Super effective abdominal exercises. Partial torso raises with raised arms

Currently, there are a huge number of workouts focused on training the abs. abdominals. This article will tell you everything you need to know about building a beautiful, sculpted body.

You can be strong... you can be big... but all the really tough guys have incredibly awesome abs. If you want to get abs like Arnold Schwarzenegger, that's great.

If creating a sculpted figure is so easy, why doesn’t everyone have a toned and sculpted stomach? This means there is some kind of problem.

You know what happens when millions of people want something so badly that it forces them to scan Google for what they want late into the night, with their wallets at the ready.

Of course... it's a siren call for the savvy marketers hiding in the shadows. Perhaps it is better to call them eagles soaring overhead, searching for weakened prey.

Okay, okay, this is going to sound a little dramatic, but my point is this:

• Some people will tell you that you only need to do a few exercises a day to get ripped abs... but that's a mistake.
• Some will say that you must do squats and deadlifts, otherwise you will not be able to form a beautiful torso... but this is a mistake.
• Someone will say that you need to eat only certain foods, and everything else is absolutely forbidden... but this is a mistake.
• Some will say that you just need to lose weight... but this is a mistake.
• And some will say that it’s all about food additives... but they are also wrong.

There are really only two things you need to do well:

How to get ripped six-pack abs in 2 easy steps

Getting six pack abs is easier said than done. Although it is quite simple if you follow certain instructions.

1. Lose weight

I think this is obvious.

The first reason why six packs are not visible is the presence of a large layer of fat covering the muscle layer.

By losing fat, you will be closer to your goal, if you are not already there. However, this leads to the next question: how to lose weight?

First, you can't get rid of belly fat directly. Losing weight in limited areas of the body is a myth.

Targeted fat loss or "limited reduction" has long been a hot button for selling fitness books, magazines, DVDs, nutritional supplements and more.

One workout is for “slimming” your thighs and the other is for “sculpting” your midsection. This food is supposed to reduce belly fat and this food can somehow make your thighs look slimmer.

I wish it were that simple.

Research showed that muscle training does lead to increased levels of blood flow and lipolysis (the breakdown of fat cells into usable energy) in the area of ​​the trained muscles, but the effect is so small as to be of no significance.

Training muscles burns calories and thus promotes muscle growth and fat burning, but does not directly reduce the amount of fat formed on those muscles.

Thus, fat loss is a process that involves the entire body.

For effective weight loss necessary maintain a calorie deficit, which causes the body to reduce the overall volume of its fat reserves. Contractions occur everywhere, however, some areas dry out faster than others.

The point is, you can work out as much as you want until your abs explode, but you will never see the result until you send body fat percentage to the required ratio.

This ratio should be: 15% or less body fat for men and 25% or less for women.

Here is a visual image that shows what abs look like with different amounts of subcutaneous fat:

As you can see, the abdominal muscles become visible at 15% and 25% in men and women respectively, and especially stand out at 10% in men and 20% in women.

It was mentioned earlier that some areas of the body lose fat faster than others.

Unfortunately, the fat layer covering the core muscles, especially its lower parts, terribly stable. And the point is not in the individual characteristics of the body, but in physiology.

There are scientific reasons why fat cells in this area of ​​the body are more difficult to burn than others. And fortunately, there are various strategies to improve this situation.

2. Develop all abdominal muscles

In other words, you need to pump all the core muscles. There is a common belief that people who do a lot of weight-bearing exercises (squats, deadlift, exercises with added weight, etc.) do not need to train the abdominal muscles.

You may not agree with this. Let's take a quick look at the muscles that make up the abdominals.

Firstly, this rectus abdominis (rectus abdominal muscle). This is the name for a group of muscles that look like six “packs”:

Then several other abdominal muscles that complete appearance torso, these include the oblique and abdominal (or transverse, as it is usually called), as well as the serratus muscles:

Don't discount the need to develop these muscles other than the "pretty" rectus muscle.

Here is an example of abs, with poorly developed lower layers of core muscles:

Yes, it doesn’t look bad, but there is no relief of the oblique abdominal muscles, the serratus muscle is underdeveloped and there is no line of the transverse muscle.

