FIT I need to build slow-twitch muscle in my abs

[deusexaethera]

I can do sit-ups and crunches just fine, but if I pause in mid-crunch, my ab muscles twitch rapidly while they're holding my weight off the floor. I assume this means I have basically no slow-twitch muscle in my abs, but if there's some other cause, I'd like to know what it is.

In any event, sit-ups and crunches aren't tightening things up the way I'd like them to. What other exercises should I do in addition?

 

[Murq]

wats a slow twitch muscle

 

[Dunken]

your logic is incorrect. but go here first http://forums.offtopic.com/showthread.php?t=4522712

 

[RICK RO$$]

lol

 

[remmy]

 

[limsoup]

...

 

[hootpie]

I can never tell if these types of threads are troll attempts or serious questions anymore.

 

[Ceaze]

[y]MdGNerEGBIA&start=11[/y]

 

[deusexaethera]

I can never tell if these types of threads are troll attempts or serious questions anymore.

Believe it or not, I wasn't born knowing how to work out.

 

[subwoofer]

slow twitch and fast twitch are the different types of muscle fibers. slow twitch is associated with bigger lifts and power movements while fast twich is associated with endurance sports. usually slow twitch fibers are bigger than fast twitch fibers.

at least this is what i got out of some class in college

either way, if you're looking to work on your abs, do squats and deadlifts =D

 

[hootpie]

Believe it or not, I wasn't born knowing how to work out.

Don't take offense to it--we get some pretty serious trolling in here from time to time.

Try this: when you do situps, pause in the area where your abs twitch and hold it for a while. Continue doing this whenever you do abs and soon enough you might stop spasming when you do it.

 

[deusexaethera]

I suppose I should add three important facts about my fitness:

1) I mountain bike, and my seat is adjusted to a proper height so my legs can extend about 95% while sitting, and despite the height of the seat I can ride and pedal without holding the handlebars;

2) I go for multi-mile walks involving hills every evening;

3) I work at a desk.

Basically where this leaves me (as far as I know) is, everything is in reasonably good shape except my abs and my biceps. When I was moving a few months ago, it was less tiring for me to carry heavy furniture directly above my head (triceps providing lift) than to carry it in front of me (biceps providing lift). Likewise, biking means my back and legs are in good shape, but since I don't have to provide forward pressure during any of my daily activities, my abs are basically in shambles, hence the spasming when I pause during situps. I gotta do something about them.

your logic is incorrect. but go here first http://forums.offtopic.com/showthread.php?t=4522712

This is a good read, I'll give this a try when I get home this evening.

Try this: when you do situps, pause in the area where your abs twitch and hold it for a while. Continue doing this whenever you do abs and soon enough you might stop spasming when you do it.

I've tried this before, and the spasms do calm down if I hold for more than 30 seconds, but it starts burning well before the 30-second mark.

 

[Ceaze]

slow twitch is associated with bigger lifts and power movements while fast twich is associated with endurance sports. usually slow twitch fibers are bigger than fast twitch fibers.

You have it backward.

 

[RICK RO$$]

I suppose I should add three important facts about my fitness:

1) I mountain bike, and my seat is adjusted to a proper height so my legs can extend about 95% while sitting, and despite the height of the seat I can ride and pedal without holding the handlebars.

so you can ride your bike with no handlebars, no handlebars, no handlebars?

 

[deusexaethera]

No, but I can ride it without my hands on the handlebars. It's not nearly as easy as you might remember, when the seat is 3 feet off the ground and the bike has a forward weight bias.

 

[deusexaethera]

Well I did a few of those "hard rolls" last night; I don't have a pad but I do have a Sleep Number bed, so I cranked up the air pressure and did them on that. It worked well.

Interestingly, I can touch my right elbow to my left knee and do several hard rolls without too much trouble, but I can barely touch my left elbow to my right knee at all without my abs spasming. I didn't even try rolling in that position, given the initial results. I wonder what could result in such unbalanced muscle tone. I must favor certain patterns of movement much more heavily than I realize.

 

[subwoofer]

You have it backward.

shit!

 

[GTLifter]

Well I did a few of those "hard rolls" last night; I don't have a pad but I do have a Sleep Number bed, so I cranked up the air pressure and did them on that. It worked well.

Interestingly, I can touch my right elbow to my left knee and do several hard rolls without too much trouble, but I can barely touch my left elbow to my right knee at all without my abs spasming. I didn't even try rolling in that position, given the initial results. I wonder what could result in such unbalanced muscle tone. I must favor certain patterns of movement much more heavily than I realize.

hard rolls or rolled hard?

 

[deusexaethera]

This:

Hard Roll
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poawu9InFrQ

 

[kronik85]

deuxex isn't trolling... he's just a nerdy smart guy looking for some fitness help

abs are a product of primarily low bodyfat... there's a bunch of exercises in the "core training" sticky that you can also use to build up some muscle in the abdominals/obliques.

 

[ACLdestroyer]

Try this ab routine. Its designed for building this type of slow twitch muscle tissue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

 

[kilian]

jesus.

dude look.

If you do a sit up and it's easy, and your abs don't "twitch," it's probably because you're using momentum, or your legs, or anything else to do the sit up.

When you "freeze," and hold your abs, you're actually engaging them.

They're flipping out because they're weak, not because you are slow/fast-twitch dominant.

 

[deusexaethera]

That momentum doesn't come from nowhere. The floor isn't giving me a push in the back. My abs have to exert the initial force to get my upper body moving in the first place -- they just can't sustain that force for more than a second or so without going nuts. Hence my self-diagnosis. Sure, I could be totally wrong, but based on what (little) I know about musculature, I think I'm reasonably correct.

Yes, my abs are weak. But they're weak in a specific way. If they were totally undeveloped I wouldn't be able to do situps at all. As best I can tell, my abs are used for split-second reinforcement of my core when pedaling on my bike, when I first start each downstroke. But that's pretty much all the regular exercise they get. I'm just trying to find ways to even-out their capabilities.

In any event, it seems like the most direct approach is to "freeze" like you said, holding my body in a shallow V-shape using my ab muscles. I also need to look more at the stuff Dunken linked to; I wasn't expecting to find out my core was unbalanced side-to-side as well as front-to-back, like the hard rolls demonstrated.

 

[deusexaethera]

Try this ab routine. Its designed for building this type of slow twitch muscle tissue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

Hmm. Looks good. I'll have to add that type of roll to my new routine.

 

[Adom]

fuck, i was also rick rolled.