I hate getting to a pateau and just staying there! I've been stuck at the same weight, size for quite some time. I was benching 370 lbs for a while. I got sick several months ago. For some reason I dropped down to 340 and have been stuck there for months. I need a change!

I also am tired of the extra fat I have around my mid section. My top abs have shown for years, but that ring around the middle just never goes away. My arms, chest, legs, etc. are solid, but that mid section...GRRRR!!! I have eaten properly for years, but still can't shake that extra flab! I suppose I also need a change in my diet.

I know what you mean. . . kind of.

I just started running again . . . and my right knee is killing me. Got a doc appointment in a couple weeks.

I have been doing good the last few weeks - I'd just as soon do it without the pain!

The only time I ever lose that middle ring is when I drop water weight and that's not good. I do tons of ab work so it's not too bad but like you say, my upper abs are fine just that little soft area in the lower ab area.

Welcome to your 40's! LOL! Seriously, it just happens as the metabolism slows. One thing I always encourage people to remember is that our abs and obliques will grow like any other muscle if they are trained too heavy. That is actually one of the problems guys have...they are always in this "heavy weight is the only weight" mentality and it costs them. Their waist will actually grow instead of shrink!

When I did my very first bodybuilding contest at 27 years old, even as a natural, I was told my mid-section looked blocky which caused my back and shoulders to look out of proportion. I re-evaluated my routine and decided I was possibly lifting my abs and obliques too heavy. After about 6 months of lighter weight, higher reps, but still high intensity, I started noticing a difference.

Now, I never go heavier than 70 pounds on the crunch machine (which goes up to an insane 250 for some reason) and never above 60 for obliques. I keep the rep range in the 12-15 range on obliques for 4 sets, and 25-30 for crunches for 4 sets...and I SQUEEZE each rep. I also usually superset these two exercises, though not always. Another thing I do is fluctuate the weights from workout to workout to keep my abs guessing.


Arttie

Ultmetal---have you altered your rep scheme at all lately? What about higher weights/lower reps....or lower weight for higher reps? Anything to change it up.


I don't mind having big abs (Marius Pudzinowski comes to mind) as long as they are lean. My mid-section, of course, is far from lean, and my abs aren't near where they should be either. Someday!!

Arttie,
Thanks for the tips. I never use heavy weight on abs, usually sticking to high reps. If I use the crunch machine, I keep it down to about 50 lbs. The problem isn't my muscles being to big. It's that friggin' layer of fat that won't go away.

Scott,
Yes, I work out with several different guys and we change it up all the time. Sometimes we go heavy, sometimes we go high reps, sometimes we even try both. Yesterday, for example, on the leg press machine we started off doing 10-12 reps with 12 plates. As soon as we finished the other guys would take two plates off and another 8-10 reps, after that, another plate and 8 reps, and finally two more plates and as many reps as we could finish with. Hard workout but it felt great.

I think it's my diet I need to change up to get rid of that flab in the middle.

I can bench my weight. I guess that is good, I do all cardio, and very little to do with the weights.

I was actually going to post a similar response as Scott but if you are training for strength(as all guys do for the bench press) you should be working with a fairly low rep range BUT if you are always plugging away trying to add weight you will get stale. One thing you can do is keep the reps lower but back off the weight a bit and get a running start at it again.

Not odd at all... In fact, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) is considered a very good fat fighter. I take it, personally.



Arttie

Nobody likes to hear it, but to lose more weight, cut out the junk, and exercise more.

Thanks for the info. I'll look into it more.

ult

Clue me in a bit: do the higher reps trim down more or is that because of the lower weight as well?

I've taken the ab machine out this week (because I wanted to trim the abs down a bit) in favor of the knee lift equipment, so I was just wondering.

FYI, I aim for about 3 sets of 12 on crunches and obliques and I try to do a couple with a small medicine ball (though I seem to pinching something when I do that, lately).

Higher reps only trim more if you are doing them with high intensity as well. The idea here is they have more of a cardiovascular effect as well, and they also don't stimulate as much bulky muscle growth. However, what people also don't realize is that muscle burns calories just in its existence, so having more muscle generally helps burn more calories as well.




Arttie

So, if i'm using the ab crunch machine, I need to reduce the weight and increase reps and the pace I'm doing them at? I know I need to reduce weight, because I was working at 90.

Not even increase the pace, necessarily, but make sure you are getting a good, full, hard contraction on each rep. Make the reps hurt (burn).



Arttie

Gotcha. Thanks for the tips. I'll be modifying my sets slowly and trying to improve on the knee lift as well.