Some people have a different problem: their rectus muscle is weakly expressed or unevenly expressed, while the rest of the abdominal muscles are pumped:

If the obliques are too extended, the rectus muscle is deficient, and the transversus and serratus muscles may be absent.

Now let's take a look at what a good, proper abdominal press should look like:

Of course the model (Greg Plitt) has much better genetics than those two guys, but he's no thinner than the second guy. He just has the perfect balance of development of all the core muscles.

The goal is not just to get beautiful abs, but to have great abs.

I don't look like Plitt, but I have personal experience working on building my abdominal muscle groups. This is me a few years ago:

I was about 7% body fat and, as you can see, pretty good core muscle building. It is worth noting that I did squats, deadlifts, and some abdominal exercises, but this is not what I would like to write about in this article.

(If you're wondering why I only have four abs instead of six, it's purely genetic. Some people develop better rectus abdominis muscles than others.)

This rather dramatic improvement was the result of not only training the rectus muscles, but also other major abdominal muscles.

The Real Shortcut to Six-Pack Abs

It doesn't matter whether you are a man or a woman, a thin person must have developed muscles abdominal press.

You can lose weight with proper nutrition and diets, and for the development of the core muscles of the core, training of both isolated muscle groups and all muscles as a whole is necessary.

Use this workout and flexible diet program to lose up to 5 kg of fat and shape beautiful muscles in just 30 days... without exhausting fasting or constant training in the gym.

The best exercises to train your abdominal muscles

I've seen and talked to many people who regularly make incredible amounts of various exercises who can stand in the plank for an impressive amount of time, but all this does not lead to results - their abs remain underdeveloped.

It is necessary to leave the “comfort zone”, i.e. it is necessary to give increased load on the muscles For their growth. It is worth paying attention to this, and, in the case of weight-bearing strength training, increase the weight from time to time.

One of the biggest mistakes is not doing strength training with weights when working on your core muscles.

Before we talk about training routines, let's look at what individual exercises are.

There are an almost endless number of different abdominal exercises to choose from, and almost as many opinions as to which exercises are best. Luckily, we're only interested in a few exercises that will help build your core.

All exercises listed in this article were selected based on certain research, as well as my personal experience, which was gained while working with hundreds of people.

I also described several exercises that you can perform, but if you carefully follow the basic plan, then most likely they are not needed.

Basic exercises

Squats, deadlift, bench press, classical military press While they are not abdominal exercises in themselves, they are effective in building and strengthening your core muscles.

They are also the most important exercises for general building and strengthening of body muscles. If you don't do them and don't intend to do them, then you lose the lion's share of progress.

Twisting on the upper block

Crunches on upper block– one of my favorite exercises, which helps well in the formation of the rectus abdominis muscle.

A variant of “twisting” twists is possible, in which, in addition to the rectus muscle, huge pressure on the oblique abdominal muscles. In this case, the sequence of actions is as follows: you need to touch your left knee with your right elbow, then the usual straight twist, and the left elbow touches the right knee, back to the center and so on.

Raising the legs while resting on the elbows

This exercise is considered one of the best, which involves the rectus and oblique abdominal muscles (including their lower parts).

You can start with knee raises, but you should aim to do the exercise with your legs extended. After this load becomes small, you can add weight, for example, clamp medicine ball between the legs.

Hanging leg raises on the bar

This exercise is similar to the previous one, but requires much more effort.

Similar to the previous one, at first you can also perform it with bent knees, but strive to perform it with extended legs. Over time you can add weight.

Bike

Don't let this easy exercise fool you - it's a great addition to your workout routine. When performing a bicycle, the oblique and transverse abdominal muscles are involved.

Ab roller

I'm not a fan of various gadgets and other gizmos for training, but the ab roller is a really effective and cheap tool.

If you want to include this exercise in your regular training program, then you need to purchase a high-quality video, for example, this one:

Although you can use any :)

Weight for this exercise can be added with a weighted vest.

How to create an effective training program and pump up your abs

The rules for creating a workout focused on shaping the abs are very simple:

1. Combine weight-bearing and body-weight exercises into one workout.

Abs capable of deep, separate contractions of individual muscles require much more preparation than many might think. In this case, the approach periodic"exercise is the most effective way to achieve this goal.

