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Alexender
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06 Jan 2012, 9:56 pm

I love rock climbing, I am fine with working out in almost every way except ab workouts. If I workout to where I actually feel like I did in my stomach than it aches and is painful, which is distracting. I mean if my arms are sore that feels fine, not trying to complain about working out just wondering if there is a better way to do it for that muscle group.



1000Knives
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06 Jan 2012, 10:44 pm

A slideboard will work them, albeit mildly.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmDZBPt0j94[/youtube]



jamieevren1210
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07 Jan 2012, 5:28 am

Old saying... No pain, no gain.



Wolfheart
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07 Jan 2012, 6:20 am

I really like the feeling of lactic acid building up and that tense, painful feeling when I'm working out and soreness actually feels rewarding.

There are a number of abdominal exercises that can be performed, you could try them and find out which ones are best for you. Here is a good list of abdominal exercises that can be done.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/f ... abdominals



Synecdoche
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07 Jan 2012, 8:30 am

Try 3 minute abs. It's very quick and simple.

30 secs frog leg kicks (It's like the frog swimming position. You sit on your butt, lift up your knees assuming the frogstyle swimming position and kick out straightforward. Then, pull it back into position. Repeat. Keep your back, hands, and legs off the ground.)
30 secs flutter kicks (Keep your head off the ground)
30 secs crunches
30 secs bicycle kicks
30 secs mason twists
30 secs v-ups


You can switch the exercises around, sub in a different ab exercise, add/remove time, etc. Usually, I repeat the exercise three times for a total of 9 minute abs. If it's too hard, you can take 30-60 second breaks in between routines/exercises. It's customized towards your ability level.


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Clownesque
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07 Jan 2012, 8:52 am

The more it hurts, the better it's working.

You can just do any exercise until it almost stops hurting, then quit. Your threshold will increase, albeit slowly.



1000Knives
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07 Jan 2012, 11:54 am

One thing, though, you must realize, abs are dependent more or less on your amount of bodyfat, not how big the muscles are. You generally need like 5-10% bodyfat to see abs. You'd have to get them really huge to poke out through a lot of bodyfat. If you just add muscle while keeping the same amount of bodyfat, you'll just get more of a belly, as exercise can't really "spot tone" fat away, it just all comes off randomly.

Also, while training the abs is good, if you do too much front abdominal work, without working you obliques, and back muscles, you can actually screw up your posture, as your front abdominal muscles will overpower the rest of your core and back muscles. I mean it's sorta rare, as most people won't do enough ab exercises like that to do that, but yeah. The other thing too, your abs purpose is a stabilizer muscle. They're there to keep your body together, more or less. So, any activity involving your whole body, ie, skating (my favorite), running, weight lifting, will improve your abs, just over time, not instantly.



Pondering
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07 Jan 2012, 12:26 pm

Workouts should actually never truly be painful. If you are feeling pain go to your doctor and get looked at.

Anyway, ab rollers might help to add to a routine. Always stretch those muscles out before doing something that puts a lot of stress on the muscles you use.


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kx250rider
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07 Jan 2012, 1:10 pm

I can speak from experience (350 crunches per day, every day unless I'm sick or something, for over 15 years)... I've done it to the point where I have a sixpack that shows nicely, and I'm intending to maintain it as long as possible; age 100 God willing. Your abs will be on fire for a day or two after changing up the workout, but they will settle down. If you're getting too sore, you're doing too aggressive a routine too soon. Cut it in half, and do that routine for a couple weeks, and see if the soreness gets better. But if you don't feel ANY soreness, you're probably not going to get any results. Nobody wants to be hurting all the time, so it's all about balancing out the soreness with the results.

Charles

PS: One thing I do to make myself stay in this shape, is that my license plate is "RIPT ABS".



snapcap
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07 Jan 2012, 2:09 pm

Once you overcome the pain threshold of having weak abs, it actually feels kind of good. But I think most people overwork their abs anyways. If you want them to show, you need to lose some dead weight, which running is good for.

EDIT: Follow this guy. It's really too much, but it's still helpful

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9MK_ThQDqE[/youtube]


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rparker
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08 Jan 2012, 9:36 am

Totally agree with the saying No Pain, No Gain :)

For me its more or a mental thing. If I have some muscular pain I'm actually liking it. I feel that I have accomplished something. Its just a matter of how you look at it I guess



starryeyedvoyager
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08 Jan 2012, 10:23 am

For me, cross country running helped alot to build up a solid base for what I do today, especially uphill and downhill. It will increase your muscle's endurance, and not only your abs but your hamstrings and gluteus, too. Just be sure you don't go running on pavement but on soil, as especially downhill will put high stress on your knee joints.



jamieevren1210
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08 Jan 2012, 10:55 am

I used to be a triathlete in seventh grade. We swim a lot... 3000 meters per workout. I got some abs after that period of time. I like them even though I'm not male. Swimming is really good, but it's sort of slow.