In fact, provided the right approach to classes and balanced nutrition, aimed at burning fat and growing muscle mass, is not very difficult for a man to build. A much more difficult task faces those who are determined to maintain the achieved result for a long time at all costs. To do this, you can use weights when performing exercises to work the abdominal muscles.
Working out the rectus abdominis muscle with weights
In order to work efficiently lower press, which is somewhat more difficult for most people to pump up than the upper one, an effective exercise is lifting the legs with weights from a lying position. To do this, use weights placed on your shins or attach cables to them to create more resistance, then lie on an incline bench with your head higher than your hips. Raise your legs bent at the knees, trying to bring them closer to the elbows; do repetitions until a burning sensation appears in the muscles. Perform several approaches with breaks between them of no more than 2 minutes.
An indirect abdominal exercise, which, however, contributes to its excellent development, is squats with a barbell raised above your head. When you perfect this exercise, your abs will become rock hard.
Using special equipment for weights in abdominal exercises - dumbbells, leg weights, a deadlift machine - do not stop at just one weight. If your goal is beautiful, sculpted and dense muscles, the load on the abs should be gradually increased, because human muscles tend to get used to it and stop growing.
How to work out the lateral abdominal muscles with weights
Please note that before using weights to work out the lateral abdominal muscles, you should perform exercises aimed at developing them without it. The fact is that first you need to get rid of fat deposits in this area, and only after that you can begin to “grow” the lateral abdominal muscles: only in this case their increased volume will look aesthetically pleasing.
One of the basic exercises for these muscles is bending to the side with a dumbbell held in your hand and behind your head. Do not listen to those who advise taking a dumbbell in each hand to increase the load - on the contrary, this balances the load on both lateral muscles and at the same time reduces the effectiveness of this exercise. Do 10-20 repetitions on each side, completing 3-4 sets.
You should not load your abdominal muscles more than 3-4 times a week. If your goal is to gain beautiful relief, remember that in order for muscles to grow, they must have time to recover after training. This takes approximately two days. Work at this pace, and within a couple of months you will notice admiring glances turned to you
Currently, there are a huge number of workouts focused on training the abs. abdominals. This article will tell you everything you need to know about building a beautiful, sculpted body.
You can be strong... you can be big... but all the really tough guys have incredibly awesome abs. If you want to get abs like Arnold Schwarzenegger, that's great.
If creating a sculpted figure is so easy, why doesn’t everyone have a toned and sculpted stomach? This means there is some kind of problem.
You know what happens when millions of people want something so badly that it forces them to scan Google for what they want late into the night, with their wallets at the ready.
Of course... it's a siren call for the savvy marketers hiding in the shadows. Perhaps it is better to call them eagles, soaring overhead, searching for weakened prey.
Okay, okay, this is going to sound a little dramatic, but my point is this:
- Someone will tell you that you only need to do a few exercises a day to get relief press... but this is a mistake.
- Some will say that you must do squats and deadlifts, otherwise you will not be able to form a beautiful torso... but this is a mistake.
- Someone will say that you need to eat only certain foods, and everything else is absolutely forbidden... but this is a mistake.
- Some will say that you just need to lose weight... but this is a mistake.
- And some will say that it’s all about food additives... but they are also wrong.
There are really only two things you need to do well:
How to get ripped six-pack abs in 2 easy steps
Getting six pack abs is easier said than done. Although it is quite simple if you follow certain instructions.
1. Lose weight
I think this is obvious.
The first reason why six packs are not visible is the presence of a large layer of fat covering the muscle layer.
By losing fat, you will be closer to your goal, if you are not already there. However, this leads to the next question: how to lose weight?
First, you can't get rid of belly fat directly. Losing weight in limited areas of the body is a myth.
Targeted fat loss or "limited reduction" has long been a hot button for selling fitness books, magazines, DVDs, nutritional supplements and more.
One workout is for “slimming” your thighs and the other is for “sculpting” your midsection. This food is supposed to reduce belly fat and this food can somehow make your thighs look slimmer.
