What is the typical abdominal workout today? To find out just walk into any gym or fitness center and observe how the average guy/girl work their abs. What do you see?
100 reps of crunches?
or
100 reps or situps?
or 50 reps of leg raises?
photo credit: CDN2Buck
Routines of a hundred and one rep situps and half-assed crunches on a bosu ball with the neck bobbing nervously through endless repetition are all too common nowadays. That is simply not the best and proper way to get the most out of your abdominal training. Doing a set or two of 50 rep situps is better than nothing but you ultimately want to maximize your training to acheive the best results possible.
You should aim to train your abdominals in different dimensions and a variety of positions to acquire a strong core. A strong midsection requires you to train the different types of strength qualities: general maximal strength, explosive strength, static strength, and strength endurance.
A high rep set of crunches only targets the strength endurance quality and neglects the other pertinent strength qualities. Incorporating exercises and movements that brings out all strength qualities gives one a total package of a strong core foundation for sports, injury prevention, cosmetic looks, and overall healthy living.
Variety must also be utilized to prevent stagnation and boredom. Boredom is often common when training abs since most of us just “wing it” by going through the motions. Bringing out the variety through an interesting selection of exercises will make your training more productive in the long term. Doing fun movements is exactly what we will do!
First let’s go through a brief and very basic rundown of the abdominal structure. The “8 pack” visible to those with sub 6% bodyfat percentage is called the rectus abdominis. It runs from the diaphragmatic arch down into the pelvis region. It’s primary function is trunk flexion.
Along side the rectus abdominis are the internal and external obliques. They’re responsible for flexion-rotation of the trunk. When you twist your body left and right your obliques are being put to work. Finally the transverse abdominis is the deepest layer of the abdominals. It runs from front to back around the ribs to the pelvis like a belt around the torso. It’s primary function is in respiration and the internal stabilization of organs.
Now let’s get on to how we will structure the workouts with a wide variety of intense exercises to work those abs. As stated we’re going to be working in multiple dimensions and planes of motion with high and low repetition sets to target and train all strength qualities.
But first follow these general rules to when devising a new abdominal routine:
-Do not limit yourself to exercising while lying down. Situps are just one of many different ab exercises that you can use. Work lying down, sitting, and standing up.
-Use high and low repetition sets to target different strength qualities. On more absolute strength-oriented and weighted exercises use low repetition sets. On more endurance-oriented exercises use higher repetition sets.
-Use static/isometric exercises
-Allow adequate time for recovery. It may be counterproductive to train your abs every day.
Let’s take a look at our some sample routines here,
Routine 1
A1- ab wheel rollout from knee 3 sets of 5
A2- dumbbell side bend 3 sets of 5
A3- situps or crunches 3 sets of 25
A4- dorsal raises/superman 3 sets of 25
As you can see from this first routine you start out targeting absolute strength with heavy exercises like the ab wheel rollout and dumbbell side bend for low repetitions. Both movements work the rectus abdominis and obliques. You move onto higher repetition, endurance movements with full situps or crunches and dorsal raises/superman for the lower back. This routine provides a well-balanced workout targeting all areas of the core.
Routine 2
A1- weighted crunches 3 sets of 8
A2- dumbbell side bend 3 sets of 5
A3- high rep chinnies
A4- plank hold for time
Routine 2 starts with heavy strength exercises as well with weighted crunches and dumbbell side bends. You may perform the high rep chinnies in several ways: pick a high number, let’s say 100 and break them down into sets of 25 or perform all 100 for time, record the time and try to beat the time record on your next workout, use the density method where set a time and proceed to perform as many repetitions as possible in that time frame. The plank hold is also done for time and is a static movement. Try to beat the time record on the next workout.
Routine 3
A1- flag 3 sets of 6
A2- V-ups 3 sets of 12
A3- plank hold for time
A4- high rep situps/crunches
Routine 3 goes by the same model as both routines above.
As you see, you can incorporate a lot variety into your ab workouts. Make them dynamic, fun, and challenging. Do ab exercises that you've never done before. Get out of your comfort zone. Don't just stick to situps and crunches. Work with weighted and non-weighted/body weight movements using a variety of rep ranges.
Do high reps. Low reps. Maybe even some extended sets like rest pause and drop sets once you've built up the work capacity. Try a high frequency approach. Do different exercises. More advanced exercises. Your options are limitless if you get creative. Most importantly, your abs will respond to a variety of stimulus and exercises so make to take advantage of all options in training.
Train Hard. Train Safely. Train Smart.
If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to leave a comment below or email me at ZQH245@gmail.com or ZQH250@gmail.com
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