I think it was best stated by two of the world's most well known strength coaches, Hans and Franz, "don't undo your belt, you might cause a flab-a-lanche". Whether you're an athlete, a bodybuilder, or Joe Weekend Warrior, nobody wants to cause a flab-a-lanche when summertime is just around the corner. It's really rather embarrassing. So unless you're training for your next Sumo competition or planning an excavation in the snowy trenches of Antarctica, I'd say you don't have much time to waste my friend. On that note, let's get down to business.

The abdominals and their peripheral muscles are some of the easiest muscles to develop when trained properly, properly being the operative word there. They don't require hours of tedious work, or hundreds of reps on the Ab Roller, as the exercise evangelists on the info-mercials would have you believe. In fact, training abs really shouldn't be very time consuming at all. So if these muscles are so easy to develop, then why is an impressive set of abs so few and far between? In short, bad planning. Diet is obviously a huge variable in creating the desired hormonal environment for fat loss to occur, but that is beyond the scope of this article. What we will focus on, however, is designing a training protocol that really works for getting a granite midsection in a hurry.

Abs, not unlike other muscles, require different training strategies to achieve different desired effects. High reps may not be all bad if you're an athlete who is after increased function and core stability, but for most people trying to develop these muscles for aesthetic purposes, high reps will usually earn you little to no progress. Would you train your chest with sets of 50-100 reps if you were trying to achieve maximal size and strength? Of course not. Abs are no different. When you consider that most people have a predominantly fast twitch abdominal muscle fiber makeup, it only makes sense to train them using high intensity, lower rep brackets and heavier loads.

Based on the hundreds of clients I've worked with over the years, I've concluded that most people's ideal rep range to achieve abdominal hypertrophy (muscle growth) is somewhere between six and twelve. Please take notice that I did not say between 50 and 100. We'll leave that to the folks on the Super-duper-mega-abdominizer commercials that seem to have a monopoly on late-night television lately. Training in this range (6-12 reps) with the proper movements is about the closest thing to a surefire method I've seen for ab development. There are literally dozens of different ab movements that seem to accomplish basically the same end result to some degree. There are also ab movements that I wouldn't waste a single rep on because they are, simply put, biomechanically worthless. These seem to be the movements that many people in the gym end up focusing on anyway (go figure). On that note, here are a handful of my favorite ab movements that I guarantee, if done properly, will deliver the goods in a hurry.

Movement One- Cable Crunches

Step One Begin this movement with the knees and hips at a 90 degree angle, and the lumbar spine slightly extended (spinal extension) so the abs are in a slightly stretched position. Holding the rope (or bar if you prefer a supinated grip), place the hands directly behind the head with the elbows in close to the body. This will minimize stress on the shoulders and maximize focus on the abs.
Step Two Flexing only the abs, and keeping the hip position constant, pull the elbows directly toward the knees so that the back is arched (spinal flexion). Exhale forcefully during the downward movement.
Step Three Hold the contraction briefly and control the weight back to start position

Movement Two - Reverse Incline Crunches

Step One Begin by lying on an incline ab bench using a supinated grip (palms up) to hold the support bars behind the head and feet pointed directly upward. Incline should be adjusted to appropriate level of difficulty, i.e. the higher the incline, the harder the movement will be. Beginners may choose to start in a flat position until enough strength is developed to use proper form in the incline position.
Step Two Raise the hips approximately 4-5 inches off the bench and hold contraction briefly while exhaling. Be sure not to move the legs toward the head or their inertia to cheat through the movement.
Step Three Return to start position and repeat

Movement Three - Reverse Incline Twist Crunches

Step One This movement is nearly identical to movement two, with more emphasis placed on the obliques. Begin by lying on an incline ab bench using a supinated grip (palms up) to hold the support bars behind the head and feet pointed directly upward. Incline should be adjusted to appropriate level of difficulty, i.e. the higher the incline, the harder the movement will be. Beginners may choose to start in a flat position until enough strength is developed to use proper form in the incline position.
Step Two Raise the hips approximately 4-5 inches off the bench, then slightly rotate left knee toward the right shoulder and hold contraction briefly while exhaling.
Step Three Lower, then repeat movement to opposite side.