I wish it were that simple.
Research showed that muscle training does lead to increased levels of blood flow and lipolysis (the breakdown of fat cells into usable energy) in the area of the trained muscles, but the effect is so small as to be of no significance.
Training muscles burns calories and thus promotes muscle growth and fat burning, but does not directly reduce the amount of fat formed on those muscles.
Thus, fat loss is a process that involves the entire body.
For effective weight loss necessary maintain a calorie deficit, which causes the body to reduce the overall volume of its fat reserves. Contractions occur everywhere, however, some areas dry out faster than others.
The point is, you can work out as much as you want until your abs explode, but you will never see the result until you send body fat percentage to the required ratio.
This ratio should be: 15% or less body fat for men and 25% or less for women.
Here is a visual image that shows what a press looks like with different quantity contents subcutaneous fat:
As you can see, the abdominal muscles become visible at 15% and 25% in men and women respectively, and especially stand out at 10% in men and 20% in women.
It was mentioned earlier that some areas of the body lose fat faster than others.
Unfortunately, the layer of fat that covers the core muscles, especially the lower parts, is terribly resilient. And the point is not in the individual characteristics of the body, but in physiology.
There are scientific reasons why fat cells in this area of the body are more difficult to burn than others. And fortunately, there are various strategies to improve this situation.
2. Develop all your abdominal muscles
In other words, you need to pump all the core muscles. There is a common belief that people who do a lot of weight-bearing exercises (squats, deadlift, exercises with added weight, etc.) do not need to train the abdominal muscles.
One may not agree with this. Let's take a quick look at the muscles that make up the abdominals.
Firstly, this rectus abdominis (rectus abdominal muscle). This is the name for a group of muscles that look like six “packs”:
Then several other abdominal muscles that complete appearance torso, these include the oblique and abdominal (or transverse, as it is usually called), as well as the serratus muscles:
Don't discount the need to develop these muscles other than the "pretty" rectus muscle.
Here is an example of abs, with poorly developed lower layers of core muscles:
Yes, it doesn’t look bad, but there is no relief of the oblique abdominal muscles, the serratus muscle is underdeveloped and there is no line of the transverse muscle.
Some people have a different problem: their rectus muscle is weakly expressed or unevenly expressed, while the rest of the abdominal muscles are pumped:
If the obliques are too extended, the rectus muscle is deficient, and the transversus and serratus muscles may be absent.
Now let's take a look at what a good, proper abdominal press should look like:
Of course the model (Greg Plitt) has much better genetics than those two guys, but he's no thinner than the second guy. He just has the perfect balance of development of all the core muscles.
The goal is not just to get beautiful abs, but to have great abs.
I don't look like Plitt, but I have personal experience working on building my abdominal muscle groups. This is me a few years ago:
I was about 7% body fat and, as you can see, pretty good core muscle building. It is worth noting that I did squats, deadlifts, and some abdominal exercises, but this is not what I would like to write about in this article.
(If you're wondering why I only have four abs instead of six, it's purely genetic. Some people develop better rectus abdominis muscles than others.)
This rather dramatic improvement was the result of not only training the rectus muscles, but also other major abdominal muscles.
The Real Shortcut to Six-Pack Abs
It doesn't matter whether you are a man or a woman, a thin person must have developed abdominal muscles.
You can lose weight with proper nutrition and diets, and for the development of the core muscles of the core, training of both isolated muscle groups and all muscles as a whole is necessary.
Use this workout and flexible diet program to lose up to 5 kg of fat and shape beautiful muscles in just 30 days... without exhausting fasting or constant training in gym.
The best exercises to train your abdominal muscles
I have seen and talked to many people who regularly do an incredible number of different exercises, who can plank for an impressive amount of time, but all this does not lead to results - their abs remain underdeveloped.
It is necessary to leave the “comfort zone”, i.e. it is necessary to give increased load on the muscles For their growth. It is worth paying attention to this, and, in the case of weight training, increase the weight from time to time.
One of the biggest mistakes is not doing strength training with weights when working on your core muscles.
