by John Alvino
Most trainees who are attempting to train their abs either at home or with little or no equipment, usually engage in a floor session of endless crunches. Regardless of how many sets and reps you perform, this approach will never lead to well-balanced six pack ab development.
For starters, the floor crunch only provides enough resistance to cause a training effect in beginners. Once you develop a base of strength, the crunch will only serve as an exercise capable of maintaining your current strength level.
And secondly, crunches only train the abs in one movement pattern: forward flexion. Forward flexion is just one of many different functions that the abdominal musculature is capable of. You simply can’t get a complete and effective ab workout by using one exercise and/or targeting just one movement pattern.
What you need to do is perform several different ab exercises, with each on working your abs in a different plane of motion. This is not as confusing as it may sound. With a basic understanding of how your abs work, this concept is quite simple.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to bore you with a lesson in anatomy. Instead, I’m going to lay out a complete, ready to use ab workout for you. The following workout contains only exercises that require no equipment whatsoever, making them ideal for a home training session. Here it is:
1a) Reverse Crunch On Floor 3×20-25 30 sec rest 1b) Straight Body Side Crunch On Floor 3×12 (5sec hold) 30 sec rest 2a) Plank 3×60 sec 30 sec rest 2b) Seated Russian Twists With Leg Cycle 3×20-25 30 sec rest
Follow the simple instructions below to ensure yourself that you are performing each exercise properly.
Reverse Crunch On Floor- Lie on your back on the floor. Bend both your knees and your hips until they make 90 degree angles. Bring knees toward chest by contracting your abdominal muscles. You butt will rise off the floor. Be sure to maintain a constant knee angle throughout the range of motion. Return until hips are again at a 90 degree angle. Repeat for the prescribed number of reps.
Straight Body Side Crunch On Floor- Lie on your side on the floor. Keep your arms straight out above your head. Be sure to keep your legs straight. Lock your fingers together. Now raise both your arms and legs up so that neither are in contact with the floor. Hold this contraction for the prescribed number of seconds.
Plank- Get on the floor in a push up position. Support your body on your forearms and your toes. Be sure to keep the abs tight and hold your body in a straight line. Do not let hips sag or hike them up too high. Hold for the prescribed number of seconds.
Seated Russian Twists With Leg Cycle- Sit on floor and cross your arms across your chest, grabbing the opposite shoulders. Lean back until your upper body makes a 45 degree angle to the floor. Rotate trunk to the right while simultaneously bringing your right knee towards your chest. At this point your left elbow will be touching your right knee. In a fluid motion rotate to the left and repeat on the other side. Continue to alternate until you finish the prescribed number of reps. One full rotation equals one rep.
Now you have a result producing ab workout you can perform with no equipment whatsoever. Do this workout two or three times per week for the next month. After this month is over, it will be time to progress to a more advanced ab workout.
Sexy six pack abs are in your near future. Start this routine today and begin seeing results immediately!