Has anyone ever told you that “abs are made in the kitchen”?
What that means is that diet is the most important component of having impressive abs. You may find that isn’t true. If you don’t have good ab genetics then even at low bodyfat levels you might be left with unsatisfactory results. I don’t believe that abs are any different to other muscles: some people have naturally good structure and don’t need to train them much (if at all), and others don’t so they do need to train them. How do you acquire absthetics?
WBFF Pro Luke Haslett doing hanging leg raises.
Get Shredded
If your abs are hidden beneath a layer of fat, and you have no idea what they look like, then you need to get lean. Diet to single-digit bodyfat levels where your abs are fully visible. Here’s an easy guide to doing it.
Train Your Abs
There are three core muscle groups that you need to train for aesthetics and stability:
- the rectus abdominis, which are parallel vertical strands of muscles that most people refer to as the “abs”;
- the external and internal obliques help support the spine, and are involved in flexion and rotation;
- the transverse abdominis lies beneath the obliques and provides stabilty.
You can’t isolate the abs or obliques. Any ab movement will activate the obliques to some extent. However, it is possible to emphasise the upper or lower abs, or obliques, despite the fact that they will contract as a whole regardless of which movement you choose.
Start with a weighted ab movement. Then do a bodyweight ab movement. Continue with a weighted rotational movement for the obliques. Finish with a weighted anti-rotational movement for the obliques. Add in more volume if you can handle it, or train abs more frequently. You can also choose to do a few sets of a bodyweight ab movement after deadlifts and squats (you’re doing these, right?) if you don’t have a lot of time.
Find the movements that work best for you, but remember to choose them intelligently: if your lower abs are undeveloped then hanging leg raises and bicycle crunches will engage them more than, say, planks.
Sample Training Template
A. Lat pulldown crunches – 4 sets of 8-12.
(Begin each rep by exhaling and contracting your abs. Perform the concentric portion explosively, but control the negative, squeeze for 2secs at the peak contraction.)
B. Hanging leg raises – 4 sets to failure.
(Begin each rep by exhaling and contracting your abs. Perform the concentric portion explosively, but control the negative, stopping just before your legs come all the way down. Don’t use momentum. Don’t fully extend your legs, focus on bringing your knees up by contracting the abs.)
C. Wood chops – 4 sets of 8-12.
D. Landmines – 4 sets of 15-20.
Equipment Selection
Choosing the right piece(s) of equipment is not an often discussed aspect of ab training but it’s crucial. Persisting with an exercise when you’re not feeling it in the right place or sticking with a certain piece of equipment even though you can’t feel and see the benefits it pointless! Equipment selection is a little beyond the scope of this article but our friends at Rigour fitness have a great guide you can check out here.
Results
Before and ab-fter. Lower bodyfat + tan + frequent ab training = better abs.