Abdominal W/O and definition

B

beingisbeing

New Member
I never really do anything besides crunch machine crunches for my abs.

I'm curious, do those of you at six pack BF level or who have visited that strange planet, do extra ab work to look super chiseled? Or do you rely on all the stabilizing the abs do every WO to create decent appearance (all the presses, carrying weights, deads, BB rows, etc)

If so, what do you do, and how do you fit it into HST?
 
My abs are definately not "chiseled" but I do have a 6 pack. I believe for myself it's just a genetic thing, I've always had them no matter what my body fat is, it's just sometimes I only have the upper 4 showing.

I've heard/read every argument on the number of sets and the amount of weight, but in the end I went with what works for me.

I have one of those wheels with a bar that goes through it, I do one long set till it burns or I have some of the arm sleeves for leg raises. I do one or the other each workout and if I feel like it I'll do some crunches on the ball. I tried doing the long horrible ab routines but found that they did absolutely nothing for me and that one long set is what works best for me.

Somwhere a long time ago I read that you should always work your lower abs first, don't remember why, but it's always stuck with me in my head so that's the way I do it.
 
I don't rely on abs getting enough hypertrophy from stabilizing work, not anymore. It doesn't seem to work for me. Sure they are strong as I havent felt any problem doing heavy squats, military presses or deadlifts, but the muscle mass isn't there. And they look really thin on low bf levels. Or maybe I just need to get bigger overall but on the other hand there are lots of teenagers with much less muscle mass than me that have way better abs than me.
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If you are training abs so they will be more visible, you will want to train them for growth. Train them progressively just like anything else with HST. High reps won't do a whole lot.

I've done extra work for abs and found it unnecessary for me. As with firefighter, my abs are visible even at relatively higher bodyfat percentages (I am not talking into the 20 percents or anything) so I don't bother working them at all anymore. But what I would if I needed to, would be to train them for growth during bulking phases, then stick to lower volume when cutting simply to maintain their strength/size. I doubt you can expect much growth from them while cutting, all things considered. I know some people do experience strength gains and possible muscle growth during cutting, but I think abs, along with probably calves and maybe forearms are pretty much the last muscle groups that would ever grow during a cut.
 
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(Totentanz @ Jul. 11 2008,10:44)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">If you are training abs so they will be more visible, you will want to train them for growth. Train them progressively just like anything else with HST. High reps won't do a whole lot.

I've done extra work for abs and found it unnecessary for me. As with firefighter, my abs are visible even at relatively higher bodyfat percentages (I am not talking into the 20 percents or anything) so I don't bother working them at all anymore. But what I would if I needed to, would be to train them for growth during bulking phases, then stick to lower volume when cutting simply to maintain their strength/size. I doubt you can expect much growth from them while cutting, all things considered. I know some people do experience strength gains and possible muscle growth during cutting, but I think abs, along with probably calves and maybe forearms are pretty much the last muscle groups that would ever grow during a cut.</div>
Yeah that was my reasoning initially when I started HST. I treated the ab exercises like anything else, increased progressively, etc.

Check on the forearms, calves, etc. Makes sense.
 
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