Thread: Core work out HELP!

Ok, I really doing my best to work on my core/abs. I am struggling, I am currently doing weights and according to experts, you shouldn't do cardio as it reduces the muscle growth. I am interested to know if there is another way to burn the fat in order for the abs to appear!

Thanks

Originally Posted by kongchamp

Ok, I really doing my best to work on my core/abs. I am struggling, I am currently doing weights and according to experts, you shouldn't do cardio as it reduces the muscle growth. I am interested to know if there is another way to burn the fat in order for the abs to appear!

Thanks

Hi mate

can you do in intro here so we know a little about you please?

Are you trying to get a stronger core, or prettier abs? Prettier abs will come from lowering your bodyfat (use the search function, there are a squillion threads on here about that). A stronger core will come from doing deadlifts and squats. My core is killing me at the moment from doing a heavy yoke walk yesterday.....

Tim

Originally Posted by kongchamp

Ok, I really doing my best to work on my core/abs. I am struggling, I am currently doing weights and according to experts, you shouldn't do cardio as it reduces the muscle growth. I am interested to know if there is another way to burn the fat in order for the abs to appear!

Thanks

Which experts????

Do an intro in the new member section if you want advice.

Intro is all complete. Well, both australia and usa men's health advise when you are aiming for muscle growth, cardio is not recommended.

Its very debatable whether excess cardio is good or bad for muscle growth.

I certainly think a marathon runner or someone who favours cardio minutes over weight bearing would leave little to grow to full potential.

Originally Posted by kongchamp

Well, both australia and usa men's health advise when you are aiming for muscle growth, cardio is not recommended.

I'd hardly call men's health an expert source of information, it's like the women's weekly of exercise mags. A solid fitness base is going to provide plenty of benifits when it comes to building muscle. Look at your average NRL/AFL player; plenty of muscle + a high level of CV fitness. It all comes down to diet.

They are definitely experts as there are research done by professionals. They write the article. I think what they are trying to mixing heavy CV workouts with weight training will limit the muscle growth which the body could potentially grow. That's all. Though, I completely agree with it coming down to diet.

Kongchamp take whats written in those mags with a grain of salt. I can tell you that I have written an article which was published in a magazine late last year (not mens health), I have 2 units left to finish my bach degree to become a Registered Nurse. Whilst I know my article was based on a hell of a lot of other professionals research, any article will have the authors bias (no matter how hard you try not to write without bias, it still happens).

Originally Posted by Jaiman

Its very debatable whether excess cardio is good or bad for muscle growth.

I certainly think a marathon runner or someone who favours cardio minutes over weight bearing would leave little to grow to full potential.

See how you used the word "excess"?

OP you might find the following useful:

Cardio and Mass Gains | BodyRecomposition - The Home of Lyle McDonald

Oh and I am currently losing bodyfat whilst building up muscle, including working on an extremely weak core and I do compound movements to achieve this.
In this order: crosstrainer, barbell squats, barbell deadlifts, military presses, leg presses and then crosstrainer again. By the time I get to the military press I can tell you that my core/abs are pretty damn sore and the military presses are very hard to do after that, so I know they are working my core also. The leg presses I do ontop of the squats as I cant get to parallel all the time due to a knee that is being rehabbed, so the leg presses let me get the full range of motion for my knee/legs after working my core with the squats.

I am no expert but I can tell you that in the short time I have been doing the above routine, I have had greatly improved results over doing isolation work on abs, arms and legs.

the core still needs isolation, strengthen in isolation then integrate or you're compound lifts will always be limited to what your core can do

if doing shoulder presses for shoulder pressing strength then do them first or they'll get no where

i'd rather a single leg exercise (lunge, step up variation) to get depth over leg presses myself

Originally Posted by kongchamp

Ok, I really doing my best to work on my core/abs. I am struggling, I am currently doing weights and according to experts, you shouldn't do cardio as it reduces the muscle growth. I am interested to know if there is another way to burn the fat in order for the abs to appear!

Thanks

HIIT... 10 min sessions... 10-15sec balls to the wall hard, followed by 45-50sec active recovery, repeat 10 times... Do that at least once a day (twice on non-weights days)...
That along side a decent diet will have the fat coming off...