So you’re looking to get a six pack and a solid core? In my opinion, simple crunches aren’t going to do it. Sure, crunches will work out your abs and build some muscle there, but to get a truly solid core, you need more. Additionally, crunches are incredibly tedious and boring, which is why most people avoid them. To get a full upper and lower ab workout, we need something different.
The exercises I’m going to describe in the following article are all based around maximum contraction of your abdominal muscles, i.e. forcing yourself to squeeze them as HARD as possible, for as long as possible. They all work the entire range of the abdominal for a great upper and lower ab workout.
All of the following are all actually gymnastics exercises. Ever seen a gymnast’s abs? Pretty damn ripped huh? If any type of athlete knows how to build their core muscles, it’s a gymnast. The holds they perform during a routine take incredible core strength, so it’s no wonder their abs look like they do.
Anyway, let’s get to the exercises.
Ab Exercise #1: Hanging Leg Raise
Basically exactly how it sounds. Hang from a chin up bar, and while keeping your knees straight, lift your legs until they’re parallel with the floor… hold for as long as possible. Now, unless you’ve done this before, or you have fairly strong abs already you probably won’t be able to do this, or at least won’t be able to do it for very long. That’s ok. If you can’t keep your legs perfectly straight it’s OK to bend your knees a little. You can even bend your knees fully, and simply raise them as high as possible (try to touch your chest)… it’s still a fairly difficult exercises. Again, hold for as long as possible.
Ab Exercise #2: Knees to Elbows
This is again exactly as it sounds, and is also done while hanging. This time the knees are going to be bent fully, and you’re going to attempt to touch them to your elbows. Yes sounds difficult at first, which is why we need a little movement of the hips to be able to complete it. Now, instead of trying to help you visualize this through typing, I’m going to suggest you search YouTube for “knees to elbows”… click on the first result. Now you’ll see that in the video the girl performs reps as opposed to a single hold. It’s up to you which you perform, but in my opinion a single hold is much more difficult, and give that maximum contraction we’re looking for to really build the abs.
If you prefer, you can do repetitions instead of simply holding, but again, in my opinion a single hold at maximum contraction is more difficult and will be of more benefit to you. Hopefully these have added a little something to your upper and lower ab workout arsenal. So get on it and start building that core!
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