Training guide
Add This Two Minute Abs Workout To Your Routine For Glowing Results
Scientifically proven effective
Nowadays, the 6-pack is something more and more people want. I think it starts very early in our life when, as a kid, we see all the superhero being all muscly with abs visible through the clothes. It continues later with some the celebrities in your favourite movies seen at the beach being close to a perfect body, and often abs on the show.
Some people have the 6-packs visible without a lot of effort thanks to a genetic resulting in a body fat less concentrated in the belly area.
It is essential to have a healthy diet, to lower the fat aliments consumption. In addition to that, exercising will help you get results much faster; it will help you burn more calories and be fit. Training your abs won’t take you a lot of energy. However, it will help you build more powerful and prominent muscles, making it easier to be visible.
I have summarized many scientific papers on abs training and best exercises for the most abs activation in my previous article. I highly recommend having a look at it to understand how abs work.
Many exercises were shown to be optimal for abs activation in my previous study. Let’s see now, my selection based on my own experience, and preferences. Again, I would like to encourage you to make your own opinion and selection. You can find the best set of exercises that will work on YOU.
Exercise 1: Hanging Leg Raises
This is my absolute top 1 favourite exercise. I enjoy doing it; I can feel my abs engaged during the whole movement. Also, many variants can be done to adjust the difficulty, making it very easy to add to a beginner and advanced level routine. If it is difficult, you can start with knee raises instead, that is a good alternative and will train you to get the full leg raises. In case that is too easy, you can add to your ankles, and I promise you will feel your abs burning!
As the next video explains well, you need to avoid swinging and control the whole movement performing this exercise. Try to keep you back straight while elevating your legs, don’t lean backwards. If it is too hard at the beginning, you can push your back against support to stabilize. If you are training with a friend or couple partner, you can hold his/her back while he is doing the exercise.
Not everyone has a bar in their house, but no worries you don’t need one! You only need two towels/bedsheet, tie a basic nod at the end of each of them, throw it over your door and close it. Make sure it will support your whole weight, and if it does, you can now hang and do your leg raises with the back supported on the door. I am 177lbs and never had problems, try to use resistant enough towels/bedsheet.
If you are still afraid of doing this, you can perform leg raises lying on the floor; it remains a good exercise for the abs’ lower region.
Exercise 2: Side Bend/Dynamic Side Plank
This exercise has been proved very efficient for the obliques. You can perform it with weight for better training. If you don’t have a dumbbell, you can always do it with a bottle pack or a bag with bottles in it. Stay focus on the movement and try to keep a spine aligned with the legs. Don’t lean nor backwards nor forwards.
The other alternative would be the dynamic side plank. You only need to go into a side plank position, with your elbow directly underneath your shoulder. Go slowly touching the ground with your hips and go back up in a dynamic way; you can add some tempo to it, 3 seconds lowering the hip 1 second going back up.
Exercise 3: Chest pass medicine ball/long arm crunch
The chest pass med ball is the most entertaining exercise if you have someone to train with and of course, a medicine ball. Both need to hold the position, lift your feet and back off the ground. Then, send the med ball to your partner; he needs to tense the core to hold the position without swinging backwards. It is critical to keep your knees together, don’t open your legs to stabilize, use only the abs.
You can also do this exercise against the wall if you don’t like your neighbours.
If you don’t have a med ball, you can do a long arm crunch as shown in the video below. Add some weight with dumbbells or bottles to work harder and get bigger abs.
Exercise 4: plank 2.0
A modified plank was proven twice more effective than the classic plank for the upper, lower abs and the obliques. The author called it “a long leaver posterior pelvic tilt plank”.
As a word of caution, this exercise is challenging so if you’re new to planks, I suggest starting with a regular plank first.
To make this plank 2.0, you need to move your elbows forward so that they’re more under the eyes. That’s the long lever part. Also, squeeze your glutes as hard as you can. That’s the posterior pelvic tilt part.
Exercise 5: Superman’s extensions
It is essential to train the antagonist muscles, the lower back’s spinal erectors. This next exercise is perfect for that muscle and doesn’t require a lot of material.
A quick recap of the circuit with reps:
Perform each exercise for 30 seconds and go to the next one without rest. For the oblique’s movement, 30sec each side.
Exercise 1: Hanging Leg Raises
Exercise 2: Side Bend/Dynamic Side Plank
Exercise 3: Chest Pass Med ball/Long Arm Crunch
Exercise 4: Plank/ Plank 2.0
Exercise 5: Superman’s extensions
As you do this training more often you can increase the weight and go to 45sec exercise. Repeat this circuit 3–4 times; you can take 1–2 min between each round. I can guarantee you; your abs will be on fire, but your lower back as well!
I wish you good luck with this circuit, try it out and let me know your thoughts. I would be happy to see the training you have chosen!
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