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Hi there, I've decided that one of my goals is a v-shaped abs. Now my body fat is low enough, and I do training my abs, using either 8minute abs level 1 or a workout of planks. But I've got a few questions about getting v-shaped abs.

What are the main muscles in the 'V' part of the abs?

What are the best exercises/ways to achieve this?

Do you tense you abs while your working them?

Any information, tips or advice is welcome

Thanks

The problem is that you can't that much shape or mold your abs. There are Only a few muscles to work on especially because there is only two different visible abdominal muscle.

Now, to get the visible abs, a sixpack, you need to have low enough bodyfat and some work. The sixpack is a muscle called Rectus Abdominis, with linea alba, a fibrous structure that makes the lines for sixpack. Then there is the obliquus externus abdominis. Underneath are obliquus internus and transversus abdominis. The Obliquus externus goes from the ribs 5 to 12 and inserts to the inguinal ligament, hip, linea alba and the lower front fascia of the rectus abdominis. Both of these stabilize the torso (in example, in squats), rectus flexes the body forward, aka brings the thorax closer to the hip, or vice versa. The obliquus rotate the body, and take part in the side flexion, so they also cause antirotation, and try to keep the body stable. The transversus abdominis does this also.

So yeah, there's not really possibilities to make anything of these. I think everyone gets their own kind of abdominal shape when low on bodyfat and lots of work behind you. Some have more V-shaped, some more squared. I quess the obliquus are important for shape of the sides. So, any kind of core/ab work will get you closer.

Best exercises, I would pick some core work, in example planks, pallof presses and such. My favorite this far is the landmine rotation.
For direct rectus abdominis work, curl-ups or standing cable pulldowns. The most important point is to flex only your thoracic spine on these two movements. I would say 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps is enough, 2 to 4 times a week, if exerienced, maybe even 5 times a week.

I think tensing your abs is important, if I got that understood right. Your body needs to be thight, especially on that core work (anti-rotation)

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Prove the impossible!

For future reference, this is called the iliac furrow, or Apollo's belt, although there are other more colorful names. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo's_belt

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Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

Do you think that V-Shaped abs look good along with flabby weak legs and a soft weak back and arms? Why don't you care about the rest of your body?

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

@Dub + stuward - thanks :)



I've neglected this part of my body, I have worked the rest of my body for many months now and have taken great care in ensuring I get what I want. This is a new goal for me.

What are peoples opinions on stomach vacuums? http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthrea ... 293&page=1

I really don't know about these.

just do rollouts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0nJWHb6WZU

They hammer all the muscles around your midsection, you won't need anything else. Don't get me wrong, core work (planks, pallofs etc) is good, but rollouts count as core work that is also challenging enough to develop the musculature of your abs, obliques, and, like Stu referenced, the illiac furrow.

Start doing them kneeling on the ground, then progress to doing them with your knees on a step. If you can build up to doing them standing you get 100 man points.

As for the abdominal vacuum, I think there is no real point in it as an exercise. I can abdominal vacuum with the best of them, and I've never once trained it. It was just an old school bodybuilding pose to show off how small they could make their waste. Today's bodybuilders don't seem to do it anymore.

Vacuums, not as harmful as crunches, but even more useless.

Get strong and get lean. You really can't do anything else. You can't change the basic shape of your body except by the addition of subtraction of fat.

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

I'm a fan of that exercise too. Plus you can do some other cool variations with the wheel he's using, making it an even better investment:

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Ham ... gCurl.html
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hip ... Wheel.html
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hip ... Wheel.html

Be damned if I can get one like that locally, since they haven't caught on here. Ordering one in takes so long. First world problems, I know.

According to something I've read (I think from Stuart McGill) this is a way to isolate the transversus abdominis, but it places extra unwanted stress on the spine. I think he said there's no reason to isolate this muscle, but it could be he just meant as far as improving core strength.