Building a great six pack requires that you do both abs exercises that train your rectus abdomens, and exercises that train the other core muscles which complete the look we want.
How to Develop Great Abs (Rectus abdominis)
The biggest mistake most people make with abs training is they don’t perform any weighted abs exercises. The result is the ability to do a bazillion crunches or leg raises, but with abs that look small and underdeveloped.
The abs are like any other muscle: they require progressive overload to grow, and that can only be accomplished by adding resistance to exercises. You don’t have to add weight to all of your abs training, but you must add it to some if you want abs that really pop.
My favorite abs exercises are as follows:
☞ Cable Crunch
☞ Captain’s Chair Leg Raise (you can start with knees bent, but you want to work toward legs straight)
☞ Hanging Leg Raise
☞ Air Bicycle
☞ Ab Wheel Rollout
I didn’t
just choose these at random - research has actually shown them to be the most
effective for training the rectus abdomens and obliques (unfortunately the
study disappeared off the Net, but it was led by Peter Francis, Ph.D., at the
Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University).
I’ve found that abs seem to respond best to a combination of weighted and
unweighted work. Here’s how I like to do it:
☞ 1 set of a weighted exercise like
the Cable Crunch, Captain’s Chair Leg
Raise, or Hanging Leg Raise for 10-12 reps (you can add weight to the latter
two by snatching a dumbbell in between your feet)
☞ Directly into 1 set of an
unweighted exercise, to failure
☞ Directly into 1 set of and unweighted exercise, to
failure
☞ Rest 2-3 minutes
For example:
☞ 1 set of Cable Crunches, 10-12 rep
range
☞ Directly into 1 set of Captain’s Chair Leg Raises, to failure
☞ Directly into 1 set of Air
Bicycles, to failure
☞ Rest 2-3 minutes
Do 6-9 of these circuits 2-3 times per week, and your abs and oblique will
develop. Let’s now look at
how we can develop the rest of the core muscles.
How to develop the other core muscles
Heavy compound weightlifting “trains your core better than special “core exercises,“ and particularly when performed with heavy weight (80 percent + your 1RM). My three favorite core exercises are the Deadlift, Squat, and Military Press or Overhead Press. If you perform each of these lifts every week, and perform them with heavy weight, you won’t need to do any other core exercises. And last but not least, I’ve mentioned the serratus several times, so let’s talk about that.
How to develop a great serratus
The serratus anterior muscles are the finger-like muscles attached to your rib cage, and they really complete the “shredded“ core look.
While you can target the serrates anterior with an exercise like the Dumbbel Pullover, I never found this necessary. The exercises that really helped my serrates grow are..
☞ Deadlift
☞ Barbell Row
☞ Dumbbel Bench Press
☞ Ab Wheel Rollout
Amy good weightlifting routine will include the first three (and heavy weights will train your serrates better than lighter weights), and Ab wheel Rollouts are on of the great all-around abs and core exercises.
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