Guy With Abs | Abs Training

Many of us would love to have the six-pack abs. Everywhere you look there are commercials or ads promising these wonderful abs, but what really works? There are many of these ads that say taking a supplement can give you the envious abdominals and the flat stomach you’ve always wanted. Whether or not these supplement is still yet to be decided.  One thing that we do know for sure is that exercises such as crunches and sit ups  will get you the results you want.

Not all the supplements that are available to you are safe. Who knows what they are putting in these supplements that will give you these great abs. There have been reports of serious side effects resulting from taking these supplements. The good news is there is another way to get these great abs without having to take supplements and risking your health. With a little hard work, exercise and a healthy diet you can achieve great looking abs all on your own.

First thing you will need to do is get some sort of journal to keep record of your exercise and diet program. You can choose whatever kind of journal you think will work best for you. If you want to use a little notebook that you can take with you to help you stay on top of your record keeping that is just fine. If you have a personal digital assistant you can invest in a program that will help you keep your records. Whichever way you decide will work better for you is what you need to do.

The purpose of the journal is to keep track of your progress, and help find any areas that may need more attention. Information you will need to put in your journal will be what day it is, your weight, what exercise you are doing or did on that day, and your food intake. You will also want to make sure you record the time of each of these events to make tracking progress easier.

You will also want to take your measurements weekly or biweekly depending on how dramatic of results you like to see and record these also. How often you weigh yourself is up to you as an individual, it all depends once again on how dramatic you want the results to be. Just remember that if you do it every day it may make you more aware of your goals and make you try harder to reach them. Whichever way you decide to go, just make sure you are weighing yourself at the same time of day each time.

When you track this information it will make you more aware of what you need to work harder on the next day or week. If you have a record of what you did you can look and see if maybe you skipped a day of exercise, or didn’t eat very healthy. You want to make sure you are burning more calories than you are taking in. If you keep track of your how much food you ate and when you ate it, it will be easier to see when you need to watch more carefully. Maybe you are overeating everyday at the same time of day, if so your journal will help you see this so you can fix it.

When keeping track of your exercise you will want to write down what type of exercise you did, when you did it, and how long you did it. Keep in mind that just doing sit-ups will not guarantee that six-pack you dream of. You need to make sure you get rid of the fat so that you can see the great abs you are looking for.

To maximize your results you will probably want to do aerobic exercise or cardiovascular exercise to burn fat and calories, strength training to create more muscle, and abdominal exercises. Strength training is important because muscle burns more calories than fat, and will help power your aerobic exercises. Walking, swimming or training along with an aerobic exercise tape are all great ways to get you aerobic workout in. For abdominal work you can do regular sit-ups, or try something like Pilates. Pilates incorporates strength training for your abs and uses twisting movements to get better results.

Just remember that you should exercise four to five times a week, and keep an honest an accurate journal to maximize your results. You also need to realize that you will not get your dream abs overnight; it takes hard work and time.

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Using resistance bands can be an effective component of any workout routine, and abdominal exercises are no exception. There are a number of exercises targeting the midsection that incorporate resistance bands. Resistance bands come in a variety of difficulties, usually indicated by the color of the band itself (e.g., green can be little resistance, yellow may be medium, red for difficult, etc.). Choose a resistance level that is appropriate for you, then move up as necessary. Do not overdo it by immediately grabbing the most advanced band you can find, as this can lead to injury. As with any workout routine, be sure to consult a professional before beginning and always warm up properly to avoid injury.

Seated Crunch

This exercise provides the same benefits as the basic abdominal crunch, but with less neck strain and without the possible discomfort that comes with lying on the floor, since it uses a band rather than gravity to provide resistance. For this abdominal exercise, you will need to be sitting in a straight back chair which you can somehow loop your band through. Sit up straight with your feet flat on the floor and about as wide apart as your hips. Contract your abdominal muscles, and slowly bend forward to about a forty-five degree angle. Repeat for an entire set. Be sure to keep your feet on the floor and your back as straight as possible.

One-Arm Band Pull

Put the chair away and stand up, again with feet hip width apart. Put your hands above your head, holding the band about eighteen inches apart. Keeping your left hand overhead, bring your right hand out to the side, elbow bent at about a ninety degree angle. Hold your left arm still as you contract your abdominals and lower your right arm until your hand is in line with your chest. Hold this position, then slowly return. Repeat for an entire set, then switch hands. Keep your back straight and avoid bending or leaning at the waist. For an additional challenge, do this exercise standing on one foot. Perform the exercise with both hands while standing on your left foot, then do it all again on your right foot.

Twisting Roll-Back

For this abdominal exercise, you will need to sit on a flat surface, preferably the floor. Use a mat or towel for cushioning to ease possible strain on your tail bone. Sit down with your legs bent and heels on the floor. Your toes should be pointing up– do not put your feet flat on the floor. Loop the band around your feet, put one end in each hand and put your hands together. In a rolling motion, lower your torso toward the floor about forty-five degrees. As you do this, twist to the right and spread your hands to the sides. Hold for a second, then rotate back to the middle and raise your torso back to start. Your heels should remain on the floor throughout the exercise. Do a full set, then switch to the left side.

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ADSENSE CODE #3

If you want to work your abdominal muscles but hate crunches on the floor, you’re in luck because there are so many alternatives to traditional crunches on the floor.  This article outlines 5 of my favorite alternatives to crunches.

