Is this a good ab workout routine?

[TeKiZeRo]

Hi,
I am looking to remove some fat left over in my mid-section from the last 2 years of being lazy and not taking high school P.E. :P. Right now my routine is running a 10 minute mile and another 10 minutes of cooling down by jogging. Next I do the traditional ab working with my cousin where he steps on my feet with my knees up, hand behind my head, and do situps until I drop. I try to do an extra 10 situps more than the previous day. I know a balance diet is also necessary which I am working on. But if someone could point me in the right direction, I would like to get some great information on a healthy diet. Or if someone could give me some advice on a good diet, or added tips to my routine, I would appreciate it very much. I just started this excercise so I am kind of new to it. So try not to flame =/.

[winsecure]

Your program boils down to: 20 min cardio workout + lots of crunches.

In short, there's a lot better options out there for getting the results that you're working for. For the cardio, focus on slow & steady and build your time up to 30 min's or so. Do cardio 3 times a week... If you want to throw in other types of cardio (swimming, biking, etc) you can do more than that, but I wouldn't suggest running more than 3-4 times a week otherwise there's a good chance of injury. Knees, ankles, feet all take a pounding (literally) from running and you need to make sure not to overdo it.

Repeat after me: "There is no such thing as spot reduction". Situps won't help to reduce fat around the midsection. If anything, doing solely abwork can have the opposite results: adding muscle underneath the fat, so your midsection looks bigger. Adding a weight-lifting routine to the cardio will help tons, but work out all muscle groups, not just the abs. I'm not saying don't do abs at all, because working them out will improve the muscle tone which will help to flatten the gut, just don't do ab-only stuff routines.

For eating, there's a lot of resources out there. My suggestion would be to eat sensibly... stay away from really fatty stuff, but you don't have to go completely vegetarian. Serving size is everything. Rather than having "3 square meals a day", have 5-6 smaller sized meals. That will keep your metabolism high, will keep you from being hungry, and you won't feel like you're starving yourself. Add in a good one-a-day multivitamin and maybe some fiber supplements and you should be on track.

There's a lot of great programs out there that will get into very detailed specifics, but the above should give you a good start on figuring out what works for you.

Good luck... You've already done the hardest thing which is deciding you want to make a lifestyle change and starting to execute on it. Bottom line is you need to figure out what type of program you like because you won't stick with something you hate. Do some reading on excercise in conjunction with nutrition and find something that appeals to you. One of my personal favorites is Body for Life (bodyforlife.com).

[TeKiZeRo]

Should I do crunches or the traditional sit-up style like I described in my first post? By the way, thanks for explaining that to me. Does it matter if I run a mile in 10 minutes or not? Or can I just jog for 30 minutes straight at a constant and steady pace?

[winsecure]

I'd focus on a steady pace for jogging. There's a lot of proponents for HIIT training, but I'd save getting into that for several months done the road. Running sucks when you first start doing it, there's generally no way around that... But just relax and settle into a pace that you feel you can maintain. Maybe start with a 15 minute jog, and each time you go out add an additional minute to your run. Approach the running with moderation rather than overdoing it at the beginning.

[TeKiZeRo]

I also bench incline, decline, and wide chest and work on my biceps every other day also, so I am not working on abs only. As for the ab workout, should I do crunches or the traditional way?

[winsecure]

Crunches are more efficient IMO. You might drop the frequency of your lifting. To allow for full recovery, generally no more than 2x for specific bodyparts is recommended. Also add in some leg work... otherwise you'll end up looking like a light-bulb with scrawny legs.
Plus your legs are some of the largest muscles in the body, so working those out will help shed fat.

[matteo101]

Get on a swiss ball to do all of your crunches. It makes each crunch twice as effective. You need to stabilize yourself which works many more muscles. When you crunch extend your back around the ball and finish with your lower back on the ball. Do fifteen of these with correct form, and you shouldn't be able to do another one. Do 4 sets of 15 and you are good. Then do some lower ab work, either leg raises while on your back, or leg raises on the stand? thing. Finally do some excersize for your side abs, and you are done. Just remember that the abs are just like any other muscle. Doing hundreds of crunches is not needed. Add weight if you find anything to easy.

[TeKiZeRo]

Would it be fine if I just ran Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and rest throughout the rest of the days?

[st33lr4t]

Train abs like any other muscle, weighted and once maybe twice a week. You can do all the crunches in the world and see no sign of change if your diet isnt in order.

My Abs Routine

Decline Crunches
1. 10 reps
2. 10 reps
3. 10 reps

Leg Lifts
4. 8 reps
5. 8 reps

Crunches are performed while holding weight beind head. Lifts are performed using leg weights.

[TeKiZeRo]

How is your routine working out so far? I am not looking for abdominal strength but more of muscle definition.

[st33lr4t]

well if definition is what you are after you need to focus on nutrition and cardio. burn more calories then you consume to lose the inches around the waist. it takes somewhere around 10lbs to remove and inch from your waist. you do need to work those abs so when the fat is gone they will shine through...hence the weighted crunches.

it doesnt matter how big your abs are definition comes with lack of fat. you need to be in the single digit % for your abs to show.

[TeKiZeRo]

Is the decline crunch using those declined chairs things?

[pocon1]

Learn to work back and legs with weights. you are missing more than half the muscle in your body. building muscle has a synergistic effect on the rest of the body. If you neglect part of your body, you will miss out on your potential in other areas. If you do this, your abs will get stronger trying to keep up with the rest of the body, and you will not need as much specific ab work.

[Xiangsu]

Anyone ever try 8minute abs? I do those and I can really feel it the next day.

[Val_1]

Anyone ever try 8minute abs? I do those and I can really feel it the next day.

I had the 8 minute abs, plus another tape (8 minute arms, i think). I definitely felt it (I think mostly because they don't allow you to rest for 8 minutes). And it got me started into a work out reginment. But, I didn't really see results until I dropped those tapes and just started a regular cardio/weight training regiment. Saw results real fast then.