2. Exercise regularly

Optimal training frequency is a subject of endless debate. However, the main rule can be identified: The smaller the muscle group, the faster it recovers.

So after general exercises exercises such as deadlifts or squats take longer to recover than isolated exercises, for example, on the biceps.

Thus, I noticed that, just like the muscles of the lower leg, the abdominal muscles can make more contractions than large groups muscles.

I noticed that 2-3 ab workouts per week, and at the same time the overall power training– “golden mean” for obtaining maximum results And preventing overtraining .

If we consider the question required quantity abdominal workouts per week, then you should leave 1 to 2 days of rest between workouts. If I plan three workouts a week, I prefer to train on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, or Tuesday and Thursday if I plan two workouts.

3. Make sure progress is not stagnant

As with any other workout, the main goal of the workout is to become stronger, with beautiful, toned muscles.

The weight used during training should gradually increase as the number of times you can do the same exercise with the weight equals the number of times you can do the same exercise without the weight.

Now that we know the “rules,” let’s take a closer look at how to plan your workouts.

The training scheme is elementary. It is necessary to do the exercises cyclically. One cycle contains 3 exercises that must be performed continuously one after another. We rest only between cycles; we do not rest between exercises within a cycle.

Abdominal training program

How to build a loop:

1. It’s worth including in the first set strength exercise, such as crunches in the upper block, lifting the legs while resting on the elbows or lifting the legs while hanging on the bar - only 10-15 repetitions.

If you cannot do the exercise at least 10 times, then you need to reduce the weight. If you do it 15 times, it’s time to add a couple of kilograms.

1. We immediately move on to one set of exercises without weight and do it as many times as possible.
2. We move on to another set of exercises without weight and do it as many times as possible.
3. Rest 2-3 minutes before a new cycle.

For example, here's one of my favorite loops:

• 1 set of crunches in the upper block, 10-12 times
• 1 set of leg raises resting on the elbows as many times as possible
• 1 bicycle set maximum number of times

Rest 2-3 minutes

I usually insert ab circuits between sets of common muscle groups to save time. For example:

• 1 set of deadlifts
• 1 cycle per press
• Rest 60-90 seconds
• 1 set of deadlifts
• 1 cycle per press
• Rest 60-90 seconds

It’s better to set yourself a goal of 3 abdominal cycles during one workout (and 2-3 workouts per week). It's actually not as easy as it seems!

Can sports nutrition supplements help you get bigger abs faster?

No natural substances can “burn fat,” no matter how complicated or pseudo-scientific the explanation may be.

Supplement companies most often talk about increasing fat oxidation levels (while maintaining muscle mass) while supporting the thyroid, inducing thermogenesis, blocking enzymes related to fat storage, inducing enzymes that cause fat loss, managing hormone and neurotransmitter levels , reducing water retention, improving nutrient absorption and more.

Okay, while these aspects do have an impact on weight loss, this type of marketing is nothing more than an attempt to blind us with terminology and scientific half-truths in hopes that we will believe it.

If you look at the science of fat loss, you'll find that the right supplements can help, but they won't compensate for poor nutrition and exercise. If you follow the advice in this article, and don't torture yourself with exhausting diets and workouts, you can reap benefits from supplements that will truly accelerate fat loss.

Let's summarize the ab training

Almost every fitness guru and workout program promises to give you a six-pack in a very short time, but few can actually deliver on this promise because the process is actually not that fast.

There is no panacea for creating a beautiful torso. If you want a lean, sexy belly, then you need to be patient, eat right and exercise. If you are willing to wait months rather than days, you will get the results you want.

Now you know everything you need to eventually get a six pack, get out of your comfort zone and get to work!

The ten-minute workout asks you to complete two rounds of ten abdominal exercises. Each exercise is allotted 20 seconds, with no rest between them. Special sound signals will make it clear that it is time to move on to a new movement.

Suitable for: the workout is quite intense, so it will be very difficult for those who crawled onto the exercise mat straight from the couch. The rest of us should try it.

Inventory: without inventory.

