Blasting Abs, advice on how heavy.

[mehal]

Hey guys. I'm 40 years old, 5'9 185lbs doing a bit of a bulk and natural for now. I'd like to know your take on abs.
I prefer to lay on the heavy weight using plates or machines and crank out 15-20 heavy reps, as opposed to a couple hundred reps.doing sit-ups, crunches etc.... Different burn, but I take both ways until it really does burn. What do you guys generally think will serve best? Thanks!

 

[waceyf]

IMO using weights will make your abs larger and stick out more as where doing crunches, leg lifts etc... will make you cut down more and have a more slender looking waist, When I used to use weights for abs I had a more round prego looking belly as apposed to a flat ripped mid-section, your situation may be different tho. But IMO I dont use the weights anymore, just hundreds of crunches and other ab exercises

 

[SaSqUaDgE]

All I do for abs is a do it 2x a week at the end of my workout id do 5 mins of abs straight minuimum rest I go with a weight I can handle for 2:30 no stop so Ill do the weighted crunch machine for 2:30 mins then I go do Trunk Twists for 2:30 mins and that has really worked for me also I switch the workouts up alot. hope this helps.

 

[mehal]

Hey, thanks guys. I had a feeling that might be the replies. I'll just start with my heavy routine, get a little base, then burn the hell out of them with higher, lighter reps a little later on.

 

[Welter]

I know you asked a training question but if your goal is to get those well defined abs your efforts would be better off concentrated on diet and cardio. Believe me I'm a slow learner but I'm getting there lol. From a training standpoint I like your idea of mixing it up. I do a combination of weighted and non weighted exercises too and liking the results so far. Also do you work abs once a week or 3x a week? I worked them once a week hard for the first 6 months orso and for the last 5 weeks been going every other day. Seeing much better results every other day but in fairness my diet and cardio has been pretty damn intense these last 5 weeks and that's what I attribute most of my success to.

 

[mehal]

Hey Welter, I am trying to bulk right now. I work the a couple times a week now but pretty intensly. I want to just make sure they are there so once I do cut all my fat, they will be there waiting, but I hear ya. once you have them, you gotta burn that fat to show those babies. Cool that yours are going well.

 

[BIGRK]

crunches will not get you great abs. you have to add weight to build the muscle out . plain and simple. and doing "hundreds of crunches" just builds up muscle endurance. If you wanting to actually have abs and not just a flat six-pack then you need to be adding more weight every time . just like any other muscle. I believe that you only really need to do exercises like squats and barbell rows and other compound movements to really build a great mid-section. I do abs maybe once a week and have great abdominals