How to get abs

there are 2 ways body builders build up their ab muscles.
the same holds true for abs as in any other muscle.
the heavier the weight lifted the bigger the muscle will grow in order to
lift that weight.
I don't do sit ups I do crunches on a crunch machine.
if you do crunches on the floor with out any weights you will
get a vacuum effect, and will have to lose a higher amount of body fat
to show off your abs then if you used a weighted crunch machine.
if you notice body builders abs show even in the off season when they
are bulking up but they show a hell of a lot more come competition time.
it only stands to reason the bigger your ab muscles the easier it is to make
them show.
the more body fat you lose the more they will show.
Tom

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Hello everyone,

Being someone who has been overweight most of my life, I've never seen
my
ab muscles. I'm just curious if eating right and doing some exercise is
enough to be able to see the outline of one's abs. I mostly do cardio
workouts with my stairstepper (1hr/day) and walk (1.5 hr/day). I'm eating
better than I ever have in my life and weight is coming off fairly quick
and
steady.

Does one have to do sit-ups in order to see the ab muscles or is this
just
to make them more prominent or thicker. I don't care to get my muscles
cut
real deep, just want them to be able to be seen. Do I need to achieve a
certain body fat percentage to achieve see my abs, and if so what is the
percentage that most people get to in order to see their abs?

I do have some limitations to some exercises due to my disability after
being in an accident, but this mainly is targeted to my legs.

Thanks for any input,

Paul
300/230/175

In Bingo wrote:
Sarah Jane wrote in
:

In Bingo
wrote:
Sarah Jane wrote in
:

In Bingo
wrote:
"Beverly" wrote in
:


"Bingo" wrote in message
. 17...
"JMA" wrote in
:


"determined" wrote in message
...

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Thanks det

And as far as what specific % you will see your abs...
it depends on how you carry your fat. I'm a female and
carry most of my fat around my middle - I'll probably
never see my abs, even if I drop my overall bodyfat
pretty low. Most men will see ab definition at 15% I
believe.

det

I won't see mine without plastic surgery to take off the
excess skin - blah.

Jenn




The only way I'll see them on me is buy one of those
t-shirts with them painted on.

Do they make those for women? I think I would look really
cool biking down the local trails with one of those under a
shirt. I could leave the shirt open and show my absg





Maybe they make a Britney Spears version! Ever wonder what
she'll look like in 20 years. Think she'll still be wearing
those half- shirts. I'd bet not.

Why not? How old is she now, about 20? Cher and Madonna are
both past 40 and still looking fabulous. Hmm. Maybe Britney
needs to drop the last name.

Cher has had more nip and tuck that Michael Jackson has had
nose jobs.

Yes, she has. You don't think Britney could do that if she
needed to?

And they're so filthy rich that they can hire a whole
fitness staff and spend hours working out.

It doesn't take a whole staff, and it doesn't take that many
hours. You don't have to be filthy rich to be able to spare 3
hours a week.


Three hours? Ma'am, I'm doing at least triple that! I do 45
minutes of treadmill three times a week, and 45-60 nautilus on the
other days.

If you train smarter and harder you can get more results in three hours
a week than you're getting with triple that now.

I have not exercised yet today, because I've spend most ofg the
afternoon doing jobs searches. ANd when I'm working, it's all
I can do the squeeze in a workout if I can find the energy.

You'd probably find it easier to find the energy if you
exercised more regularly.

See above!!

Let me amend that then - you'd probably find it easier to find the
energy to work out if you worked out more efficiently.




So, if Britney is still in the biz in 20 years, maybe she will.
Otherwise, she'll probably have fat or stretch marks or belly
ring scars!

I'm neither "in the biz" nor "filthy rich", but I still plan to
have stuff worth showing five years from now. Do you honestly
believe that a 40-year-old woman can't have a great body without
surgical intervention?

