Here are a few that I have done over the years...
The Six-Minute Abdominal Burn
Six minutes. Thatâ??s precisely the amount of time it takes to make a fresh pot of coffee or sit through the commercials between â??Seinfeldâ? re-runs. Six minutes out of your day. All you need is a level floor.
Start this torture session just as the end credits begin to roll. A few Sprint, Bell Atlantic, and Burger King commercials later, Jerry should be starting in with the monologue that kicks off the ensuing episode. And by then, your midsection should be burning like charcoal.
Contrary to what many believe, abdominal workouts do not need to be done in the gym. Your abs donâ??t need to be tormented through the hi-tech apparatuses or by the squeaky cable machines. In fact, the best abdominal workouts you can possibly get are right in your own home.
However, the key to making your self-crafted ab workout turn your jelly belly into a blazing six-pack is the big â??Vâ??. Variation. Blending a number of different motions and exercises with all sorts of variations in motion, speed, and resistance can shock your midsection into the washboard of your desire.
First, wear light clothing that will make you more agile, allowing your movements to be steady and flowing. Plop down on the floor and take a deep breath. Prepare yourself mentally. This ab workout will consist of one long, continuous set with no breaks in between various movements. Maintaining constant strain on your abs is the key here.
Start with basic crunches. You can either place your hands behind your head or leave them by your sides. However, do not pull your head up with your hands. Bend your knees so that your feet remain flat on the floor. Slowly allow your shoulders to raise off the floor without using your back whatsoever. Begin with 50 slow, strict repetitions before adding in a twist.
A Russian twist, that is. Raising your shoulders off the ground, slowly twist your torso from side to side. You want your right elbow turning toward your left knee and your left elbow twisting toward your right knee. These will seriously burn so try 20 of these with a strict form.
Jump right into leg raises. Extend your legs in front of you, making sure that your feet do not touch the floor. You want to start with them together, about six inches off the floor, before raising them so that your legs form a 45-degree angle. Feel your rectus abdominis tear throughout the 25 repetitions that you crank out.
Whip right back into a set of crunches. Except this time, try them with your legs straight, extended flat out across the floor. While youâ??re doing these crunches, pretend that an imaginary string is pulling your upper torso off the floor. Make the 50 repetitions flow while the abs grind.
Without hesitation, fling your legs into the air and take on a set of pikes. Your arms are out straight, pointing toward the floor, as you raise your shoulders in an attempt to touch your toes. All the while, your buttocks are lifting slightly off the floor. As you lower your shoulders to the floor, your legs come down again, into a bend position on the floor. No sooner do they touch that youâ??re beginning the next repetition and the motion flows through 25 agonizing reps.
On the last rep, leave your legs straight up in the air so your toes are pointing toward the ceiling. Crank out 30 crunches to intensify the burn. If you face difficulty in maintaining that 90-degree angle at your hips, slightly lower your legs to the floor.
Then, cut through those abs with some scissors. Lower your legs so that theyâ??re 12 inches off the floor and lock your arms behind your head. Lifting your right shoulder off the floor, twist your torso just as your opposite leg â??? or left knee â??? bend into your right elbow. Immediately lower your knee and shoulder and then twist your left elbow toward your right knee. Try doing 25 of these before lowering your shoulders to the mat for the final exercise of the workout.
This will be another set of 50 basic crunches, just like the set that you began the workout with. Exercise slow, strict reps as the burn spreads like wild fire.
The final rep will leave you feeling like you narrowly escape a blazing building in once piece. But hereâ??s a warning: for the next half-hour, you may be doubled over, holding onto your tummy, putting out the flames. And for once, Jerry Seinfeldâ??s hilarious one-liners will have nothing to do with it.
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Deep fried Abdominals
Burn, baby, burn.
The inferno youâ??re about to set blazing through your midsection will be the result of a smoldering abdominal workout, one thatâ??s designed to carve up that stingy midsection.
While many bodybuilders crave the â??burnâ? that you get from tearing up a muscle group, nothing compares to the sensation you get from a fiery abdominal workout.
Unlike other muscle groups, ab workouts usually consist of a long, continual sets with no rest periods, maintaining constant strain and tear on your six-pack.
Hopefully, your abs will be so blazing hot from this workout that you could fry eggs on your tummy.
DECLINE SITUPS: Lock yourself into the decline bench. With your ankles lodged underneath the pads, slowly lift your upper torso off the bench. Make sure that your upper torso â??? everything above the waist â??? is perfectly straight. Lift only a few inches off the bench, or so that your torso forms a 45 degree angle with the floor. Make sure you are concentrating on the abdomen, squeezing the ab muscles at the contraction. Slowly lower your torso to the bench, trying to merely touch the bench with your back, not resting any of your body weight on it. Try doing 3 sets of 40-50 reps.
