subject: How To Build Abs That Are Rock Hard [print this page] If you want to learn how to build abs then youve come to the right place. I want to destroy some myths about building up your abs then give you some helpful tips so you can get those deep cuts and separation throughout your midsection. The deeper the cuts in your abs, the better they will look and the harder they will be.
First thing you have to understand about the abdominal muscles is that the six pack that you have or want to get is something that we all have. Everyone has a six pack, even the largest and most obese person you have ever seen. They still have a set of six pack abs, its just under a layer of more fat. The muscle responsible for this look is called the rectus abdominus and its main action to perform is flexion of the trunk. Thats it. It has no other function then to flex your trunk forward. And the separation that you see in your stomach muscles is not individual muscles, but just tendon insertion running across your abdominal wall. There is no such thing as your lower abs, side abs, and upper abs. There are some exercises that will help to develop these muscle fibers more than other ones, but conclusively there is no such thing as a lower ab muscle. The six pack is just one big muscle with tendon insertions running across. Thats why everyones six pack looks a little different than other peoples. Some have only a 4 pack, while others have an 8 pack. Its purely genetics.
Another thing you have to understand about training your abs is that there is no need to perform hundreds upon hundreds of crunches and sit ups to build them up. There is just no need too. Your abdominals are just like any other muscle group in the body. For example, would you perform hundreds upon hundreds of reps per day to work out your chest or biceps? I wouldnt think so. So then why would you do this for your abs?
Granted, your abdominal muscles are mostly slow twitch muscle fibers which respond best to endurance type of activities, but these muscle fibers when trained correctly can take on the effect of the larger Type IA, Type IIA, and sometimes Type IIB muscle fibers which has the highest propensity for growth. Another thing to understand is you can get away with training your abs more often than other muscle groups because of the short range of motion in the movement so not much damage will occur that would need to heal, but you shouldnt do them every day. That is just overkill.
Also you should be paying more attention to the deep abdominal muscles in order to build up your abs. The main muscle Im talking about is the transverse abdominus which sort of acts like a girdle around your waist and pulls everything in. It also is an important muscle for your lower back since it provides a tremendous amount of support. The best way to train this type of muscle is not with crunches or sit-ups, but with planks or any form thereof where you move other parts of your body but must keep your core nice and tight.
Now in order to really build your abs and bring out the most possible definition, you need to hit them hard and heavy just like any other muscle group that you would normally train during the week. Im talking about doing reps in the 8-15 range with heavy weighted resistance movements. Some good exercises that Im talking about are kneeling rope crunches, slight decline weighted sit ups, leg lifts at a decline angle, weighted overhead crunches, and Russian twists. Some other great exercises you can do to really make your abs strong and pop out is through the use of strong man training. Im talking about walking with heavy weights, pressing weights overhead and holding it there, keg tosses, kettle bell tosses, tire flips, sledgehammer training or the atlas stone. By lifting heavy weights and moving at the same time while holding on to them or dynamically performing movements with a heavy object really hits your abs hard. They have to hold you into position and brace your body. Overtime theyll get bigger and stronger just from doing movements like this.
Here is a good program you can use:
Kneeling rope crunches 4x15
Decline leg lifts 4 x20
Russian twists 4 x10
Planks 4 x Hold as long as possible
If you want, you can go through this entire routine as a circuit performing one exercise after the other, then resting and repeating the sequence 3 more times. However, I would only advise you to do this if you have a strong foundation, a strong core and in shape. If youre not, you might be complaining later about how your abs are twitching and spasming and youll definitely wake up the next day with extreme soreness. Something nobody wants.
So if youre just starting out or some years under your belt, then just do each set of each exercise, rest then go again. I would say the rest period could be a lot shorter than normal since your abs do seem to recover fast in between sets. This is also true for your forearms if you want to train those as well because of the small range of motion and type of muscle fibers they are made up of.
So all in all, when it comes to how to build abs, you really should do the opposite of what mostly tell you. There is no need to do endless sets and reps of crunches and sit ups everyday without any resistance. Youll just end up hurting your lower back by doing that. Train your abs hard just like any other body part and watch them grow right before your eyes. Hit them hard and hit them heavy and I guarantee youll see awesome results.