Various variations of twists and. As a bonus, at the end you will find two circles of gluteal bridges and raises of the opposite arms and legs in a pose on all fours - “birddog”.

2. Fat burning ab workout

The author states that the workout is fat burning. Doing it will actually require a lot of energy. Each exercise is suggested to be done for 20 seconds with a similar rest time. But forget about lying on the mat - you will be actively recovering. To relax, trainer Jordan Yo jumps and runs in place with high knees between exercises.

Suitable for: everyone.

Inventory: a bottle of water or a dumbbell.

What exercises are included in the workout: various variations of twists and planks.

3. Hell of abs workout

Trainer Brandon Carter suggests doing nine abdominal exercises. Each one takes 20 seconds. You can rest between exercises. Carter shows how to perform the movements correctly, and two assistants practice with him. One of them makes a lighter version of exercises that are suitable for beginners.

Suitable for: everyone.

Inventory: without inventory.

What exercises are included in the workout: In addition to traditional sit-ups and planks, the program also contains unusual exercises. For example, “Superman” assumes that you will lean on your feet and arms extended forward and lift your body using your abdominal muscles.

4. Dance workout for abs

Instead of crunches, 10 minutes of fiery dancing awaits you, which actively engage the core muscles. The main thing is to make sure that the abs are working in every movement.

Suitable for: for beginners and dance lovers.

Inventory: without inventory.

What exercises are included in the workout: all movements are based on abdominal contractions and are performed in vertical position. Among them - lateral crunches standing, rotating your hips and “snake” your body.

5. Abs training using the Tabata protocol

It's high intensity interval training, which allows you to get the maximum benefit out of a short time. Typically, the exercise is performed for 20 seconds, with 10 seconds allotted for rest. This workout is no exception. These are the time intervals coach Funk Roberts suggests. All exercises will take only 4 minutes.

Suitable for: everyone.

Inventory: without inventory.

What exercises are included in the workout: regular crunches, V-crunches, Russian crunches and a “bicycle” with a body lift - there are four exercises in total.

6. Workout from Pamela Reif

Pamela Reif's grueling ten-minute workout consists of twenty exercises, each performed for 30 seconds. There is no rest between them.

Suitable for: hardy.

Inventory: without inventory.

What exercises are included in the workout: variations of crunches and planks, including side planks.

7. Pilates for abs

A short core workout done slowly and thoughtfully. You will have to abandon the usual jerks that are characteristic of abdominal exercises and carefully monitor the movements.

Suitable for: lovers of leisurely time.

Inventory: without inventory.

What exercises are included in the workout: twist variations.

8. Calisthenics for the abs

Training system with own weight. Victor Sanchiz offers several exercises that will help pump up your abs without weights. All you have to do is select 4-5 movements from the list and do them 4-5 times a week.

Suitable for: trained athletes.

Inventory: horizontal bar and parallel bars.

What exercises are included in the workout:“chair” and variations of leg lifts.

Today we will look at the five best, according to many experienced athletes, abdominal exercises that you can perform to work on your abs, as an alternative to our favorite and effective crunches.

The twists themselves - great exercise with a reinforced concrete guarantee for the result. But, there is always a but. During the training process, we already load the abs while working on the back and legs. Because of this, crunches are no longer as effective. And doing crunches with a greater amplitude and more intensity is not the answer. As soon as we take it extra weight, the lower back, which has already seen a lot, immediately makes itself felt.

Our alternative is to complicate the biomechanics of exercises. Due to the complication, the press finally starts doing the work we need, so the cubes are just around the corner. You will appreciate the simplicity and safety of these exercises.

First exercise – “CLOCK”

Difficulty level 5 out of 5.

To perform this exercise we will need a pull-up bar. Using wide grips, grab the bar and hang freely on it. We take a powerful breath, straining our abs while simultaneously raising our legs up until our feet touch the bar. From the position of your legs touching the crossbar, slowly lower your legs not straight down, but to the left. Then we raise our legs again, up until our feet touch the crossbar, and lower our legs, this time, down to the left.

After performing three leg raises to the bar using the “clock” technique, we lower our legs to the floor. This condition is not necessary, it all depends on your physical form, if your form allows, you can immediately return to the bar to repeat the exercise.

