By Emmet Rushe: How do I get a six pack?
This is probably one of the most asked questions in any gym. Everyone has their own ideal waistline and they will always aspire to try and get that ‘look’, especially when summer is around the corner.
Most men want the six pack abs and most women would love to have a long, lean and tight tummy.
Walk into any gym or health club at any time of the day and you will likely find a number of people laying on their backs with their legs in the air (take your mind out of the gutter) crunching away for all they are worth in the hope of reducing their waist line or getting a set of chiselled abs.
There is a lot of misinformation when it comes to abdominal training. Turn on any TV and flick through some of the shopping channels and you will be met with a variety of gadgets and gizmos, all of them with models with unbelievable bodies, “Ab-swinging”, “Ab-crunching”, “4 minute-Abing” and even “ab rolling”. Go online and you will be met with the over enthusiastic ‘Mike Chang,’ the only millionaire on You Tube who cannot afford a shirt.
All of these products promise that you will get the results that you are after, but all of them will fail to deliver.
Why then are they so hard to attain? What is it that holds us back from getting to where we want to be?
Here are a few tips on the best ways to train your Abs.
Use compound Exercises. Large exercises like squats, deadlifts and overhead pressing are probably the best exercises that you can do for your Abs. Every inch of your core will fully engage during these exercises and you are also working your full body at the same time.
Only doing sit ups : People like sit ups because whenever they do a lot of them, their abdominal muscle will burn and this means that it is working…..right? Not quite, Our abdominal muscles are made to do an array of movements; we can flex, bend, twist and turn and they support us through core stability.
Our abdominal training should reflect this. Planks, side planks, reverse crunches, hanging leg raises, rollouts, pikes, pallof presses, cable crunches, X body mountain climbers, cable chops, hyper-extensions etc, etc, etc. These are only a few choice exercises that you can do to hit your core from different angles and help train it properly.
Thinking you can out train your diet. It doesn’t matter how many sit ups you do. It doesn’t matter how much cardio you do. Your dietary and weekend habits will dictate whether you can see your abdominal muscles or not. Some people have good genetics and can see visible abs with a slightly high body fat, but most people have to be in a lower range before all their hard work will finally reveal itself.
Training your abdominal muscles every day. Your abs are a muscle like any other muscle. You wouldn’t train your legs every day and your abdominal muscles are no different. One or two exercises for 2-3 sets at the end of your session are sufficient. Do these 2-3 days per week and you are set. Remember to try and include different exercises throughout the week.
This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to abdominal training, but these tips should set you on course for the summer.
#TrainSmart
If you have any question on this article or for getting a tailored program based on your starting point, please contact me through the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rushe-Personal-Training-and-Performance/120518884715118
* Emmet is the owner and operator of Rushe Personal Training and Performance
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