We all want washboard abs. You know the kind that gives you justification to sell off your washing machine, because you just use your abs as a washboard. Unfortunately most bros go about their pursuit of abs all wrong.
They spend way too much time thinking that the compound lifts are all they need, because that’s what they’ve read on some popular fitness site. And don’t get me wrong, the big lifts do a great job of training your abs. But the buck doesn’t stop with the squat and deadlift.
If you want great abs you need to get a few things in check. Obviously diet is going to be the biggest key. If you’re eating too much, you’ll never be able to see your abs. It’s as simple as that.
But training your abs is a great way to make sure those bad boys show up sooner rather than later. If you start building a muscle then it’s going to show even when you’ve got higher body fat. This is true for chest, back, biceps, and legs. It’s also true for the abs.
For example: If you’ve got a strong, well developed set of abs they may start showing at around 14% body fat as opposed to having to diet down to 10% body fat. That 4% is a big difference, and could mean saving you from an extra month or two of intense dieting.
But to build your abs you need to train them properly. You can’t go easy on them, and you can’t stick to the traditional model of training them with high rep bodyweight exercises. The abs do a ton of work every single day, so they need to be hit with a stimulus that they aren’t used to.
You also need to focus on building oblique size and strength. Contrary to popular belief, your obliques aren’t going to respond be growing into massive overly muscled love handles. In fact, strong, well developed obliques can help get rid of your love handles and help you get that v-taper look that we all want.
Which is where heavy ab training, and ab circuits come into play. If done right, you can train your abs a couple of times a week with serious bang for your buck exercises that will get your abs showing in no time.
Performing these in a circuit fashion is also beneficial since it keeps your heart rate up. By doing so you make sure that you’re torching calories and shedding fat. It’s the same dark magic that makes HIIT so awesome, just applied directly to ab training.
Luckily I’ve got the perfect ab circuit just for you. It applies all of these principles in one grueling circuit. This shit won’t be easy, and it may hurt to laugh for a few days afterwards, so be prepared.
The best damn ab circuit on the Internet:
A1. Body saw
A2. Pallof Press
A3. Cable crunch
A4. Anti rotation cable chop
The combination of exercises here hits your abs from a variety of angles, and trains the abs the way they were meant to be trained. You get a beautiful variety of anti extension and rotation exercises, as well as some heavy flexion, all in one grueling circuit.
As an added benefit you’ll also get some solid mobility work in the upper back in via the anti rotation chop and body saw exercises, making the circuit even more awesome.
Obviously on certain exercises like the Pallof press and anti rotation cable chop that means you’ll be doing 10 reps per side. You also need to go heavy on things like the cable crunch to get the most out of the circuit.
Try implementing these at the end of your workout a couple of times a week, and after 6-8 weeks you should start seeing serious ab definition in the mirror. Just in time for summer.