Before we talk about training routines, let's look at what individual exercises are.
There are an almost endless number of different abdominal exercises to choose from, and almost as many opinions as to which exercises are best. Luckily, we're only interested in a few exercises that will help build your core.
All exercises listed in this article were selected based on certain research, as well as my personal experience, which was gained while working with hundreds of people.
I also described several exercises that you can perform, but if you carefully follow the basic plan, then most likely they are not needed.
Basic exercises
Squats, deadlift, bench press, classical military press While they are not abdominal exercises in themselves, they are effective in building and strengthening your core muscles.
They are also the most important exercises for overall building and strengthening the muscles of the body. If you don't do them and don't intend to do them, then you lose the lion's share of progress.
Twisting on the upper block
Crunches on upper block– one of my favorite exercises, which helps well in the formation of the rectus abdominis muscle.
A variant of “twisting” twists is possible, in which, in addition to the rectus muscle, there is a large load on the oblique abdominal muscles. In this case, the sequence of actions is as follows: you need to touch the left knee with your right elbow, then the usual straight twist, and the left elbow touches the right knee, back to the center and so on.
Raising the legs while resting on the elbows
This exercise is considered one of the best, which involves the rectus and oblique abdominal muscles (including their lower parts).
You can start with knee raises, but you should aim to do the exercise with your legs extended. After this load becomes small, you can add weight, for example, clamp medicine ball between the legs.
Hanging leg raises on the bar
This exercise is similar to the previous one, but requires much more effort.
Similar to the previous one, at first it can also be performed with bent knees, but strive to perform with extended legs. Over time you can add weight.
Bike
Don't let it light exercise fool yourself - it is an excellent addition to your workouts. When performing a bicycle, the oblique and transverse abdominal muscles are involved.
Ab roller
I'm not a fan of various gadgets and other gizmos for training, but the ab roller is a really effective and cheap tool.
If you want to include this exercise in your regular training program, then you need to purchase a high-quality video, for example, this one:
Although you can use any :)
You can add weight to this exercise using a weighted vest.
How to create an effective training program and pump up your abs
The rules for creating a workout focused on shaping the abs are very simple:
1. Combine weight-bearing and body-weight exercises into one workout.
Abs capable of deep, split contractions individual muscles requires a lot more preparation than many might think. In this case, the approach periodic» exercise is the most effective way to achieve this goal.
2. Exercise regularly
Optimal training frequency is a subject of endless debate. However, the main rule can be identified: The smaller the muscle group, the faster it recovers.
So general exercises like deadlifts or squats take longer to recover than isolated exercises, for example, on the biceps.
So I noticed that, just like the calf muscles, the abdominal muscles can do more contractions than larger muscle groups.
I noticed that 2-3 ab workouts per week, and at the same time the overall power training– “golden mean” for obtaining maximum results And preventing overtraining .
If we consider the question of the required number of abdominal workouts per week, then it is worth leaving 1 to 2 days of rest between workouts. If I plan three workouts a week, I prefer to train on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, or Tuesday and Thursday if I plan to do two workouts.
3. Make sure progress is not stagnant
As with any other workout, the main goal of the workout is to become stronger, with beautiful, toned muscles.
The weight used during training should gradually increase as the number of times you can do the same exercise with the weight equals the number of times you can do the same exercise without the weight.
Now that we know the “rules,” let’s take a closer look at how to plan your workouts.
The training scheme is elementary. It is necessary to do the exercises cyclically. One cycle contains 3 exercises that must be performed continuously one after another. We rest only between cycles; we do not rest between exercises within a cycle.
Abdominal training program
How to build a loop:
- The first set should include a strength exercise, such as crunches, elbow raises, or hanging leg raises on the bar - 10-15 repetitions in total.
If you cannot do the exercise at least 10 times, then you need to reduce the weight. If you do it 15 times, it’s time to add a couple of kilograms.
- We immediately move on to one set of exercises without weight and do it as many times as possible.
- We move on to another set of exercises without weight and do it as many times as possible.
