The
Four KEY Areas To Be Addressed If You Want To Develop A Killer Midsection!!!
1. Nutrition
2. Interval Training
3. Resistance Training
4. Abdominal Training # 1. Nutrition
You Absolutely cannot get your abdominals to stand out and trim your waistline, unless you address the area of nutrition. The only way to get your abs to stand out is to remove the layer of fat that is keeping them from been exposed.
All the abdominal training in the world will do very little to remove the fat from your midsection. You need to look at your nutritional habits and meal planning, as well as using interval training and a full body resistance training plan to stimulate your metabolism and burn the fat that covers your abs.
# 2. Interval Training
SSC (Steady State Cardio) is good, but you really need to be using "Higher Intensity" interval training, in order to boost your metabolism and continue burning calories for several hours post workout.
Interval training can be performed via circuit training or running, cycling, rowing, etc. Personally I prefer to use circuit training and running for my interval training workouts.
I think most people are fairly familiar with circuit training, whether it's general strength circuits using just body weight exercises or circuits that combine bodyweight exercises and dumbbell exercises together. Basically you select anywhere from 6-12 exercises and usually perform for a certain work to rest ratio, going from exercise to exercise until all the exercises have been performed, then taking a prescribed rest period, before repeating the circuit a further 2-4 times. Circuit training is one of my favorite training modalities.
Treadmill running is another great way to get in your high intensity interval work. Basically you will want your workout to last no more than 20 minutes, including a warm up and cool down period.
Here's an example
HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) Treadmill workout:
3 Minutes warm up period.
90 Seconds High Intensity Running.
60 Seconds Active Recovery (Walking at 5kmh or less)
Repeat x 6 (This equals 15 minutes)
2 Minutes cool down period.
If you find that during the 60 second active recovery period you want to walk faster than 5kmh or want to jog, this means that you were not working intensely enough during the 90 second high intensity running section. If you're working intensely enough you will need to walk slow, believe me!
# 3. Resistance Training
You Absolutely must piece together a full body, free weight based resistance training program, with the focus been placed upon the "BIG LIFTS" such as squats, deadlifts, Olympic lifts, lunges, presses and pulls.
Theses exercises will do more for your abdominals than any isolation exercise or abdominal gadget could ever do.
Just cause you don't feel "The Burn" in your abs, this doesn't mean they are not been stressed during these activities.
# 4. Abdominal Training
And yes you will want to incorporate some effective abdominal training exercises into your abdominal development plan, but you really don't need to do as many isolation based exercises as you think. You may need to recondition your thinking on this one, as it's hard to accept for most people.
Here are
some of the problems I see with people and their abdominal training routines:
1. Too much emphasis placed on trunk flexion.
2. Too many exercises performed in the supine position.
3. Too many repetitions and not enough load been used.
Instead you should focus on: 1. Performing more rotational exercises.
2. Performing more exercises in the prone position.
3. Perform fewer repetitions and add some additional load to the exercises.
The abdominals can be trained in many positions and with the use of various tools for the purpose of creating additional load. There are many tools available, but some of the more commonly used tools include:
1. Cable pulleys. Used for loaded kneeling crunches, chopping & rotational exercises.
2. Med balls, weight plates and dumbbells. Great for adding load to almost any exercise.
3. Stability balls are useful for some exercises, but personally I feel they are overused.
4. AB wheel. Great for forward and diagonal roll outs.
You should also perform PSC (Pelvic Stability Circuits). These include all your prone (face down) supine (face up) and side position plank exercises, or elbowstands and handstands as I call them.
The simple push up is, believe it or not, another great exercise for your abdominals. There are literally dozens of push up variations you can perform, so you will never get bored and if you want to further challenge yourself, you should try performing some stability push ups.
Stability push ups are a very demanding core exercise and I would only suggest these for advanced individuals. Some people will perform them on stability balls, which is fine, but I personally like to perform them using my jungle gym apparatus from Lifeline USA or you could use a TRX Suspension Trainer or Blast Straps.
The 6 Pack Abs - ABliteration Workout
Here's One Little Abs Training Routine You Can Try Next Time You Train Your ABS!
All You Need Is:- Stability Ball - Bench or Chair - Enough Space
How To Perform The ABliteration Workout:- Perform each superset x 2 with a 45-60 second rest interval between sets.
- Rest for 60-90 seconds between supersets.
AB Superset A: A1 - Spiderman Push Ups x 10 (Slow)
A2 - H2H Mountain Climbers x 20-30 (Super Fast)
AB Superset B: B1 - Stability Ball S2S Knee Tucks x 10 (Slow)
B2 - Cross Body Mountain Climbers x 20 (Moderate)
AB Superset C: C1 - Stability Ball Knee Tucks x 15 (Slow)
C2 - Mountain Climbers x 20 (Moderate)
How To Perform The Exercises
Exercise #1 - Spiderman Push Ups This exercise requires you to go from 4 contact points to 3 contact points.
Assume a standard push up position on the floor, arms fully extended (up-position) and legs extended straight back, with the feet approximately 8-12 inches apart. Your hips and shoulders should be aligned, so that your back is parallel with the floor.
