Today I thought I'd share one of the greatest abdominal training movements that I've ever found with you all. But first, let's talk a little bit about abdominal training for a second.
As you all should know by now, there is no such thing as upper abs, lower abs, etc. There's only one muscle there and it's called the rectis abdominus. If you want to see a great anatomy chart picture of it I did a post titled, "Abs, abs and more abs," or something like that a few posts ago, check it out and you can find a great picture showing the fact that there's only one muscle that makes up your abdominal wall. That being said, anything that you do to train that muscle will train the entire thing, from the bottom of your sternum to your pelvis. Especially if you do the move correctly.
And correctly is where we're going to begin.
It's funny. Many people now get that going in and hitting some hard and heavy squats or deadlifts for, let's say 6-10 sets of 1-5 reps, is a good thing. They get it. People are also starting to get that the same is true for bench presses, military presses, bent rows, etc. And that's awesome. So why then do people think that you need to hit your abdominal wall with 100's or even 1,000's of reps? Your rectis abdominus is no different than your quadriceps, your traps, your biceps, your delts, or any other muscle groups. If training those other muscles with heavy weights and low reps for multiple sets is effective, why wouldn't it be the same thing for your abs?
And the answer is obvious. It is the same thing for your abs. Your abs are going to respond the same way that any other muscle groups will. They'll develop more strength, more tone, more density, more stability. more fitness/conditioning and be better at their job.
I know some people might be saying, "But Brett, so and so does 3,000 reps every day and they have a six pack." Big deal, having a six pack has absolutely nothing to do with how fit, strong, stable and functional your abs are. You can head down to any ghetto and find a number of junkies that have six pack abs, but are they strong, fit and healthy? Nope! Check out pictures of the atrocities of Auschwitz or Datchow and you'll see plenty of innocent people that were dying, but many of them had six pack abs. Were they healthy, fit and strong? Nope!
Having a six pack is a cool thing, but everyone, whether you work out or not, will have one if you cut enough body fat off of your body. It doesn't mean that you have any strength, fitness or health.
Now, having truly strong and conditioned abs will help you out with every other aspect of your strength and fitness training. And the other aspects will help you develop truly strong and fit abs. For example: you cannot deadlift or squat a ton of weigh unless your core an your abs are insanely strong. And, by training your deadlifts and squats hard you'll develop some insanely strong abs. These big movements; which also include standing overhead presses, push presses, jerks, bent rows, cleans, snatches, high pulls, etc; will train your abs harder than almost any typical abdominal training movement. Hit these hard and you'll be on the road to truly strong and fit abs.
Also, properly training your abs with hard and heavy abdominal movements will not only create truly strong and fit abs, it'll also help you to put up more weight and perform better at the above mentioned big movements. It's a nice synergistic circle.
With that all being said, let's now talk about an incredible abdominal training movement. The sit-up. Now, before you stop reading and yell out, "Brett, the sit-up! Really?" hear me out. I know most people have been told that the sit-up is pointless and many have been told that it's dangerous. These statements aren't true by a long shot. It's all in how you perform the movement.
Do how do we go about performing a good sit-up?
Easy, lay with your back flat on the ground, your legs will be out with a slight bend in them and they'll be spread pretty wide (you'll see why in a second). Have a partner load a bunch of 45 pound weight plates (or 100 pounders, they'll do the job as well) onto your torso. When they've loaded you up with your working weight, wrap your arms around the plates tightly so they won't slide off of you. Have your partner hold your ankles down. Now perform a set of 1-6 reps of sit-ups. When you finish, have your partner unload the weight plates off of your torso. Rest for a little bit and repeat. Try adding weight as often as you can.
Personally, at the end of my training on Tuesday, I cranked out 4 sets of 5 reps with a 20 pound weight vest on and 4- 45 pound weight plates (a total of 200 pounds). Next Tuesday my goal is to hit 4 sets of 5 reps with 5- 45 pound plates on my torso (or 225 pounds).
Give them a try and I think you'll love the results. Also, when you're training your abs this way feel free to only train them directly once or twice a week. There's no need to train them everyday. After all, do you squat heavy every day, or deadlift heavy every day? Now, go out and train heavy, hard and smart and create your greatness.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett
Also remember to check out www.empowernetwork.com/bstepan for a great home based business.
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