Abs

[burn_baby_burn]

My advice is to not listen to any of the posts above. Delgar made a good point though, he hired a personal trainer and a nutritionist. Sounds like you go to a good club so they should have good personal trainers there that you can hire. Every person is different, and a good personal trainer should find the best nutrition and exercise program that works best for you.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

My advice is to not listen to any of the posts above. Delgar made a good point though, he hired a personal trainer and a nutritionist. Sounds like you go to a good club so they should have good personal trainers there that you can hire. Every person is different, and a good personal trainer should find the best nutrition and exercise program that works best for you.

What?? Troutman's advice was easily the best. It's what any personal trainer will tell you.

[smith12]

Please, hire a personal trainer? That's the biggest waste of money I've ever seen. The trainers are my gym get people doing the most ridiculous exercises that it's actually laughable. I can’t imagine paying for the crap exercises they put people through. The best is when you hear someone say “my trainer kicked my butt today”, sure he/she did? Just do it yourself.

I got my six pack by doing the following (basically my workout routine):
First: 20 - 30 minutes on the elliptical
Second: 60 minutes of weights (2 body parts)
Third: I either do 3 ab exercises or go for a run. I rotate this each day such that my abs get a chance to build every second day.

Works like a charm and I've never looked better.

[blankall]

Doing ab exercises is good, but you won't get a six pack from endless ab exercises.

The issue is you won't be able to see abs until your BF gets below a certain point. There is no way to spot reduce fat. IE if you do lots of crunches you won't lose fat around your belly. Your body loses fat evenly. Some people deposit more fat in certain areas than others (That is genetic and why you see girls walking around with 28 in waists but huge in other areas).

Having bigger ab muscles will mean they show with more fat, but like I said before the muscles can only grow so much, and its better to do a few weighted exercises than endless small ones.

In short, to get abs you need a combination of regular exercise and healthy diet. Doing 300 crunches a night won't give them to you.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by smith12

Please, hire a personal trainer? That's the biggest waste of money I've ever seen. The trainers are my gym get people doing the most ridiculous exercises that it's actually laughable. I can’t imagine paying for the crap exercises they put people through. The best is when you hear someone say “my trainer kicked my butt today”, sure he/she did? Just do it yourself.

I got my six pack by doing the following (basically my workout routine):
First: 20 - 30 minutes on the elliptical
Second: 60 minutes of weights (2 body parts)
Third: I either do 3 ab exercises or go for a run. I rotate this each day such that my abs get a chance to build every second day.

Works like a charm and I've never looked better.

Somebody must have pointed you in the right direction somewhere along the way? Or did you miraculously figure it all out by yourself over night?

I lifted weights for years without a personal trainer. Put on a lot of muscle and lost a bunch of fat. Still over time I started to plateau and injured myself due to poor form on certain exercises. It set my training back a few years.

You see personal trainers putting their clients through ridiculous or unnecessary exercises. I see many people using poor form and improper range of motion on plenty of exercises every day (especially by trying to lift to much and not going through the full range of motion).

Somehow you have managed to find success all on your own. Thats great! Not everyone has the motivation or determination that you do.

[Flame Of Liberty]

If you do a proper research, personal trainer is a waste of money unless you want to become a pro. Trainers at any gym don't have any magic know how that is unknown to the rest of the world.

But of course, for total newbies it is better to hire one and train properly rather than swing around wildly as you often see it. Sometimes when I see what people do with weights they cant handle I must cringe.

[Tyler]

Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym.

Everyone has a 6 pack (thats the basic shape of your abdominal). Decrease your fat percentage enough, and they'll be there.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by smith12

Please, hire a personal trainer? That's the biggest waste of money I've ever seen. The trainers are my gym get people doing the most ridiculous exercises that it's actually laughable. I can’t imagine paying for the crap exercises they put people through. The best is when you hear someone say “my trainer kicked my butt today”, sure he/she did? Just do it yourself.