When my clients master crunches on the floor, one of the first exercises I teach them from there are crunches on the ball.  So many people actually feel less back strain and neck strain when they use a stability ball for crunches.  One reason for decreased neck strain is that the angle of your body changes when you get off the floor and onto the ball.  If neck discomfort is one reason you hate crunches on the floor try them on the ball and you will notice a significant difference.

Another reason crunches on the ball are a great alternative to crunches on the floor is an increased range of motion through the spine.  When you move through a greater range of motion, you will get increased muscle work in your abdominals.

The second alternative to crunches on the floor is the plank exercise.  The plank exercise is a popular yoga move that has crossed over into fitness.  The plank is an isometric exercise balancing on your elbows and toes.  Isometric simply means that you hold one position for 10-60 seconds.  The plank is great for developing core stability, and it will strengthen your abdominals, shoulder girdle, and hip girdle.

The third alternative to crunches on the floor is seated medicine ball Russian twists.  In the seated twists, your knees are bent and your body is slightly reclined.  By reclining, you engage your abs.  Another benefit of the seated position is that there is very little stress on your neck.  If you are a beginner, it is okay to perform seated twists with no added resistance, or if you’d like a challenge use a medicine ball or weight to this exercise.

The fourth alternative to crunches on the floor is side bends on a 45 degree hyper extension board.  Most gyms have a slanted board that can be used for both back extensions and side bends.  Side bends help to strengthen the obliques and can really challenge your oblique muscles through a large range of motion.  I’d recommend side bends over side crunches on the floor because of the increased range of motion and intensity.

The fifth alternative to crunches is hanging knee raises on a Captain’s Chair.  Again, when you get off the floor you’ll have almost no pressure on the neck.  In order to perform knee raises on the Captain’s Chair you need to have some upper body strength to support yourself, but if you have decent upper body strength you can really focus on your abdominals during this movement.

There are literally thousands of ways to strengthen your abdominals, so if you hate crunches you can still get a great ab workout using the above alternative.  Strong abdominals are so important so don’t let hating crunches stop you from strengthening your core.

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Most bodybuilders have fairly well developed upper abs. A few sets of crunches, a few times per week, and the upper four abs (of the entire 8-pack) begin to emerge. Some bodybuilders don’t even have to do that much. Relatively low body fat levels, coupled with some stimulation from cardio and other compound lifts cause those lucky folks to possess those visible upper abs year-round.

The lower abs, however, receive far less spillover stimulation from other exercise. Additionally, in most people, the body tends to store a fair deal of fat in the lower stomach area. For this reason, both cardio and specialized lower-abdominal training are required. Here are a few popular lower abdominal exercises.

Leg raises on bench

These are a very common way to train the lower abs. Lying on a bench, put your feet together with legs extended, and raise your legs until your body is in an “L” shape. Repeat. Tossing them in at the end of any bench exercise, sprinkled throughout your routine, is an effective way to thoroughly stimulate them in a minimum amount of time.

Hanging leg raises

Find a high chin bar in your gym. Grab hold of it with both arms. Your body will be hanging. Keeping your hips stable and upper body stationary, tuck the feet together and move the body into an “L” shape. This exercise is the same as leg raises on a bench, only from a new angle! Be prepared for a great deal of soreness from this movement

Dip machine leg raises

Find a roman chair or chest dip station, and perform leg raises in thie station. These will be similar to hanging leg raises. However, since the brunt of your bodyweight will be placed on the arms (and not the back while hanging), you should be able to complete more reps to properly stimulate the area.

Cardiovascular exercise is often a requirement for the lower abdominal definition to become visible. Many times, a bodybuilder will develop an exquisite set of abdominals, and never be aware of it. Sitting at 15 to 20% body fat, or holding a great deal of water due to high sugar or sodium intake, the well-developed abdominal muscles will exist under a quarter inch of bloat. If you train your abs – especially the lower abs – regularly, yet see no defined muscles; have your body fat checked. You may discover you have a nice set of abs, once you are able to remove the superfluous layers of fat and water currently obscuring them.

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ADSENSE CODE #5

Ab workouts have become one of the most popular forms of exercise in recent times. For most people looking to get into shape, having a well defined and visible six pack is the ultimate goal from all the dieting and exercise. Not only does working out your abs help you to look sexy, but there are other numerous health benefits from having a strong core including improved performance in sports and for improvement of several chiropractic problems.
The most popular and basic way to exercise your abs are by doing “crunches”. There are also many different ways to perform a crunch and we will look into how to do several of these below.
1. Basic Crunch
I’m sure most of you have tried this one before, it involves laying on your back with your knees slightly bent with your feet on the floor, and with your hands either on your chest or placed behind your head, you slowly lift your upper body by contracting your abdominal muscles. There is no need to fully raise yourself as you will no longer be using your ab muscles but three quarters of upright position is good.
This is the perfect exercise to begin strengthening your ab muscles before moving on to more difficult and strenuous variations of the standard crunch. As the abdominal muscles are some of the quickest to recover, you may if you like, perform ab workouts daily.
You also need to remember to do them slowly, and make sure your ab muscles are doing all of the work, if you go too fast you will end up using your momentum to lift you rather than your abs.
2. Oblique Crunch
If you really want the visible results of an ab workout you should try oblique crunches. Your obliques are also known as your “love handles” and are found on the sides of your body from your waist down to your hips. This type of crunch also works your upper abs and will give you the quickest visual results.
To perform an oblique crunch, you get into the same position as a standard crunch but instead of raising your upper body straight up, you twist your torso to the left or right (remember to alternate to workout both sides of your body) to work out those other muscles. While doing oblique crunches, try to focus on your oblique muscles by contracting them as hard as you can as you lift yourself off the floor.

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