Ok I know there are several threads related to getting fit and eating healthy, but I had a question specifically about my abs. How do I get them to show up!
I'm 5'8", 120 lbs..so definitely not trying to lose weight. I got a brand new gym membership and eat super healthy. My husband and I are on this "diet" where we eat healthy (no sodas, junk food etc) 6 days of the week and the 7th day we can eat whatever the &^#$&(*$ we want. I work out 5 days a week (just got a brand new gym membership to a club I like).
My workout routine consists of 60 mins of cardio (water aerobics, spinning or just elliptical) 3 days a week and strength training (weights and machines) 2 days a week. I also take yoga every now and then in addition to the above.
I just want nice abs. Advice? I'm sure it's different for me than you (since the majority of you are male). So advice from girls would be greatly appreciated.
In case it matters, I consume anywhere from 1300-1700 calories a day on a diet that is about 50-50 in terms of carbs and protein. But never simple carbs unless its my 1 day to binge
Sorry to blab but I need your help. I want a Jillian Michaels type stomach and it's not working.
ps Im not strong enough to do like 300 crunches a day so please dont suggest that.
Its not an issue of any particular ab exercise. Here's a picture of who you cited as wanting to look like. Check out her arms... that's intense.
Its a combination of good genes, nutrition, and full body workouts.
Edit: Don't just think about calories, think about nutrients. 1300-1700 will only make you skinny, not defined... that's not enough energy into you to look like what you desire... muscles burn a lot of energy daily.
Re-Edit: I hired a personal trainer 4 weeks ago to get into better shape and lose some fat. He asked me to keep a log of what I was eating.... I sent him a 3 day log... he said, problem 1 was eating too little, problem 2, wrong ratios of carbs/protein/fat.... since then I also hired a nutritionist who agreed... I've been eating about a 1/3 more than I was and am dropping pounds every week while feeling full and adding muscle. In my case I had way too much processed sugar in my diet, but I'm a full believer that a low calorie diet is not the way to go.
Last edited by Kjesse; 06-25-2009 at 01:05 AM.
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Just looking at my printed materials... you want 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fats... fats are necessary and not evil if they're the right fats... for the carbs go low-glycemic and low-load sources... check out:
Ok I know there are several threads related to getting fit and eating healthy, but I had a question specifically about my abs. How do I get them to show up!
I'm 5'8", 120 lbs..so definitely not trying to lose weight. I got a brand new gym membership and eat super healthy. My husband and I are on this "diet" where we eat healthy (no sodas, junk food etc) 6 days of the week and the 7th day we can eat whatever the &^#$&(*$ we want. I work out 5 days a week (just got a brand new gym membership to a club I like).
My workout routine consists of 60 mins of cardio (water aerobics, spinning or just elliptical) 3 days a week and strength training (weights and machines) 2 days a week. I also take yoga every now and then in addition to the above.
I just want nice abs. Advice? I'm sure it's different for me than you (since the majority of you are male). So advice from girls would be greatly appreciated.
In case it matters, I consume anywhere from 1300-1700 calories a day on a diet that is about 50-50 in terms of carbs and protein. But never simple carbs unless its my 1 day to binge
Sorry to blab but I need your help. I want a Jillian Michaels type stomach and it's not working.
ps Im not strong enough to do like 300 crunches a day so please dont suggest that.
Couple of suggestions:
1. switch to 2days/week cardio and 3days/week weight lifting routine. Ditch elliptical, spinning or a stepper are better for fat burning.
2. work out - focus on compound exercies (where you train several muscles in one exercise), forget stuff like biceps curls etc. do not forget to train your back and legs, these are the biggest muscle, absolutely crucial if you want to burn fat. Try to use free weights only, machines are for definition and isolated exercises, ie fairly useless for you.
3. use abs exercises as supplemental exercies only, do NOT focus on them. the best advice on abs i have ever read was - forget crunches! front squats (barbell placed on your upper chest just bellow the chin) will do you a lot more good than mindlessly crunching away. another great compound exercies is where you start with a barbell like you would with a deadlift, but you pull the barbell all the way up to your chin. focus on stuff like this.
once you get lean, use crunches for definition. i dont do crunches more than 2x a month and my abs are just fine. 1 day/week for abs and 1 day/week for obliques (sp) is plenty.