- Rest 2-3 minutes before a new cycle.
For example, here's one of my favorite loops:
- 1 set of crunches in the upper block, 10-12 times
- 1 set of leg raises resting on the elbows as many times as possible
- 1 bicycle set maximum number of times
Rest 2-3 minutes
I usually insert ab circuits between sets of common muscle groups to save time. For example:
- 1 set of deadlifts
- 1 cycle per press
- Rest 60-90 seconds
- 1 set of deadlifts
- 1 cycle per press
- Rest 60-90 seconds
It’s better to set yourself a goal of 3 abdominal cycles during one workout (and 2-3 workouts per week). It's actually not as easy as it seems!
Can sports nutrition supplements help you get bigger abs faster?
No natural substances can “burn fat,” no matter how complicated or pseudo-scientific the explanation may be.
Supplement companies most often talk about increasing fat oxidation levels (while muscle mass preserved) while supporting the thyroid gland, inducing thermogenesis, blocking enzymes related to fat storage, inducing enzymes that cause fat loss, managing hormone and neurotransmitter levels, reducing water retention, improving nutrient absorption and much more.
Okay, while these aspects do have an impact on weight loss, this type of marketing is nothing more than an attempt to blind us with terminology and scientific half-truths in hopes that we will believe it.
If you look at the science of fat loss, you'll find that the right supplements can help, but they won't compensate for poor nutrition and exercise. If you follow the advice in this article, and don't torture yourself with exhausting diets and workouts, you can reap benefits from supplements that will truly speed up fat loss.
Let's summarize the ab training
Almost every fitness guru and workout program promises to give you a six-pack for a very short time, but few can actually deliver on that promise because it's not really that fast of a process.
There is no panacea for creating a beautiful torso. If you want a lean, sexy belly, then you need to be patient, eat right and exercise. If you are willing to wait months rather than days, you will get the results you want.
Now you know everything you need to eventually get a six pack, get out of your comfort zone and get to work!
It would seem that a lot has been said about the press and its training. A variety of programs and schemes leave virtually no questions in this difficult matter. However, in ordinary gyms They still train muscles using old, and sometimes dangerous, methods. As a rule, this state of affairs is dictated by various myths and misconceptions, of which there are a great many in every gym. Let's look at the 6 most popular myths about pumping up the abs.
Myth #1 – The upper and lower abs need to be strengthened exclusively with isolated exercises
The rectus abdominis muscle is a flat band that covers the abdomen from the chest to the groin. This muscle is included in the work when performing any abdominal exercises, while working completely, from top to bottom. It is impossible to pump up any particular area of this muscle in isolation, no matter how much you want. Whatever exercise you do, it will fully load the rectus abdominis muscle. On the other side, various exercises allow this muscle to contract unevenly. One of these areas will always be more stressed. For example, hanging leg raises and reverse crunches shift the load to the lower region of the rectus abdominis muscle.
Myth #2 – Seated sit-ups are a harmful and useless exercise that leads to back pain.
Seated sit-ups are one of the time-tested exercises that have been proven effective on hundreds of thousands of soldiers and boxers. Sitting sit-ups have been replaced by another exercise in fitness - crunches. The reason for this is simple - few amateurs could perform this exercise correctly. Violation of technique invariably resulted in a lower back injury. This is where the bad reputation for seated sit-ups came from. In fact, if you perform this exercise correctly, it will be no worse than traditional crunches. You just need to remember that you cannot perform this exercise at a sharp pace with pronounced jerks and in a multi-repetition mode.
Myth #3 – Torso rotations gymnastic stick on the shoulders lead to a narrowing of the waist
Rotations of the body with a gymnastic stick on the shoulders specifically affect the oblique abdominal muscles, while affecting the frontal width of the waist insignificantly. The ease and unfamiliarity of the exercise forces many athletes to speed up the pace of its execution. Ultimately, this has a negative impact on the lower spine. Even injuries to small ligaments and pinched nerve endings are possible. It is best to train the oblique abdominal muscles in special exercise machines. Maintain a slow pace of exercise, pausing at the end point.
