Physical & Mental health

[The Skipper 20,593]

My idea is that I wanted to alternate doing chest and triceps because I didn't want to tire out my triceps due to me working on my chest and vice versa but if you're suggesting that I should only have 2/3 workouts for each muscle group then I guess it could work out pretty well yes. Thanks again guys.

[Korea 734]

I haven't bench press since my football days......

All I have is a pull-up bar, medicine ball/ antiburst ball, yoga mat and jump ropes (I go through 3 a year due to wear and tear) covers all the circuit training I need (However, I stopped after the Holiday season and got fat!)

[SinineUltra 1,170]

My idea is that I wanted to alternate doing chest and triceps because I didn't want to tire out my triceps due to me working on my chest and vice versa but if you're suggesting that I should only have 2/3 workouts for each muscle group then I guess it could work out pretty well yes. Thanks again guys.

That's a good idea but use it if you feel that your triceps alone are holding you back from benching more. It's one of many ways to get over plateaus!

[dumps 284]

depending on what you want from your workouts, in terms of strength you can do pretty much anything with some dumbells... you need make sure you can get some heavy ones though to keep up the progression. a bench would be useful for thise as well.

things like pull up bars can be useful. punch bags can give you a great workout for the hwole body.

problem is its all pretty pricey! but then i guess £30 for a membership is pretty pricey as well in the long run.

if you are living on a farm, im sure I saw Rocky lifting some farming stuff. hay and all that, worked out alright for him


To The Skipper, im not sure i knwo what you mean, but when you do your chest, yes you use your triceps, but you arent using them 100%, I have chest, shoulder and triceps day and i leave the gym feeling ive worked them all. If you wanted to laternate htem you could, i dont think there will be any harm in it, its just what i do, likei said, different people different things. hell, why not try out both see if you notice any differences. - another thing, on my chest, shoulder and triceps day, i do 2 chest things, 2 shoulder thigns hten one tricep thing. because my triceps would have been used for all my shoulder and chest exercises, so they dont need too much doing at the end of a session.

[SinineUltra 1,170]

I live in the middle of nowhere and thus have zero gyms anywhere near me. What sort of equipment would be essential in a home gym? I don't even have a barbell yet! I've got a good ol' tractor tire outside with a 5kg sledgehammer for 'those' little workouts; a set of different dumbbells, and err, yeah. Are there any machines or pieces out there which would drastically help with my ab/pelvis area development? I was looking into one of those frames with 2 stick-shaped handles: The ones where you grab the handles and push down on them to elevate yourself above the ground, and then stick your legs out in front of you, hold it for a second, then bring the legs back to the starting position & repeat.

You dont need a barbell, bench a tractor.

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

I live in the middle of nowhere and thus have zero gyms anywhere near me. What sort of equipment would be essential in a home gym? I don't even have a barbell yet! I've got a good ol' tractor tire outside with a 5kg sledgehammer for 'those' little workouts; a set of different dumbbells, and err, yeah. Are there any machines or pieces out there which would drastically help with my ab/pelvis area development? I was looking into one of those frames with 2 stick-shaped handles: The ones where you grab the handles and push down on them to elevate yourself above the ground, and then stick your legs out in front of you, hold it for a second, then bring the legs back to the starting position & repeat.

All you need is: Set of dumbells (make sure they're ones that you can regulate, so you can add weight later on rather than buy whole new dumbells, having 2-3 different dumbells is the best option, 1 light, 1 medium and 1 heavy weights for different exercises), a pull-up bar for pull ups, chin ups - all kinds of pull up techniques, also later on you can train abs on it (while hanging, bringing your legs to a 90 degree angle with your body and slowly moving them back to normal position), a standard mat for abs (all those ab machines are fancy and all that but not necessary, get a normal routine off YouTube or something and all it takes is a mat), perhaps a medicine ball (those big rubbery balls you can sit on, can do abs there, all kinds of exercises)

Only thing that will make you want to go to a gym later on is the bench press, which is harder to emulate (push ups are good but they won't have the same effect as bench press would), to some extent you can do flat dumbell presses because with dumbells you can't bench as much as you would with barbell - only because you'll have to stabilize the weight using your hand rather than two hands, that's why dumbells are always more beneficial with that kinds of exercises.