Due to the fact that when performing the exercise, not only the abs are involved, but also the hamstrings, it is worth performing stretching exercises for the hamstrings twice a week.

Considering the fact that the exercise is difficult, after two weeks of training you will feel, and most importantly, see the result.

The second exercise is “CANDLE"

Difficulty level 5 out of 5.

To perform this exercise we will need a gymnastic bench. Lie down on a gymnastics bench with your hands around the edges. Raise your legs. As you inhale, move with force, without jerking, lift your legs up, lift your pelvis and lower back off the bench. The emphasis on the bench is on the shoulder blades, the neck and the back of the head remain motionless on the bench.

Due to the fact that the exercise is difficult to perform, we start with one repetition. As the muscles develop, we increase the number of repetitions to 5-7. And if you want something completely trashy, then instead of a horizontal gymnastic bench, go to an inclined one. Let on incline bench extremely difficult, but incredibly effective.

Third exercise – “DOUBLE Crunches”

Difficulty level 3 out of 5.

The purpose of this exercise is also to work the rectus abdominis muscle from top to bottom.

This exercise came to bodybuilding from martial arts. To perform the exercise we do not need any equipment at all. So, we lie down on the floor, slightly raising the back of our head. We place our hands behind our heads, straighten our legs forward and raise them above the floor by 8-10 centimeters. As you inhale, folding at the waist should occur at the same time by pulling your knees to your chest and lifting your shoulder blades up. We return to the starting position as we exhale, simultaneously lowering our shoulder blades and legs.

The trick of this exercise is that the abs are in a state of tension all the time, since the back of the head and legs do not fall to the floor. In addition, the range of movements of body parts in relation to each other adds a total effect to the output. Just don’t cut yourself any slack, don’t put your feet or the back of your head on the floor during the process, otherwise there will be no result. The number of repetitions of the double crunch exercise should be equal to the number of repetitions you would normally do in a set of regular crunches.

Fourth exercise – “KICK”

Difficulty level 4 out of 5.

The goal of this exercise is to work your lower abs and obliques.

This exercise also came to us from martial arts and has taken root well in bodybuilding. To perform the exercise we will use a punching bag. We take a boxing stance, bend our knees slightly.

If we're going to beat right foot, then we transfer the body weight to left leg, placing your right leg slightly to the side and back. We hit the bag with our right leg, namely with the instep of the foot, at waist level. Follow the technique of performing the exercise, hit with the instep of the foot, and not with the toe. In order for the blow to be strong and the movement to be fast, we make a turn on the supporting left leg, and at the same time there is a rotation in the body in the direction of the blow.

When your foot touches the bag, lean your body forward and feel the tension in your oblique abdominal muscles. Return to initial position. The next blow should be higher than the previous one.

Fifth exercise – “PELVIS RAITS ON A BALL”

Difficulty level 4 out of 5.

The purpose of this exercise is to work the rectus abdominis muscle from top to bottom.

To perform this exercise we need a gymnastic ball. With our elbows and forearms we focus on the ball, taking a horizontal body position. The legs rest with their toes on the floor, the heels need to be lifted off the floor. From this position, we fold at the waist, slowly rolling the ball towards us while simultaneously lifting the pelvis up. Without time to rest, we return to the starting position.

This abdominal exercise is not at all as easy as it might seem at first glance. So, who wants washboard abs, go ahead and get the ball, 20-25 reps. Can you?!

Work out your abs with us and your abs will burn!

Surely, you perform multi-repetition crunches 150 times, but this is of no use to you. But don’t worry, specialists from the fitness industry do not sit idle and come up with a large number of exercises every day. Some of them are useless and do not even affect your abdominal muscles, but some are quite worthy and may be present in training process for most athletes. We will tell you about several such exercises in this article. We'll give you four amazing exercises that will rip your abs to shreds.

Lateral crunches on a fitball

For the first exercise you will need a fitness ball. There is nothing to replace it with, so if you don’t have one, we recommend purchasing one without fail. So, put your feet on the ball, rest your hands on the floor (A) - this is your starting position. Now pull your legs towards you through your right side, while your legs should move along the ball (B). We return to the starting position and repeat the same in the other direction.