Myth#4 – Crunches are better than any machine
Not only the abdominal muscles, but also the pelvic flexors are involved in flexing the body. These muscles come into play the moment the lower back lifts off the floor. While the lower back is supported, the pelvic flexor muscles hardly work. Constant overstrain of these muscles leads to their shortening and subsequent deformation. hip joints, which in the future leads to severe pain in the lumbar region. Exercise machines for pumping up the abs allow you to remove the harmful load on the lower back or significantly reduce it. Compared to traditional crunches, they work your abs safely.
Myth #5 – Intense, high-repetition training is necessary to pump up your abs.
Recent scientific research has proven that the number of repetitions is not the key factor in pumping up the abs. The quality of each repetition plays a more significant role. A large number of repetitions, most often performed by inertia, only minimally load the abdominal muscles. As with training any other muscle, you should do the reps slowly and forcefully, making sure to hold at the top to prolong the moment of peak contraction. The optimal number of repetitions is 8-12 times with additional weights. Only by adhering to this rule can you make your abs visible.
Myth #6 – Additional weights are harmful because they lead to thickening of the abdominal wall.
To get the desired “cubes”, it is necessary to achieve an increase in the mass of the rectus abdominis muscle. Well, such a task is impossible without the use of additional weights. However regular training Pressing with additional weight is harmful because it can lead to hypertrophy of the pelvic flexor muscles with all the ensuing consequences. That is why it is recommended to pump the press in a cyclic mode. For example, 4-8 weeks you pump the abs with a small number of repetitions with additional weights, and then 4-8 weeks in a regime of 8-12 repetitions. This technique will not cause harm, but it will make your abs perfect.
Yours complete guide on abdominal exercises.
All athletes, whether hockey players, baseball players or football players, strengthen their abdominal muscles by doing basic exercises. This is great for professional athletes, but what about the guys and gals who just want to tone their abs and see that coveted 6-pack? How can they choose the most effective exercises for the abs to see the six-pack on your stomach? Or maybe a secret flat stomach lies in something else?
First, let's face it: everyone's abdominal muscle structure is different, and most importantly, everyone's amount of subcutaneous fat and metabolism are different. Some guys have to work out to the point of exhaustion before their abs become ripped, while others seem to have a six-pack appearing without much effort.
Regardless of which group you belong to, effective abdominal exercises for training in the gym or at home come down to movements in three planes: frontal, sagittal and transverse. By doing abdominal exercises in cycles, you'll keep your workout intensity high and are likely to burn more fat.
Ready to train your abdominal muscles? Let these 30 ab exercises at home and in the gym serve as the best workout guide you've ever encountered.
Roll-outs with a gymnastic roller
Get on your knees and hold the roller on the floor directly under your shoulders. Tighten your abdominal muscles and roll the roller forward until you feel tension in your core muscles. The hips should not sag. Roll the roller back to return to its original position. Do as many repetitions as possible while following correct technique performing the exercise.
Partial torso raises with raised arms
Lie on your back, bend your legs at an angle of 90°, straighten your arms and lift them up. Keep your arms in this position throughout the entire exercise. Perform a partial lift of the torso, and then slowly return to the starting position. These movements constitute one repetition.
Rollouts with a barbell
Place 5kg weight plates on the bar and kneel down. Shoulders should be above the bar. Tighten your abdominal muscles and roll the barbell forward until you feel your hips begin to sag. Return to the starting position.
Russian twist with barbell
Grasp the bar with both hands almost at the very end. Feet shoulder width apart. Rotate the bar to the left, moving your feet as necessary, and then rotate to the right.
Crunches on a fitball
Lie with your back on the ball, place your feet on the floor and place them shoulder-width apart. The ball must support bottom part backs. Place your hands behind your head, pull your chin back. Lift your torso up until you are in a sitting position.
Leg raises on parallel bars
Take an emphasis on the uneven bars. Bend your knees slightly and then lift them in front of you until they are parallel to the floor.