And that's about it, work with what you have. Having a tractor tire and a hammer is a very good thing, I've seen lots of MMA fighters train with it, just don't knock yourself out when the hammer bounces back!

[Korea 734]

Abs are easy, just don't eat like a pig....

[SinineUltra 1,170]

Abs are easy, just don't eat like a pig....

In a sense you're right, everyone has abs, just that it's hidden under fat. Though, the aim for doing abs is to strengthen your core and have a proper posture, sculpting them is a bonus!

[Rmpr 8,977]

ABS is Portuguese means Anti-lock Breaking System!

[dumps 284]

ABS is portuguese means Anti-lock Breaking System!

No skid marks for you then...

Abs, they can be hard to work. when we lift weights, we do 3 sets of 8-10. because we know that stimulates all the right pathways and doesnt stimulate ones that provoke endurance adaptations. you smash out 100 ab crunches, thats endurance. the same rules apply to your abs. if you are going for hypertrophy of the abs, dont do 100 of them. if you just want to imrpove and stabalise your core, then yeah, doing more may be a benefit.

My ab work out normally consists of about 4 sets of 10-15. movements. i try and do negatives on them, which is very hard. i warm up by do a full sit up, a crunch, a full shit up a crunch twist and so on. just a warm up. my first set: i hold a medicine ball (i think its about 3kg) just above my head, then i do 10 full sit ups (important not to use the ball as a force to lift you! you have to let it dangle below to create a resistance!).

my second set, is a series of crunches, which i guess could be seperated to 3 mini sets: 8-12 reps normal crunch. 8-12 reps twists to the right and then 8-12 reps with twists to the left. i use the medince ball like i did in the first set, apart from, when im twisting, i hold the ball to the opposite side of my head (so if im twisting to the right, i hold the medicine ball over my left shoulder).

my 3rd set is bounches. so i lay down, stretch my arms out as far as i can (so im like a big plank) and hold hte medine ball, i do a full sit up. then on the way down i stop at a point, then lower my self lower and stop, then lower myself once more so im just above the ground, stop, then go all theway down. each time i 'stop' i go back up a bit, so its like im bouncing. its very hard but very good. literally ripping your abs apart. beautiful.

my 4th set: i hang from a bar, and basically do really powerful tucks. so if you were to see me from the side, id be dangling in the air like this: / (legs at the bottom, head at the top). i pull my self up so my head is level with the bar, and then lift my knees to my chest (really focusing on my abs. its easy to do this just by using your legs), and i crunch it. i bring it in as fast as i can, then lower it out as controlled as i can. do 8-12 of these.

thats my usual ab work out. its sore to raise my self out of bed after that.

i also mix it around, so throw in some other ab work outs, just swap them in and out as i want. but that above is the one that ruins me the most. May not sound that clear but you get the idea! my main advice for those who are bit advanced and want to really get some bulding abs, is to try and do negatives/eccentric stuff. it can be hard. anotehr good way is to lay down, raise so you are at like 45 degree angle. then with a medcine ball in your hand, throw it behind your head, and resist it as it tries to pull you down. that is another ruiner!

The reason it works so well (any eccentric exercise) is because, without getting all sciencey, you have 2 protein structures (actin and myosin), during a contraction, these two proteins bind, and pull together, like rowing, and these only work one way, so when you are trying to lift something (say a bicep curl) but its going the opposite way, you are making these proteins bond, and then quite literally ripping them apart, they will try as hard as possible to make the dumbell go towards your shoulder, but if you are trying to lift something that is going away from your shoulder, tear tear tear! and that is why you feel sore as shit the next few days!

