Fitness Model Abs

Before I start, if your diet sucks then you won’t see your abs.

That being said, you should still train them. Having a strong core not only looks good when you get your shred on but it also helps to support big weights on the core lifts (squat, deadlift, cleans, etc) and protect the spine. And while those lifts do train your abs (ever get sore abs after front squats?), direct ab training is essential. Louie Simmons makes the elite Westside Barbell powerlifters train their abs directly which means you should be too!

This is not just another ab routine where you do a million crunches and bicycles. Abs are just like any other muscle in the body and you need to apply external resistance to them to get maximal results. You should not train your abs everyday, just like other muscle groups they need time to recover. The routine below is one I’ve developed that takes very little time and hits all the major plans and movement patterns.

This routine is done as a circuit and little to no rest is done between exercises. Do 2-4 circuits with 1-2 minutes rest in between each circuit 1-3 times a week.

Pavel Tsatsouline Hanging Leg Raise

Full Hanging Leg Raise

Hanging on a pull up bar, keep your legs straight and bring them up until your feet touch the bar in between your hands. Now CONTROL your legs on the way down, don’t let them flop down. And here is the most important part, no swinging of the legs at the bottom! Come to a complete stop (I usually put my toe on the floor) and then go again, no momentum is allowed. The goal is to train your abs, this isn’t crossfit.

Do as many reps as you can with good form. Think of this exercise as the squat of ab exercises. Not much else will build up your ab strength like this exercise.

Tate Cable Side Bends

This exercise was developed by Dave Tate. Have a D handle attachment on a cable machine/stack and press it down so that it is by your side with your arm locked out. Now perform the movement just like you would a regular cable side bend.

Make sure to brace your abs and flex your obliques hard at the bottom of the movement.

Do 8-12 reps

Cable Crunches

There are many ways of doing these. I usually do these while kneeling on the ground and facing away from a cable stack. Start with a neutral spine or slightly back and crunch down, don’t just move up and down. Make sure to contract hard at the bottom.

Most people do these with the rope attachment, this ends up pinching my fingers. Instead, use the V handle for cable rows that way you get a better grip and don’t end up pinching your fingers in the process.

Go heavy and do sets of 6-10

Cable or Band Woodchops

Part of the function of the obliques is to twist the body and decelerate the body from twisting excessively. To train this you need to twist! But the oblique twist machines you see so often can be detrimental to your spinal health, instead we are going to focus on natural range of motion and getting a stronger, more powerful core!

Start with one side, grab a D handle at shoulder height or just above from a cable stack with the hand closest to the stack. Cross the other hand over the body and grab the handle. Keeping your arms as straight as possible, twist using your core and bring your arms from shoulder height to hip height.

You need to move your feet with this movement so that you don’t place excessive stress on your joints. Do what feels natural.

Do sets of 8-12.

Stability Ball ABC Planks

Time to turn on the fire! Perform a plank on a stability ball. Get your elbows in the center of the ball. Now you are going to write the entire alphabet in all caps using your elbows! Not only will you train your core but you will also train shoulder stabilization.

Do 1 set

Final Thoughts

This is only one core routine and it is not the be-all-end-all of core workouts. But it is a great workout when you have limited space and time and it will get you a strong and good-looking core that you can take to the beach!

http://chrisheskettfitness.com/get-fitness-model-abs/

Photo Credit: velocinator.com, train.elitefts.com, exercise.com, adashofmeg.com, davidlasnier.com

Top 10 Firm Belly Exercises for Abs

You have to check this out... Get the tight abs you've always wanted from an experienced fitness  editor and exercise physiologist.... 

What Works Best for My Abs

I love my butt -- and my tummy's not too shabby either. I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out. I'm 42, I had a baby this year, and my lower half is basically cellulite free. No, it's not just good genes: I've been a fitness editor and exercise physiologist for 17 years, and I just wrote my 34th get-a-better-butt story. I've also written 29 features on getting fab abs. I've gotten some great advice, and I took it to heart; now I want to share it with you. Here are my favorite strategies, culled from interviews with top trainers, instructors, and sports-medicine doctors.