Lying leg raise
Lie on your back, straighten your legs, place your arms along your body. Lift your heels off the floor and lift them to a height of about 15 cm. At a fast pace, alternately lift your legs up and down (scissor style).
Front Squats
Place the barbell on a power rack at approximately shoulder height (if there is no power rack, then grab the barbell from the floor to your chest). Grasp the bar with a shoulder-width grip. Raise your elbows up until your shoulders are parallel to the floor. Remove the barbell from the racks and support it with your fingertips. As long as your elbows are raised, you will be able to hold the barbell. Take a step back, place your feet shoulder-width apart, and point your toes slightly outward. Squat down as low as possible, maintaining a arch in your lower back.
Lumberjack exercise
Place the handle of the machine at shoulder height (or attach the resistance band to a stable object) and grasp it with both hands. Stand with your side to the handle, spread your feet shoulder-width apart, straighten your arms. Stand far enough away from the machine to create tension in the cable. Turn your body away from the machine in a movement as if you were cutting down a tree. The legs must remain motionless.
Lying leg raise
Lie on the floor and grab a bench or the legs of a heavy chair for support. Straighten your legs and lift them up to a vertical position. Lower your legs down, but don't place them on the floor, to maintain tension in your abdominal muscles before starting the next rep.
Russian twist with medicine ball
Sit on the floor holding the medicine ball with both hands. Straighten your arms in front of you. Explosively twist your torso to the side and then return to the starting position. Make a similar movement in the other direction.
“Running” while lying down with a medicine ball
Get into a lying position supported by a medicine ball. Bring one knee toward your chest and then quickly move it back while bringing the other knee toward your chest.
"Superman"
Take a lying position with your toes on the fitball. Bend your body in half, rolling the ball toward you with your feet until your torso is upright. Roll the ball back until your body is straight again. Then place your shins on the exercise ball so that your body is in a straight line and outstretched arms found themselves above their heads, but were still on the floor. The body position should resemble Superman flying down. These movements constitute one repetition. Tightening your back muscles, return to the starting position (lying up) and begin the next repetition.
Plank
Take a lying position, bend your elbows so that your forearms are on the floor. Tighten your abdominal muscles and hold this position.
Pull-ups with knee raises
Hang from the horizontal bar using an overhand grip. Place your hands shoulder-width apart. Pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar, then lift your knees toward your chest.
Push-ups with cotton
Get into a prone position with your feet in the handles of the suspension training straps. Push off the floor so that you can clap your hands in the air.
Reverse crunches with an expander
Lie on your back and place the resistance band around your feet. Cross the ends of the resistance band so that they form the letter “X” and grab the opposite ends of the band with your hands. Bend your legs so that your knees are close to your chest, and then lift your torso off the floor. Straighten your legs while moving your arms back behind your head. Shoulder blades should not touch the floor. These movements constitute one repetition.
Rollouts with fitball
Place your forearms on the fitball, take your legs back and straighten. Tightening your abdominal muscles, roll the fitball forward until your arms are straight. When you feel that your abdominal muscles are no longer tense, return to the starting position by rolling the exercise ball back.
Try others for training at home.
Leg raises while sitting on a bench
Sit on a bench and hold a medicine ball between your feet. Straighten and raise your legs in front of you. Pull your torso back so that your body is straight in line. Hold onto a bench to maintain your body position. Lift your torso up and bring your knees to your chest.
Side plank
Lie on your left side, place your left forearm on the floor. Raise your hips so that your body is in a straight line. Tighten your abdominal muscles. You should rest on your left forearm and the edge of your left foot. Hold this position, tensing your abdominal muscles.
"Sprinter"
Get into a prone position with your feet in the handles of the suspension training straps. Bring your right knee toward your chest while maintaining left leg straightened. Now take your right leg back while bringing your left knee towards your chest. The movements should resemble running.
Raising the body with a ball throw
Sit on the floor, hold the ball with both hands at chest level. Place your feet under a heavy object to maintain proper body position. Lie with your back on the floor a few tens of centimeters from a brick or concrete wall. With an explosive movement, lift your torso, throw the ball at the wall, and then catch it on the rebound. If you have a partner, you can throw the ball to each other.