[Vincent 402]

It´s something genetic, not everyone can build visible abs.

[dumps 284]

It´s something genetic, not everyone can build visible abs.

everyone CAN build visible abs.

Its genetic in terms that some people may be able to build muscle faster than others, or to not gain fat like others. but its not down to genetics wether you will be able to have visible abs or not.... everyone is capable, some people may just have to work harder than others to achieve it.

[Vincent 402]

everyone CAN build visible abs.

That is not true.

[dumps 284]

That is not true.

I'd be interested to hear your justification.

from my knowledge everybody has the abdominal muscles. there is a nice layer of fat infront of them. if you can reduce the fat to muscle ratio, your abs will reveal themselves...

some people have a hard time losing the fat. some people have a hard time building the muscle. but with work everyone can achieve it. some just have to work a lot harder than others.

[Vincent 402]

I'd be interested to hear your justification.

from my knowledge everybody has the abdominal muscles. there is a nice layer of fat infront of them. if you can reduce the fat to muscle ratio, your abs will reveal themselves...

some people have a hard time losing the fat. some people have a hard time building the muscle. but with work everyone can achieve it. some just have to work a lot harder than others.

Ofcourse everyone has the abdominal muscles, that doesn't mean they're visible. And it's also true that there are many people who claim that they train so hard but they don't grow in muscle, most of them just don't train hard enough. But trust me on this if i say that its also a genetic thing, everyone can build abs but not everyone can show them off. There are bodybuilder with huge muscles, 3-6% fat but no visible ab muscles.

[dumps 284]

Ofcourse everyone has the abdominal muscles, that doesn't mean they're visible. And it's also true that there are many people who claim that they train so hard but they don't grow in muscle, most of them just don't train hard enough. But trust me on this if i say that its also a genetic thing, everyone can build abs but not everyone can show them off. There are bodybuilder with huge muscles, 3-6% fat but no visible ab muscles.

Im not trying to be a dick, but i still don't buy it. theres no gene in your body that is either "show abs" or "dont show abs" that gene just doesnt exsist.

With the body builder thing, i think there have been a good handful of body builders who are massive, low body fat and have 'no abs', but these werent 'genetic disorders' these were just poor routines that lead to it. they'd have a really flat stomach (with some slight definition of abs) but there would be no massive bulges. simply because they didnt give as much care to their abs workout, some even say they didnt even bother doing abdominal workouts. another thing worth a mention is the type of muscle development. you see guys walking around who a toned to hell, have like a large tennis ball bump for a bicep, whereas some guys just have a chunky bicep like a loaf of bread, THATS down to genes a fair bit as well as the type of trainging (and the crazy drugs some of the bigger guys take), and you can get abdominals like that, makes it look like a ginat 1 pac. but they are still abs.

you've probably seen pictures that ive seen but just jumped to a conclusion too fast. ill try find the guy I can remember....

EDIT: This wasnt the guy i was talking about but its similar to him:

with this guy its hard to say. if you are defining abs as a clear bulging 6/8 pack, then he lacks it. but if you define abs as just the muscle of the torso, then yeah, you can see it (he has that famous V that is all the rage at the moment in this thread!) you can also see some of his obliques and serratus anterior. i dont even know who this guy is or anything on him, but i wouldnt be suprised if his workouts consisted mainly of back and arms.... his pecs and shoulders seem to be a bit behind the development you can see in his arms and lats... maybe thats what he was aiming for, just a flat stomach, i dont know.

all the related pictures are disgusting! i honeslty do not see the appeal of being that big.... some body builders have hte tiniest waists and just so much muscle on them. crazy. I typed in "body builders with no abs" in to google, there are a few pictures of these massive guys with odd looking abs. they all have visible abs but they all look very different - and thats down to genes! (mostly).

I have read nothing to back that up, that is literally me looking at pictures of half naked massive men and taking an educated guess at why. i still dont think a gene exsists to prevent you from developing your abdominals, I agree that genes influence how they may look (massively), but everyone can get some...