"Ignoramus16608" wrote in message
...
I do weighted crunches and weighted situps. I simply hold two 35 lbs
dumbbells behind my shoulders as I do them, and my feet are held by a
barbell.

first off let me say i am impressed with you doing situps with 70lbs.
i hope you dont mind a suggestion. holding the dumbbells behind your
shoulder
limit the amount of movment going down in sit ups. right before your head
is about to hit the floor
is when your abs get a wonderful little and needed stretch. thats the point
where you can really
work your abs. you hold your body up right before your head hits the floor
as long as you can.
TALK ABOUT A PUMP. i used to hold the dumbbells or 2 - 25lbs wieghts on my
chest
do me a favor - try it that way and when you are done with your sets on the
last rep
when you are going down hold your head about a inch off the floor for as
long as you can.
you might also find you can use less weight and achive the same benifits.
sounds like you are doing great. im the type of person that needs toys to be
motivated .
when i was younger i used to do sit ups. i had this great decline sit up
bench at my peek
i was doing 100's a day with 60lbs on downward angle ( pretty steep )- o i
miss those days and want them back.
now i prefer to isolate the muscles sits up as you know also work the lower
back.
right now im just starting this up again at age 39 and 40 is just 3 months
away .
bad news is to make room i have to get rid of my lat and row machine my leg
extenstion
and let curl bench, my incline delicne fly bench and my health rider .
i still have my heart rate control stepper, stationary bike, and a bunch of
dumbells.
and no way in hell was i going to let her get rid of my crunch machine.
i now have diabetes so im hoping that gives me the added motivation to
really get things going again.
keep up the great work.
Tom





The secret is to use a soft pad under my ass, otherwise the bones get
hurt by the weight load.

i

In article , Extreme-cc's wrote:
there are 2 ways body builders build up their ab muscles.
the same holds true for abs as in any other muscle.
the heavier the weight lifted the bigger the muscle will grow in order
to
lift that weight.
I don't do sit ups I do crunches on a crunch machine.
if you do crunches on the floor with out any weights you will
get a vacuum effect, and will have to lose a higher amount of body fat
to show off your abs then if you used a weighted crunch machine.
if you notice body builders abs show even in the off season when they
are bulking up but they show a hell of a lot more come competition time.
it only stands to reason the bigger your ab muscles the easier it is to
make
them show.
the more body fat you lose the more they will show.
Tom

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Hello everyone,

Being someone who has been overweight most of my life, I've never
seen
my
ab muscles. I'm just curious if eating right and doing some exercise
is
enough to be able to see the outline of one's abs. I mostly do cardio
workouts with my stairstepper (1hr/day) and walk (1.5 hr/day). I'm
eating
better than I ever have in my life and weight is coming off fairly
quick
and
steady.

Does one have to do sit-ups in order to see the ab muscles or is this
just
to make them more prominent or thicker. I don't care to get my muscles
cut
real deep, just want them to be able to be seen. Do I need to achieve
a
certain body fat percentage to achieve see my abs, and if so what is
the
percentage that most people get to in order to see their abs?

I do have some limitations to some exercises due to my disability
after
being in an accident, but this mainly is targeted to my legs.

Thanks for any input,

Paul
300/230/175

Maybe they make a Britney Spears version! Ever wonder what she'll
look like in 20 years.

She'll look like Liz Taylor, but with bleached blond hair.

Sarah Jane wrote in
:

In Bingo
wrote:
Sarah Jane wrote in
:

In Bingo
wrote:
Sarah Jane wrote in
:

In Bingo
wrote:
"Beverly" wrote in
:


"Bingo" wrote in message
. 17...
"JMA" wrote in
:


"determined" wrote in message
...

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Thanks det

And as far as what specific % you will see your abs...
it depends on how you carry your fat. I'm a female
and carry most of my fat around my middle - I'll
probably never see my abs, even if I drop my overall
bodyfat pretty low. Most men will see ab definition at
15% I believe.

det

I won't see mine without plastic surgery to take off
the excess skin - blah.

Jenn




The only way I'll see them on me is buy one of those
t-shirts with them painted on.

Do they make those for women? I think I would look really
cool biking down the local trails with one of those under
a shirt. I could leave the shirt open and show my absg





Maybe they make a Britney Spears version! Ever wonder what
she'll look like in 20 years. Think she'll still be
wearing those half- shirts. I'd bet not.

Why not? How old is she now, about 20? Cher and Madonna are
both past 40 and still looking fabulous. Hmm. Maybe Britney
needs to drop the last name.

Cher has had more nip and tuck that Michael Jackson has had
nose jobs.

Yes, she has. You don't think Britney could do that if she
needed to?

