New Member with questions reguarding Abs

B

BeachBody

0
Hello everyone, I'm new here my 1st post actually. I have some questions on toning and revealing a six pack of abs.
1st question: When should I do my ab workouts, during cardio or weight traning or both?
2nd Question: When is the best time to work on the abs, before breakfest on an empty stomach or once I've eaten?
3rd Question: I do about 300 crunches aday that includes reverse crunches (e.g leg raises), How many days should I work on my abs? I hear people say 2x a week, some say 3x a week, and I hear people say 6x a week with one day off?
I been doing intensive cardio and weight traning since March 4th of this year so it's been eight days, I've lost 2 inches in my waist and lost 10lbs so far, how long before I should see results? I'm pretty built everywhere except in the stomach area. Now I know abs are made in the kitchen and not the gym, and I need to lose the fat around the stomach before the abs are revealed, but how long does that usally take? My diet is great.

Breakfest: 1 cup Oatmeal and 1 cup orange juice
Snack: V8 with carriots/broccoli
Lunch: Turkey sandwich, or tuna on whole weat bread and with fresh veggies and water
Snack: V8 and carriots/broccoli
Dinner: Chkn, or fish, with steamed veggies and 1/4 cup of rice and water

I usally consume about 1200 Calories aday, I do intensive cardio for an hour a day so I burn 1000 calories during my workout, and on my resting days I usally walk 2 miles and burn between 400-700 calories. I hope to see results before the end of Apirl. Can this be done?

-Keith
 
from what i know and im no expert but losing 10 pounds in a week isent very good thats unhealthy if thats the case

also no matter how maney crunches you do im talking 983719837 to 1 it will never show.. if anything will make your stomach bump out sorda bigger the reason for this is becuase there is fat covering it

until you reach body fat of 12% and under


as for your diet plan looks good but if your losing 10 pounds a week thats bad.. i think you need to add more meals

others will fill in my yes and nos its great here :) wish it was more active but great here
 
1200 cal/day? that's not very much. I would increase that ... obviously with 'smart calories'. And, you guys are right ... it's the removing of fat that will bring out those impossible abs. As for as time goes, everyone is different, and everyone trains at a different level. It could take you a month, or it could take you a year.
Your abs do recover quicker than most muscle groups, so you could start at about 3x/week and probably increase to 5 or maybe 6x/week. As I've said a few times on this forum, if you can do more than 30 reps of a type of situp at one time, then you need to find something more challenging.

Good luck
 
no, i don't think so. What are you doing for a workout? Here are the numbers that the machines tell me when I do my workout:
45 min on eliptical (~5miles) = 700 Cal
17 min on treadmill (2 miles) = 250 Cal
45 min on the weights (7 exercises x 4 sets) = ~300 Cal (i think)
 
Thank you for the responce to this thread, Outlaw, the reason I lost 10lbs in a week and 2 inches in the waist, is because I fasted for two days before I started my workout program, that alone dropped me 3lbs and therefore my stoamch did shrink and I now eat less and get full quicker, infact I've spoken to hundrends of people that have lost about the same lbs. in a week period, You can check it out with them also here at someurl. It's not unhealthy if you take vitamins, and get plenty of nutrition. I'm not starving myself, I eat untill I'm not hungy not untill I'm full or stuffed. As I also stated I do intensive cardio workouts. In 10 minutes of my workout I have sweat just pouring off me, in 30 minutes I can take off my shirt and wring out the sweat; it sounds nasty, but I'm pushing my body to the limit each and everytime.
Machines really are hard to get an acurate read out on how many calories one burns, they also run off batteries, if the batteries begin to die then readouts are not 100% accurate but only an estimate. I say go out and buy a heart rate monitor, they are the best thing to get the best results. And there is no cheating with them. This is what I use, and you too are probably burning more then 300 calories, unless your just walking around all day. If you workout at least 1/2 an hour and pushing your body, I can almost bet your burning more than 300 calories I can almost promise that. Heart rate monitors are not expensive, I bought my under $20 and it's the wrist-band kind.. Awesome deal.. Thanks again for your responce..

-Keith
 
you want to lose weight? ... if you must spend money, it's on a gym pass ... anything else is a waste ... if you really have this need to spend money, then throw it my way and i'll put it to better use ;)
 
Spend money? I spend less then anyone does on this site for an entire year at a gym. I'm not telling anyone to go out and buy programs such as Power 90 or SI6, even though they truly work, and maybe that's why I burn more calories then some of you here??? Hmm.. A Gym pass?? Give me a break, I'm cutt and built everywhere but the abs, and I never walked into a gym in my entire life. It's very simple, eat less calories then what you burn aday and your goal will be met. Sorry you folks believe in the gym and wasting your money. What can a gym do for me that I can't do myself? I bench 280, if I want a stair climer, I have the mountains right out my back door, I just go for a hike. If I need advice, I go to my doctor. I have weight machines at home which truly are a waste of money. Nothing and I mean nothing at a gym is worth a cent.
 
So if I want to get cut or lose weight, all I need to do is eat less than what I burn a day and my goal will be met. Is it that simple? If this were the case, then the one-third of Americans who are obese can simply eat less and they will be fine.

I do not believe it is that cut and dry. In terms of what a gym can do for you, they can purchase gym equipment, ie a squat rack, bench press bench, olympic bars, weights, etc. All of the things I cannot afford to spend 500+ on to have in my own home.

Granted I could spend around $150 for an olympic bar and 300lbs in plates but I'm a student, and I enjoy my gym membership at the University of Maryland. If I was absolutely broke, I'm could find ways to exercise without any equipment, it would not be as enjoyable. But no one is saying you have to have a gym membership to be fit. Just like you don't need to spend 3 easy payments of 33.95 on power 90 or whatever the website requires.
 
Keith,

Answers to your questions:

1) Time of your abdominal workout matters essentially on how hard you need to work your abdominal muscles. If you're going to blast them with resistance, such as 3 sets of 8 reps with a heavy weight, you may not want to do them after cardio or as the last set in your weight training workout.

2) I don't know if there is a best time to perform abdominal workouts. You are targetting the muscle and not the fat. If you perform crunches on an empy stomach, you have just fasted for say 8 hours of sleep, so glycogen stores may be low. Because glycogen/glucose is one of the dominant energy sources for crunches, this may affect how hard you can work the abdominals.

3) How many days you work the abdominals can depend on what type of repetition training you are using. IF you are doing high repetitions, usually you can perform training on the abdominals more frequently. If you are using resistance, not as frequently. Train them like you would train your chest, or back. The more crunches you do, in your case 300, isn't going to burn the fat off any faster than if you did 1000 or 10. Perform a few sets per week of a moderate resistance crunch or situp, also see the previous posts in personal training by jpfitness where he posts some great weighted abdominal exercises.
 
Ok, I have a question. I do abs about 3x a week, moderately. They haven't really gotten more defined, although when I flex I notice the difference. I hear you have to lower your body fat, but I'm already skinny as hell and I need to actually gain weight, but all the weight I gain seems to go to my stomach, thus covering my abs. Any suggestions? And how does one check for body fat %?
 
Gelhead,

Body fat %'s can be measured by calipers, underwater weighing, or bioelectrical impedance. Probably the easiest method is to go to your gym and ask a personal trainer to take your body fat with calipers.
 
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