If I'm trying to get clearer/more visible abs, should I...?

Question

Do more sets and less reps, or more reps and less sets? And after 1 week, how should I raise my exercise up, by 1 set or more reps?.

What I currently do is:
8 sets of 30 Crunches
9 sets of 25 Sit Ups
6 sets of 45 bicycle crunches

Should I for example, after every week, should I...
A) Increase the set by 1
B) Increase the reps by 5
C) Just do the same thing
D) Do A and B

In order to make more abs more visible/clear. If this is to much what would you recommend?

Answer 1

I work in a physical therapist's office and for exercise programs we usually do each exercise as follows:

day one: 30x,
day two: 30x,
day three: 3 sets of 8,
day four: 3 sets of 8,
day five: 3 sets of 10,
day six: 3 sets of 10,
day seven: 3 sets of 12,
day eight: 3 sets of 12,
day nine: 3 sets of 15,
day ten: 3 sets of 15,
+weight and back to 3 sets of 8
...and repeat.

The reason for this is because as the weight builds up your strength, the reps build up your endurance and both are necessary to build muscle.
But because you do not have a physical limitation as most of my patients do, you might want to skip the sets of 8 and go right to sets of 10, 12, and 15.

An exercise ball (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2283564) also increases the difficulty of any work out. If you look around, it is easy to find good prices.

Also, it is good to focus on different parts of your stomach to tone it evenly.
Look around on different exercise websites to help you out:
http://www.bestabs.com/Resources/Exercises/Default.aspx

Answer 2

If you feel like you can do more then you probably should. You build muscle by working muscle. So if after your workout you don't feel like you have worked that hard and you don't feel that burning sensation in your muscles, then you should probably up the ante, more sets or more reps,... it doesn't really matter as long as you are always giving your muscles a good work out. In addition, it might be time to start dieting because working out will not get rid of the fat around your muscles that hide all of your definition, just fat loss will do that.

Answer 3

I would suggest adding another set about every two weeks or so until you reach your limit then you wont want to add anymore until you feel comfortable where you are, after all you want good looking abs not damaged muscles. It may take a little while longer then you had anticipated, but trust me you will be happy with the outcome.

Answer 4

The exact workout is not going to matter as much as your BMI.