Movement Four- Decline Jackknife push-ups

This is a slight twist on the Jackknife push-ups popularized by "The Evil Russian", strength guru Pavel Tsatsouline. The primary differences here are simply the incline and the breathing technique. Neither method is wrong, they just serve different purposes. Pavel teaches not to exhale during the contraction because his primary focus is function and stability. This is a great technique if you plan on getting bashed in the abs with a Crowbar (many of his clientele are military and S.W.A.T. team members). For the rest of us however, I believe exhaling on the contraction minimizes intra-abdominal pressure, thereby lending itself to greater fiber recruitment, thus greater hypertrophy. On that note...

This exercise will require one of those nifty little wheels reminiscent of a Bruce Jenner training tool from the 70's Olympic Games. Don't laugh. This device from the old school is all business when used properly.

Step One Start by placing the knees together and at the low end of a declined ab board. Again, the steeper the decline, the harder this movement will be. Beginners may choose to start by placing the knees at the edge of a flat exercise mat.
Step Two With the wheel at the base of the ab board and the elbows slightly bent roll slowly outward away from the knees until a slight stretch is felt through the abs and serratus (the cool little ladder-like muscles on buff dudes).
Step Three Begin drawing the wheel back toward the knees slowly while driving downward pressure on the handles at the same time. The harder you drive downward as you pull back, the harder the exercise will be. You can make this movement incredibly easy or incredibly difficult based on this simple variable.
Step Four As the wheel becomes closer to the knees, gradually flex the abs (while still driving downward) which will require arching the back, and hold the contraction briefly while exhaling. Repeat movement.
Step Four As the wheel becomes closer to the knees, gradually flex the abs (while still driving downward) which will require arching the back, and hold the contraction briefly while exhaling. Repeat movement.

Movement Five- Weighted Swiss Ball Crunches

This can be one of the best or worst abdominal movements you will ever do. Make no mistake. There are certain intricacies in this movement that really do make all the difference.

Step One Start by sitting upright on the Swiss ball holding the dumbbell on its ends at chest level. Beginners will probably want to forego using the weight initially, as the balance factor can be difficult enough.
Step Two Slowly walk the feet forward allowing the ball to roll beneath you until it is directly placed in the low back. Be sure to start in a fully stretched position, while holding the dumbbell on the mid-to-low chest. Placing a heavy weight too high on the chest will likely cause you to do a back flip that will surely impress your gymnast friends, but probably not the cutie checking you out from the Stairmaster.
Step Three Flex the abs smoothly, but forcefully, allowing the center of the ball to naturally roll from the top of the lower back to the bottom. Stop at the hardest point of the movement, which will be about halfway up, and hold contraction briefly while exhaling.

TIP

Beginners may choose to keep a wider base between the feet to help stability while getting used to this movement.

Intermediate and advanced trainees will want to keep the most narrow base possible, as the increased instability will likely generate greater muscle fiber recruitment.

Putting it All Together

So what do I recommend for an actual workout? Most people are shocked at how little time I actually have my clients spending on their abs in the gym. The abs are definitely a clear case for quality over quantity. This especially applies to beginners. Some more advanced trainees may require a slightly higher volume, but still not nearly as many sets as some people might have you believe. I hate to make blanket statements and/or generic recommendations, as there are occasional exceptions to nearly every rule, but generally my volume/frequency recommendation would be as follows:

Beginners 2-3 sets, twice a week Intermediate 3-4 sets, three times a week Advanced 5-6 sets, three to four times a week.

As most other body parts, if your abs are lagging or simply a priority for whatever reason (like your friends keep trying to push you back in the water, and screaming something about an endangered species list every time you lay out at the beach), do not hesitate to train them first in your workout, when your neuromuscular efficacy is at its peak. Your ab workout will not likely impact your bench work negatively, but a hard chest day may very well diminish your potential resources for hitting abs at 100%. Follow these simple guidelines combined with a good fat-loss diet and you will be washing laundry on your midsection in no time!

MARCIN ANTOSZ

Arik Orosz is the owner of Shapeshifter, an athletic training facility located in Minneapolis Minnesota. To schedule a private consultation, call 612-328-5712 or send your e-mail to arik@shapeshiftermagazine.com