What it takes to get rock solid abs

[Dreamliner]

You bring out a good point, a distinction that should be made. Everybody's got abs underneath their fat. But not everyone's abs are hypertrophied to the same extent. To make them 'pop' is to make them bigger, as you would any other muscle. Still need to get the fat off though. And I doubt that you have to go single digits to get them to pop. Guys lie about BF% all the time. 12% or below is outstanding for a guy.

[slmdLS1]

yeah, i caliper my torso around 13-14%, and its just usually the worst part of my body in regards to holding fat. Broad shoulders and thick legs(soccer player) all my life.

[Chirogator]

Perhaps a discussion of best ways to hypertrophy the abdominal region? There's definitely old school stuff like crunches, leg raises, sit ups, etc. that can definitely do the job but research by Stuart McGill PhD shows that these may do so at the expense of the low back. He advocates the use of exercises that challenge the spine's ability to maintain a neutral position. Exercises such as planks, walk outs, stir the pot, Palloff presses, single arm farmer's walks, landmines, renegade rows, etc. (YouTube them) not only show higher EMG activity of abdominal musculature but also lower levels of potentially damaging spinal load. As a chiropractor and strength coach I've found these types of exercises to be very productive not only in rehab settings but also for performance gains and aesthetic gains. Any input?

[Dreamliner]

... or you guys could just practice planche and front lever progressions like I've described on the Day One thread.

I can't see how they'd be injurious to the spine (chiro ?) and they work your abs like nobody's business.

[LeafUF]

I want to work up to doing dragon flags like my man Bruce Lee.

[slmdLS1]

Originally Posted by LeafUF

I want to work up to doing dragon flags like my man Bruce Lee.

saw a thread on these on bb.com...my back hurt just watching it. would like to get to that point though...

[LeafUF]

For motivation. Or any other reason you may need.

http://2fit-2quit.tumblr.com/

[slmdLS1]

mmmm. love me some camille leblanc bazinet. i think shes some smarty pants chemical engineer too.



I wanna shoot to make the "adonis belt" pop too

[LeafUF]

Yeah, she even got me watching the crossfit games. Ridiculous.

[Chirogator]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

... or you guys could just practice planche and front lever progressions like I've described on the Day One thread.

I can't see how they'd be injurious to the spine (chiro ?) and they work your abs like nobody's business.

I think lots of moves from gymnastics are unparalleled in their ability to strengthen the core or abdomen or whatever you choose to call it. Not a big fan of the kipping pull up (which isn't really true gymnastics) or some of the ballistic movements through the lumbar spine you sometimes see in gymnastics but front levers, planches, L-sits and lots of other similar moves are fantastic. You just gotta walk before you run so maybe developing decent core stability with other exercises before trying those out might not be a bad idea. Same goes with the Bruce Lee move. You need ridiculous amounts of core strength to be able to pull that off properly.

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by Chirogator

I think lots of moves from gymnastics are unparalleled in their ability to strengthen the core or abdomen or whatever you choose to call it. Not a big fan of the kipping pull up (which isn't really true gymnastics) or some of the ballistic movements through the lumbar spine you sometimes see in gymnastics but front levers, planches, L-sits and lots of other similar moves are fantastic. You just gotta walk before you run so maybe developing decent core stability with other exercises before trying those out might not be a bad idea. Same goes with the Bruce Lee move. You need ridiculous amounts of core strength to be able to pull that off properly.

You're preaching to the choir on the kipping pullup. It's merely a means to an end in gymnastics. I don't see the point of doing 40 of them.

Did tuck planches today. I'm just getting to where I can get the hips level with the shoulders ... and right now my spinae erector feel like they generally do after a deadlifting session.

[Zendra]

Originally Posted by slmdLS1

mmmm. love me some camille leblanc bazinet. i think shes some smarty pants chemical engineer too.



I wanna shoot to make the "adonis belt" pop too

She's quite impressive. I like watching her videos because I get to learn a lot about proper form as well as how to motivate myself to be effective and disciplined enough to follow my program. On the subject at hand, you can see that her abs aren't hypertrophy. Case it point. Just get a flat stomach. Six pack abs will come or not but a flat stomach is already enough.

[slmdLS1]

thats why i watch her too!

[Dreamliner]

Speaking of Crossfit, I've just taken on an apprentice who's a Crossfitter. She's not a cultist though. She spurns the Paleo movement and says she just enjoys training that way and does not anticipate projecting that onto her future clients.

[Dreamliner]

On the exercise end, if anyone wants to try an exercise that will scorch your abs, try the VASTLY underappreciated hanging leg raise. Don't bend your elbows. Don't lean back. Keep your torso vertical and body quiet overall. Lift your knees as high as you can. Then progress to lifting knees and 'scooping' abs. Then progress to lifting feet higher and higher until your feet are touching the bar.

If you're doing this correctly you probably want need to do pullups. This would be your pulling exercise. And when you're able to easily raise your feet to the bar, time to experiment with the front lever.

[LeafUF]

Definitely not recommended nearly enough. I think bc they are really difficult and people hate that. Though, Wendler only recommends 2 ab moves. Ab wheel and hanging leg raises.

[Dreamliner]

Tell you the truth, I've recently regressed my front lever progressions to hanging leg raises. Reason: I found out that there is a world of difference between pulling, with slightly bent arms, to the top, and then lowering into a tuck, and pulling myself up, with generally straight arms, into the tuck and holding.

[StrangeGator]

Everybody in the Olympics seems to have rock solid abs. So if you want rock solid abs, qualify for the Olympics.

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by StrangeGator

Everybody in the Olympics seems to have rock solid abs. So if you want rock solid abs, qualify for the Olympics.

The Big Red Easy Button: train for the Olympics to get rock-hard abs.

[GatorAvatar]

Originally Posted by StrangeGator

Everybody in the Olympics seems to have rock solid abs. So if you want rock solid abs, qualify for the Olympics.

LOL.