4. forget the 100 crunches a day stuff. muscles need resistance. imagine you did 100 bicep curls while holding an apple, would that be any good? i dont think so. what you want to do is place weight (a book if you train at home) on your chest when you do crunches for added resistance. if you can manage more than 20 in one set, grab a bigger book.
5. eat more. your intake seems low even for a woman. grab a protein shake and drink it after every workout. if you work out you need to eat more protein than you currently eat.
Last edited by Flame Of Liberty; 06-25-2009 at 09:20 AM.
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In case you didn't already know. . . a lot of the models that have "popping" abs work-out very intense and then proceed to starve themselves before photoshoots so you can actually see the muscles. Many times these people are malnourished at the time of the photo. You can have strong, well-defined abs without actually seeing them very well.
As for my advice: When doing any exercise try to keep your abs tight and control any excess motion with your body. This will help a lot.
Then start doing crunches untill you are strong enough to do 300 a day.
That's kind of like a dude saying he wants a huge upper body, but isn't strong enough to do 300 pushups a day, so don't tell me that.
Exactly! Thats why I pointed out twohundredpushups.com. Its a starting point to help a person progress to a certain level. It may not work for everybody but I think its worth checking out and trying.
Hitchhiker: You heard of this thing, the 8-Minute Abs? Ted: Yeah, sure, 8-Minute Abs. Yeah, the excercise video. Hitchhiker: Yeah, this is going to blow that right out of the water. Listen to this: 7... Minute... Abs.
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In my opinion Delgar is the closest to what you need to do.
Personally I do two ab routines that I got from www.trainwithmeonline.com that are really simple and take about 20mins each. The key was they are kind of fun to do because you have multiple exercises and and you don't have to do more than 20 of anything. PERFECT!
I did these for a month and I could feel the lines in my abs form...unfortunately they are still under a thin layer of fat that hurts the "definition". That's where diet/genes come in. Some people just don't store fat there...I'm not that lucky...so I have to alter my diet. I don't really know how to do it though, but Delgar gave you a pretty good path to take.
Just my two cents as a member of the "I hate doing 300 crunches club"...
5'8 and 120?! I say wear all the tight clothes you want and live it up!! You obviously are in awesome shape already... who cares about Jillian Michaels. It's her job to look that ripped.
But that probably isn't overly helpful advice towards actually meeting your goal so you can ignore my $0.02 if you like.
Everything FOL said, except I'd keep the cardio but switch it to HIIT.
The only ab exercises I've ever really benefited from are the woodchopper and ab crunch machine.
Yeah, if you want to do cardio, HIIT is the way to go, although I am not sure how you do that with water aerobics Personally, I do not do cardio at all, last time I was on a treadmill was in 2007.
Another thing I'd mention about nutrition - do not go crazy and do not count every calorie. If you do, the most likely outcome will be that you will get sick of it and stop. Longevity is the key here, try to eat healthy (covered in many threads here) but do not go overboard because you simply will not last. Measuring every gram of sugar or fat is nuts.
However, that being said, do not go crazy on your binge day either (althought I would say 1 day a week is too often if you want to get ripped, one day every 10 days is a better idea). On this day eat whatever you want and how much you want, but that doesnt mean to have a pizza and a cheesecake and a milkshake and ... Keep it reasonable, dont count every calorie and soon enough you will notice that eating healthy has become a habit to you and you dont even need to think too much about it.
Yeah, if you want to do cardio, HIIT is the way to go, although I am not sure how you do that with water aerobics Personally, I do not do cardio at all, last time I was on a treadmill was in 2007.
Just throw yourself in the deep end with a blindfold
I want to improve my cardio, and I find HIIT is an excellent way to do this. My target HR is 170 and I usually reach 168 after two minutes. My resting HR is now only 85. Still trying to get it down to 70.
Abs
<-----Check the Badge bitches. You want some Awesome, you come to me!
