Hey everyone, hope you’re having a good Monday. I ran a poll on my instagram for what topic people wanted to see next so if you missed out on that make sure you follow me @cmcg.fitness right onto todays blog.
Abs, if you were expecting a workout plan for the best ab exercises out there, this isn’t the place sorry there’s enough of them out there. The list of good ab exercises is endless and can depend on what equipment you have, what areas you want to target and the weights you have available (I will link a good workout in the additional resources if you’re interested). What I’ll aim to do with this post is firstly make sure your goals are realistic and in line with what optimally might be right decision for yourself. Secondly explain the role and parts of the abs/core so you can understand how important it is to work them. And finally, how to get the most out of your ab training at the moment so you can get the best results.
Part 1 ~ Know your Goal
So, when has it been that a six pack has been the pinnacle of training?! If you didn’t that you didn’t really work out. That’s what the fitness industry has largely lead a lot of people to believe and strive for. The visibility of a six pack is not due to the training, we’ve all heard that abs are developed with training and then revealed with diet. People have six packs by having a low body fat percentage. If you currently can’t see your stomach muscles you might need to lose fat first (by being in a calorie deficit) rather than ab training at this moment in time.
Genetically it is possible for people to have a six pack on show, remember that. They can eat pretty much what they want and stay lean, annoyingly. However for the large majority the people you’re following on social media and comparing yourself to (which is bad) they post pictures when they’re at their best. Remember that. You can only stay super lean for a short period of time because our bodies are meant to store fat. They’ll sacrifice a lot of happiness for a holiday lets say and cut eating out, alcohol, food they love etc. Then they’re super lean, take as many pictures as possible and then return back (most likely with more fat than they initially started). People think that having abs will make you happy, truth is you have to give up a lot to get there and it may not be sustainable. Think is it worth is, sometimes a higher body fat or maybe not being as lean as you want will be your happiest you’ve been.
Most of use want to have a healthy ‘leanness’ or have a flat stomach, which can be accompanied with a good ab routine.
Part 2 ~ Purpose of the Abs
Your abs are made up of 4 main parts: your external obliques, internal obliques, transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis (6 pack muscle) which all need to be trained. Like any muscle, abs need progressive overload to grow and develop. However it’s a bit harder to add resistance unless you’re at the gym or have resistance bands.
They’re an important part to your anatomy, as they protect your spine. You only have one of them so it’s a pretty important job. Abs help stabilise you when you’re doing lifts such as squats and deadlifts, without a good core you wouldn’t be able to engage the right muscles correctly and perform your best. Now doing 200 sit ups or crunches or endless mountain climbers are not going to do you any favours as this wouldn’t be training the muscle properly.
Part 3 ~ How to get the most out of your Ab Workouts
First things first, the sequence you do your ab exercises in is crucial. You start with your lower abs (exercises which cause you to lift your legs) first because your legs are a lot heavier than your torso. Save the top abs till the end when you have less energy. The perfect ab workout would go something like this:
Bottom up
Bottom up rotation
Obliques
Midrange
Top Down Rotation
Top Down
Serratus
Next point, using momentum and speeding through your reps. By doing this you’re putting all the effect everywhere but your abs and will end up cheating the reps. You need to be doing high quality reps, quality over quantity. If you go slower I can pretty much guarantee you won’t be able to do as many as you did before because before you weren’t even working them. Sometimes taking a step back is actually a leap forward.
Stop cutting your range of motion short, I wanna see a full rep. Whether it’s getting your legs up to the top in a hanging leg raise or actually back to the floor in a crunch. Simple that one.
The next one is probably the area people don’t do the most and perhaps something that may take a bit of practise. Breathing. What you want to do is breath out when contracting the abs and also TUCK YOUR STOMACH IN. Doing this works the transverse abdominis (the muscle that goes around your stomach). The transverse abdominis keeps your stomach flat, something which we all want to have. So what you don’t want to be doing is breathing out and sticking your belly out at the same time because it’ll teach poor muscular control
Final point is for people skipping their obliques because they think they’ll look blocky. Whilst in actually fact the obliques taper and will give you that v cut most people want. Another easy one.
Do all of these and you won’t have a perfect six pack, you’ll have a stomach you’re content with and can sustain all the time not just for a short period. That’s the aim, as I always say give people the right information and then they can decide what the best plan of action is for themselves. Everyones different it’s about finding what you’re happiest with and a six pack probably isn’t the solution.
Hope you enjoyed, please subscribe it means so much to me and really motivates me to keep writing.
Thanks
Cameron
Additional Resources
James Smith 6 Pack, Abs, do you REALLY need them?
Athlean X - Stop Doing Abs Like This! (Save a friend)
Athlean X - Get a “6 Pack” in 22 Days! (HOME AB WORKOUT)