From this position start lowering down into the push up down position, allowing the right foot to come off the floor and bringing the right knee forward towards the right elbow. In the bottom position your knee and elbow should almost or slightly touch.
As you begin to the extend back up, start moving the foot backwards to the start position. The foot should touch back down as the arms return to the full extended position. From here you should repeat the action on the opposite side of the body until all repetitions have been performed.
Individuals who cannot perform full push ups, can still perform the spiderman push up by starting off in a kneeling push up position and following all exercise cues as described above.
Exercise #2 - H2H Mountain Climbers (H2H = Hand 2 Heel) This exercise requires you to go from 4 contact points to 2 contact points.
Assume a standard push up position on the floor, arms fully extended (up-position) and legs extended straight back, with the feet approximately 8-12 inches apart. Your hips and shoulders should be aligned, so that your back is parallel with the floor.
This exercise ultimately should be performed at high speeds, but at first it is best to go slow for learning purposes. Just remember that ultimately you want to perform at high speeds.
Brace your abdominals as you bring your right knee forward towards the right elbow, allowing the lower leg to move inwards slightly towards the bodies midline. At the same time lift the left hand off the ground and bring it back to meet the right foot instep or tap the right heel. Return the right foot and left hand back to the start position and repeat on the opposite side, bringing the right hand to meet the left foot.
Again, this exercise is ultimately to be performed at high speeds, but start slow and allow proceed to faster speeds once you have become efficient and provided your technique and posture isn't compromised.
Exercise #3 - Stability Ball S2S Knee Tucks (S2S = Side 2 Side) This exercise can be performed using just a stability ball and placing the hands on the ground with the arms fully extended.
Personally I like to, and feel it is best, to perform this exercise with the forearms resting across a bench or chair, similar to the position you would assume if performing a forearm plank or elbowstand exercise.
With your forearms supported on a bench or chair, extend your legs back and onto the top of a stability ball. Your entire body should be pretty much parallel with the floor at this point.
Brace your abdominals and slowly pull your knees forward towards your chest and slightly across the body to the right side. Hold this position for a split second before extending the legs back to the start position and repeating, this time pulling the knees forwards towards the left side of the body.
Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Exercise #4 - Cross Body Mountain Climbers This exercise requires you to go from 4 contact points to 3 contact points.
Assume a standard push up position on the floor, arms fully extended (up-position) and legs extended straight back, with the feet approximately 8-12 inches apart. Your hips and shoulders should be aligned, so that your back is parallel with the floor.
Brace your abdominals as you bring your right knee forwards and across the body towards the left elbow or armpit, keeping the foot close to the ground, but don't allow it to touch the floor. Extend the leg back to the start position and repeat on the opposite side, bringing the left knee forwards and across towards the right elbow or armpit. Return to the start position and repeat, alternating right and left until all repetitions have been performed.
Exercise #5 - Stability Ball Knee Tucks This exercise can be performed using just a stability ball and placing the hands on the ground with the arms fully extended.
Personally I like to, and feel it is best, to perform this exercise with the forearms resting across a bench or chair, similar to the position you would assume if performing a forearm plank or elbowstand exercise.
With your forearms supported on a bench or chair, extend your legs back and onto the top of a stability ball. Your entire body should be pretty much parallel with the floor at this point.
Brace your abdominals and slowly pull your knees forward towards your chest. Hold this position for a split second before extending the legs back to the start position and repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Exercise #6 - Mountain Climbers This exercise requires you to go from 4 contact points to 3 contact points.
Assume a standard push up position on the floor, arms fully extended (up-position) and legs extended straight back, with the feet approximately 8-12 inches apart. Your hips and shoulders should be aligned, so that your back is parallel with the floor.
Brace your abdominals as you bring your right knee forwards and across the body towards the left elbow or armpit, keeping the foot close to the ground, but don't allow it to touch the floor. Extend the leg back to the start position and repeat on the opposite side, bringing the left knee forwards and across towards the right elbow or armpit. Return to the start position and repeat, alternating right and left until all repetitions have been performed.
Assume a standard push up position on the floor, arms fully extended (up-position) and legs extended straight back, with the feet approximately 8-12 inches apart. Your hips and shoulders should be aligned, so that your back is parallel with the floor.
Brace your abdominals as you bring your right knee forward towards the right elbow, keeping the foot close to the ground, but don't allow it to touch the floor. Extend the leg back to the start position and repeat on the opposite side, bringing the left knee forwards and towards the left elbow. Return to the start position and repeat, alternating right and left until all repetitions have been performed.
To increase the difficulty level and add additional load to the mountain climber exercises, you can loop a resistance band around your feet. Just make sure you loop it over the lace area of your shoes and that you keep the ankles dorsiflexed (toes pulled back towards the shin) as you perform the exercises, otherwise the resistance band will slip off.
These are just a few useful exercises that I personally like to incorporate into my own abdominal routines. Just remember that these and all other isolation based abdominal exercises should only supplement a sound nutritional plan, interval training and full body resistance training program.