Bar in star position
Take a lying position. Spread your arms and legs as wide as possible. Your body should take the shape of a star. Tighten your abdominal muscles and hold your body straight for 30 seconds.
Raising the torso with a barbell
Lie down on the floor. Hold an empty or lightly loaded bar over your shoulders, as if doing a bench press. Straighten your legs and place them on the floor. Raise your torso to a vertical position. Hold the bar overhead as if doing a military press.
Place a barbell on the floor to your right and place your feet hip-width apart. Push your hips back, squat down, and grab the center of the bar. right hand. Tighten your core muscles. Keeping a slight arch in your lower back, push your heels off the floor to stand. Hold the barbell tightly so that the apparatus does not swing. Make sure to keep your spine straight throughout the exercise. Do not lean towards the bar.
Plank with circular movements
Place the fitball on the floor and lie down with your support on it. Place your forearms on the exercise ball, keeping your body straight and keeping your abdominal muscles tight. Moving your elbows, rotate the fitball in a circular motion first clockwise, then counterclockwise.
V-shaped torso lifts with fitball
Lie with your back on the floor. Hold the exercise ball between your ankles. Stretch your arms behind your head. As you lift your legs, simultaneously lift your torso and take the fitball in your hands. Lower your torso to the floor and repeat the movement, lifting the exercise ball and holding it again between your ankles.
V-lifts with medicine ball
Lie on your back on the floor, holding the medicine ball behind your head with both hands. Straighten your legs. Tighten your abdominal muscles. At the same time, raise your legs and reach your toes with the medicine ball. Your body should be in a "V" shape during this phase of the exercise.
Raising the torso with weights
Lie on the floor and hold a weight plate against your chest. Bend your knees at an angle of 90°, but so that the entire surface of your feet remains on the floor. Keep your chin at chest level throughout the exercise.
Lumberjack exercise while standing on one knee
Lower yourself into a deep lunge position with your left leg forward. Reach over your left shoulder to the handle of the expander. Pull the handle diagonally down across your body towards outside right thigh.
Frankly speaking, it is best to perform exercises with weighted abdominal muscles only when you can already calmly raise your toes to the bar while hanging. This is not just a quibble, but a criterion for assessing strength. It is at this level that a person can stabilize the lower back and perform the exercise precisely by contracting the rectus abdominis muscle, and not by swinging, inertia and “bringing” the legs. Should you wear weights on your arms while working out your abs? There is no single answer to this question. And the point of view about preliminary development of strength and balance is also not particularly popular in the fitness world. And this has a fairly simple rationale.
Why exercises with abdominal weights are given to beginners
Everything is very simple. People quickly adapt to any exercise, and they get used to it mainly psychologically, not physically. How is it possible to do a simple leg raise from a lying position on the floor three times a week during training? Yes, I’m better... So people leave one group lesson for another, try all the programs at once and perform a bunch of different loads. Do they get more training effect? No, precisely because of the variety of loads, which replaces the progression of complexity. How to make your training more effective? Let's say this:
- in the first 4 weeks the person performs only straight crunches while lying on the floor without weights, and reverse twist, that is, bringing the knees to chest hanging. He does this for 3-4 working sets of 10-15 reps. Once it has become easy, moves on to the next level;
- then for about another month our hero does the same thing, but using a fitball;
- then he switches to the horizontal bar and inclined bench;
- and only after learning to work on the horizontal bar and incline bench, he may consider putting weights on his feet, or holding them in his hands.
Why doesn't almost anyone do this? Yes, simply because clients don’t run away from boredom to more varied training instructors. But you and I need results, since we study at home on our own, right? Therefore, before attaching weights to your legs, you should learn how to work correctly without them.
What not to do in abdominal exercises with weights
- Lift too much weight.
