I feel everyone's perception of the way to a perfect stomach is through crunches... lots and lots of simple crunches. The issue with crunches is only works the upper part of your abs. There is a lot more muscle between your ribs and hip bones then we realize, wrap the muscle all the way around you body and you get your core. I got my fitness assessed at the start of this whole journey and my core makes up the same muscle mass as one of my legs, a quarter of my bodies strength...
I watched a video back when that recommended "If your abs are sore, keeping working them... everyday!!" I would fully support this, even if just a little bit to make sure they know you still care. So what I started to do is integrate abs into every other workout I can; which is what I refer to as The Multidisciplinary Workout. For instance:
- Standing one legged EZ Bar Curls and Dumbbell Tricep Extensions
- Incline Dumbbell Bench and Flys with Leg inverted
- Dumbbell Front Raises or Curls while chair sitting against a wall
- Lunge start, barbell shoulder press and push the back leg forward to finish with one knee in the air
The last one is my new favorite!! Also can be done with cables lower chest raises with the cables down low, the further forward you go the harder it is to hold your arms outstretched while balanced on one leg. After a few weeks of this plus moderate ab workouts every other day I really started to feel my abs flexed throughout the day, much more stable. Try out my typical ab workout:
- 10 short scissor kicks followed by a leg raise, consecutively repeat 10 times
- 20 super crunches with elevated feet like the image above, I like to stagger my legs
- 20 finger pushes, with legs elevated 12 inches off the ground place your hands flat by your side and push your fingers forward 3 inches or so...
- 100 bicycle kicks then planks until I collapse
- Repeat twice with reduced reps as needed
- Try not to fall out of bed in the morning
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