I've seen that one. I suppose you are lucky, being the same age as me, I know a lot of people that have sciatica or other back problems that come and go. I kind of wonder that maybe I built up the lower back muscles and slowly these put pressure on my sciatic nerve. Also, I am 100% convinced sitting in this shitty arse office chair all f*cking day is killing me. I'm buying a new chair next year and writing it off on taxes. Because I hate to do stomach exercises I now have a 10-12 min routine I do that seems to work well enough. First: 75 setups forward, 40 to the left, 40 to the right. stretch. repeat. stretch. second: get in that crunch-like position to do a crunch (lay on your back, legs are lifted and knees bent) place a 4kg (I think it's 4) medicine ball on your legs/ankles. Straighten your legs and lower the ball but don't let your heels touch the floor. Then forcefully lift the ball and toss it from the top of your ankles and catch it and let the ball continue the motion over your head. Slow it down until it's just above the floor. Don't let it touch. Lift the ball back over your head and place it onto your ankles which then are lowered towards the floor completing 1 repetition. The motion takes a bit to get used to but once you get going it's a smooth flow. repeat 25 times. Immediately follow with 15-25 leg lifts. (use the ball as a counterweight balance) stretch repeat 25 times + leg lifts stretch (maybe one more set earlier in week ,if not leave, you are done) done. I'm not sure what's that called but I saw someone do it and now I do it every day I work out (4d/wk). It's very fast so I like it. You should feel a good rip every time. If not, get a heavier ball.
I got a thick 4-6 pack.. depending on the day. And I say "thick" because I have a good bit of fat covering my abs but I am so blessed with fat distribution than I can fake a six pack and look lean. But I don't really care for a six pack... it's an obsession for 14 year old girls. My concern is to look like a man and not a 12 year old boy. Part of this is to lean up some.. I'm slowly getting fat and I don't find this acceptable. So, I am doing a lot of hiking and I am starting back up on my pullups. When I get leaner, I will, of course, have a six pack... and I'll probably use it to my advantage... why wouldn't I? But, it is not my motivation.
Thanks for the wonderful forum. I think to get the desired six pack abs, the recommended exercise is should be performed everyday. You should go to six pack website to Know more about six pack abs. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Whoa. Hold on there. I'm by far not w/o lower back pain. I've had my share of back issues. I got a pinched nerve in my neck/upper back when I was on active duty. It was bad enough that I had to tilt my head to the left to avoid pain. I have to go to the chiropractor every few months to have him pop my vertebrae. Slumping in an office chair is so bad for your back. I did the same thing a couple of years ago at my last place of work. I slumped and leaned to the right. I did that for about two weeks then one day I woke up and the right side of my lower back (erector spinae) was pulled. I had to walk with my upper half leaning to the right to avoid pain. I just stretched it to the best I could for a few days until it worked itself out. No sit ups dude. Period. People with back problems are the last people to be doing sit ups. You are getting nothing out of situps that you can't get from doing crunches.
Abs don't need to be worked everyday, but since they are a non-jointed muscle, they are one of the scant few muscle groups you can work everyday w/o detriment to the muscles. Your calves are another muscle group that can be worked everyday.
Ah yeah, earlier when I said 'different situps' I do regular sit ups, crunches, and then rotation from a half sit up, touching opposite toes. I too have trapped by sciatica, and displaced a vertebra previously, so have to be careful.
I'd highly recommend you remove sit ups from your regimen entirely. The Marines used to do sit ups during their physical fitness test and during PT on M,W and F. They now do exclusively crunches because they have deemed that situps are 'overkill' for your abs and cause unnecessary neck/back strain. And during the sit up range of motion, once your shoulder blades come off the ground, you're not isolating your abs anymore; you're also using your hip flexors (if you're standing straight up and you pick your knees up...high stepping, that's what hip flexors do).
On a good day, 10. The last few days it's been miserable outside... so I spent most of my free time eating like shit and doing nothing... so I am easily winded going up a single flight of stairs. It's going to be sunny on Tuesday so I am planning an 8 mile hike that day... that should get all the sodium and other shit out of my system to allow me to do my pullups again.
I try to stick to basics... eggs, oatmeal, cream of wheat, fruits, veggies, steak, etc. For about 3-4 days I ate basically nothing because I wasn't hungry at all. Then in the last two days I ate candy, pizza, pretzels, and copious amounts of Mountain Dew. As a result, I feel bloated and sluggish. Tomorrow I am going back to my normal diet. I don't jog because it bores the heck out of me. Instead, I do lots and lots of hiking. The last time I went I did 5.5 miles back-to-back in about 3 hours. The next few days my calves were killing me. I can also get to the top of Stone Mountain (in Georgia) in 16 minutes just by walking fast.
Do you do them under or overhand? Underhand is always easier if you're not very strong or well versed in pull ups, but if you have strong and built up lats, overhand is better because it uses a larger muscle group,
@Absane, why would sodium make you weaker? @Mike, when you say underhand, do you mean your palm facing towards your body?
Wow, ten is no small amount. I can do about two on a flat surface (no bar, just a ledge, palms facing away). Haven't done any on a bar in a long time. How's the hiking in Georgia? Is the 5.5 miles in three hours on trails?
i never did pull ups. i do these barbel lifts where i put one knee on the bench and one foot on the floor and lift barble until it is perpendicular to my chest. i think you have to see it to understand. I was trained professionally but i woud rather not mention specifics. IF...someone really wanted to know i may let out a tidbit.
C'mon, you're a male. You should be able to do more than a pathetic little thing like me. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I don't know why... I just know that when I eat a lot of salt, I get winded very quickly. My best hikes are when my sweat tastes less like the ocean and more like bottled water. No, it was 11 miles total. It's a loop trail at Stone Mountain Park here in Georgia that's 5.5 miles around. The first time I went around it I finished in 1:10 and some-odd seconds. The second time around i was pretty tired and I also took my time to actually look around... I have a really bad habit of blasting through hikes. Granted, all I had with me was my Camelback waterpack with 100 oz of water and a few Powerbar gel packs to keep me going. Trying to keep this pace at Kennesaw Mountain is tough, though. I am debating whether I want to go to Fort Mountain for an 8.2 mile hike or find some places to go bouldering.
I used to be able to do 30 until I herniated a couple disks in my back. How many can you do on a flat surface? Can you do pull ups on a door frame? I used to be able to do five or six on just my fingertips. Alright, that's better. 4 miles an hour on trails without a pack is what I expect from anyone who isn't a cripple. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! So you do the powerbar stuff when you hike, eh. I like taking Snickers. Pop tarts are good, too. Used to bring pringles, but I burnt out on those. Cheese & almonds is a pretty good source for salt. So is jerky. The last thing I want to eat when I've been hiking is 3 types of milled grains and science flavored ooze. I know this guy who goes hiking with just Cadbury chocolate bars. He did a 1000k trek, and for lunch, he brought like 30 lbs of chocolate, which was like 1 lb a day. We like to travel light, and the best way to package calories in the smallest bundle are fats and simple sugars. That, and energy bar products taste like cardboard.
How in the hell can you live off chocolate for the length of time it takes to do 1,000 km (or miles.. whatever)? But couldn't you do a long trek on nothing but peanut butter, some beef jerky, and gatorade?
