Six pack abs, flat stomach, strong
core...sound interesting? But what to do you if you've tried every
abdominal exercise in the book and you need something NEW?
These following 3 ab exercises, using
only very simple equipment, will hit your abs in ways they've NEVER
felt before.
Each exercise targets one of the three
major planes of movement (sagittal, frontal and transverse - explained
in more detail below) for a true total abdominal workout. To fully
develop the core, you MUST work the core musculature in all three
major planes. Standard crunches and leg raises? They only work one!
Exercise #1 - Inverse Crunches - Sagittal Plane
The first exercise is going to target
the abs in the sagittal plane. The standard crunch works the body
in the sagittal plane - it basically divides your body in half,
left and right. When you crunch up, you're moving in the sagittal
plane.
The Inverse Crunch is one of the most
powerful "low-equipment" exercises you can do. It takes
the weight of your entire lower body and places it directly on the
abdominals in a crunching movement rather than a leg raise movement.
It'll have your clients' abs burning on the very first rep!
For this exercise, you will need a
pole or a similar solid vertical surface. Even a door frame or solid
table leg will work. I will use a pole as the example. Lie on your
back and brace one shoulder against the pole. Grasp the back side
of the pole with both hands about 18 inches up and grip it hard.
To get into the start position, raise
your legs up off the floor and slightly bend at your knees and hips.
Lock them into this position - your lower back should be flat on
the floor at this point or very close to it.
For this exercise, you are going to
be doing a movement similar to a crunch but reversed. I'll explain...the
major difference with this exercise is that instead of raising your
shoulders up off the ground to bring your rib cage closer to your
pelvis (the anatomical description for the way the standard crunch
is performed), you're instead going to be locking down your shoulders
and bringing your pelvis up towards your rib cage, similar to a
leg raise but placing more tension on the entire rectus abdominus
wall.
Why is this effective? What weighs
more, your shoulder girdle or your entire lower body? THAT is why
it's more effective - more resistance!
Let's start the movement. Get into
the start position mentioned above. Now pull FORWARD and DOWN hard
with your arms. Since your upper body is locked down and your lower
body isn't, this will raise your entire lower body off the floor.
This should NOT be viewed like a leg raise. Visualize that you're
trying to pull the pole down and forward. Since the pole won't move,
your lower body comes up. The pivot point for this exercise is your
upper back/bottom of rib cage area, not the hips as in a regular
leg raise. As you bring the lower body up, exhale through pursed
lips.
Bring the legs all the way up as high
as you can, squeezing the abs hard.Now lower VERY slowly, fighting
against gravity as it pulls your legs back down. Stop the lowering
phase just before your lower back touches the floor. Be sure you
don't let your lower back go flat on floor between reps to keep
up the most tension. Reverse the direction by pulling on the pole
again and bringing the lower body back up.
This exercise hits the abs from a
very different direction and with very different tension. It's something
you will most likely never have felt before! Switch which shoulder
is braced against the pole on your next set.
Adjusting the Difficulty
The difficulty of this exercise can
be adjusted in several ways. You can adjust the difficulty by moving
your hands closer down to your shoulders, making the exercise harder.
The higher you place your hands on the pole (as long as your elbows
aren't straight), the easier the exercise will be as your abs will
have greater leverage.
You can also adjust the amount of
resistance that your abs must work against by changing how much
your knees and hips are bent. If you bring your knees up towards
your chest, there is not as much resistance further out from the
body, and the exercise will be easier. The straighter your legs
and hips, the harder the exercise will be. If you're adventurous,
you can even try this exercise with ankle weights on!
The side abdominal wall and obliques
are often worked using exercises such as dumbell side bends. But
these have a tendency to put painful torque on the lower back because
the obliques are forced to work in isolation rather than as a unit
with the rest of the core musculature, which is how they're meant
to work. When you think about it, how often is a client going to
lean directly to the side in the frontal plane and pick up a heavy
object beside them!
The frontal plane splits your body
front and back. If you stand and bend your body directly to the
side, you're moving in the frontal plane.
Side Ab Push-Ups, by contrast, work
the obliques and entire side abdominal wall in a VERY functional
manner in the frontal plane. The entire core is engaged and stabilized
while the obliques perform the work. This keeps lower back strain
to a minimum while still directly working the side abdominal musculature.
Sit on your left side on the floor
(with your left hip on the floor) with your left hand propping up
your body, fingers pointing directly in line with your body. Keep
your left arm straight and locked. Your legs should be extended
straight down. Your body will be bent sideways at the waist, like
you're about to push yourself up to get up. Your feet should be
together, legs straight. If you like, you can brace your feet against
a solid object like a wall or machine. Place your right hand on
your lower left rib cage - this will help you to feel exactly how
the abs are contracting as you do the exercise and help you make
sure you're doing it right.
Now, using side abdominal contraction,
raise your hips directly up in the air until you've come up as high
as you can (it will look like a sideways pike position), using your
right hand to feel for that ab contraction. Squeeze the side abs
HARD at the top, holding for several seconds, then lower your body
slowly.