If you found an article or some kind of research to prove it i would love to see it because i am not aware of it.

EDIT 2: there are some fucking gross pictures of body builders out there! i really do not see the appeal. and im sure some of those are photoshopped. I did see a good one of a guy who is pretty muscular, but has hte biggest belly ever. thats another thing, some people may have 3-6% body fat, but all their fat can be around their abs.... people tend to either distribute their fat evenly over hte body, distribute it around their organs, distribute it around their waists, or smash it on the thighs. thats all down to genes. i have a fair bit of fat on my torso, i can grab a decent handful, yet i cant even pinch it on my legs and theres not much on my upper body.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Everybody can build visible abs....

[Vincent 402]

Im not trying to be a dick, but i still don't buy it. theres no gene in your body that is either "show abs" or "dont show abs" that gene just doesnt exsist.

With the body builder thing, i think there have been a good handful of body builders who are massive, low body fat and have 'no abs', but these werent 'genetic disorders' these were just poor routines that lead to it. they'd have a really flat stomach (with some slight definition of abs) but there would be no massive bulges. simply because they didnt give as much care to their abs workout, some even say they didnt even bother doing abdominal workouts. another thing worth a mention is the type of muscle development. you see guys walking around who a toned to hell, have like a large tennis ball bump for a bicep, whereas some guys just have a chunky bicep like a loaf of bread, THATS down to genes a fair bit as well as the type of trainging (and the crazy drugs some of the bigger guys take), and you can get abdominals like that, makes it look like a ginat 1 pac. but they are still abs.

you've probably seen pictures that ive seen but just jumped to a conclusion too fast. ill try find the guy I can remember....

EDIT: This wasnt the guy i was talking about but its similar to him:

with this guy its hard to say. if you are defining abs as a clear bulging 6/8 pack, then he lacks it. but if you define abs as just the muscle of the torso, then yeah, you can see it (he has that famous V that is all the rage at the moment in this thread!) you can also see some of his obliques and serratus anterior. i dont even know who this guy is or anything on him, but i wouldnt be suprised if his workouts consisted mainly of back and arms.... his pecs and shoulders seem to be a bit behind the development you can see in his arms and lats... maybe thats what he was aiming for, just a flat stomach, i dont know.

all the related pictures are disgusting! i honeslty do not see the appeal of being that big.... some body builders have hte tiniest waists and just so much muscle on them. crazy. I typed in "body builders with no abs" in to google, there are a few pictures of these massive guys with odd looking abs. they all have visible abs but they all look very different - and thats down to genes! (mostly).

I have read nothing to back that up, that is literally me looking at pictures of half naked massive men and taking an educated guess at why. i still dont think a gene exsists to prevent you from developing your abdominals, I agree that genes influence how they may look (massively), but everyone can get some...

If you found an article or some kind of research to prove it i would love to see it because i am not aware of it.

EDIT 2: there are some fucking gross pictures of body builders out there! i really do not see the appeal. and im sure some of those are photoshopped. I did see a good one of a guy who is pretty muscular, but has hte biggest belly ever. thats another thing, some people may have 3-6% body fat, but all their fat can be around their abs.... people tend to either distribute their fat evenly over hte body, distribute it around their organs, distribute it around their waists, or smash it on the thighs. thats all down to genes. i have a fair bit of fat on my torso, i can grab a decent handful, yet i cant even pinch it on my legs and theres not much on my upper body.

This are abs, the things you are pointing have other designation. It's not just because they dont train abs specifique that they aint working their abs. If you deadlift you are also working your abs. Bodybuilder that train for a year, diet for a year, hardcore. They surely gave these ab workouts a go. If you train so hard day in day out, with diet. And cutting down to 3-6% with working out 5 days a week then there surely would be some abs visible for everyone right?

I searched for the same as you did: I don't think this guy had bad resources or didnt train hard enough or had a bad diet, do you?