I have been getting this question a lot lately and I feel like there is a major misunderstanding in relation to training your abs and increasing your waist size.

Your CORE (Abs, obliques, lower back, etc) are the foundation to your body.  If you don't train your core, you can expect to be weaker in not only lifts like deadlifting and squatting, but benching and overhead pressing as well.  This is because you need to learn to contract and squeeze your core for stability throughout each of these exercise.  Without it, your body will just crumble under the pressure of the weights.

But the problem is that a lot of people think that if they are "bulking" it is pointless to work their abs because you are going to gain bodyfat and not be able to see them.  Or if you are trying to lose weight you are going to increase the size of your waist and look "bigger".

We already covered that a strong core is the foundation to your lifts whether "bulking" or "cutting".

But for those of you trying to lose weight who are under the impression that you will gain all kinds of muscle and have a thicker waist, that just isn't true.

Here are a few reasons why:

1. If if your waist is getting bigger but the rest of your body seems to not be making changes as all, it is more than likely just more bodyfat and you need to adjust your intensity level in the gym or take another look at your meal plan.
   
   
2. If you do increase muscle mass in your core that is a good thing.  You burn more calories with more muscle so the more you gain the better!  Also, as you gain muscle while simultaneously losing weight your abs are going to look AMAZING once you reach your goal!
   
   
3. This is more of a personal observation, but I have been doing weighted abdominal and oblique exercises my whole life.  I can pretty much stack any cable machine for woodchoppers and my waist is still a solid 30in. - 31in.  Maybe a close 29in. if I diet really well.  Basically what I am saying that if you eat right and train your core the muscles will become more defined and much stronger, not increase your waist size by any kind of crazy number!

Great post, it is true! I am experiencing it myself at this moment, working hard on the abs and obliques, and being more serious on my deadlift. And I only seem to get thighter. Love your ab and oblique workouts, they are killing!

That is what I am talking about kevinkoprol!  I bet you are getting REALLY strong too!!!  Keep up the great work! #HTH

It is you who made my obliques what they are today Scott ! By using some of your routines I was able to get some very surprising results and couln't be happier. I saw some gains in my balance and elsewhere too which brings us back to the things you mentioned in this post ! Right now I'm bulking and it's going great within a month I was able to go from 133 pounds of leaness to 137 pounds of STILL leaness ! Dem clean gainzzzzz ! I worked my abs off (the wordplay) to achive that goal, I'm on the 1st of november going to weigh in again and hoping for a solid number so that my hard work paid of ! To summarize your abs / oblique workout Scott.... ARE AMAZING. Though I am good enough to construct my own and get some sick gainz I really enjoy spising it up with some of your routines !

Very great post! I have been training my abs hardcore for years and it has never increased the size of my waist! Without a strong core you wont be able to perform other various lifts for other body parts as well!

That's right, training the two areas is highly-encouraged! And for those who do want to strengthen the core and tighten the obliques, you can definitely check out Lionsgate's core-concentrated workouts from our 30 Days 6 Pack Abs  series featuring Sarah Fit and Scott himself! 

As always, you'd want to have an effective cardio drill that will not only help you burn off the fat but also build up lean muscle. 

Guys,

As an "old man" in relation to a lot of you younger Hermanites, I will give you my 2 cents worth.  As Scott mentioned above, your core is the foundation for all your lifts and your strength.  95% of back injuries as lifters get older is because they never developed their core at the same pace as the rest of their body.  After 30 years of lifting injury free - knock on wood :-) I can attest this to not only proper form and weight but keeping my core strong.  I don't wear a weight belt.  I still squat and deadlift heavy (for my age) and as KevinKoprol, William, and Nate wrote above it has had a postive impact on their lifts and it has kept my back healthy.

@Scott - didn't you say that one of the main reasons you won best abs in the East was because the judges liked your oblique development in conjunction with your abs? 

John

@Scott   I love your cable core work outs. It really strengthened my core. My bodyfat is still high so there are only a few visible muscles on my abs, obliques and serratus but I can feel them when I contract the muscles. I was really surprised when I first tried the TRX demo workout in our gym at work. My body stayed straight for the exercises (until I got tired). I was even able to lift myself from sitting position with my legs parallel to the ground.

I'm doing a bit of hanging leglifts without the arm supports and hopefully will be able to do windshield wiper thingy in the next few months. I'm also gonna be adding kettlebell swings to help burn some fat. 

4bidden@ArtArtdel

Great post man! I've been working my abs out 3 days a week thanks to williams advice and I have been worried about my stomach size because i still have a lot of stomach fat. I've noticed that my core has gotten a lot stronger and all of my lifting has improved.

I just need to stick with this diet and up the cardio to shed the fat a way. Time just seems to be dragging at this point though!

Oh that is awesome man!  and I just realzied who you are by your twitter handle! lol  Welcome to the site man!

I am acutally in the process of putting together an article on OBLIQUES / SERRATIUS right now.  In the mean time you should check out this video for exercises to help strengthen the core even more.

Also, that TRX is crazy huh?  Have you tried this yet?

Thanks for the welcome and I love your site. People here have a lot of respect for each other unlike the other sites. Cain't wait to read that article.

Yeah man!  You know me.  I am all about respect.  and this is MY SITE.. so I have total control.  No jerks here, JUST HERMANITES! #HTH :)  Let me now what you think of the article!  I posted it yesterday! :)

http://scotthermanfitness.com/articles_viewer.php?rID=33

One important point on waist size.  Most people measure their waist wrong. Your true "natural" waist is half way between the bottom of your rib cage and the top of your obliques.  It is NOT at and across the belly button as most people think.  Scott is 100% right on proper training of your core and if you now understand where your true waist is, you will realize it can't get bigger by training abs and obliques. 

John

Yo Kevinkoprol, I'm just taking some time to go back and try and revive some of these awesome forum posts for new comers. How are your ab workouts going brotha? I've been doing SO many Russian twists, it's been killer!

Hope everything is going good man, happy 2014! Let's make it a year to reach our goals!

#HTH

Still going hard at it! I am pretty busy lately, my girlfriend and I got our own place 2 weeks ago. But I'm trying to keep training hard. And also my abs, it may be winter time, but you've got to keep hitting them hard!

Happy 2014 to all of you too!

Awesome to hear man! That's the best news to start out the new year! My fiance and I just celebrated 3 years together and have been living together for most of that time. It a really big step but a lot of fun getting to know the other person.

Keep working those abs and she'll stick around for sures! haha just kidding ;).