HST ABS Discussion

[Louno]

Ok so is it worth doing ?
or should i do something else ?
what is the best medicine ball ab exercise ?

Also regarding nelson situps ( http://marinefeatures.subportal.com/fitnesslink/men/diffab2.html )

you hold the position 10-15 secs, then repeat how many times ? 1 set of nelson situps would be equal to 10 repetition of holding 15 secs each ? that seems alot ? ( and its time consuming )

for my next hst cycle i plan to use these nelson situps, is that enough by itself or should i add Vacuum exercise ( to reduce waist line ) or decline crunches or machine weighted crunches or some abs exercise with the big balls ( i never tried those ) ...

right now i have just a little bit too much body fat % to see my abs clearly, but you can see them just a little, still id have to lose the fat, but ill do that another cycle, thats why i though doing the vacuum thing could be good to reduce waist line without really having to do a cutting cycle...

 

[vicious]

Quote[/b] ]you hold the position 10-15 secs, then repeat how many times ? 1 set of nelson situps would be equal to 10 repetition of holding 15 secs each ? that seems alot ? ( and its time consuming )

I would just do 10 reps or so with a 1/2 cadence. None of the static hold stuff. (It's too painful. )

Quote[/b] ]for my next hst cycle i plan to use these nelson situps, is that enough by itself or should i add Vacuum exercise ( to reduce waist line ) or decline crunches or machine weighted crunches or some abs exercise with the big balls ( i never tried those ) ...

The Vacuum is good to do once or twice a week or so. It's more about developing strength with this muscle, so that you can protect your lower back. By flexing this muscle while doing your core and ab crunches, you also improve ab development.

Quote[/b] ]thats why i though doing the vacuum thing could be good to reduce waist line without really having to do a cutting cycle...

A smaller waistline will improve the upper-tor-so-to-waist ratio, which is part of having an aesthetically appealing look. BUT . . . it won't give you a more defined ab. I wouldn't worry about this until you're fairly lean. It's just more important to work on building mass and developing strength with the core movements. I wouldn't obsess about it.

My recommendation is to just use weighted crunches or a pullover movement. While you're doing these movements, work on flexing your tranversus abdominis. That should be enough for now.

But if you are obsessed about abs, I posted something in the Customization section about ab specialization. Covers various ways about that.

cheers,
Jules

 

[Louno]

Quote[/b] ]I would just do 10 reps or so with a 1/2 cadence. None of the static hold stuff. (It's too painful. )

I dont find it very painfull, i do shake alot but its alright, i dont understand what you mean by 1/2 cadence tho, and i dont see how you could do this exercises without holding ure position, i mean, thats how the exercise is done, its not a movement its a position u get into and hold....

about the vacuum, i think i might give it a try , unless u tell me for sure its not very usefull to change anything about reducing the waistline. When i hold the position, i guess im not supposed to breath right ? but on the site it says to hold the position for 60secs... thats a long time without breathing when ure in a gym... anywyas...

thanks !

 

[vicious]

Quote[/b] ]I dont find it very painfull, i do shake alot but its alright, i dont understand what you mean by 1/2 cadence tho, and i dont see how you could do this exercises without holding ure position, i mean, thats how the exercise is done, its not a movement its a position u get into and hold....

Ah I misunderstood.  I assumed you meant, holding it for 10-15 seconds at the end of the movement.  

1/2 --> 1 second up, 2 seconds down.  You can do 2/4 or slower if you wish.  That would be a total of 60 seconds in this position.

The movement is facilitated by the arms, which provides the movement through the raising of the rib cage.  At the end of the movement, you can bend your arms to accentuate the contraction further.  I used to think this was a static hold, but it turns out it wasn't.

Quote[/b] ]When i hold the position, i guess im not supposed to breath right ? but on the site it says to hold the position for 60secs... thats a long time without breathing when ure in a gym... anywyas...

You don't have to go all out at 60 seconds.  You could try
reps of 3-5 seconds where you blow out as much as possible, contract, then relax/inhale.  

All the same, I'm not sure whether this should be that high of a priority right now. Perhaps, instead of vacuums, just start out with flexing the tranversus abdominis while working your other movements.

cheers,
Jules

 

[rboit]

Quote[/b] (Old and Grey @ May 18 2005,8:29)]Over a two year time frame I went from 170 pounds at 18% bf to 185 @ 9% bf by following HST principles and strictly limiting sugary carbs and bad fats. That is a loss of 14 pounds of fat and a gain of 29 pounds of muscle.

That's really good. Like you, I'm in my 50's and have had no problem losing body fat but I haven't been able to put on as much lean mass as you have. Other than limiting sugars and bad fats do you follow any particular diet? Do you do much cardio?

 

[Lance]

I've heard O&G say before that he eats about 250 calories over maintenance and continues to gain muscle and lose fat. It's a nice moderate approach i think. After being in this game for 30+ years what's the rush anymore anyhow right?