Hi, I'm starting to train again since I have free time again and I'm looking for a good stomach routine. I'm trying to strike a balance between praticality and bulk. So if anyone has any good stomach workouts (anything up to half an hour). Also i'm trying to lose a bit of weight. Is there any point me trying to increase muscle size while trying to lose weight? I heard it can increase the metabolic rate resulting in faster weight loss. Thanks for any replies.
First question: why specifically the stomach - do you have a weakness there you're trying to correct, or are you simply trying to flatten it? As I have no idea how much you know about H&F, apologies in advance if this comes across as patronising, but I feel obliged to point out to you at the outset that spot reduction does not work (assuming that's what you're after - you may not be, I can only guess). And if you don't know what spot reduction is, then it's time to hit :google:
I know you can't reduce fat in a certain area, I didn't say you could. I'm asking about the stomach because I have some nice routines and principles to follow when it comes to my upper body, lower body and cardio vascular system. The stomach/core is the only thing I need help planing out. When I mentioned I wanted to lose some fat, I meant over my entire body, not just my stomach. When I say I want a balance between bulk and praticality I mean I want to have defined abs which are big while at the same time having some explosivness to them when I throw punches. I'm aware that if I do this I won't have as big abs as a body builder or as explosive punches as someone who just trains fast twitch muscle fibres. Hopefully that will stop any more misunderstandings.
Cool, just covering the basics first. Generally, unless you're a beginner, it's not possible to build muscle and lose fat at the same time. You'll need to pick one or the other. If you want to put more muscle on, you'll almost certainly want to shed fat at the end of the bulking phase, so it might be an idea to save yourself some time by bulking first (yep, and gaining more fat for the time being) then shedding all the fat at the end. Regarding specific ab exercises, I'm no expert in this area, so I'll just fling out some ideas: Weighted crunches Ab roller Leg raises (and maybe hanging leg raises for a bit of variety) Pull down crunches (using a lat pulldown pachine) For rotational work, the Full Contact Twist is a good standard. You may probably already know this, but for completeness sake - don't forget to balance ab work with back work.
Thanks I was looking for compound excercises, and how many reps and sets would I need to do of each to get a balance between explosiveness and endurance? Thanks for the excersises I have't looked into them yet but I'm just about too.
ab rollers are often missused, using the arms to pull the upperbody up and the same with pull down crunches... the bodyweight is used to throw themselves downwards in vein attempt to crunch their midsection. leg raises are great for the abs if done correctly but often people swing their legs up and soon the hip flexors are gettign a good workout at the expense of the abs. my recommendations would be: weighted sit ups on an incline v- sit ups planks planks are a great midsection workout, used to knock the wind out of me during boxing training
So how does this sound 10x4 weighted sit ups Just before failurex4 v-sit ups Just before failure x 4 Plank I'd do it very other day with 2 minute breaks between sets. Would that build bulk and fast wtitch fibres?
twice a week is fine, they get worked with your back and leg workouts and no doubt your MA if you are a practitioner so maybe once a week if your hitting a dojo/dojang 3-4 times a week. abs are like anyother muscle group, you dont need to hit them so often, 4 times a week is not good and will lead to over training them and/or a bulky midsection. britney spears is a classic example, i posted an article on my site that i found. she went from slim and lean to looking like she had a gut, all because she kept hitting her abs every day and slipped on the diet = water retention and boom...bloat. Not much fat on her but the over worked abs and hidden definition just made her midsection smooth as a cloud. I'll have a dig and find the article the obliques are often overworked by people reading mens health with all the twisting and what not, throw them in to the mix to break things up every now and again but too much and you'll have love handles....muscular ones on the planks, start facing down.... after 30secs face right.....after 30secs back to face down....30 secs face left....30 secs face downwards one set... if you can do this for 4 sets then fair play
article in full with pictures on my bodybuilding forum http://worldofmuscle.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=934 you have to join to read the forum but the site sells nothing and login process is just to deter spammers.
Thanks for that forum, ill sign up and check it out. Thats an interessting article and it's useful but i'm not really aiming for the the slim sexy femine look . More the Spartan 300 Enourmous abs and lots of mucle look.