And they're so filthy rich that they can hire a whole
fitness staff and spend hours working out.

It doesn't take a whole staff, and it doesn't take that many
hours. You don't have to be filthy rich to be able to spare 3
hours a week.


Three hours? Ma'am, I'm doing at least triple that! I do 45
minutes of treadmill three times a week, and 45-60 nautilus on
the other days.

If you train smarter and harder you can get more results in
three hours a week than you're getting with triple that now.

I have not exercised yet today, because I've spend most ofg
the afternoon doing jobs searches. ANd when I'm working,
it's all I can do the squeeze in a workout if I can find the
energy.

You'd probably find it easier to find the energy if you
exercised more regularly.

See above!!

Let me amend that then - you'd probably find it easier to find
the energy to work out if you worked out more efficiently.




So, if Britney is still in the biz in 20 years, maybe she
will. Otherwise, she'll probably have fat or stretch marks or
belly ring scars!

I'm neither "in the biz" nor "filthy rich", but I still plan
to have stuff worth showing five years from now. Do you
honestly believe that a 40-year-old woman can't have a great
body without surgical intervention?





I'm using the techniques championed by Dr Wayne Wescott, and in
fact, using the same *Building* he uses! But I don't have the time
to do all the work he advocates--and I am gaining strength. (Eg; I
start out at 70 lbs on the leg-extension machine in September, and
I'm now at 160, and I'm about to max-out of two of the Nautilus
machines) But time and stress and major problems.

If I don't find work soon (2.5 years withou a paycheck) I'll be
living in my 20-year old car.

Sarah Jane wrote in
:

In Bingo
wrote:
Sarah Jane wrote in
:

In Bingo
wrote:
Sarah Jane wrote in
:

In Bingo
wrote:
"Beverly" wrote in
:


"Bingo" wrote in message
. 17...
"JMA" wrote in
:


"determined" wrote in message
...

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Thanks det

And as far as what specific % you will see your abs...
it depends on how you carry your fat. I'm a female
and carry most of my fat around my middle - I'll
probably never see my abs, even if I drop my overall
bodyfat pretty low. Most men will see ab definition at
15% I believe.

det

I won't see mine without plastic surgery to take off
the excess skin - blah.

Jenn




The only way I'll see them on me is buy one of those
t-shirts with them painted on.

Do they make those for women? I think I would look really
cool biking down the local trails with one of those under
a shirt. I could leave the shirt open and show my absg





Maybe they make a Britney Spears version! Ever wonder what
she'll look like in 20 years. Think she'll still be
wearing those half- shirts. I'd bet not.

Why not? How old is she now, about 20? Cher and Madonna are
both past 40 and still looking fabulous. Hmm. Maybe Britney
needs to drop the last name.

Cher has had more nip and tuck that Michael Jackson has had
nose jobs.

Yes, she has. You don't think Britney could do that if she
needed to?

And they're so filthy rich that they can hire a whole
fitness staff and spend hours working out.

It doesn't take a whole staff, and it doesn't take that many
hours. You don't have to be filthy rich to be able to spare 3
hours a week.


Three hours? Ma'am, I'm doing at least triple that! I do 45
minutes of treadmill three times a week, and 45-60 nautilus on
the other days.

If you train smarter and harder you can get more results in
three hours a week than you're getting with triple that now.

I have not exercised yet today, because I've spend most ofg
the afternoon doing jobs searches. ANd when I'm working,
it's all I can do the squeeze in a workout if I can find the
energy.

You'd probably find it easier to find the energy if you
exercised more regularly.

See above!!

Let me amend that then - you'd probably find it easier to find
the energy to work out if you worked out more efficiently.




So, if Britney is still in the biz in 20 years, maybe she
will. Otherwise, she'll probably have fat or stretch marks or
belly ring scars!

I'm neither "in the biz" nor "filthy rich", but I still plan
to have stuff worth showing five years from now. Do you
honestly believe that a 40-year-old woman can't have a great
body without surgical intervention?





BTW, explain "efficiently." On each machine, I do 10-12 reps, one
set, which current research shows is the most efficient. Multiple
sets gains you nothing, which is good for me because I hate more
than one set. Two seconds up, four seconds down, controlled
movements and proper breathing.