At the bottom, try to keep your hip
off the ground to get a good stretch on the side abs - you can rest
your hip on the floor between reps if you need to, though.
Make sure you are on your side as
much as possible throughout the movement - some forward bending
is natural due to abdominal function in that area. Try to imagine
that you're also pushing up with your arm to get the strongest effect
on the abs. Lean your head down towards the floor as you come up.
Because this exercise operates in
what is most likely an unfamiliar plane of movement (frontal) for
most people, keep a close eye on form and tell your client to let
you know if they feel strain in the lower back. This exercise really
tightens the entire side ab wall effectively. It's practical, functional
and requires zero equipment.
Exercise #3 - Two Dumbell Ball Twists - Transverse
Plane
The third and final exercise is going
to attack the rotational aspect of the abs, working the core musculature
in the transverse plane. The transverse plane basically splits your
body upper and lower. When a magician saws a person in half, they
"cut" them in a transverse plane. Movements in the transverse
plane are generally rotational.
Here's the best part...rotational
ab movements with resistance have the greatest potential of any
of the major ab movements to tighten the waist. Think about it this
way...if you had a tenser (ACE) bandage and wanted to use it to
make your waist appear smaller, you'd wrap it AROUND your waist.
You wouldn't try and connect it to your rib cage and pelvis. Rotational
exercises work these deep, rotational muscles to form a natural
corset around the waist.
For this exercise, you will need two
dumbells and a Swiss Ball. A smaller-size ball is better for this
exercise though any ball will work.
Lay on your back with your knees bent
and your feet fairly wide apart - you'll need a good base of support
for this exercise so that you don't roll off to the side of the
ball. Hold two equal-weight dumbells at arms-length directly above
you. Keep them pushed together while doing this exercise (if they're
separated, they'll move around more, making the exercise less efficient
so be sure to keep them pressed tightly together). Start with fairly
light dumbells the first time you try this movement.
Now, keeping your head facing directly
up/forwards and your hips horizontal, lower both of the dumbells
slowly and under complete control down to the left. Hold your breath
and tighten up your midsection as you come down to the fully-twisted
position. Prepare to push hard against the ground with your left
foot to maintain your balance.
Your left arm is going to bend to
about 90 degrees at the elbow as you lower the dumbells to the side
while your right arm should stay perfectly straight. Your upper
body should stay in the same position on the ball - no rolling to
the opposite side to compensate for the weight to the side. This
torque is what makes the exercise so valuable. Bending your lower
arm is CRITICAL to keeping your torso in the same position on the
ball.
There are a few reasons we use two
dumbells instead of one. The first is that the separate dumbells
increase the instability of the exercise, increasing the activation
of stabilizing muscles in the core. The second is that two separate
dumbells increases the shearing force going through the core area
- the two sides are working separately. When you have only one,
you don't have nearly the same pushing/pulling requirement on the
rotational muscles of the abs. Try it with one dumbell for a few
reps and you'll feel the difference immediately.
Since you're using two separate dumbells,
it's going to create a very different stress on the entire abdominal
area than anything you've experienced before.
When you're at the bottom, your upper
left arm will be contacting the surface of the ball (don't let it
rest or lose tension at this point!). Reverse the direction by simultaneously
pulling with your right side abs and pushing with your left side
abs. The right arm movement is similar to a rear delt lateral while
the left arm movement is similar to a dumbell press.
Here's the motion going to the other
side:
Remember to keep the dumbells pushed
together tightly! The opposing tension in the abs really puts a
lot of torque across the whole area. Be very sure you're not just
pushing with the bottom arm but that you're also pulling with the
top arm.
Be sure not to bounce out of the bottom,
but try to feel a stretch in the right side as you start the change
of direction. This is NOT a ballistic exercise. It should be performed
slowly and under control at all times.
If your clients have any lower back
pain issues, this exercise does put limited tension on the lower
back because of the rotation. If you do try it with them, go very
light and take it very slowly. Working the rotational muscles of
the core can actually help reduce back pain by taking up some of
the stress that is normally put on the lower back when the supporting
core muscles are weak.
These three exercises, taken together
in single workout, will hit all three major planes of movement in
the body: sagittal, frontal and transverse. You're going to get
a complete abdominal workout unlike anything you've ever experienced
before!
Perform 3 sets of each of these exercises
for sets of 6 to 10 reps, depending on the resistance being used.
This resistance is what is going to get you results...not endless
sets of high-rep crunches!
About The Author
Nick Nilsson is the Director
of Online Operations for Staley Training Systems. He has
a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been
inventing powerful new training techniques for more than
17 years.
Nick is the author of a number
of bodybuilding eBooks (listed below) all available by clicking
here and has written for a variety of publications
including Men's Fitness, Reps, Musclemag, Bodybuilding.com
and many others. He can be contacted at nick@staleytraining.com.
