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Abdominals......
We all have them... the most commonly asked question I get is “how do I get six-pack abs”?
First off..you have six pack abs, they are just usually concealed by fat. Seeing your sixpack is primarily a matter of long-term dedication to a clean diet with enough of a calorie deficit to burn bodyfat.
Ab development? this is debatable.. some of the guys I know who compete and have the most insane abdominals, when asked how they work their abs, will give you a geeky-shy smile and say "I don't "....Other guys swear by really complex, really high volume ab work...how much is genetics? How much do you need to work them? Should you work them with weight? Should you do traditional ab movements or is 'functional training" really all its cracked up to be?
My opinion on ab work is that you should tailor it to your goals..just like any other workout. If you are a mid-50's golfer who just wants a better golf swing..you should be doing rotational standing ab movements..there is no need to be doing weighted kneeling crunches or hundreds of those silly 'machine' crunches (don't get me started...if your 90 year-old grandma can walk up, put the whole stack on and do 4 sets of 50 crunches..the machine isn't doing shit for your abs...get off the goddam machine!!!!) If you are a bodybuilder who wants them to pop out more you want to work them with some weight from every angle imaginable. If you are an athlete you should work them functionally with your sports movements...
Most importantly...what I try to impart to my clients is that EVERY EXERCISE YOU DO IS A CORE MOVEMENT. (go back and reread that..I'll wait.....) Every time you start a movement in the weight room, your first thought should be to pull up your pelvic floor, pull your abdominal girdle in (strong but not so tight it makes your back sore), and use your abdominals to transfer weight and power the way they are supposed to. The same thing goes for cardio. Try running, just running without thinking (again...go ahead, I will be right here.....). Okay..now try running with your abs recruited. Feel how they lift and roll your hip girdle, feel how they absorb impact, feel how involved they are with the way your body transfers the power and movement while you run...(yes, I will wait here..again...)...Hopefully you get my drift here... The thing my clients hear most during every session is "check in with your core" " recruit your core" "tighten your core" whenever a movement starts to get a little fatigued-looking or sloppy, I cue them to re-check their core and we get a few more good clean reps...It doesn't matter what you are doing, the abs should be working.
I rarely use flat abdominal floorwork with clients. If they cannot possibly perform functional core work or corework on the ball we will resort to traditional floor work, but first they have to learn neutral spine (where you have a small space under your low back that stays there throughout every movement). We all grew up being taught to press our lowback into the floor during ab work...but think about it..when do you EVER do anything in that posture in real life? Why would a fetal spine position ever be beneficial? Its not, so why develop abdominal strength in fetal position? Keep that space under your lowback..it will make your lumbar muscles have to work and will strengthen your ENTIRE core instead of just developing the rectus abdominus and hip flexors..
Preferably we do standing abs like woodchoppers, with med balls or cables or bands, swiss ball ab exercises, pilates type movements, movements that apply to real movement patterns they might encounter during daily activities.
So...how often??? abdominals are muscles..so I don't believe every day is beneficial..unless you are mainly after endurance...you want those abs to be able to crunch forever (for what?ummm, not sure but 200 crunches a day has to count for something, somewhere, right?) I think every other or every third day is plentiful...especially if you are recruiting them all the time during your workouts and daily activities, those puppies should be getting plenty strong all the time, as you learn to control and recruit them constantly. And of course, there are my buddies who don't ever work them directly..and have awesome abs ...I guess I don't stress too much about getting in a ton of ab work.
You want a really good ab exercise? tighten up your abdominal girdle and tie a piece of string around your waist. just comfortably, not tight. that string will make you work your abs all day, boy-o...do you need to do more?
So..thats my .02
:) hope its helpful instead of just more confusing....
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