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Can doing too much crunch resistance give you weird abs?

post #1 of 13
2/21/07 at 9:16pm
Thread Starter 
Currently to challenge myself, I started doing fairly high-resistance crunches. To accomplish this I am on the top rung of a declined sit-up bench (maybe 35-45 degrees, I cant really tell) PLUS using a 9lb medicine ball held out overhead. With this I can only do about 10-11 reps max. If I was on the floor I would probably do 40 reps.

Do you think I will get those weird 6-packs with a gut like some body builders do? How do those happen anyway? Dude is like 100% ripped, no body fat, freaking 8 pack, and yet it is dunlapped over his belt...
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post #2 of 13
2/21/07 at 9:28pm
yeah man, you don't wanna look like a bodybuilder do you?

just stick to doing unweighted ab crunches. That shit gets you toned as hell!








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post #3 of 13
2/22/07 at 12:11am
those bodybuilder 6-packs you're talking about are really just from their stomach walls being thickened due to increased muscle mass. Just like a bodybuilder's biceps are huge, so are their stomach muscles. The medicine ball might be excessive, but it seems like it probably would be ok as long as you can keep it from straining your back. then again, regular crunches or variations thereof are really all you need to build enough muscle for a 6-pack, so.....
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post #4 of 13
2/22/07 at 12:11am
edit: dp
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post #5 of 13
2/22/07 at 12:27am
HAHAHA! I don't mean to be laughing at you bro, but I have to when I hear these kind of questions.

No, a 9 lb medicine ball will not give you "bodybuilder abs". Not even close. Use whatever weight it takes to feel the burn. I am doing crunches with 75lb dumbells on my chest and my abs are nowhere near bulging out like a bodybuilder.

Bottom line though, all those crunches are useless without a great diet to match. You can see your top 2 abs usually with some body fat, but to see them all you will need to AT LEAST get down to 10% BF. Probably less. So its all about diet.
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post #6 of 13
2/22/07 at 4:40am
Thread Starter 
75lb dumbbells? meaning 2 of em? damn!
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post #7 of 13
2/22/07 at 4:47am
I don't like the way my abs looked when I used resistance, they did stick out more and were bigger which isn't what I wanted. I do like a little resistance for lower ab work (leg raises) because the way my stomach is shaped I need to 'build out' my lower abs to bring them in line with the rest.
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post #8 of 13
2/22/07 at 11:59am
I think sometimes people worry about looking like a bodybuilder by doing bodybuilder exercises, but in reality that type of achievements takes years of extremely hard work and discipline. You could probably train your abs as heavy and as hard as you could, for months...and still not get bodybuilder abs. There's a lot more factors involved than just weight. I say that if you like them or feel you're making progress, carry on.
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post #9 of 13
2/22/07 at 12:29pm
Don't worry about the gut. What you are seeing with these pro bodybuilders is known as "Roid Gut." Unless you are abusing steriods, HGH, Insulin et al, you can work your abs with impunity.
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post #10 of 13
2/22/07 at 7:51pm
Thread Starter 
LOL roid gut. thanks for the info everyone
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post #11 of 13
2/23/07 at 10:28am
DShareef is correct. Guys like Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler etc. have distended guts because professional bodybuilding is now about mass at all costs, despite occasional lip service to a return to "symmetry," so they do ridiculous cycles and are pregnant with HGH babies.

I don't think your 9 lb medicine ball is going to cause you to grow protruding, turgid, bulbous abs any more than 5 lb lateral raises will cause a soccer mom to get "too bulky."
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post #12 of 13
2/23/07 at 7:02pm
If your abs "stuck out" more when adding resistance, you are simply growing the muscle. Nothing more. Despite what you have heard about "shaping" muscles, a muscle's shape doesn't change. If your abs appear to be sticking out, work on achieving a caloric defecit. Believe me, you will like what you see when you lose the surface fat.

I have to agree with Goblin. My wife worries about working her legs in the gym. She doesn't want to look like a body builder. If it were only that easy........
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post #13 of 13
2/25/07 at 6:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by vanity
I think sometimes people worry about looking like a bodybuilder by doing bodybuilder exercises, but in reality that type of achievements takes years of extremely hard work and discipline. You could probably train your abs as heavy and as hard as you could, for months...and still not get bodybuilder abs. There's a lot more factors involved than just weight. I say that if you like them or feel you're making progress, carry on.
Couldn't have said it better myself!
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