Perform 3 sets of 8 reps on each side. In this exercise, the most important thing is technique, learn to perform it slowly, try to feel how your oblique abdominal muscles are involved in the work. Another important note, you should not bend in the lumbar region; throughout the entire exercise, pull your pelvis up.

Tilt back

If the last exercise didn't throw you off the path to... relief press, then let's move on to the next one. You will need a medicine ball - this is a special ball that weighs several kilograms. If you don't have a ball, take a regular dumbbell and start the exercise. Kneel down, hold the ball (dumbbell) in your hands (A), tense your abs and slowly lean back (B) as far as you can. Then return to the starting position (A).


Perform 3 sets of 20 inclines each. And don’t overdo it, don’t bend too low, so as not to harm your spine. Also make sure that your abs are tense at all times.

Leg and arm raises

My favorite exercise I hope you will like it too. Lie on the floor, take two dumbbells in your hands, if you don’t have two, take one. Raise your legs slightly above the ground, move your arms back (A). Now raise your legs up until they form a 90-degree angle with your body, and reach your legs with your hands (B) so that your shoulder girdle lifted himself off the floor. Remember to keep your abdominal muscles tense.


We do 3 sets of 10 slow repetitions.

Pelvic lifts on a fitball

Take a fitball and a medicine ball (dumbbell). Lie with your back on the fitball, your pelvis should sag, hold a medicine ball (dumbbell) in your hands - this is the starting position (A). Now we raise our pelvis up, our arms with a medicine ball too (B), while raising your arms not just up, but towards your legs, as if you were doing crunches as in the previous exercise. Then return to the starting position.


We perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions. Don’t forget, when you go down, pull your stomach in, and when you rise, strain your abdominal muscles with all your might.

These are the simple four exercises that must be performed one after another, in the sequence in which they are located in the article. You can train using these exercises 3 – 4 times a week.

Girls want to be slim, guys want to be big and strong. Regardless of your goal, you probably want to get toned abs. And this is a great desire. However, there is a problem. You've probably noticed that there are a lot of thin people, but without abs.

And here experienced marketers come to the rescue, hiding in the shadows or hovering overhead, looking for confused prey. Okay, this all sounds a little dramatic, but look at the situation.

The problem is that there is a lot of false advice on how to get six-pack abs. in 30, 15 and even 10 days.

• Some people say you just have to do it special exercises press every day... and they are wrong.
• Others say you just need to do squats and deadlifts to get great abs... and they're wrong.
• Still others argue that you need to give up certain foods... and again they are wrong.
• The fourth seems to be closer to the truth: you just need to have a low percentage of body fat... but this is not true either.
• Still others insist that it must be accepted... but they are simply lying.

In fact, to lose belly fat and pump up your abs, you need to stick to two rules which I will talk about below. Go!

How to pump up your abs - 2 simple rules

It's not difficult to pump up your abdominal muscles. But any abdominal training program will be ineffective if you do not adhere to the following principles.

1. Burn belly fat

I figured I'd start with the obvious. The main reason you can't see your abs is... too much fat in the abdominal area (on the stomach). Get rid of excess fat deposits - and you will become closer to your goal or even achieve it altogether. The question arises: how to burn fat correctly?

Firstly, local fat burning is impossible. The myth about targeted fat burning is actively used by manufacturers of various exercise equipment (abdominal belts), magazine publishers and authors of pseudoscientific websites. Allegedly, there are special exercises for the legs, for example, and the same exercises for the abs that will help you quickly achieve your goal.

I wish it were that simple. However, science says otherwise. Studies have shown that training a specific muscle group results in increased levels of blood flow and lipolysis (the conversion of fat cells into fuel for the body) in that area, but these effects are miniscule.

Exercising muscles burns calories and can lead to muscle growth, which helps in fat loss. However, it does not directly reduce the fat layer covering them.

Understand, Fat burning is a process that takes place in the body as a whole.

If you maintain a calorie deficit (read how to do it correctly), your body reduces fat reserves. Fat burning occurs everywhere, but in some areas it is faster (more on this below).