In Bingo wrote:
Sarah Jane wrote in
:

In Bingo
wrote:
Sarah Jane wrote in
:

In Bingo
wrote:

Three hours? Ma'am, I'm doing at least triple that! I do 45
minutes of treadmill three times a week, and 45-60 nautilus on
the other days.

If you train smarter and harder you can get more results in
three hours a week than you're getting with triple that now.

I have not exercised yet today, because I've spend most ofg
the afternoon doing jobs searches. ANd when I'm working,
it's all I can do the squeeze in a workout if I can find the
energy.

You'd probably find it easier to find the energy if you
exercised more regularly.

See above!!

Let me amend that then - you'd probably find it easier to find
the energy to work out if you worked out more efficiently.




So, if Britney is still in the biz in 20 years, maybe she
will. Otherwise, she'll probably have fat or stretch marks or
belly ring scars!

I'm neither "in the biz" nor "filthy rich", but I still plan
to have stuff worth showing five years from now. Do you
honestly believe that a 40-year-old woman can't have a great
body without surgical intervention?





BTW, explain "efficiently."

I mean making better use of your time.

On each machine, I do 10-12 reps, one
set, which current research shows is the most efficient.

Most efficient for what?

Multiple
sets gains you nothing, which is good for me because I hate more
than one set.

The research that shows that single sets are as good as multiple sets
was all done on beginners, who will make gains no matter what they do.
Therefore it's not very informative. That may or may not be the case for
intermediate and advanced lifters, depending on goals. How long have you
been lifting?

Two seconds up, four seconds down, controlled
movements and proper breathing.

That's fine. But you're wasting a lot of time with the long slow cardio -
you may not think it's slow, but if you can keep it up for 45 minutes
it's slow for you. You would get better results in less time with 15-20
minutes of intervals. Also, big compound free weight exercises work more
muscles at once than the machines do, and they also cause a greater
elevation in metabolism. You could hit your whole body with 3 or 4
exercises. And how many machines are you doing that one set of each
takes 45-60 minutes?

In Bingo wrote:
Sarah Jane wrote in
:

In Bingo
wrote:
Sarah Jane wrote in
:

In Bingo
wrote:
Sarah Jane wrote in
:

In Bingo
wrote:
"Beverly" wrote in
:


"Bingo" wrote in message
. 17...
"JMA" wrote in
:


"determined" wrote in message
...

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Thanks det

And as far as what specific % you will see your abs...
it depends on how you carry your fat. I'm a female
and carry most of my fat around my middle - I'll
probably never see my abs, even if I drop my overall
bodyfat pretty low. Most men will see ab definition at
15% I believe.

det

I won't see mine without plastic surgery to take off
the excess skin - blah.

Jenn




The only way I'll see them on me is buy one of those
t-shirts with them painted on.

Do they make those for women? I think I would look really
cool biking down the local trails with one of those under
a shirt. I could leave the shirt open and show my absg





Maybe they make a Britney Spears version! Ever wonder what
she'll look like in 20 years. Think she'll still be
wearing those half- shirts. I'd bet not.

Why not? How old is she now, about 20? Cher and Madonna are
both past 40 and still looking fabulous. Hmm. Maybe Britney
needs to drop the last name.

Cher has had more nip and tuck that Michael Jackson has had
nose jobs.

Yes, she has. You don't think Britney could do that if she
needed to?

And they're so filthy rich that they can hire a whole
fitness staff and spend hours working out.

It doesn't take a whole staff, and it doesn't take that many
hours. You don't have to be filthy rich to be able to spare 3
hours a week.


Three hours? Ma'am, I'm doing at least triple that! I do 45
minutes of treadmill three times a week, and 45-60 nautilus on
the other days.

If you train smarter and harder you can get more results in
three hours a week than you're getting with triple that now.

I have not exercised yet today, because I've spend most ofg
the afternoon doing jobs searches. ANd when I'm working,
it's all I can do the squeeze in a workout if I can find the
energy.

You'd probably find it easier to find the energy if you
exercised more regularly.

See above!!

Let me amend that then - you'd probably find it easier to find
the energy to work out if you worked out more efficiently.




So, if Britney is still in the biz in 20 years, maybe she
will. Otherwise, she'll probably have fat or stretch marks or
belly ring scars!

