You’re probably reading this because having abdominal muscles appeals to you, but before we continue, ask yourself. . .
Do you want a six pack, or a strong core?
I just need to throw this out there at the start that the two are not mutually exclusive.
Take your average strong man for example, probably some of the strongest cores on the planet, yet very few have visible abs showing through.
So what is this leading to? Essentially all showing abs means is, someone’s ability to maintain a strict diet to the point where they’re body fat is low enough for them to remain visible.
Which leads me onto my next point. And it’s a phrase you’ll hear very often.
“Calorie Deficit”
The good news is, everybody has abs, not a single person is born without them.
The not so good news is, due to our genetic composition, not everyone will have their abs visible at the same level of body fat, for some it could be as high as 20%, and others maybe as low as 13%
But the main variable to focus on here, is your nutritional intake, and to get your body fat low enough to where yours will start to peak through.
There are many TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculators online which you can complete to give you how many calories a day you will need to consume to lose body fat in a sustainable fashion. Ideally we’re looking for a minus 250-500 caloric deficit.
Please take careful note of the word “Sustainable” . . . When I first ventured into fitness, losing weight was also a priority of mine, and having a keen interest in boxing I (wrongly) looked at what methods they were implementing to make weight before a fight.
However, one thing did strike me, and that was they would add as much as 10lbs or more over the next 24 hours after weigh in. So yes, this is the importance of only using around a 500 calorie deficit. The goal genuinely is to strip fat, not overall body weight.
Also the calculators are only guides. My advice would be to find your ‘Actual’ maintenance first. Run that for a fortnight and see if you have or haven’t gained weight.
Seeking your maintenance you’re looking to actually say the same weight.
This might take some trial and error. I would also suggest during that fortnight weighing yourself every other day, but only keeping a record. And seeing where you end up once the two weeks are up.
EXERCISE SELECTION & TRAINING FREQUENCY
How often should I train abs and when is the best time to train them? Well in an ideal situation, ab training would have it’s own day. Perhaps not specifically just abs, but paired up with something else like arms, cardio or shoulders. Also I would try to sequence them before a leg day if possible.
First and foremost, actual direct training of abs, cause very little stress on the central nervous system, so if you have quite a bit of timber you want to shift, along with your calorie deficit, it might actually be more worthwhile focusing your attention on compound lifts.
In terms of exercise selection, Look to incorporate one from the top (essentially a crunch variation), one from the bottom (A hanging leg raise style movement) and possibly a body weight callisthenics style movement that also brings in some isometric holds (easiest example of this would be a plank)
So one from the top would be an Ab crunch next to a cable column (you can use either the rope or V Bar attachment for this).
I would suggest this over any direct ab machine, as it will allow proper flexion of the lumbar to execute the squeezing of the abs at the bottom of the movement.
Also it allows for a greater stretch at the top of the movement.
Also a decline sit up will also suffice very well. Either weighted or unweighted. It’s important to remove hip flexors out of initiating the movement, so remember to keep your quads relaxed and be sure you are working with the target muscle.
And then another one I would suggest is a variation of a hanging leg raise.
Using the full leg might prove to be difficult if your core is weak, so you can start with just raising your knees, but be sure to get that butt up, when performing the exercise, you don’t want your hips to be doing the work.
Of Course these are just 3 exercises of many to choose from, but as long as your ab training has a purpose and you structure it around those 3 bases that were previously mentioned.
For something more body weight orientated you could use a barbell to perform essentially the ab wheel exercise, but remember to keep core and glutes braced throughout full extension of the movement.
And one final tip. Ab training should be difficult. I see many fitness classes where people do these AMRAP exercises involving ab work, and I’ll leave you with one last vital piece of advice.
The secret to successful abdominal training is in the breathing.
You need to breathe out on the way to the shortened end of the movement (so in a sit up this would be at the top) and breathe in on the way back down.
So when you breathe out the aim is to expel all the air in your mid section and this will allow you to fully contract the abs as tight as possible. Squeezing that core until it hurts.
The sensation you’re looking for is similar to a bicep flex (everyone can flex their bicep right?) Yes you want that feeling in your abs too, during every rep, along with breathing.
