Question about abs
 

Okay here's my situation, I'd appreciate any input.

Lately my stomach has gotten pretty flabby. Now I'm not an overweight guy, the rest of me is still pretty skinny, and I'm only 21, so my metabolism still goes on happily. So basically I'm pretty sure this flab isn't do to fat neccesarily so much as me just being a lazy bastard and letting all the ab muscles atrophy into blobby sadness.

I figured doing basic abdominal excersizes would help solve the problem. I'm not trying to get my stomach to look like it was carved out of stone... I'm just trying to flatten it back out a bit. I know I have to do a combo of upper and lower ab work outs, as well as some side ones. My question to anyone who knows is, how many sets of each should I do?

Should I, for example, do 50 lower ab crunchies, then 50 upper abs, then 50 side (forgot the name in English), and repeat? Or how many is good for a set, and how many sets? Thanks in advance for any advice on this. I'm just looking for something I can do in the comfort of my own home... Like I said, I don't want to be Mr. Universe or anything.

Re: Question about abs
 

Treat your abs like any other muscle on your body - don't overtrain them and give them the rest they need - 50 is too much per ab region. Personally, I add a little bit of abs after every workout session that I do, but I only do one region (upper, lower, obliques per day). Here is my rotation regarding my abs (all are 4 sets of 6-8 reps):
Swiss Ball (SB) Supine Lateral Ball Roll (Upper Abs)
SB Twister (Obliques)
SB Forward Ball Roll (Lower Abs)

Well, the abs are a nice area that you can not spot train fat off of. You're going to have to go on a bit of a diet/do cardio to help get rid of the flab. I'd keep less reps, and simply hold it at the peak.

Somebody would be a rich rich rich man if they could develop a way to "spot train" fat off :D

Spot fat reduction is a myth that the infomercials love to exploit. If all you do is ab excercise, that will build up your ab muscles but not reduce the layers of fat causing the real problem. the result is that the additional muscle may just push the fat out and take you even farther away from where you want to be.

run/bike/rollerblade at least 3 times a week, for at least 15 minutes per session. Paired with decent nutrition (don't eat twice the energy you put out!!), you'll lose the flabbiness eventually.

Ab exercises alone will strengthen the muscles, as winsecure said, but leave the fat on top of them.

do both... for myself, when I'm in the gym, I do pully exercises... 1 where I'm on my knees, facing the pully, and holding the rope handle in each hand beside my ears, then I do a crunch motion, pulling the pulley down toward my thighs. then I stand up, holding a floor mounted pulley, and do side bends for the obliques. Both of these are with very high weight, as much as I can handle pretty much, and with 3 sets of 8-12 reps.

Then I do decline sit ups, holding a weight on my chest.

For some good pain, I do about 250 crunches.

mmmmmmmm lactic acid ahhhhhrrwgg drool

anyway, you want to build up those ab muscles, do some resistance exercises (moving weight with your abs, not just the weight of your own body). Do regular cardio to burn body fat, and eventually you will be able to see your beautiful strong abs!

the most important things with ab training is fat

flex your stomach breathe in, and clench your stomach. everything you can pinch right there is fat, and the best way to cut it down is a stricter diet + cardio

Re: Question about abs
 

Many men put on most of their excess weight in the gut. My father looked like a toothpick man with a meatball stuck on the front. So while you should work on your abs, the real deal is that you're not burning it as fast as you're eating it or drinking it. 21-year-olds can put on fat, too, ya know, no matter how fast the metabolism.

So you need more exercise, definitely, and unfortunately you probably need to configure your diet -- no junk food, cut sugared soft drinks and remember (I hate to say it) _beer_ has calories.

Do ab exercises on those blue balls. And not those blue balls! YOu sick minded FOLKS!

Swiss balls :D

Re: Re: Question about abs
 

Bingo. If you have fat on your stomache and are skinny elsewhere on your body that means only one thing: You're consuming more calories than you are eating. Alot of men will only gain fat on the stomache, a large part of the reason (or so I've heard) is that there is low blood circulation down there.

Lower your calorie intake and raise the number of calories you burn.

Some Ab exercises will help, but don't exceed 20 reps per exercise and don't train them every day.

Train abs hard 2X a week.

the saying is that "abs are made in the kitchen." couple that with some good cardio (i like HIIT) and in a few months you'll get some good results. it worked for me anyway, when i used to think that getting a six pack was all crunches

Get you jog on! I somewhat fall in that same catagory. The best way to shed fat is to run. Keep working out but add running and make it competitive with yourself. Might want to lighten up on the beer if your like me.