At first, you will feel like you need to take the heaviest cuffs, almost like leg cuffs. But...our body is designed in such a way that the quadriceps are stronger than the rectus abdominis. And it is the legs that will take on most of the load, and the abs will remain “unloaded”. The meaning of the weights will then simply be lost. Choose the lightest cuffs and add weight gradually, paying more attention to technique and less to weight progression.
- Bend sideways while holding weights in your hands.
Side bends are a great movement for men who want to get wider rather than maintain thin waist. If you are closer to “feminine” body aesthetics, you should not bend over. They lead to hypertrophy of the oblique abdominal muscles and the “disappearance” of the waist. It is with the help of bending, and not squats and deadlifts, that a “rectangular” figure is built, therefore bending should be avoided, except in cases where they are indicated for the correction of scoliosis, but in this case weights and other burdens are not used.
- Make swinging, amplitude movements and lift your lower back off the floor during lifts.
We must have the skill of “assembling” the back in all starting positions. We must learn to draw in the abdomen and stabilize the lower back so that there is minimal movement in the lumbar region when we lift our legs. If from a lying position we cannot lift our legs off the floor so that the spine does not arch, this exercise is contraindicated for us. There are many analogues, for example, bringing the toes to the midline of the body in TRX loops and the same raising of the toes to the midline while hanging on the horizontal bar. You should not swing your legs or jerk your body, as this does not allow maintaining the stability of the spine and sooner or later leads to injury.
Approximate set of exercises
- Reverse twist with reduced amplitude.
The weights are placed on the shins and fastened tightly. Next, the legs are brought to a position perpendicular to the floor. Due to the contraction of the rectus abdominis muscle, a person pushes his heels into the ceiling, that is, slightly lifts the pelvis off the floor. The movement should not be due to the inertial swing of the legs. You should imagine exactly how you are trying to touch the ceiling with your heels, twisting your pelvic bones to the lower ribs, and not how to swing your legs like a pendulum and try to go through part of the amplitude at their expense.
- Lifting your legs off the floor.
The exercise is performed only by those who can stabilize the lower back. Having tightened your stomach, you should smoothly lift your legs off the floor and move them perpendicular to the axis of the spine. As you exhale, smoothly lower it back, ideally, do not touch the floor with your feet, but “hover” a few centimeters, and then perform another repetition.
- Reverse hanging crunch.
It is necessary to hang on the horizontal bar or wall bars, weights on the shins, pulling the legs towards the midline of the body, tense the abs, lowering the legs - do not “throw” it and do not relax too quickly.
- Straight twisting with weights.
Lie on the floor on your back, bring your legs to your buttocks, and move your feet 10 cm forward, so that the support is strong enough. Take the weights in your hands and bring them out in front of you with straight arms. Perform a twist, bringing the lower ribs to the pelvic bones, and return to the starting position.
- Raising weights to straight legs.
This is a more complicated version of twisting; it is necessary to bring the legs into a position perpendicular to the spine, tighten the stomach and stabilize the lower back. Then you should stretch the weights to the front surface of your shins and gently lower yourself to the starting position.
- Russian twist.
We sit on the floor on our buttocks, bring our hands with weights to the middle of our chest and stretch them forward. Next, we lift our feet off the floor, tensing our abs, and perform short twists from side to side, pulling our navel toward our spine. The goal is to avoid “falling out” of the balance pose and to keep your stomach relaxed.
- Scissors.
Weights are put on the legs, the legs themselves are moved up from the lying position, at an angle of 45 degrees to the floor. The abdomen is retracted, then the feet are spread and brought together to the center, imitating the movement of “scissors”. During the exercise, the hands stabilize the position of the body, that is, they are pressed tightly to the sides and the floor.
The number of repetitions in such exercises should not exceed 12-15 repetitions; 3-4 working approaches should be performed. The principle of selecting exercises is one “direct” twist, one “reverse” twist. Abdominal training is best combined with strength exercises on any other muscle groups, and not on a separate day as an independent exercise. Alternatively, you can pump up your abs after a cardio session. A dedicated ab workout usually uses too little energy to be effective for weight loss, which is something to consider as well.