And at my gym I see personal trainers teaching overweight middle aged women how to do squats and deadlifts. Those are exercises that those women would never know how to do on their own even though they're the best exercises you can do to build strength.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Shazam

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.

want to reduce your resting heartrate? Get a bike. I'm pushing 40 and my resting heartrate is 51 or 52. And I haven't trained especially hard this year.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

Crunches and lots of them. As CMPunk pointed out, just work your way up. It should take a few solid months and something should appear.

Ah yes....the never-dying myth, or belief that doing ab exercises will cause your abs to show up.

The only way to expose your ab muscles is to lose body fat.

And since body fat around the belly is the last to go, it usually means you have to get down to 15% or lower in order for your abs to start showing up.

[OilersBaby]

Wow THANKS! everyone for the responses! I made the posting a few days ago and didnt get to check replies til today.

I went to this fitness orientation at my gym which involved meeting with a trainer. We determined I dont eat enough. I need to consume 2000 calories. So I'm eating more.

She also told me something that one of you already told me - dont do as much cardio, do more strength training. Im going to take this class at 24 hour fitness (my gym) that is called 24 hour lift. hopefully it will help. Its not as hardcore as it sounds..its very light weights and lots of reps.

They also did a body fat percentage test and I have 19.7% body fat, which is considered fit for women. So Im not trying to lose weight since I'm only 120 lbs and 5'8" but just want shaplier arms and those abs, and a better butt. If I gain a couple of extra lbs its okay but I have really fast metabolism so I probably wont.

I love all your advice...keep it coming! And yup, want to look like Jillian Michaels

OMG guess who was at my gym today? Jillian herself because they were having tryouts for "The Biggest Loser" (tv show in case you haven't seen it) and she's one of the trainers on the show. Geez, I wish she was my trainer but Im such a wimp, I think I would die.

[OilersBaby]

wait i missed something. What's HIIT?

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by OilersBaby

She also told me something that one of you already told me - dont do as much cardio, do more strength training. Im going to take this class at 24 hour fitness (my gym) that is called 24 hour lift. hopefully it will help. Its not as hardcore as it sounds..its very light weights and lots of reps.

They also did a body fat percentage test and I have 19.7% body fat, which is considered fit for women. So Im not trying to lose weight since I'm only 120 lbs and 5'8" but just want shaplier arms and those abs, and a better butt. If I gain a couple of extra lbs its okay but I have really fast metabolism so I probably wont.

http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/

[smith12]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

Somebody must have pointed you in the right direction somewhere along the way? Or did you miraculously figure it all out by yourself over night?

I lifted weights for years without a personal trainer. Put on a lot of muscle and lost a bunch of fat. Still over time I started to plateau and injured myself due to poor form on certain exercises. It set my training back a few years.

You see personal trainers putting their clients through ridiculous or unnecessary exercises. I see many people using poor form and improper range of motion on plenty of exercises every day (especially by trying to lift to much and not going through the full range of motion).

Somehow you have managed to find success all on your own. Thats great! Not everyone has the motivation or determination that you do.

I apologize if this came off as abrasive or arrogant. It certainly wasn't meant to. My main point was that, or at least that I wanted to get across is people spend a lot of money on personal trainers and I don't think they are really worth it. In my opinion, if you're motivated enough to spend thousands of dollars on a personal trainer, then in theory you should be motivated enough to at least workout on your own and get results. If you're unsure of how to do certain exercises I find most people are more than willing to show someone proper form if you're not too scared to ask. You can also ask pretty much any person working at the gym because there’s a really good chance that they would know the proper form for each exercise.

I totally agree with your point about improper form and not getting the full range of motion.

Again, I’m sorry if my post came across in a manner at which it wasn’t intended.

[Azure]

If you're doing Olympic style lifts, either get a trainer or a coach, or you'll injure yourself.

Period.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Delgar

I hate to admit it, but that guy has a nice rack.

[Regulator75]

^

[OilersBaby]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

I hate to admit it, but that guy has a nice rack.

Her arms ARE kinda big..I just want her stomach/abs....thus this thread.