Diet/Ab Routine
So here it is, I have received many PM’s, and comments asking me about my diet and ab routine. Bottom line is it is all about consistency, inside and outside of the gym. Diet has more to do with getting those abs to show than the actual ab routines. Stick to a high protein, moderate carb, low fat diet. Eliminate all sugary sodas, juices, and alcohol since these all go straight to the abdomen. My current diet consists of the following foods: Chicken, tuna, lean beef, whole grain rice, oats, low sodium turkey, light whole wheat bread, light n fit Dannon yogurt, bananas, Kashi Heart to Heart cereal, Pure Protein 19g Protein bar, sweet potatoes, eggs, organic black beans and veggies. I also take 2 protein shakes a day, 1 pre-workout, and 1 post workout. You can buy Lean Pro Matrix at nlnutrition.net. These are all of the foods that are in my diet as of right now and have been for the past 6 months. It’s pretty strict, but it does the job for putting on lean mass, keep the portion control in check.
My ab routine consists of training my abs 5 days a week intensely, some may say this is overtraining, but I dis-agree, in my opinion you can train abs everyday. I train my abs for 30\45 minutes a day on top of weight training. I take White Flood, Purple Wraath, Blue Up, Orange Traid and Green Bulge to give me the energy I need to complete my routines, as well as keeping my body from going into catabolic state. For instance Monday I will do 4 sets of leg lifts at 15 reps each, then weighted ab machine crunches at 4 sets of 30 at 70-80 lbs, decline crunches at 4 sets of 30 reps, and last but not least cable crunches (my favorite), this exercise really got my abs to pop..I do 2 sets of 40 at 50 lbs, and then another 2 sets of 40 at 60 lbs, adding a twist here and there to get those obliques, not only on this exercise, but on all ab exercises, and switch it up a bit doing these in differrent order every day.
Cardio is also very important when getting those abs to show, it keeps off that extra layer of fat. Currently I am running every other day for 15 mins intensely at the end of a workout. I do not want to over do it with the cardio since I am still trying to put on muscle mass, so I keep it limited, this seems to be enough to keep of that extra layer of fat nobody wants, let’s not forget, weight training also burns calories.
Shoot me a message if you have any other questions,
Thank you all,
XNick EdgeX
November 7, 2007 at 8:41 am
AWESOME POST & VERY INFORMATIVE….THANKS!!!
November 7, 2007 at 8:41 am
No wonder you’re in such a good form, your workout schedule is insane. I would burn myself badly if doing that much stuff (late thirties and ectomorph, a bad combination here). So those twists here and there are the key for the lower obliques? NOW it makes sense to me!. Good job, bro!
November 9, 2007 at 5:37 pm
thanks, nick. I always knew I undertrained my abs. the diet is pretty good, but I am not at all hard on those abs the way you are. thanks for posting and taking me to the next level, man, Peace, Rich
November 13, 2007 at 11:11 pm
nice, i didn’t even have to ask, i am actually putting work towards my stomach for the first time. I think i am seeing results, pritty underdeveloped. got to start somewhere
-g
November 18, 2007 at 11:32 am
Right on man. Thanks for posting this. Im gonna train my abs harder than ever! i was always told not to overtrain. screw that! haha. thanks again man!
November 18, 2007 at 5:15 pm
best blog ever!!!! thank you.
November 23, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Thanks for the info. I gonna try out your ab routine tomorrow.
November 24, 2007 at 5:15 pm
What coincidence, I’m doing exactly what you do, (including nutrition, abs training and cardio). Let’s see my abs after this.
December 5, 2007 at 4:11 am
hey dude just wondering with the running, how do u not lose ur muscles from running so much, do you eat just b4 u hit the gym?
December 6, 2007 at 2:58 am
good sh!t man, i gotta get to your level, time…its only a matter of time…great inspiration, keep it up!
December 14, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Wow! Dude that is one crazy ab workout! I seriously thought working on it 5x straight was bad for u, but i guess not!
December 17, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Sorry… I guess I didn’t lurk your page hard enough before I asked you! Anyway, thanks for posting this quality information. I think I will try these maybe 3x/week and see how it works. It looks pretty intense, but I guess you have to work really hard to look that good. Keep it up bro!
… the quest for the six-pack continues…
December 28, 2007 at 1:18 pm
That’s a crazy routine, i never try the cable crunches .. i am gonna start now, best blog indeed..
December 29, 2007 at 11:56 am
Fascinating post.
Some thoughts. I try to incorporate 3x a week based largely on I hate having the excuse that they are still sore from a previous day not to work out.