ROPE CRUNCHES: Connect the rope attachment to the upper hookup of the cable machine. Grab one side of the rope in each hand and turn away from the weight as you drop to your knees. Make sure that the weight is not set too high and that you are grabbing the rope on its ends. Hold the rope to the sides of your head and slowly lower your torso toward the floor. You should squeeze your abs during the exercise, stopping your elbows about six inches from the floor. Slowly bring your head back up to the starting position and repeat the motion. Try doing 3 sets of 30-40.
PIKES: Lie flat on your back on either a mat or the floor. Have your arms outstretched with your fingertips pointing to the ceiling. Bend your knees slightly. Slowly raise your shoulders and your legs off the floor simultaneously. Try to touch your toes with your hands while you squeeze your abdomen. Slowly bring your shoulders back to the mat and your feet back to the floor. Repeat the movement for 3 sets of 20 repetitions.
Of course, variations to these exercises will work different parts of your midsection. To fry those obliques, try twisting your shoulders into the movements. For instance, with decline sit ups, bend your torso to one side during the exercise and on the next rep, try hitting the other side. This twisting motion will brush through your abdomen like a raging forest fire.
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HIGH-INTENSITY AB BUSTERS
By Bob Myhal
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SUPER CRUNCH
To add some intensity to your regular crunches and really blast your abs, try this advanced ab exercise. Lie on the floor in your regular Crunch position, knees bent, hands over ears (not locked behind head) or in tight to chest.
Now, crunch up approximately 10 inches, holding the peak contraction for a count of 4. In this fully contracted position, the key is to really squeeze your abs together hard. Imagine pushing your upper abs into your lower abs and vice-versa (like an accordion coming together).
From this point, you want to return to the floor very slowly. The trick here is to try to keep your abs tenseand contracted during the eccentric or negative phase of the movement. And you want to return slowly; it should take a count of 3-4.
Repeat the motion trying to maintain as much continuous tension on the abs as possible. This movement is not about "how many" reps you can do . . . itâ??s all about how hard you can squeeze your abs and maintain tension.
I like to shoot for a grueling set of 12-20 reps and then finish off by immediately going into a set of 8-10 regular paced Crunches.
HANGING LEG RAISES
Hanging Leg Raises are becoming one of the most popular abdominal exercises, and with good reason. This intense movement is a great way to target the entire abdominal region including the difficult to hit lower abs.
If youâ??re not already incorporating Hanging Leg Raises into your ab routine on a regular basis, you should give them a go. Hereâ??s the basic technique.You begin the movement hanging from a Lat Pull-up bar. Your grip should be about shoulder width apart, and your arms should remain fully extended throughout the movement.
You want to bend your knees slightly and keep them bent throughout.Now, using your ab muscles only, raise your legs up to a point where your feet are about level with your belly button (note: you do not want to swing your legs up with your hipsâ??focus on your abs).
As typical with abs, hold the peak contraction for a count of one or two and squeeze hard. Perform the negative portion of the movement slowly by lowering your legs resisting somewhat on the way down. Repeat for a tight set of 12-20 reps.
ISOLATED PULLEY CRUNCH
Hereâ??s a bit of a tricky one-arm variation on the basic Pulley Rope Crunch thatâ??s a great way to finish off your ab work every now and then and keep things fresh.You do the exercise pretty much the same way as basic Pulley Rope Crunches but here, of course, you use just one arm at a time.
With the rope attached to the high pulley on the cable machine, grab one end of it with one hand. From here, you want to kneel down on a pad leaving enough room in front of you to perform your Crunches, about two feet or so.Now keep your arm and hand locked in position a few inches above and to the side of your head. Pull down, bending forward at the waist. You want to pull all the way down to the floor.
Concentrate on only pulling down and forward with your abs. Donâ??t swing, and try to keep the movement fluid rather than jerky. Hold the peak contraction for a second or two and return to the starting position slowly.Perform 12-16 reps, take a brief rest (30 seconds), and then repeat with the alternate arm. When performed properly, youâ??ll find this variation strongly stresses the intercostals and the serratus.
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Quick Tip for Amazing Abs
Bob Myhal
Here's an ab technique that's been around for years, but you may not have heard about. When doing your ab exercises, make a conscious effort to keep your tongue firmly on the roof of your mouth. That's right-your tongue on the roof of your mouth!
Not only does this place the muscles in your neck in a biomechanically stronger and therefore less vulnerable position, but also there's some good magnetic imaging evidence which suggest that this simple technique may enable your body to recruit more muscle fibers in the abdominal region. And utilizing more muscle fibers translates into greater development and definition. I know it sounds odd, but it works and that my friends is what counts.
2002 F150 SuperCrew