1. Choose Variety Over Reps

I try to mix up my ab-toning moves each workout, and I change my routine every three to four weeks. "Alternating your workout is more important than cranking out 100 crunches every day," says Michele Olson, PhD, professor of exercise science at Auburn University Montgomery. "Perform 15 to 20 reps of each exercise, then move on."

2. Forget the "Upper Vs. Lower Abs" Idea

It's all one sheath of muscle: the rectus abdominus. "If you feel the upper abs working, it doesn't mean the lower abs aren't engaged," says Alycea Ungaro, owner of Real Pilates in New York City and author of The Pilates Promise. Where you feel it depends on the move's anchor point. For example, leg lifts engage more of the lower section since your upper body is against the floor. To truly tone, try a mix of ab-sculpting moves that vary positions.

3. Engage Your Pelvic Floor

To target your abs more effectively, strengthen your pelvic-floor muscles. "These muscles assist your deepest abs in doing exercises correctly," says Olson. Actively engage them by gently pulling your belly button toward your back. Place one hand on your abdomen; if you feel your stomach pushing out while you do sit-ups, you're pushing the pelvis down rather than pulling muscles up and in, cheating your abs of the full workout. Keep muscles contracted when working abs. Strong pelvic-floor muscles also help tone your abs post-pregnancy (it helped me after my son was born).

4. Work Your Abs, Not Your Neck

I can do 50 crunches without my abs aching, but if my neck starts killing me after 10, I'm done. I often pretend I have an orange tucked under my chin to release the tension. Or I press my fingertips into the base of my neck and give myself a nice neck massage while curling up. Another strategy: To stop neck muscles from tensing, place your tongue firmly on the roof of your mouth as you crunch.

5. Fight Flab with Cardio

One thing I've learned for sure: All the exercises for abs in the world mean nothing if there's a layer of fat over my abs. So I do about 45 minutes of calorie-blasting cardio, three to five times a week. "You need to burn body fat through regular aerobic exercise to see strong abs," says Olson.

6. Make Abs Your Transition Workout

On those rare occasions when I have time to do strength training and cardio in one workout, I sandwich 10 minutes of ab work in between. After I cool down from cardio, I hit the mat for stretches, reverse curls, and crunches. This is a great way to shift my focus from cardio to strength training; it helps me zero in on my abs and core strength as I lift.

7. Know When to Rest

I can tell I've worked my abs well when they're sore the next day. Like other muscles, the abs respond best to intense training every two days. Work them too hard, too often, and you'll see minimal progress, says Holland.

8. Plank Pull-In

My no-fail stability-ball exercise targets the deep (transverse) and "six-pack" (rectus abdominus) abs as well as the obliques. Begin in a full push-up position, with shins pressing into the ball. Pull knees into chest, then roll back to start; repeat for 1 minute. Pull both knees up to right elbow, back to center and to left elbow. Continue for 1 minute.

9. External Oblique Crunch

My must-do move for slimmer sides? The external oblique crunch: Lie face up on the floor, knees bent, abs engaged, fingertips behind your head and elbows out to sides. Walk legs out a few inches. Curl torso up, bringing right elbow toward right toes, then cross over toward left knee. Slowly return to start. Do 20 reps on one side, then switch.

10. Pilates Corkscrew

Pilates is one of the best methods for all-around toning. My favorite move is the modified Corkscrew, which zeroes in on the abs, obliques, thighs, and hips. Lie back with arms at sides and straight legs perpendicular to floor, with either a Pilates Flex Circle or a stability ball (anything that adds resistance will work) between your ankles. Without lifting your hips, bring both legs to the right, turning your head to the left. Take a breath, then return to start; switch sides. Do 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps, squeezing the ring with your thighs.

 http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/abs/exercises/top-10-firm-belly-tips-of-all-time/ Exercise Abs

Flexibar Exercise for Abs

Flexibar makes it possible to target and strengthen deep muscle tissue in a simple manner. Basic Abs workout but a little Flexibar knowledge required...





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSaMXoda0yY& Fitness Model Abs