The point is, you can do hundreds of crunches every day, but you won't see abs until you reach a certain percentage of body fat - 15% and below for men, 25% and below for women. The images below show everything clearly.

As you can see, the cubes begin to show through around 15% and 25% in men and women, respectively. They are really clearly visible when the fat percentage is less than 10 in men and below 20 in the fair sex.

I mentioned above that some areas of the body lose fat faster than others. Unfortunately, belly deposits are incredibly stubborn. And I'm not talking about a person, but about physiology.

There is a scientifically proven reason why fat cells in certain areas of the body are much more difficult to burn than others. Such areas, including the abdomen, contain many more alpha receptors than beta, which slows the mobilization of fat deposits. But there are specific methods to combat this. You will learn about them in the following articles on Zozno.

2. Pump up your abdominal muscles

It is generally believed that people who do a lot of heavy compound exercises (squats, deadlifts, military presses, etc.) do not need abdominal training. I don't agree with this. To understand why, let's take a quick look at the structure of the abdominal muscles.

The main muscle that is associated with six packs is the rectus abdominis ( rectus abdominis).

There are also several other core muscles that complete the look, including the obliques, transversus abdominis, and serratus anterior:

The importance of developing these muscles in addition to a beautiful rectus abdominis should not be underestimated. Look at this photo - like “pumped up” abs and clearly lagging core muscles (torso muscles).

It can't be called bad physical fitness, but here neither the taper of the waist, nor the serratus anterior muscle, nor transverse muscles.

Some people have the opposite problem: their rectus abdominis underdeveloped, and the rest of the abdominal area is over-pumped. Here's an example:

This can happen if the obliques are overdeveloped, the rectus abdominis is lagging behind, and there are no transverse muscles and/or serratus anterior at all.

Now let's see what a well-rounded core looks like.

Sure, the model (Greg Plitt) has much better genetics than the two guys above, but he's not much drier than the second one here. He just has the perfect ratio of the rectus abdominis and other core muscles.

Actually, there are no more tips for pumping up your abs. Whether you're a guy or a girl, you need to have a low body fat percentage and strong core muscles. The first goal is achieved through proper nutrition with a calorie deficit, and the second through basic and isolation exercises.

The best exercises to pump up your abs

I've seen many people with poorly developed abs who can do hundreds of crunches and plank for an impressive amount of time.

The problem here is that the core muscles are like any other muscle. They need progressive overload to grow. This requires an emphasis on weight training and increasing athletic performance over time.

One of the biggest mistakes when training the abs - failure to perform exercises with additional weight. As you'll see below, I recommend doing at least a few sets of these exercises during your training. However, before we model the workouts, let's talk about the individual exercises.

There are an incredible variety of abdominal exercises and a lot of opinions about what is best and what is not. Luckily, you only need to pick a few to develop your core muscles.

The exercises below are based on scientific research and my personal experience. There are many more options you can make, but you're unlikely to need them.

Multi-joint exercises

The squat, deadlift, bench press and military press are not abdominal exercises per se, but they do strengthen your core. They are also extremely important for growth. muscle mass and strength throughout the body. If you don't do them every week (or don't pay enough attention), you won't see good progress.

Crossover crunches

Crossover crunches are one of my favorite exercises because they involve weights and work the entire rectus abdominis muscle.

You can also use crunches to work your obliques by doing a side rep after your regular rep. By lateral repetition I mean touching your right elbow to your left knee and vice versa.

It turns out: regular rep, right elbow to left knee, regular rep, left elbow to right knee.

Leg raises

Raising your legs while standing is one of the best exercises for the development of the rectus abdominis muscle, including the “lower abs”, as well as the oblique muscles. In the beginning, you can perform the exercise with your knees bent, but your goal is to work with your legs straight. After a while, you can add weight by placing a dumbbell between your legs.

Hanging Leg Raise

The hanging leg raise is similar to the previous exercise, but it requires more effort on your part to stabilize your body. Again, you can work with your knees bent at first, but you should aim for straight legs. And hanging leg raises with dumbbells will make you really sweat.

"Bike"

The bicycle exercise is a great addition to your abdominal workouts and works especially well on the obliques and transverse muscles.

