Scooby's Home Bodybuilding Workouts
Abdominal Workouts
|
|
Scooby's Home Bodybuilding Workouts Abdominal Workouts |
|
|
Abs/weightloss products are a billion dollar industry in the USA. All these products promise to be "the secret", easy way to washboard abs. Now folks, if were as easy as buying some flimsy contraption or pill, wouldn't everybody have washboard abs? Here is my gift to you, the secret to washboard abs absolutely free of charge: Eat a healthy diet, do 30 min of cardiovascular exercise a day, and do abdominal exercises. Getting washboard abs is a two step process. The first step is to lose weight and drop your bodyfat to about 6% by eating right and doing 30-60 minutes of cardiovascular exercise a day. You must complete this first step and get ripped! You will not see any visible results from you ab exercises unless you drop your bodyfat to these shredded, low levels. I repeat again, you will not see any visible results from ab exercises unless you drop your bodyfat to around 6%. Many people will find that when they drop their bodyfat to these levels that they already have abs! After getting your bodyfat down to 6% you may find that you have a rock hard, but completely flat, midsection void of any 6-pack. This is where the ab exercises come in, just as with any other muscle group your goal is to provide them resistance training to make them grow larger and stronger. Ab exercises are not merely for cosmetic purposes, strong abs help stabilize your lower back and shield you from injury. Below are three basic ab exercises. The crunch is king, if you can only do one exercise, do crunches. Don't worry about how many reps you do but focus on using perfect form - do two sets of each exercise and take a minute or so between sets. The first two exercises are the most important, if you are tight on time skip the hanging ab exercises. How often to do ab exercises depends on your goal. If you goal is to just strengthen your core so for back stabilization and basic health, then I would do them 3-5X/week with low weight and high reps. If your goal is to grow big abs with deep valleys, then treat them like any other bodypart and work them out with heavy weights once a week.
|
|
|
Floor Crunches |
|
 |
crunch starting position. Inhale, try and get your belly button as close to the floor as you can. (click on image for larger view) |
 |
crunch ending position. It helps to stare at a spot on the ceiling and try and make your head move directly to that spot. No bending the neck, no flapping the arms - the upper body is slowly levitated toward the ceiling. Exhale on the way up. (click on image for larger view) |
|
|
|
|
Floor Side Crunch |
|
 |
side crunch starting position. You body is twisted, knees bent at 90 degrees, hand lightly behind the neck. Inhale. (click on image for larger view) |
 |
side crunch ending position. While looking at the ceiling, raise your left shoulder in a straight line toward the ceiling - again think about your shoulder moving in a straight line up to the ceiling. Your neck, head, arms and legs do not move. Exhale on the way up. (click on image for larger view) |
|
Cable Crunches Cable crunches are the easiest way to learn how to exercise obliques. You can make your own cable apparatus fairly simply at home. If you dont have cables, you can also use simple resistance bands tied to something high. Its really tough for beginners to get the feel of how to do obliques but cables are the best. Form is very important in crunches, many people do them incorrectly and end up working out their neck or hips more than their abs. Use slow movements and only use the abs. Start out with light weight and concentrate on keeping your hips completely immobile. If you are pivoting around your hip-joint then you are NOT doing this correctly. |
|
 |
Straight Crunch. Same form as the Floor Crunch listed above. The hip does not pivot at all, the only motion is the shoulders moving down toward your belly button. |
 |
Side Crunch. Again, the hip does not move, the only motion is your elbow going down toward the floor. |
|
Hanging Leg Raises |
|
 |
hanging leg raise starting position. No jerky motions allowed on this exercise or you will pull a muscle in your lower back! Raise your legs slowly on a count of two, this takes very strong abs! If you don't have the ab straps pictured here you can also do these just hanging from the pull-up bar. (click on image for larger view) |
 |
hanging leg raise ending position. Now slowly lower the legs on a count of two. If you find yourself having to swing or use jerky motions then don't do this, do the below exercise instead. (click on image for larger view) |
|
|
hanging leg raise starting position (easier version). Same as above but with knees bent, rather than straight. No jerky motions allowed on this exercise or you will pull a muscle in your lower back! Raise your legs slowly on a count of two, this takes very strong abs! If you don't have the ab straps pictured here you can also do these just hanging from the pull-up bar. (click on image for larger view) |
 |
hanging leg raise ending position (easier version). Now slowly lower the legs on a count of two. (click on image for larger view) |