Also, more importantly, since my workout incorporates hanging raises where I grab the top of the squat rack overhand grip and knock out both sides of twisting knee raises, having an upperbody workout before usually discourages me from working my abs on taht day.
My only question I suppose, given that you have decided to consciously overtrain your abs and still have fantastic results I’m inclined to believe that you already had a genetic disposition toward a small tight waist. Is this true? Do you have pics from before? I only ask because I look at your earliest pictures and while I see definite progress, I also see a physique that was considerably in shape to begin with.
I’m only speaking from experience of knowing that some are ‘blessed’ with good genetics, like myself and my peaks in my arms.
So again, is this the case of you already possessing a decent set of abz to begin with? I think your readers (myself included) would appreciate such insight.
Thanks in advance,
Azul
I’m over @ www.bodyspace….etc/caramelover
January 3, 2008 at 12:21 am
Thanx for pointing me in the right direction!!!
January 10, 2008 at 7:11 pm
thankz bro
January 13, 2008 at 5:18 am
Thank you for the info!!!!
January 14, 2008 at 5:12 am
Thanks dude. Love the ab routine
January 15, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Nice information. Im going to put some of your ab routine in with mine. thaks for the tips bro
January 17, 2008 at 8:44 am
Nice post. Good luck with your training
January 23, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Wow, actualy i never did any direct abs exercise beside 2-3 set of hanging leg raise on legs day. You defenetly convince me to start a abs routine. I though that undirect abs stimulation and low% bodyfat where enough.. i guess i was wrong
I’m so paranoid about adding a couple of inch to my waist..
peace
January 23, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I forgot to mention 2-3 set of stomach vacuum..
I’m not bless by the small waist genetic
On my profile pics i have a 31 inch waist wich i think is big for my size and % bodyfat
Maybe thats why i’m paranoid bout gaining some inch on my waist..
January 27, 2008 at 12:10 pm
what if we aint got access to the cable ab things u was talking about u said that got ur abs poppin out.
February 1, 2008 at 4:31 pm
should I do more cardio because I have more fat there? in my abs I mean. I want to be super lean.
February 15, 2008 at 3:33 am
same qn as chad643, what if we aint got access to such a machine, any alternatives? currently im doing weighted crunches, weighted decline leg raises and decline weighted sit ups.
February 15, 2008 at 5:03 pm
What do you mean by keeping your portions in check?
February 17, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Amazing!!! Thanks Man!
February 17, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Great blog!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Vinny
February 27, 2008 at 4:59 am
GREAT INFO! Thanks a lot.
March 2, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Once again, thanks for the thorough level of information in your posts.
*thumbs up!
:)
SP
March 8, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Great Info man!! thanks for the insight..! I have always heard that overtraining is not good..but i guess in ur case it doesn’t have an effect at all! Thanks Again!
March 11, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Thats some great info. Your a madman
March 30, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Thanks for the info, I’m striving for abs like your’s. I need to shape up my diet for sure. Keep it up man, you’re a definite motivation.
April 2, 2008 at 6:09 am
u have a good scientific approach for making abs thanks
April 15, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Excellent tips, how long are your routines?
May 13, 2008 at 7:07 pm
wow thats alot of abs! how many sets do you do for the regular trainning?
May 26, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Thanks for the tips man, Aye I was checking out that site with the protein. Seems amazing, 34grams of protein for every 160 calories. Too bad its double the cost of my EAS premium protein. Just wondering though, is the protein you use taste good?
June 11, 2008 at 9:04 am
Great! That really helped me a lot… Stay mean.. or at least your body..
June 26, 2008 at 11:16 am
Good information here. I’m trying to get my stomach to cooperate w/ me and this seems to be the ticket.
July 16, 2008 at 2:12 pm
how much is moderate carbs?
August 6, 2008 at 11:02 pm
hey man… thanx 4 takin the tym 2 teach us all sumthin… lol… i was just wondering how u get ur waist so narrow… cuz i really want that… it looks sick 2 hav wide shoulders and chest/back and a narrow waist… thanx again…
Stevo
August 15, 2008 at 6:13 pm
hey man nice job your a beaast, i got a few questions though how much carbs do you eat each day and on cardio how fast of intesity do you run for,thanks for the tips
September 4, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Just wanted to say thanks, from all of the comments on here it looks like you have helped a lot of people. I will use your advise in my workout that is for sure.
September 16, 2008 at 5:38 pm
k just wondering but about how many calories do u think u eat in a day?