Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

[Panda]

Back on topic.

Convict conditioning is a book about bodyweight training, it's got some good exercises if you can filter out the broscience. Bridges and leg raises are a good combo for back/stomach.
Remember not to overtrain one side of a muscle group pairing, ie too much abs work and not enough lower back. This can cause postural difficulties if it becomes severe (very unlikely).

I have slightly winged scapula because I've overtrained my pecs without training my upper back, this is something I'm working on fixing with pullups/rows.

It sucks that you have a slightly winged scapula. I bet you could be a stronger swimmer than I am though, if you were into swimming.

Books could be helpful especially if they have plenty of diagrams and clear instructions. I don't mind if there's a lot of physiology stuff in there because I'm good at human physiology. I made an A in that class.

I think that training your muscles to where each side of the body is equally strong and having good posture is important. If a person doesn't have that they're more likely to become injured even if they're young and in pretty good condition. For example, I knew people who have thrown out their back from throwing a baseball and broken their back at a young age because they didn't properly train their muscles or weren't in good physical condition. Just because someone can do amazing things like throw a ball really far or run 5 miles, it doesn't mean that they are actually in very good shape. They could just have 1 really strong point such as strength, but not have a lot of agility, balance, or endurance for things like jogging.

[scrotum]

is this topic related to getting a six pack, because the only method I know and what I am trying is 1000 bicycle situps a day.

somewhere in the 300's right now...

[Das Bruce]

Panda:
Then I seriously suggest you read Convict Conditioning, it can be bought or downloaded depending on your inclination, it has well described exercises with clear progression of difficulty. The only thing I'd suggest ignoring is the requirements to progress to the more difficult exercises, he has a tendency to set very high rep requirements were more moderate ones would result in less boredom and more results.

Scrotum:
The key to visible abs is low body fat, you can improve them with exercise but without low body fat you'll never see them.
Good exercises for abs, as I've probably said before, are leg raises, hanging or lying down depending on your desired difficulty. Plus any compound exercises that require stabalisation from your core; overhead press, squats, deadlifts.

[PicassoCT]

Lets asume that you need more energy through exercises. So your whole body is basically trained to become a better energy converting maschine. Means you will get moar out of your calory, but that also means you will need more calorys. So, asuming you dont starve yourself to death while exercising, this means that you train the bakateria in your colons to be way better food transformators - so asuming you exercise alot and daily, you turn into a chemical power plant. This is nice - as long as there is no accident in the transformation schedule.
Accidents include holidays, feast, really accidents (broken bones)
In which case the whole factory on doubleshift wont stop, and neither will your eating habbits adapt to every situation live throws at you. That is were the overabsanduned bloodsugar turns into fatcells for the first time.

So all you traines, prepare for a fat future.

[smoth]

is this topic related to getting a six pack, because the only method I know and what I am trying is 1000 bicycle situps a day.

somewhere in the 300's right now...

You cannot focus where toning happens, it is body wide. Need to reduce fat? Cardio and diet(which is where "lol squats and oats" comes from).

Believe me if chicks could lose weight and keep thier tits. Yeah.

[Panda]

Panda:
Then I seriously suggest you read Convict Conditioning, it can be bought or downloaded depending on your inclination, it has well described exercises with clear progression of difficulty. The only thing I'd suggest ignoring is the requirements to progress to the more difficult exercises, he has a tendency to set very high rep requirements were more moderate ones would result in less boredom and more results.

This article claims that gaps in my strength stop me short of being able to claim status as a true man!

http://www.dragondoor.com/B/b41/

I read the forward, though, and this certainly does seem like a good book.

http://www.dragondoor.com/store/forewor ... ditioning/

The author reviewing this book is comparing it to practices related to what Tibetan Buddhist monks do and says that women can do these exercises as well. It says that these exercises are calisthenics. Calisthenics are often used in gym classes, provide strength and flexibility for movements, and I'm sure are very helpful, but I still don't see how this could be so much better than a proper weight lifting routine. After all, gymnastics uses calisthenics to go along with its exercises too and those exercises don't appear to be as effective as weight lifting exercises are, but this book probably does still have a good set of exercises in it that can be used for a variety of people.

I agree with you that it does seem to have a lot of bro language in it, but I think I'll check it out. There's a Barnes and Noble store near where I live, so I can go and see if they have it there. Thanks.

[MidKnight]

The key to visible abs is low body fat, you can improve them with exercise but without low body fat you'll never see them.
Good exercises for abs, as I've probably said before, are leg raises, hanging or lying down depending on your desired difficulty. Plus any compound exercises that require stabalisation from your core; overhead press, squats, deadlifts.

Well now I'm curious. How would you get your body fat low enough to see them?

The only time when my abs are visible is when I haven't eaten much for a few days or am sleep deprived enough that I lose weight, both of which are really unhealthy. Other than that, though, my stomach resembles a brick wall beneath a centimeter of Jell-O.

[Das Bruce]

Eat a modest caloric deficit, around 500 Calories is usually recommended.

[Panda]

@Midnight You may be eating too many carbs and not enough protein. However, it's good to have some fat on you, in case you need it.

really accidents (broken bones)

I broke my arm before. It became swollen and I couldn't move it without it hurting a lot, but it healed up nicely and it had no effect on my weight. I also bruised my eye while skiing before and was alright the next day.

The way I see it is that fear of injury is not a good reason to avoid an active lifestyle, especially when you can also injure yourself pretty easily or become ill when you aren't in good shape.

[Panda]

Lol. Smoth thought it was strange that I liked this music for weightlifting in the workout center.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z85XHy3PcmU