How you can acheive great abs by adding to your program
Anybody who works out will not deny the fact that they wants abs. Abs complete the physique regardless of what your fitness goal is.Most people get so close to getting those abs but then can't completely get the six pack, which is extremely frustrating. So this blog post is going to help you get those abs so you too can look like a bad ass Spartan from 300. A very important first step to get abs is to stop using machines and start using free weights, machines almost always take out the core aspect of the exercise. But you also must know good ab exercises to add into your program.
Great ab workouts
Before I start listing all the great ab workouts you need to know that crunches are not the best thing to acheive abs. Crunches and sit ups do not burn any abdominal fat they only increase muscle strength and mass. So if you still have a layer of fat over your abs, their not helping you much, so burn that fat first!
Planks- planks are great core exercises to achieve great abs. A plank literally hits just about every part of the core from your abs all the way around to your lower back. So plank it up, once you get good at planks modify them to a more advanced plank, such as single arm, single leg, and then move onto single arm with single leg on opposite sides so your core has to fight more to stay balanced. You can also do side planks and to make those harder you can do star side planks. There are so many plank variations that it shouldn't be hard to keep progressing. This also applies to push ups, put your feet on a stability ball, use single leg, elevated feet, etc.
Planks- planks are great core exercises to achieve great abs. A plank literally hits just about every part of the core from your abs all the way around to your lower back. So plank it up, once you get good at planks modify them to a more advanced plank, such as single arm, single leg, and then move onto single arm with single leg on opposite sides so your core has to fight more to stay balanced. You can also do side planks and to make those harder you can do star side planks. There are so many plank variations that it shouldn't be hard to keep progressing. This also applies to push ups, put your feet on a stability ball, use single leg, elevated feet, etc.
 Single arm + Single leg plank |  Star Plank |
Farmer Walks- Farmer walks are another great core workout that have been proven to hit the whole entire core, not just your abs. A farmers walk is a simple exercise, don't think simple means easy because they can be very difficult. A farmers walk is where you hold a really heavy weight, kettlebell, sandbag, etc. in one arm and you just walk for a good distance, switch arms and walk back. The reason this exercise is so good is because when a heavy resistance is pulling you down on one side your core has to use everything its got to keep your body straight and balanced as you move forward. This exercise is a great one to throw into your workout because you can perform it just about anywhere, even if your not in the gym. Grab something heavy in one arm and walk, thats it! When you think your ready to progess add another weight to the other side, hold a lighter weight with your other arm above your head, go heavier, or go further.
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Leg Raises- Leg raises are another great ab exercise that require a lot of core control and stability. The best way to perform these is by hanging from a pull up bar, this is because it takes a lot of core strength to let your legs come back down without swinging your entire body. The objective is to raise your legs while they are stiff until you form a L shape with your lower body, and then control them back to the starting point without swinging. Again this is a very hard exercise so to work up to it you can also start out on the floor laying on your back, raise your feet up together until the bottom of your feet are parallel with the ceiling and when you come back down do not let your feet touch the ground before going back up. You can then move to a bench, again lay on your back and let your butt hang off the edge slightly and lift your legs up as you did before. Leg raises are great ab exercises because it emphasizes on your lower abs, which are usually the hardest for people to acheive.
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Progressing lifts to incorporate your core more
One of the best ways to get great abs and a complete core is to progress your normal lifts into exercises that need your core to work at the same time. This is something very easy once you figure it out and you will be able to progress most of your lifts into core working exercises. The key to this is to perform lifts on an unstable surface, use single arm, or single leg. Here are some great examples of how to do this with average lifts.
Bench press- Instead of using a bench you can use a stability ball, this forces your body into a plank which creates resistance on your core because the bench isnt supporting your back. Use dumbbells over barbells, this makes your core work a lot just so it can balance the dumbbells seperately. You can also perform single arm dumbbell presses rather than using a barbell or using two dumbbells. When performing single arm presses your core is again fighting to stay balanced, every downward movement with the dumbbel makes your body want to fall to that side and this makes your core work extra hard to keep your body balanced and up.
Bench press- Instead of using a bench you can use a stability ball, this forces your body into a plank which creates resistance on your core because the bench isnt supporting your back. Use dumbbells over barbells, this makes your core work a lot just so it can balance the dumbbells seperately. You can also perform single arm dumbbell presses rather than using a barbell or using two dumbbells. When performing single arm presses your core is again fighting to stay balanced, every downward movement with the dumbbel makes your body want to fall to that side and this makes your core work extra hard to keep your body balanced and up.
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Squats and Deadlifts- Change up your squat and deadlift variations to single leg exercises. Using one leg over two throws your balance off big time, this means go light when you first start because your core is not going to be used to this. Dumbbells work better when performing single leg lower body exercises because its easier to get positioned right and it also benefits the core more by adding to the balance factor.
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Pull ups- Pull ups are a great exercise that already incorporate the core quite a bit. So I definetly suggest performing pull ups, especially over the lat pull down machine. But if you already are doing pull ups and want to make it more challenging for the core, this is a great progression. When you first grab the pull up bar and you are hanging there, raise your legs up into a L shape as if you were going to perform leg raises. Leave your legs in the L shape and start cranking out your pull ups. This is definitely one of the hardest pull up variations, but I promise your core will be on fire after knocking out a set of these!
Now its time for you to start switching up your exercises and progressing your core so that you can complete your physique with spartan abs. Use these progressions and remember that you can progess just about any exercise into one that uses your core more, so before you start each exercise think about how you can incoporate your core into it and your abs will come in no time.
