Ab routine
All I do for abs is decline crunches with 25-35 Lbs. of weights on my chest and knee raises in a captain’s chair holding a 10Lb. ball in between my knees. One day, 2 sets of each a week. No kidding.
The main thing is the decline crunches on an adjustable bench. You have to do this first in the workout cause it should be exhausting. Take the weights, today I was using a 25Lb. plate and a 10Lb. plate and crunch to all out failure. I don’t care about doing 20 sets of 10 for abs or whatever other crap you see in the mags. That first set is what matters. Trust me, when you work your way up to 35+ reps making sure you’re using your abs with 35 Lbs. of weight on your chest your abs will have grown and will stick out more. Do the set to all out failure, then the next week make sure you do one more rep. Do that for a while. Works better when bulking just like you would want to gain size in any other muscle when bulking. The decline is not very steep and I don’t go down all the way cause that would really wretch your back. I go down a lil past parallel, keeps the tension on the abs.
This is what worked for me but I have been doing it for years, I do it bulking, cutting, whatever.
May 31, 2007 at 8:00 pm
well it must work for you, because so far you have the second best abs on bodyspace in my opinion, that’s second too chicken tuna..lol(she’s off da chain)
But I read that one should be careful with training thier obliques and with too much weight because it will cause your obliques to bulk, although very strong, it can jeopordize the admired V SHAPE, what do u think of this?
P.E.A.C.E.
June 2, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Hey,
I was just curious, you look so familiar, where did you go to school?
Thanks,
Jen
June 3, 2007 at 12:30 am
I wouldn’t use weights to train the obliques. I don’t even target them at all really, though they do get hit doing everything else. There’s only so much time in a week.
June 3, 2007 at 12:31 am
I went to school somewhere in Wisconsin haha. Does that help?
June 3, 2007 at 3:52 pm
I’ve done a similar workout before. Like about 1 1/2 yrs ago. What I wanted to know is how often you workout your abs in a week, how much rest do you allow in between sets, and if you pause in each rep to squeeze your abs?
I know it sound like a lot of questions, but it will definitely help. Thanks
June 3, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Amazing abs my friend, good job. I will try your advice and let you know.
Cheers
June 4, 2007 at 5:37 pm
OK…I hear ya on the ab routine, but how much cardio do you perform? or are you just naturally that lean? What’s your diet like? (and please don’t just say, "I eat clean.")
June 6, 2007 at 11:37 am
Yeah, Lin Hai is right. Too defined a set of obliques and you look like Michaelangelo’s David. Tough luck.
j
June 6, 2007 at 12:19 pm
With the captain’s chair and ball… do you put it in between your feet or your knees?
June 7, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Good blog Mr. Hack. I usually do my abs at the end of my workout and I find myself dead tired. I will try your way with a 25lb medicine ball or plate.
June 10, 2007 at 12:49 am
Thanks for posting this information…I will test it out and see how it works for me…
June 11, 2007 at 9:11 pm
ahh very nice when your cutting about how many calories do you consume a day
June 11, 2007 at 9:32 pm
What sort of calorie intake are you doing? What are you eating? Pics look amazing, great accomplishment!
June 11, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Marco, usually only work them directly once a week. I hit them hard though at the beginning of the workout. I usually rest a few minutes between each set. Not going to be flying around doing this stuff with weight. I like to squeeze and hold on the last rep too as long as I can. Definitely have to concentrate on using the abs to do the work.
June 11, 2007 at 10:30 pm
Lastgoodfella - Very lil cardio, pretty much none. 20 rep sets of squats give my heart a good workout. I can stay lean by consistent hard work lifting and eating right. There I didn’t say clean.:) Mostly high protein 1.5g/lb a day, and low carbs. I don’t avoid fat, I try and get some sat. fat and cholesterol from lean red meat and eggs too throughout the week. Nothing is set in stone. I’ll eat lil carbs around 100-150g a day, sometimes less but after a few days of that I will eat 300-400g of carbs for a day. Always carb up before leg day. If I’m not losing fat, I cut carbs more. You cannot just eat no carbs forever and expect to train with any kind of intensity though. You have to learn how your body reacts and recognize when your training is sucking and you’re not losing any fat, you better make changes. A lack of muscle mass will prevent you from getting lean. People need to add muscle before they go trying to get all ripped.
