Out of all the body parts it’s our abdominals that seem to hold the most allure, abs transcend the gender barrier even women pursue the holy grail of body building, the six pack. A great slab of abs not only signifies hard work but also is the litmus test for your bodies’ level of fat and can also indicate your level of physical activity. Conversely ribs like a grey hound could also be an indication of malnutrition or anorexia. So how do we get the illusive abs? And does the same exercise and eating regime hold true for both sexes?
The washboard
I like to train the abdominals from every angle , if you think of your abs as a girdle that supports your torso you start to formulate how best to train each individual muscle group. Yes there is more than one muscle group that make up the abdominal girdle and improving the integrity of all of them will help to showcase your midsection to your best advantage, short tops for girls and sans tops for the peacocks’.
The routine
Sit ups, sit ups and sit ups! I always try to do at least 200 everyday that i train which is four days a week, unlike most other muscle groups the abs can stand high intensity routine without becoming fatigued. Conversely if we were to train our legs every day or arms before long they would be sending up the white flag. For the busy beaver i recommend doing a range of different sit ups in between sets of other exercises. This allows you to get the high volume in without the necessity of hanging around the gym any longer than need be. I always start with 2 sets of 50 crunches and then 2 sets of 50 hanging leg raises, for most that could be sufficient but I tend do a few hundred more side bends with 20 kilo weight alternating the hand. And then 100 cable crunches. By this time I’m over abs and on my way out the door.
Eat lean to look mean
If you’re not genetically gifted to be lean (thanks mum and dad) then you will need to up your cardio and reduce your caloric intake. Once you start to see those abs peeking from under your T you know you’re on the right track. If you don’t eat enough calories and try to starve yourself to get abs you will find it will be at the expense of the rest of your physique. Train hard but also smart, remember the hare and the turtle fable, well under that shell he had a mean set of abs.
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