Ruben Williams
Do you want a six pack, or a strong core?
I just need to throw this out there at the start that the two are not mutually exclusive.
Take your average strong man for example, probably some of the strongest cores on the planet, yet very few have visible abs showing through.
So what is this leading to? Essentially all showing abs means is, someone’s ability to maintain a strict diet to the point where they’re body fat is low enough for them to remain visible.
Which leads me onto my next point. And it’s a phrase you’ll hear very often.
“Calorie Deficit”
The good news is, everybody has abs, not a single person is born without them.
The not so good news is, due to our genetic composition, not everyone will have their abs visible at the same level of body fat, for some it could be as high as 20%, and others maybe as low as 13%
But the main variable to focus on here, is your nutritional intake, and to get your body fat low enough to where yours will start to peak through.
There are many TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculators online which you can complete to give you how many calories a day you will need to consume to lose body fat in a sustainable fashion. Ideally we’re looking for a minus 250-500 caloric deficit.
Please take careful note of the word “Sustainable” . . . When I first ventured into fitness, losing weight was also a priority of mine, and having a keen interest in boxing I (wrongly) looked at what methods they were implementing to make weight before a fight.
However, one thing did strike me, and that was they would add as much as 10lbs or more over the next 24 hours after weigh in. So yes, this is the importance of only using around a 500 calorie deficit. The goal genuinely is to strip fat, not overall body weight.
Also the calculators are only guides. My advice would be to find your ‘Actual’ maintenance first. Run that for a fortnight and see if you have or haven’t gained weight.
Seeking your maintenance you’re looking to actually say the same weight.
This might take some trial and error. I would also suggest during that fortnight weighing yourself every other day, but only keeping a record. And seeing where you end up once the two weeks are up.
EXERCISE SELECTION & TRAINING FREQUENCY
How often should I train abs and when is the best time to train them? Well in an ideal situation, ab training would have it’s own day. Perhaps not specifically just abs, but paired up with something else like arms, cardio or shoulders. Also I would try to sequence them before a leg day if possible.
First and foremost, actual direct training of abs, cause very little stress on the central nervous system, so if you have quite a bit of timber you want to shift, along with your calorie deficit, it might actually be more worthwhile focusing your attention on compound lifts.
In terms of exercise selection, Look to incorporate one from the top (essentially a crunch variation), one from the bottom (A hanging leg raise style movement) and possibly a body weight callisthenics style movement that also brings in some isometric holds (easiest example of this would be a plank)
So one from the top would be an Ab crunch next to a cable column (you can use either the rope or V Bar attachment for this).
I would suggest this over any direct ab machine, as it will allow proper flexion of the lumbar to execute the squeezing of the abs at the bottom of the movement.
Also it allows for a greater stretch at the top of the movement.
Also a decline sit up will also suffice very well. Either weighted or unweighted. It’s important to remove hip flexors out of initiating the movement, so remember to keep your quads relaxed and be sure you are working with the target muscle.
And then another one I would suggest is a variation of a hanging leg raise.
Using the full leg might prove to be difficult if your core is weak, so you can start with just raising your knees, but be sure to get that butt up, when performing the exercise, you don’t want your hips to be doing the work.
Of Course these are just 3 exercises of many to choose from, but as long as your ab training has a purpose and you structure it around those 3 bases that were previously mentioned.
For something more body weight orientated you could use a barbell to perform essentially the ab wheel exercise, but remember to keep core and glutes braced throughout full extension of the movement.
And one final tip. Ab training should be difficult. I see many fitness classes where people do these AMRAP exercises involving ab work, and I’ll leave you with one last vital piece of advice.
The secret to successful abdominal training is in the breathing.
You need to breathe out on the way to the shortened end of the movement (so in a sit up this would be at the top) and breathe in on the way back down.
So when you breathe out the aim is to expel all the air in your mid section and this will allow you to fully contract the abs as tight as possible. Squeezing that core until it hurts.
The sensation you’re looking for is similar to a bicep flex (everyone can flex their bicep right?) Yes you want that feeling in your abs too, during every rep, along with breathing.
Ruben Williams
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