I'm neither "in the biz" nor "filthy rich", but I still plan
to have stuff worth showing five years from now. Do you
honestly believe that a 40-year-old woman can't have a great
body without surgical intervention?





I'm using the techniques championed by Dr Wayne Wescott, and in
fact, using the same *Building* he uses! But I don't have the time
to do all the work he advocates

I don't know who that is, but if he believes that the average person
should train for more than 9 hours a week, which is what you're implying,
then he probably doesn't know what he's talking about.

--and I am gaining strength.

Nebwies to resistance training will gain strength with just about any
program.

(Eg; I
start out at 70 lbs on the leg-extension machine in September, and
I'm now at 160, and I'm about to max-out of two of the Nautilus
machines)

Then it's probably time to switch to free weights.

But time and stress and major problems.

You can get a better workout in less time, and then have more time left
for your job hunt.

If I don't find work soon (2.5 years withou a paycheck) I'll be
living in my 20-year old car.

Sorry to hear that. Best of luck to you.

"Ignoramus31635" wrote in message
...
In article , Extreme-cc's wrote:

"Ignoramus16608" wrote in message
...
I do weighted crunches and weighted situps. I simply hold two 35 lbs
dumbbells behind my shoulders as I do them, and my feet are held by a
barbell.

first off let me say i am impressed with you doing situps with
70lbs. i hope you dont mind a suggestion. holding the dumbbells
behind your shoulder limit the amount of movment going down in sit
ups.

It is a good suggestion, I agree. I hold dumbbells so that they don't
interfere with my head reaching the floor.

situps. A navy seal training book scared me a little about
overdoing situps. They say doing too many can cause lower back pain.

I remember when I used to do crunches on the floor after a while
my neck would begin to hurt from holding up my head. after the
needed muscles strengthened - I had no more neck pain.
I think that is the same with the lower back muscles.

if you have that type of will power to do sit ups with 70lbs
I would love to see your reaction to doing them on a decline sit up bench.
for the past week I been doing pretty good... taking things slow - I already
feel so much better
and really hope this time I stick with it. what other exercises do you do?

Sarah Jane wrote:

In Bingo wrote:

Three hours? Ma'am, I'm doing at least triple that! I do 45
minutes of treadmill three times a week, and 45-60 nautilus on
the other days.

I did that. For years. Got fatter and fatter.

When I changed my routine to 3 twenty minute interval sessions and three
45 minute free weight sessions I started losing major amounts of fat.

It sounds to me like you've just trained your body to expect the same
old same old. You've got to startle it. Put an all-out sprint into
your run every four minutes or so. (I promise you won't be able to do
more than 20 minutes if you sprint the way I *mean* to sprint.)

Warm up for five minutes or so, then print for a minute, spend a minute
walking or whatever your recovery pace is, then bring yourself up to
tempo for the next minute, then get a bit speedy for the next minute,
then repeat with another sprint. Do this four times and spend the next
minute or so cooling down and you're done with the gym for the day.

And ditch the tidy little sets of Nautilus. You don't startle your body
with Nautilus, it uses such a few muscles with its tight range of
motion. Instead why don't you do some free weights with dumbbells and
squat in a squatting rack with a barbell on your back. You'll use all
sorts of supporting stabilizing muscles and really convince your body it
needs to burn fuel NOW.

If you train smarter and harder you can get more results in
three hours a week than you're getting with triple that now.

Yup. What she said.

I have not exercised yet today, because I've spend most ofg
the afternoon doing jobs searches. ANd when I'm working,
it's all I can do the squeeze in a workout if I can find the
energy.

You'd probably find it easier to find the energy if you
exercised more regularly.

See above!!

Let me amend that then - you'd probably find it easier to find
the energy to work out if you worked out more efficiently.

And you'll probably find it easier to find a job if you workout
regularly. There was a survey out recently that suggested that people
hve a pereception of people who workout as being smarter and more
industrious than the identical person when told they don't work out.

Nebwies to resistance training will gain strength with just about any
program.

And to this I'd add that the most important thing appears to be going to
the gym with a concise plan, whatever it is.

Many of my ideas came to me via the book Body for Life by Bill Phillips.
You can take a look at the website at http://www.bodyforlife.com to
learn more. You don't have to buy supplements, whatever it sounds like!

Dally