A ripped and rock hard mid section would have to be the most desired feature on the human body. A great mid section will increase our sex appeal, and at the same time help hold our upper body erect, while protecting our organs and preventing lower back injuries.
In order to get that ripped and rock hard mid section, your training consists of hundreds and hundreds of painful and uncomfortable reps, or does it really have to? In my opinion, the answer to this question is 'definitely not!'. Long abdominal workouts provide no added benefits. If anything it will set you back due to overtraining. As a general rule of thumb, an abdominal routine should last only 15 minutes, and no longer than 20 minutes.
The Secret to Great Abs
The secret to great abs is to incorporate resistance into your training. Resistance can dramatically improve your overall mid section development, enhancing deep muscular cuts and separation and elevating your trunk strength. Many people believe that adding resistance (weight) to an abdominal exercise is a recipe for injury to their lower back. To a certain degree, I would have to disagree with this statement. Most injuries are suffered by beginners who try to advance too quickly. So, basically people get hurt because of the way they handle the extra weight, not because of the extra weight itself. Having said this, lower back development is very important in avoiding injury while performing abdominal exercises. In order to bring out that rippled, rock-hard look you must use the same progressive resistance for your abs, as you have been using for the rest of your body.
If you have the mind set that endless reps of abdominal exercises will yield a mid section fit for a god, then I feel sorry for you. In order to get the ultimate mid section, you have to build thick, well cut muscle, and to show them off, lose the layer of fat that is covering them. The only way to lose the layer of fat covering your abs is through a good diet and cardio. For information on customizing your diet and cardio, you can check out some of my other articles.
Along with a good diet and quality cardio program, I suggest using a stimulant based fat burner containing ephedrine and caffeine. I find ASTs Dymetadrine Xtreme to be by far the best fat burner on the market. The ephedrine in these fat burners will boost your metabolism and increase your workout intensity, allowing you to burn more fat while blasting your abs to a greater extent.
Here's a few tips on abdominal training:
Workout on an empty stomach
Employ the peak contraction training principle
Perform crunches rather than sit-ups
Keep constant tension on your abs
Don't let the burn trick you into giving up
Use strict form
Never work sore abs
My Current AB Workout:
Cable Crunches -------------- 3 sets of 20, 18 15 reps
Side Bends -------------------- 3 sets of 16 reps
Military Leg Raises --------- 3 sets of 15 reps *
Note: * signifies an exercise without the use of resistance.
LOCKE
Train Hard, train naturally.
iplocke@nf.sympatico.ca
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