If I were bulking I just eat a lot more carbs, around 3g/lb of bodyweight a day.
June 11, 2007 at 10:35 pm
sorry Jay, I’ll see what I can do about that.:D
June 11, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Adam, I put it in between my knees. It’s very awkwurd but I’ve been doing it forever so I’m used to it. It’s plenty hard with no weight, do it that way for a while. Most people just swing their knees up without using the abs. The abs really come into play when you’re past parallel and are flexing the spine bringing the knees into the chest. Get the move down before you try anything else. There’s probably a better way to use weight, I’m just used to this.
June 11, 2007 at 10:44 pm
M1k3y - Yeah, if I tried doing this at the end of the workout, I wouldn’t get half the reps I can at the beginning. Abs are pretty exhausted after the very first set, that’s how it’s got to be. Then do more the next time.
June 11, 2007 at 10:51 pm
Callories depends - days I work I walk around and am constantly on my feet and probably up for 18 hours, so usually around 3000 calories if cutting. Other days, around 2500. I eat a lot more than most people my size though, got to warn you. I will often eat 3500-4000+ or more once a week, usually the day before squatting. You can’t just go low carb low calorie all the time.
June 15, 2007 at 7:08 am
does it matter what weight the medicine ball is between your knees? also, what do you do for your chest? thanks
June 17, 2007 at 10:32 am
so you just do two exercise 2 sets of failure in one day per week? we should do it before starting other workout?
June 18, 2007 at 9:08 pm
this is gona sound really stupid but what do you mean by captain’s chair?
June 28, 2007 at 6:35 am
Well you answered all my ?s. So I’m going to try it an I’ll let you see the progress hopefully it works. I’ve been doing the ball, weighted cable pulls an a few others for weeks now I have 11% bodyfat an weigh 183lbs at the time an do abs at least 3 times a week an all my stomach is; is flat hardly no cut what so ever an I do at least 3sets of each exercise 20-30reps each. So I’m hopeing this change in regiment may spark some change. Thanks for sharing your secret.
July 18, 2007 at 5:29 am
wow thats a great ab workout. I gotta try that. Thanks
July 19, 2007 at 11:36 am
I gotta try this.. i did something simliar last year when I was working out, and it worked great… and if you have super abs then it must really work, thanks for posting your ab rountine, sir.
July 20, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Smokes! You have amazing abs and you deserve major compliments for keeping your body in awesome shape….all from your own home-GYM? Impressive!. Thanks for the tips, I’ll make it a point to do my begginers version of your ab workout
Cheers to you, again, you look GREAT
August 2, 2007 at 11:34 pm
Daaaaaaawg, thats nsane.. Nicest abs I’ve ever seen.. Just starting to work out on my abs, any suggestions?
August 12, 2007 at 1:47 pm
You have truly motivated me.. thats exactly the type of core i have been looking for… I know genes differ in everybody so mine will never look the same… the condtioning of your core is brilliant,,, i have never seen anything like that before. Hats of to you !!!
September 24, 2007 at 10:00 am
I checked it out to see how it is done. I just never heard anyone call it the "captain’s chair." You just made a personal modification to the excercise. http://members.viditalk.com/view/?id=48H99MFEOAM5YB9OA9MP
December 25, 2007 at 1:49 am
wow…im coming for ya
March 14, 2008 at 9:39 am
man killer abs! i wanna look just like that. i had the same body as you jus t not as cut. so i guess i need to bulk up again first before i try to cut up? ive never cut up before bc ive always been pretty lean but after seeing abs like that i gotta have em. ill try it out and see what happens! great workout
March 27, 2008 at 3:41 am
Simply a nother sticky .
April 13, 2009 at 9:24 am
Only got access to a flat bench for abs, is it effective to use a weight on my chest with that excercise as well?
October 28, 2009 at 10:31 am
Thanks for the ab workout info. I’m gonna try it!