| Belly crunches with resistance? Is there such a thing?
Posted: 6/19/2008 1:35:39 PM | | Belly crunches don't seem to do much for me anymore, I can do a 100 of them, and seem to have plateaued. What's the next step?What else can I do at home, with or without weights, for my abs, that will take anything less than 100 reps? Is there such a thing as anaerobic abs workout, 8 to 12 repetitions? Maybe 20, tops? I am talking about the muscles in the middle of the abdomen, not the sides... still have not plateaued with those... | |
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| Belly crunches with resistance? Is there such a thing?
Posted: 6/19/2008 3:40:25 PM | I find hanging leg raises a much tougher workout for the abs than crunches. And if need to make those harder, just hold a plate between the legs.
Or if you want to go fiendishly difficult, search YouTube for 'dragon flag', Bruce Lee's ab excercise of choice. | |
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| Belly crunches with resistance? Is there such a thing?
Posted: 6/19/2008 5:13:20 PM | Try doing verious other ab work such as planks (lay face down, raise yourself up on your fore arms and toes and stay in that position as long as possible), Leg lifts, Sitting on a yoga ball to do crunches.
And, again I say... Yoga. Have you tried it? Crunch Fitness has a couple a very awesome Yoga DVD's out called "The Joy O f Yoga" and "Fat Burning Yoga". The second one always makes me feel like I have gone through a vigarous weight lifting session. | |
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| Belly crunches with resistance? Is there such a thing?
Posted: 6/20/2008 9:28:46 AM | If you look at where the abdominals are attached, they connect the base of the rib cage to the pelvis. Next, look at most exercises that claim to be abdominal exercises. Typically, a claimed abdominal exercise involves rotation at the hip, and is placing isometric stress (no length change) conditions on the abdominals. The abdominals are only acting as a stabilizer, the main muscle working is some of the muscles that cross the hip, such as the hip flexor component of the quadriceps.
If you are laying on a bench, possibly inclined (head at the upper end), rotate your legs so that they are pointed at the ceiling. This is the starting position. Contract your abs, driving your feet towards the ceiling. You will need to slightly rotate your legs in extension to keep them pointed at the ceiling. On a flat bench, you may not lift your backside far off the bench in this exercise. With an inclined bench, you will get more range of motion. You can put weight on your ankles, or hold weight between your feet to make it more difficult. Be careful with extra weight, if it falls it may hurt more than you care for it to. | |
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| Belly crunches with resistance? Is there such a thing?
Posted: 6/20/2008 5:41:58 PM | Not sure what it is you're looking to improve on. More reps? Strength? Size? Stamina? Shape?
Captains chair and Bicycle have been shown to give the greatest benefit for least effort. Just google "abdominal studies". | |
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| Belly crunches with resistance? Is there such a thing?
Posted: 6/20/2008 6:27:53 PM | I do weighted crunches. I grab two dumbells and I hold them over my head. But you can use a curl bar too.
Go to bodybuilding.com. There are lots of exercises there using free weights, cable, and your own body etc. | |
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| Belly crunches with resistance? Is there such a thing?
Posted: 6/20/2008 9:39:56 PM | | Yes leg raised crunches are much more difficult. And even more difficult still, hold onto something heavy like your couch and just straighten your legs and lift then up and down by your torso instead of the other way around. It's ridiculously tough. I hope I explained that properly...I'm really tired right now. | |
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| Belly crunches with resistance? Is there such a thing?
Posted: 6/21/2008 6:52:05 PM | - Yoga or pilates
- exercise ball - you can do your crunches there and change the stress, or my favorite for the middle abs - you start face down with your tummy on the ball, straighten your back and walk out with your hands so that your feet are on the ball, your back is straight and you're supporting your body with your arms and abs, from there you can either just hold it (discovering just how fast you wear out) or bring your knees to your chest, rolling the ball up with you and extending back out again...
the push-up wheel thing works for that as well (think wheelbarrow) - you start on your knees with the wheel in your hands, extending your body out, rolling the wheel ahead of you until your back is straight, then back in. If that isn't tough enough, do it on your toes, jacknifing your body together and out... | |
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| Belly crunches with resistance? Is there such a thing?
Posted: 6/23/2008 7:13:50 PM | Waste of time and effort,
Abs = 50% diet 490 % cardio 1% traning. Most people I train i tell them not to train abs and they look at me if I am crazy. Told them loose the fat first and do isometrics on cardio works wonders. I never did abs for a contest and just practice tensing themon carido and workd 10 times better | |
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| Belly crunches with resistance? Is there such a thing?
Posted: 6/24/2008 11:22:24 AM | Waste of time and effort,
Abs = 50% diet 490 % cardio 1% traning.
Not everyone works their abs purely for cosmetic reasons. A strong core brings lots of benefits. Diet and cardio are key if you just want visible abs, but for building strength nothing beats resistance training. | |
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| Belly crunches with resistance? Is there such a thing?
Posted: 6/24/2008 6:51:36 PM | Get on an incline bench and hold a 10lb plate weight ( the weights that you load on a straight bar ) against your chest. Then do your crunches as you normally do. I agree though that if your diet's high in carbs and you are still carrying fat around your mid section, you won't see much definition no matter how much you work your abdomen. You'll be strong, but part of working out IS to SEE results when you look in the mirror. Anyone who denies that is in denial  | |
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| Belly crunches with resistance? Is there such a thing?
Posted: 6/24/2008 7:53:28 PM |
You'll be strong, but part of working out IS to SEE results when you look in the mirror. Anyone who denies that is in denial
Your perception is flawed. Many do it for the strength alone, I went through a phase like that. Some dedicate their life to just that. Tell me that Scott Mendelson is in denial. | |
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| Belly crunches with resistance? Is there such a thing?
Posted: 6/24/2008 8:14:02 PM | | I very rarely do abs. I get my ab workout from deadlifts and squats. If I do abs it's no more than 5min every other day. I would do it very intense with only 20-30 sec rests between sets (all weighted). I just grab some weight and point it towards my upper chest and I do ab crunches on an incline. I would superset it with hanging leg raises. So I would use a plate for ab crunches (12-15) then right away do 15 hanging leg raises (no wait) then take 20-30 sec rest then repeat. I would do 3-4 sets, sometimes just do 1-2 ... depends on my mood. Abs won't be visible unless you got a good diet and do tons of cardio. If you want them stronger, you need to do weighted workouts. IMO only, I think anything over 20 is pointless. Sure you feel the burn but it won't do much. That's just my opinion from my own experience. If you got no weights then do 20 ab crunches and super set with 20 leg raises then take 10-15 sec rest then repeat. Keep going till your abs burn out, it won't take too long. | |
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| Belly crunches with resistance? Is there such a thing?
Posted: 6/24/2008 8:22:12 PM | | also if you're a guy, stick to deadlifts and squats ... can't get any better. Don't spend a day on abs, it's ridiculous ... one of the things that piss me off in the gym. They would not do squats or deadlifts because they hate doing legs. They don't understand squats and deadlifts workout the ENTIRE body. | |
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