abs, good way to make them look good?

[Maddwraph]

i am doing 30 crunches, waiting a minute, and repeating this 3 2 more times. then after i try adn do leg lifts(i really hope i am doing them right) 15 times, wait a minute and then repeat 2 more times. am i doing this right? on average how long will ti take to get my abs in good shape(the ripped ab thing) do i need to do more than 3 sets? evne though 3 sets tires me. is there a certain diet i should do to help not the jsut the abs but other parts of bodies get better? thanks a lot.

[TheDevilAside]

There's definitely a good diet you need. Just get skinny and stay healthy.. don't starve yourself.

 

There's really no way you can mess up on crunches. Just don't "bounce", do them slowly. And keep constant tension on your abs.

 

As far as leg lifts go, I don't know, there's tons of different versions. Which ones are you doing?

 

Also, try and work your obliques somewhere in there.

 

Maybe you want to add a 10-25 lbs plate when it gets too easy for you and you're doing 100+ crunches without a sweat.

[kbgirl]

You can have really well defined abs, but if they're under a layer of fat, they won't show. I've read that for women's abs to show, they need to be about 12-14% body fat or less and for men, about 6-7% or less.

 

Your ab workouts sound good... try increasing the number of reps to where you're at about 50 before resting. When on your back, envision your navel driving downward into the floor... this will ensure you build the abs flat vs. building them outward. And I agree that you should add some exercises for your obliques.

[Maddwraph]

thanks a lot for the replies. im still not sure on somethings. wat is obligues? and i heard crunches jsut hlep on the upper abs, but im not sure on that one. any by tention u mean making the abs shake or soemthing? by diets, is something like sjtu eatimg meat good? thanks.

[TheDevilAside]

http://www.abmat.com/imgs/abs/external.gif

 

- A diagram of the oblique muscles. By the way, here's a tip, of anyone mentions some type of body part you don't know of go to google.com, type in the name and search for "Images" (Ahem... keep the search filter on.)

and i heard crunches jsut hlep on the upper abs, but im not sure on that one.

They mainly work and focus on the upper abs, but they work the lower abs as well. But it's good to add a few lower ab exercises too.

any by tention u mean making the abs shake or soemthing?

No, just don't relax them during the set. For instance, when you touch down on the ground and have completed the crunch, don't relax your abs... keep them tight. Kind of like, flexing your biceps, only with your abs. A good way to ensure that you never relax your abs is by never letting your upper back touch the ground. Your shoulder blades, for the most part, shouldn't be touching the ground.

by diets, is something like sjtu eatimg meat good?

Like... Atkins? I don't know. I've heard it works, but I've heard that there can be some pretty bad side effects from it too. But I'm not really an expert on the subject. But don't worry too much about specific diets, mainly just eat healthy foods. Stay away from potato chips (infact, stay away from potatoes entirely) and other kinds of junk food.

[Vito]

thing about abs is, you have to do as many as you can. if youre doing 30 and youre burning and you stop, good. youre on the way to progress. if you dont feel it, just keep going. do a few sets. same with leg lifts, its up to you what order and all that. that will build them up. lose the fat on the stomache, and bam! there are your abs.

[Gilbert]

if you ask me..

 

do crunches......till you cant no more

 

do side crunches....till you cant no more

 

do the other side....till you cant no more

 

do leg lifts....till you cant no more

 

rest between 30 seconds in each excercise.

 

repeat 2 times....as a start

 

and do em as many times in the day as possible..morning, during the mid day...night.

 

abs easily recover from soarness...so do em regularly.

 

enjoy your abs.....

[Rich67]

Do hanging leg lifts/raises. Crunches are not the best exercise for abs- they take a large amount to display benefits, and I personally don't want to waste 20 minutes crunching and feeling a burn. I do 3 sets of 12-15 hanging leg raises, my abs are sore the next day, and I have seen more ab development by doing them in the past 6 months than I saw in my 10 years of doing crunches.

[DokterVet]

Regarding crunches just affecting the upper abs:

 

This is false. The "abs" are one muscle, called the rectus abdominus. I don't think there is any evidence that a specific part of one muscle can be isolated. A muscle contracts as a whole. If anyone has a link to a study that suggests otherwise, please post it.

 

Situps won't make your abs visible. What makes abs visible is large muscles (hypertrophy occurs best in the 6-8 rep range) coupled with (most importantly) extremely low bodyfat levels over the abdomen. In order to get your bodyfat low enough, you need good genetics for it (some people store too much of their bodyfat there, and it is impossible to chose where to lose fat from), an appropriate diet, and probably aerobic/hiit excercise.

[aefibird]

and it is impossible to chose where to lose fat from),

 

True, unless you have the ££££ for liposuction....