I got abs like these (yes another selfy but it gets the point across) from as little as 5 minutes a day at the end of my workouts. The key to getting abs, is adding weight and work until exhaustion. Abdominals are a muscle group that is a primary stabilizer for your posture and therefore have a high tolerance to fatigue, therefore what we can do is exhaust the muscle through either constant tension or little rest! Now remember, you need to take off the fat jacket before you will get the visual, so keep strict to your diet and exercise and your abs will be there in no time! Here is one of my favorite ab circuits you can follow easily even at home, and takes as little as 15 minutes!
*ALAP means as long as possible.
All are done on 1- 2 minutes of rest x 3 sets!
Here is a better explanation of the exercises for those who need it!
Leg lifts: You start laying on your back. I find it easiest to place your hands under your bum so your tailbone isn't on the hard ground. You then pull your shoulder blades off the ground (the rest of your back can be flush) and don't pull your neck up to look at your feet as this can cause neck pain. Your goal now is to not let your heels or your shoulders touch the ground again. You then lift your legs off the ground until they point as close to the ceiling as possible. UPGRADE: lift your bum off the ground as well to get added strain on the abdominals.
Bicycles: These are also sometimes called 1,2,3's and are awesome at getting nice obliques (just outside your central abs) and serratus anterior muscles (those little abs up by your lats and chest). What you do is again keep your heels off of the ground. From there you bring your right elbow to your left knee by rotating and twisting the core around. Don't reach with your arms, remember to bring your elbow to your knee by using your abs to both stabilize and perform the lift. You then follow by doing this to the opposite side. Some people like to hold every 3rd one to make sure the motion stays slow and the abs are fatigued I normally do not include the pause but I make sure each rep takes around 3-4 seconds. This slow movement will increase tension. Additionally fast twisting movement put a lot of torque and strain on your lower back and can lead to injury, so remember to slow down and use your abs.
Plank: The plank is the staple of any good ab routine. It does a fantastic job at completely fatiguing the abs as well as build lean muscle without bulky muscle. You want your elbows directly below your shoulders and nothing but a straight line from your shoulders to your heels. Make sure you do not let your bum sag down or lift up and maintain a flexed core throughout the movement. By not flexing your abs some of the tension will be transfered to your lower back and can lead to pain or injury. UPGRADE: I put my toes on a bench and my elbows on an exercise ball. This added lateral instability leads to a harder hold for the abs.
So there it is guys! Try this routine 3-5 times a week along with a healthy diet and you will see abs in no time! The proof is in the pictures!
Cheers!
Ryan Trueman
Ryan.Trueman@dal.ca
Here is a better explanation of the exercises for those who need it!
Leg lifts: You start laying on your back. I find it easiest to place your hands under your bum so your tailbone isn't on the hard ground. You then pull your shoulder blades off the ground (the rest of your back can be flush) and don't pull your neck up to look at your feet as this can cause neck pain. