fuck that means, lol...I do hope they realize that the fact that a muscle gets warm from stress doesn't mean jack shit about the effectivness of a machine...I could do pushups and it would look like my muscles were "firing", lol

sorry for the rant.

[Shibby]

Yea, I got use to that word when personal training. It just works well when talking about the whole midsection and not just the ab area that most words are associtated with.

[ROCKETW19]

my favorite is on the knee raise stand do leg lifts( legs straight out) with a 2 second pause at the top as many as you can then go straight into knee raises untill your cant do any more. i also like crunches with the rope on a pull down machine.

[BBAddict]

Originally Posted by stonecold54

One of the other exercises I like that is tough for me...is the one where you hang from a pullup bar by your elbows in those straps...and then do leg lifts to the front left and right.

I used to like that one until my lower abs and obliques started getting out of proportion. I guess that could be cause I did it holding a 35lb dumbell between my feet. Anyway, it does feel great and I do it occassionally but it gave my abs a weird look when I did it heavy several times a week for awhile.

[DeaDLifteR]

you could always try:
Decline reverse crunch........extremely slow reps
Press situps.......works great for me
Hanging Leg Raises.........one of the best
Gorrilla crunches..........my personal fav

[addict]

Go down to your local gymnastics and watch what they do. They have a great overall ab workout.

[go Yankees]

agreed

personally I like doing three exercises in a row, usually hanging leg/knee raises (12-15) right into lying leg raises (12-15) then right into crunches (15-20), or cable crunches (12-15) right into lying leg raises (12-15) and then crunches (15-20). The second time around I'm pretty tired, though, so sometimes I'll do a bit less

good luck

[YellowJacket]

Thanks all for the suggestions....