Ab Workouts
Located right in the core the abs are always going to be involved when you work out to stabilize the body. Because of this, many an avid weight trainer should have some muscle development in the abs. The only problem is that for many they are covered by a layer of belly fat. Proper nutrition and creating a calorie deficit is integral to getting rid of this excess fat around the waist.
As far as training goes, ab workouts will develop the muscles so they “pop” when the fat is gone. I’ve noticed that my abs really show through even with a little fat left. This is likely due to directly training the abs and other muscles of the midsection. I mix up my abdominal workouts more than other muscle groups with a variety of exercises. Here I will go through my favorite ab exercises.
Hanging Leg Raises – This is a superset of many types of leg raises going from set to set with no rest. I start with leg raises going all the way up. Then it’s on to leg raises to parallel to the floor. At this point I might go for raising one leg at a time or bent leg raises. Whatever the case, I keep going from exercise to exercise so I can get a lot of work from just one superset.
Hanging Side To Side – This is a good one to train the obliques. I hang from an overhead bar and twist from side to side to target the side muscles. I keep my upper body as straight as possible while rotating at the waist from side to side. On this exercise I keep my legs slightly bent. Go for high reps, take a short break, then continue repping. Do a handful of these short rests or superset with another oblique exercise to get the most out of one long set.
Decline Sit-Ups – This classic ab exercise comes with plenty of options in how you can perform it. There’s the basic sit-up done on a decline bench. You can hold a dumbbell or medicine ball while doing these, even doing ball throws if you have a partner to catch it and pass it back. I like to do a twist as I go up, alternating sides with every third rep being a straight sit-up. This is a great exercise to get some short rests on and continue your set.
Planks – Here’s a great core strengthening exercise I need to utilize more in my training. It’s one of those that I’ll do often then kind of forget about for a while. But hey, that’s one of the great things about weight training – there’s always a forgotten favorite you can go back to if you’re getting bored.
Ab Wheel – Working your midsection with an ab wheel is a nice change of pace as it is quite unique. Honestly, what other ab exercise has your body moving like this? I’ve done them with my knees on a bosu ball, but am not really sure it makes this exercise any better.
Body Raise – Think Rocky 4 training montage here. Basically, you raise your entire body with just your upper back/shoulder area on the floor or a bench. You have to be gripping something to anchor yourself so you can do this. Try to keep the legs as straight as possible, though it may take time to develop the core strength to keep them almost completely straight.