FINDING THE BEST WORKOUTS FOR FAST SIX PACK ABS
By VINCE DELMONTE
When trying to achieve the illusive six pack, it' easy to
get confused by all the "best ab
workouts" available. You'll likely notice that there are a
multitude of ab workouts to choose from. Deciphering which ones will work the best can be tricky. For a full course on developing
fast six pack abs click on No Nonsense Musclebuilding.
The thing to remember is that whenever you are trying to work your
core, everything works, for a certain period of time. Everything from high reps, low reps,
weighted work, bodyweight work, stability ball exercises, and BOSU ball exercises -
it all works until your body adapts and says, "This is
easy, I'm not going to change unless you give me a new reason to
adapt."
Your ab training should be progressed from stable floor work with
your body weight to a unstable surface with weighted work. Progressing to movements that will
reduce your base of support as much as possible are the best ab workouts because they will call into play all the
muscles within the core, especially those really deep that stable floor work
can not target.
Such examples of floor ab exercises that would do this would be crunches,
sit ups and leg raises. Eventually you want to do these same exercises against gravity,
then a load and then on unstable surface like a stability ball. Body
weight exercises like "front planks" and "side planks" should be the foundation of a core
program, and progressed to one arm planks in the frontal and side planes and then eventually on a
stability ball or BOSU ball for further recruitment.
The best ab workouts to
make your abs "pop" would be a variety of weighted movements. I'm sure you've skinny guys
with a flat stomach but no "eye popping" abs, which is because they have not developed the actual abdominal muscle,
just like every other body part. Part of getting nicely chiseled abs is going to be developing the muscles
underneath the fat, and weighted ab crunches with cables or on a stability ball with a heavy
dumbbell will do this best.
During all your ab workouts be sure to get a full stretch during
the eccentric phase of your ab exercises. Going through an entire range of motion on the way up
(if doing a crunch on the floor or ball) is not necessary, however, you should be "crunching" your upper abs onto
your lower abs during each rep to maximize the burn, recruitment and full development.
The one weighted exercise you will not find in my programs is
weighted side bends, as this could
make you look wider in the waste, distracting from creating
a lean image. In fairness I must point out there there are some famous strongmen that
would wring my neck for saying this. Eugene Sandow being one. In the the final analysis beauty is in the eye of the
beholder, so if you want the skinny six pack beach Adonis look omit the side bends, but if you want the old-time
strongman look include them.
One concerning question most people have is regarding lower ab workouts, typically
the most troubling spot. Yes, hip flexion (emphasis more so on lower abs) is
important to perform and should be done first in the workout but the reality of
the matter is that you cannot specifically separate your abs into upper and lower components. Whenever you perform
any type of ab movement you should automatically be focusing on working both the upper and lower
portion at the same time.
A good exercise to definitely direct a little more force into the lower area would
be the progression of lying leg raises, lying leg raises on a incline and eventually hanging leg
raises fully vertical. Lying leg raises on a stability ball is also an extremely challenging and
advanced exercise to create razor sharp abdominals.
Finally, the last thing to consider is when you are going to perform your ab
workout is training frequency. Again, generally speaking, the more the better assuming your abdominals have
recovered. Whether you want to perform it at the end of your workout, before your workout, during your workout
or on a day of it's own is up to you. My ab workouts incorporate all methods depending on if you are a beginner,
intermediate or advanced.
Some theories warn you not to start with abs, because abs are a synergistic muscle
for so many of the other exercises you'll do. If you pre-fatigue them before the start of the workout, you may
not progress as much during the rest of your workout. I've know bodybuilders on both sides, so experiment. If
you work your abs, first and you notice it is having a detrimental impact on your remaining workout,
discontinue.
Incorporating a specific ab workout is only a small part of the battle - diet,
lifestyle and overall caloric expenditure through weight training and cardio are the true building blocks to
creating a strong and desired mid section.
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For further information
on how to develop six
pack abs fast click on
No Nonsense
Musclebuilding by
Canadian bodybuilder
Vince Delmonte. Vince
also tells how he added
over 40 Lbs of muscle
in only six months!!!
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