Re: Too much ab exercise?

[Guest guest]

Hey Andy,

I forget which Muscle Media mag had the article in it. But I read an

article that wrote that made a world of sense to me and

completely changed my ab training. I found I had trained my abs wrong for the

last 6 years in the gym. I was one that believed like most people that I

needed to do a million crunches every day. In the article he stated that if

you wanted your bicep to grow would you do a million reps every day??? NO!

that would make the muscle smaller due to over training.

The article then said to think of your abs as any other muscle and train

them as any other muscle group. He said NOT to train them every day, they

need recooperation time. And to build the muscle there (the ripples that

stick out- aka 6pk lol). As with other muscles if you want to build muscle

you need to do low reps high weight, to lean out high reps low weight. The

way BFL training plan goes makes a happy medium with the reps, sets, and

weight. Some of the sets are high reps low weight and change as you are

pyramiding.

You said you do NOT want to increase your girth, what I would do is be

very very strict with you diet and follow the training routine that I have

attached that sent to me.

Best of luck! P.S. I hate ab training lolololol

[Guest guest]

Hey Andy,

I forget which Muscle Media mag had the article in it. But I read an

article that wrote that made a world of sense to me and

completely changed my ab training. I found I had trained my abs wrong for the

last 6 years in the gym. I was one that believed like most people that I

needed to do a million crunches every day. In the article he stated that if

you wanted your bicep to grow would you do a million reps every day??? NO!

that would make the muscle smaller due to over training.

The article then said to think of your abs as any other muscle and train

them as any other muscle group. He said NOT to train them every day, they

need recooperation time. And to build the muscle there (the ripples that

stick out- aka 6pk lol). As with other muscles if you want to build muscle

you need to do low reps high weight, to lean out high reps low weight. The

way BFL training plan goes makes a happy medium with the reps, sets, and

weight. Some of the sets are high reps low weight and change as you are

pyramiding.

You said you do NOT want to increase your girth, what I would do is be

very very strict with you diet and follow the training routine that I have

attached that sent to me.

Best of luck! P.S. I hate ab training lolololol

[Guest guest]

The same article goes on to state:

" If you are doing dozens or even hundreds of repetitions, then the

answer is no, unless you are a novice to training. If you want

cardiovascular or aerobic fitness, then you must do thousands of reps

with little resistance for a prolonged period, as in distance running,

cycling or swimming. If you want bodybuilding hypertrophy, then 8-12

reps are most commonly used. If you want strength, then 5-8 reps with

heavy weights are most popular. If you want to develop dynamic (not

static) muscle endurance with resistance, then you might do anything

from 20-100 reps with a moderate weight. If you want power (like

Olympic weightlifters, shotputters and jumpers), then you do as few as

1-3 reps at a time, naturally with very heavy loads. Remember that

there are individual variations to these formulas, but for the general

client, they still offer reasonably valid guidelines. "

Now I didn't quite understand all of that in terms of my own goal. If

my goal is to *slim down* (and get more muscular *elsewhere*), then

should I really be doing much ab exercising *at all*? That whole

article really played down the importance of ab exercises altogether.

Thanks,

Andy

> According to an article at

> http://www.fitnesslink.com/exercise/abmania3.shtml,

>

> " Let's consider a few of these reasons. First, it is highly unlikely

> that any amount of ab exercise, with or without machines, will trim

> you down and take off fat. On the contrary, ab exercise will

probably

> increase the muscle bulk around your waist and increase your girth. "

>

> The first sentence is pretty much common knowledge - but is the

second

> sentence actually true? I was expecting to have to do a fair amount

> of ab workouts as part of the BFL program, but I do *NOT* want to

> increase my girth!!

>

> Thanks,

> Andy

[Guest guest]

Andy,

Don't worry: there are NO exercises in BFL that you should not do for

any particular aesthetic reason. Stick to the program as written, and

save the tweaking for six months or so from now, when you're well

entrenched in a healthy lifestyle.

As to abs: exercise firms them up, but they stay hidden under layers of

fat until your body fat ratio falls under a certain point (usually

under 10% for men). So for that " washboard " effect, you have to combine

exercise with diet.

I think that was the point of the passage you quoted: that if you just

exercise the abs but don't lose the gutfat, you might end up with a

wider waist. But YOU'RE not going to have that, because YOU'RE firming

up and slimming down at the same time.

Hope this helps.

> Andy

>

>

> > According to an article at

> > http://www.fitnesslink.com/exercise/abmania3.shtml,

> >

> > " Let's consider a few of these reasons. First, it is highly unlikely

> > that any amount of ab exercise, with or without machines, will trim

> > you down and take off fat. On the contrary, ab exercise will

> probably

> > increase the muscle bulk around your waist and increase your girth. "

> >

> > The first sentence is pretty much common knowledge - but is the

> second

> > sentence actually true? I was expecting to have to do a fair amount

> > of ab workouts as part of the BFL program, but I do *NOT* want to

> > increase my girth!!

> >

> > Thanks,

> > Andy

[Guest guest]

In a message dated neo-reality@... writes:

I was expecting to have to do a fair amount of ab workouts as part of the BFL program, but I do *NOT* want to increase my girth!!

Well if it happens, you could always stare it down in the mirror and say, "You go girth!" Sorry Andy, couldn't resisit it after your Hmmmm, Nutbars.... Leaner.

[Guest guest]

O sp ;pve tje cp,edoams pm tjos .....oops...that shoud read....I so love the comedians on this site....

I was working in the dark....had my fingers on the wrong keys.....hehehehehehehe Z

Well if it happens, you could always stare it down in the mirror and say, "You go girth!" Sorry Andy, couldn't resisit it after your Hmmmm, Nutbars.... Leaner.

[Guest guest]

> Andy,

>

< Don't worry: there are NO exercises in BFL that you should not do

for any particular aesthetic reason. Stick to the program as written,

and save the tweaking for six months or so from now, when you're well

entrenched in a healthy lifestyle. >

Pretty good advice, I reckon. Surprised I didn't think of it myself.

:-)

< As to abs: exercise firms them up, but they stay hidden under layers

of fat until your body fat ratio falls under a certain point (usually

under 10% for men). >

My longterm goal is to get to single-digit bodyfat percentage!

< So for that " washboard " effect, you have to combine exercise with

diet. >

Amen, brother! Thanks, .

Andy

[Guest guest]

Ha.

Ha.

Ha.

Andy ;-)

> In a message dated neo-reality@h... writes:

>

> > I was expecting to have to do a fair amount of ab workouts as part

of the

> > BFL program, but I do *NOT* want to increase my girth!!

>

> Well if it happens, you could always stare it down in the mirror and

say,

> " You go girth! " Sorry Andy, couldn't resisit it after your Hmmmm,

> Nutbars.... Leaner.

>

>

> >