Ab roller

I'm not a fan of various training devices, but gymnastic roller– this is a good thing for pumping up your abs.

Rules for training the press

The rules for abdominal training are very simple.

1. Combine exercises with and without weights

Well-rounded abs require a lot more muscle development than most people realize. Alternating exercises with and without additional weight is the most effective method do it.

2. Train your abs often

How often can you pump up your abs? The optimal frequency of training is the subject of endless debate, but as a rule, small muscle groups recover faster than larger ones. Heavy exercises like squats and deadlifts take longer to recover than isolation exercises like dumbbell curls or dumbbell lateral raises.
I discovered that abs (like calves, by the way) can be easily train 2-3 times a week in addition to basic training. This optimal frequency which will not lead to overtraining.
Of course, you shouldn't train your abs for three days in a row. There should be 1-2 days of rest between classes. Personally, my schedule is Monday, Wednesday and Friday at three basic training per week and Tuesday and Thursday if I train twice.

3. Progress in exercises

As in any other training muscle groups, your goal in training “cubes” is to gradually progress and improve. Add kilograms when exercising with dumbbells (additional weight) and increase the number of repetitions when

How to build an ab workout

So, you know the basic rules, now let's see how best to build abs training. It's simple - you just need to do it circuit training, which consists of three exercises performed one after another. You will rest between circles and then repeat them.

Here's how circuit training should go:

1. Do 1 set of weight-bearing exercises, such as crossover crunches, push-up leg raises, or hanging leg raises, for 10 to 15 reps. This means that if you can't do more than 10 reps, the weight is too heavy. But if you can do more than 15, it's time to add another 2 kg.
2. Immediately perform any bodyweight exercise to failure.
3. Without rest, do another bodyweight exercise to failure.
4. Rest between circles – 2-3 minutes.

For example, here is my abdominal training program:

• 1 set of crossover crunches, 10-12 reps;
• 1 set of leg raises, to failure;
• 1 set of bicycle exercise, until failure.
• rest 2-3 min.

I usually do these circuits between sets of large muscle group exercises to save time.
Eg:

• 1 deadlift approach;
• 1 circle for the press;
• rest 60-90 seconds;
• 1 deadlift approach;
• 1 circle for the press;
• rest 60-90 seconds.

Will sports nutrition help?

No natural substance can do this on its own, although on the Internet you can see a lot of pseudoscientific theories about this.

Manufacturers sports nutrition Often talked about increases fat oxidation, preserves lean muscle mass, supports thyroid function, triggers thermogenesis, alters hormone and neurotransmitter levels, reduces water retention, improves nutrient distribution, inhibits fat storage enzymes and increases fat burning enzymes .

In reality, these are all aspects of fat loss. But this type of marketing is nothing more than an attempt to blind you with terminology and scientific half-truths in the hope that you will simply buy into the benefits of the product.

If you take a clear-eyed look at what science has to say about this, you'll see what can really help you. But it will never compensate for poor eating habits and irregular workout routines.

Conclusion

Plenty of fitness gurus promise to give you 6-pack abs. But few can fulfill this promise, because it is not as fast and easy as it seems.

There are no “secrets”, “lifehacks” or anything else. If you want amazing and sexy abs, you have to train properly and be patient. If you are willing to devote a few months, not days, to your goal, then you will succeed.

Now you know everything you need to finally get a 6-pack abs, so get off the couch and hit the gym!

Sources

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2. Kostek M. et al. Subcutaneous fat alterations resulting from an upper-body resistance training program. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 Jul;39(7):1177-85.
3. Vispute SS et al. The effect of abdominal exercise on abdominal fat. J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Sep;25(9):2559-64.
4. Galitzky J, Lafontan M, Nordenström J, Arner P. Role of vascular alpha-2 adrenoceptors in regulating lipid mobilization from human adipose tissue. J Clin Invest. 1993 May;91(5):1997-2003.
5. Anders M. New Study Puts the Crunch on Ineffective Ab Exercises. American Council on Exercise.
6. Bishop PA, Jones E, Woods AK. Recovery from training: a brief review: brief review. J Strength Cond Res. 2008 May;22(3):1015-24.