How to rip my abs?

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

I do heavy (well at least for me!) weights and I'm happy with the way my arms, back, legs and arse look (the latter has really grown!). My stomach though is lagging behind!

A couple of days ago I saw a woman with defined muscles all over her stomach - on the sides and everything

What weight exercises can you recommend for stomach? Normal sit ups don't really work for me nor the Russian twist.

I don't always use weights to work my abs and I have pretty good abs. I do a combination of things:

Planks (lots of different ones including spiders, reverse planks, side planks- add in a knee twist too- plank jacks, mountain climbers etc).

Lots of different crunches, side crunches, oblique twists, double crunches, standing crunches.

With a weight I do squats into knee raises, woodchops, side lunges with dumbbell over head and stretching over, back lunges with a backwards reach with the dumbbell, dumbbell swings and Russian twists.

I combine it all with other core strength which has an impact on the abs.

An exercise ball can be a massive help in abs work too.

TRX (pike push ups, pike and slide and planks) is incredible for abs. I find I can see a difference in a week of daily 10 mins (killer tho).

I've also discovered a couple of new plank variations recently.

Side plank position on hand (straight arm), but rest on your uppermost foot - bring free arm's elbow down and lower knee up to meet each other, sort of a side crunch, kills abs, inner thighs and hits your arms too!

Also, position yourself in side plank, dip hip down towards floor, drop to push up position - do 2 push ups then side plank on other side, repeat.

Oh yes push ups into side planks on alternate sides are GOOD.

I do the side plank sleepwhenidie describes but I keep my top arm up to stabilise and twist the knee of the lower leg up. I might try it using my arm too. I guess it throws you off and engages the core differently. I am definitely trying that tomorrow.

Thanks! I will put it in my notes for tomorrow

I have a six pack and then some. Here's what I do:
Abs roller
sit on the ball hook a band around a pillar behind me, and held in each hand by my head and crunch forward
abs bench thing at a steep angle with a 25 pound weight for 20 reps.
Planks
Mountain climbers on a swiss ball
And lots and lots and lots of compound stuff like pull ups etc where I lift my feet to a 90 degrees angle to get my abs engaged too.

Oh and dragon flags. Make your abs hurt like hell when you first start them...

My six pack and obliques are visible at the moment along with the rest my bodyfat is quite low though. They can disappear in a heartbeat though. I don't do crunches or anything aimed directly at them just brace my core when doing other weights exercises.
If you want abs to show they are made in the kitchen.

I was about to post a similar comment pumpkin, the real essential in all this is getting your body fat low enough and if you naturally store belly fat then it can be incredibly difficult to reveal the strongest abs and harder still to keep them visible! Personally when I've (fleetingly) been there I end up looking gaunt - for me it's not the much quoted ass or face after 40 but abs or face and really, for me, not worth choosing abs with the deprivation involved! I love being strong and fit but I also love good food and wine!

I agree re body fat percentage.

I would never get my body fat down to the level where my abs would be remarkable to look at. I actually don't think it's particularly healthy for me to do that. I have bloody good abs. They work and I can do pretty impressive stuff with my core. I have enough definition that you can see my obliques, my abs are delineated. I don't want to be thin enough or dehydrated enough for you to see them any better than you can see them now.

I've been low-carbing for a year and have lost 17kg in that time. Now I put 1,5kg but that's muscle cause my measurements are the same as ai my recent lightest. I run on body fat so my body composition has changed loads from fat to muscle although I don't know exactly what it is.

I'm not even after a six pack but a flat stomach that I don't have to suck in all the time! My stomach muscles always been weak, I eat a bit and my stomach protrudes I also bloat a lot due to menstrual cycle but when my abs were at their best pre-pregnancy my stomach stayed flat. It's just that now I do what I did then abs exercise wise and it's not enough!

I had a separated abdominal muscle post pregnancy (diastasis recti) and a lot of abs exercise will make this WORSE if you don't deal with the separation first.

Have a look on you tube for how to check for abdominal separation.

The other thing that is key is posture at all times. There was a thread recently where people were agog that there are people out there who hold their abdominals tight at all times. You should be doing this to protect your back anyway but it makes a big difference to the appearance of your core.

drink have you thought about whether you may have an intolerance that's causing the bloating? It might be worth giving up wheat/dairy (one at a time or both together to get it over with faster) for a couple of weeks - strictly - then reintroducing (separately if you do both) to see what reaction you have? Those are the two main culprits wrt intolerance but of course it could be something else entirely. Eating quickly and distractedly can also lead to bloating for lots of people so consider this as well. If it's bloating due to these things then all the other advice upthread will be useless .

I think I introduced a second issue with bloating but I still need good exercise for my stomach! I don't eat wheat at all (the low carbing takes care of that). I think it's the double cream in my morning coffee tbh but I don't really drink milk (which would be worse) only a bit of lacto free one but I do eat hard cheese. So yes, I've always suspected dairy does not agree with me. It's just that coffee is disgusting with any other 'milk'!

I'm intolerant to dairy along with many other foods it was an amazing how quickly some of the bloat disappeared after cutting those foods out. Then again once I did the rest which was household stuff. Lastly was was killing the bugs inside my digestive system that can overgrow causing many untold issues.

My bloat disappears when I stay away from wine for a few consecutive days...which is why I usually have a slight bloat !

Little sleep bloats me. Or a late night, even if I sleep a little longer. Prosecco makes the bloat go away

Prosecco makes the bloat go away there's your answer to why you can't get those abs to say hello.
I'm all for having a good time but results is what I'm after. I showed my friend this thread and he said my abs show easily not because my body fat is low but because I've got a lot a muscle mass now ????

I don't drink that often, I can't in fact due to medication.

It's just weak muscles. An previous trainer told me yonks ago that it's not much point doing the abs for their own sake and jusy make sure I have them tight when lifting weights. Guess that doesn't work for me!

I did today dragon flags! Yes, I can see that one working well! Actually I inly managed the beginners one with bent legs but still - ouch!
I also do the one when you lie down on the bench, balance a dumbbell between your feet and lift your arse/ lower back. Clearly must do more! Might start doing some at home at the weekend.

I last one you describe is lying leg curl when you've no lying leg curl machine available. Another way of doing that is with ankle cuffs attached to a cable machine. Or use the leg extension and do single leg curls.