Are any abs workouts necesary?

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (Wyrms)

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:13:51 GMT

ORIGINAL: Acujeremy

Wyrms do you have nice cut abs? Lets see them. You can be our beacon of light thorugh these dark times.

I had good abs once upon a time but I have 13-14%bf right now.

Plus, like I said, I was doing ab work for like 2 years straight before I was enlightened.

And as I've said before, one perfect example of this theory is TWISTEDLINK, he has not done any ab work in his life, and he has a great lean six-pack (his dp), not to mention his abnormally high Deadlift. - Notice the relationship between lack of ab work and high lower back strength.

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (IwillMakeIt)

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:52:45 GMT

ORIGINAL: Wyrms

ORIGINAL: Acujeremy

This discussion proves that this a complex topic with no easy answers. I did learn some things though. I have one discrepancy:

We all know the extremely low body fat 6 pack look. But you know the 6 pack look without the extremely low body fat? My buddy is a pretty devout lifter and he has a pumped up 6 pack. But his stomach is not anywheres near flat. They are kind of like popping out of his gut. I assume this may be from the sit ups and crunches. You know the look I'm talking about.

So my guess after reading this discussion is squats and deadlifts and other compound exercises get the abs cookin, but to really get them buff, ab exercises are needed. Now if Wyrms is right that this is a recipe for back injuries, then this needs further looking into.

That sounds to me like your friend, like a lot of others, has bodyfat stored under the muscle.

The rectus abdominus can grow, but not that much based on your genetic profile, but even then, like I said, compounds work them greatly, and cardio as well.

Ab workouts aren't necessary and I'm staying by that.

If I were to recommend to do them, then it'd be in very small portions.

Yeah i agree sounds like your buddy stores fat underneath the muscle instead of on top like the majority.

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (Acujeremy)

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:46:31 GMT

Wyrms do you have nice cut abs? Lets see them. You can be our beacon of light thorugh these dark times.

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (Wyrms)

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:54:01 GMT

ORIGINAL: Acujeremy

This discussion proves that this a complex topic with no easy answers. I did learn some things though. I have one discrepancy:

We all know the extremely low body fat 6 pack look. But you know the 6 pack look without the extremely low body fat? My buddy is a pretty devout lifter and he has a pumped up 6 pack. But his stomach is not anywheres near flat. They are kind of like popping out of his gut. I assume this may be from the sit ups and crunches. You know the look I'm talking about.

So my guess after reading this discussion is squats and deadlifts and other compound exercises get the abs cookin, but to really get them buff, ab exercises are needed. Now if Wyrms is right that this is a recipe for back injuries, then this needs further looking into.

That sounds to me like your friend, like a lot of others, has bodyfat stored under the muscle.

The rectus abdominus can grow, but not that much based on your genetic profile, but even then, like I said, compounds work them greatly, and cardio as well.

Ab workouts aren't necessary and I'm staying by that.

If I were to recommend to do them, then it'd be in very small portions.

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (lightning5)

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:57:50 GMT

I totally agree that to have the 6-pack look you need to watch you eat and do your cardio but i believe some ab excercise is necessary. I work them out 2-3x a week for about 5 to 10 mins non-stop cycling every type of excercise I know for about 20 reps.

On the other hand i see people in my gym who work them out daily and hit them hard every day. Some even have their own ab day, this is just amusing for me... if they kept a good form and strict velocity they wouldn´t come back the next day and try to do the same.

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (Pssst)

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:39:21 GMT

ORIGINAL: Acujeremy

This discussion proves that this a complex topic with no easy answers. I did learn some things though. I have one discrepancy:

We all know the extremely low body fat 6 pack look. But you know the 6 pack look without the extremely low body fat? My buddy is a pretty devout lifter and he has a pumped up 6 pack. But his stomach is not anywheres near flat. They are kind of like popping out of his gut. I assume this may be from the sit ups and crunches. You know the look I'm talking about.

So my guess after reading this discussion is squats and deadlifts and other compound exercises get the abs cookin, but to really get them buff, ab exercises are needed. Now if Wyrms is right that this is a recipe for back injuries, then this needs further looking into.

They would look twice as good if he were skinny

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (Acujeremy)

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:03:51 GMT

This discussion proves that this a complex topic with no easy answers. I did learn some things though. I have one discrepancy:

We all know the extremely low body fat 6 pack look. But you know the 6 pack look without the extremely low body fat? My buddy is a pretty devout lifter and he has a pumped up 6 pack. But his stomach is not anywheres near flat. They are kind of like popping out of his gut. I assume this may be from the sit ups and crunches. You know the look I'm talking about.

So my guess after reading this discussion is squats and deadlifts and other compound exercises get the abs cookin, but to really get them buff, ab exercises are needed. Now if Wyrms is right that this is a recipe for back injuries, then this needs further looking into.

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (Atomic)

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:03:47 GMT

ORIGINAL: Yet

Sticking my weiner in a lightsocket might seem logical to you. Doesn't mean it is logical.

Then you obviously don't know what you're missing! :P

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (packers4)

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:57:13 GMT

LOL ..ya good reference

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (Yet)

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:41:56 GMT

Sticking my weiner in a lightsocket might seem logical to you. Doesn't mean it is logical.

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (flame_bringer)

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:35:25 GMT

My cousine doesnt even do abs workouts and he still has better and more defined abs than me nevertheless i do abs workouts every other day .
I would agree that theyre stabilizing muscles and they work in every workout considering this but i'll still do thier workouts cuz i love it when they get all pumped after the situps..:P

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (Soccerking3000)

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:17:11 GMT

I agree and thats how i started i was skinny and you could see my abs and i thought it was awesome, but now as i've gained weight everywhere else my stomach is lacking behind it has no depth :(

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (Nm0ney34)

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:12:02 GMT

No doubt I agree, but as far as ab's showing its all about body fat.

whether you want plain skinny guy ab's or defined popping out ab's thats up to you. A skinny guys ab's will show but will they look anywhere near as good as someone who works out and trains the ab's? of course not.

ORIGINAL: jonb112303

ORIGINAL: Atomic

I think the fat has to do with it but I don't think it has everything to do with it. Look at your triceps. Look at your quads. See the separation and definition? Now look at a skinny guy. Same body fat only he doesn't have that separation. Seems logical that if you make your ab muscles grow like any other muscle then you'll see it more through the skin.

i somewhat agree

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (NBSFighter)

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:33:33 GMT

I think the question of if they are necessary or not pertains to each individual and their need for training complexity.

Anyone who hasn't been on a good compound-based routine for at least a year shouldn't even consider doing ab work unless they specifically need to, i.e. considerably weak abs or something (as coldfire mentioned).

RE: Are any abs workouts necesary? (Stillseeingreen)

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:33:20 GMT

ORIGINAL: Atomic

But they also have a point where you are indirectly working out those muscles. But to those people I have to ask, do you do bench press that works out your chest muscles and indirectly hitting your triceps but do no skull crushers or triceps extensions?

A lot of people don't do skull crushers or tricep extensions and still have large arms, same goes with pulling back workouts as a replacement for direct bicep work.

Once you finish gaining mass I will admit that the game does sort of change and direct isolating lifts for certain muscles do become a pretty good idea. Even then it is not may not be necessary.