trying to get myself in shape

[Efaws]

hey guys

havnt been the gym for a while, been doin some weights at home, however only really have a big barbell bar so mainly been doing upper body with the odd set of sit ups

now im quite big up top and my waist is quite thin, which isnt really all that bad but i want to even up a little bit now ive got a gym but im not sure what exercises to do

anyway, long and short of it, my abs are not in bad shape, but there sort of central stomach i need an exercise for my left and right side that will add a bit of width to it instead, i think these are called lower obliques but im not too sure, off on holiday in 4 weeks so thats my deadline!

 

[titchard]

Planks / Side Planks and such would be a good way without any equipment - if you have a swiss ball and use that also it will up your game a bit.

Rich

 

[Efaws]

woops, forgot to mention ive got access to the gym for the next month, i tried doing a few planks before at home as my mate at work told me but no matter how many i did i didnt see any difference

is there anything that involves weights, which i could just do as heavy as i possibly can handle to get some results fast? or are planks pretty good for them? thanks

 

[titchard]

planks can be excellent - how long you doing for each set?

Rich

 

[Efaws]

err as long as i could hold it for

normally i suppose about 2 minutes, 3 at the most, would do 3 or 4 each time

 

[WantoN]

Planks are an isometric endurance exercise, and pointless for adding any significant mass.

The abdominal muscles are like any other, and need to be loaded so that they fail in the 8-12 repitition range.

Side raises, on a swissball, are an exceptionally effective exercise for not only int/ext obliques (sidey bits) but for the entire abdominal corsett, and are a one stop shop that can be done at home with a very inexpensive peice of kit.

Oblique twists, V-Sits/Slams are also effective.

More advanced moved need demonstrating, and have so many names it's hard to track down a decent internet example.

Ant

 

[Efaws]

looked at v sits but they just look like sit ups from a different angle, it says on the site i looked at it will target all the area, but surely itll mainly just be on the central abs?

looked at dumbell side raises, are these the same thing you talk about? they dont look to bad but they look more upper body? altho if im honest ive no idea what muscle they do

 

[WantoN]

looked at v sits but they just look like sit ups from a different angle, it says on the site i looked at it will target all the area, but surely itll mainly just be on the central abs?

looked at dumbell side raises, are these the same thing you talk about? they dont look to bad but they look more upper body? altho if im honest ive no idea what muscle they do

Here goes :

Central abs? The 6/8 pack is actually only two muscles running side by side down the midline of the body from sternum to pelvis, so the entire 'pack' gets targeted whenever you engage rectus abdominus.

Vsits bring the RA (rectus abdominus) under more tension by bringing the legs off the floor. You should look like a V when performing the situp, hence the name. Bring the legs off the floor by around 45 degrees, if you can't keep the back flat on the floor, bend the knees and bring them towards the chest until you can. Squeeze the shoulders and back off the floor, reaching towards the toes (to make it harder, reach for the ceiling). Keep the chin away from chest, about a fist widths gap, and really think about contracting the abs to facilitate the movement.

Side Raise: Nope. Use a wall as an anchor, and lay on your side on a swissball so only the hip crest + thigh are resting on it. Squeeze the obliques (sides) and raise the body up, lower slowly back down, curving the body around the swissball.

This exercise targets all abdominals, not just obliques. It's definately not an upper body exercise Then again nor is a dumbell side raise


Ant

 

[Efaws]

sorry to be a complete pain

are these the side raises you talk about?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Ud9awiwkw

i searched for dumbell side raises first which are clearly something different, is there anything else i can do apart from this? as im pretty sure id feel quite silly doin this in the middle of the gym

 

[Medge]

sorry to be a complete pain

are these the side raises you talk about?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Ud9awiwkw

i searched for dumbell side raises first which are clearly something different, is there anything else i can do apart from this? as im pretty sure id feel quite silly doin this in the middle of the gym

I think you'll want to look at this one (Linky) instead as the link you posted won't do a great deal for your obliques and abs. As WantoN mentioned this will serve you very well

 

[WantoN]

First one, definately not. And that chick should NOT be teaching fitness

Second one; BINGO! Ignore the twist tough, as it'll just cain spinae erectors / quad lumboroum. Oh, and it won't fix your love handles either

Ant

 

[Efaws]

this is goin to sound a bit silly as i have no idea what its called

saw a few lads doing this exercise... holding a 20kg plate in one hand... nothing in the other, then lowing it, and raising it again in a sort of side ways motion... if you follow me? ive no idea what its called...but would this also do the same thing? or would it target another muscle group?

 

[p4radox]

Dumbell side bend

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Obliques/DBSideBend.html

 

[lanzarobbie]

Dumbell side bend

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Obliques/DBSideBend.html

thats a great site, i need to get back into my training regime

 

[Efaws]

thats the one... will that build my waist a little wider? im a little bit superman shaped at the moment which isnt the best it says obliques but not sure if there the right ones as theres a few of them, i think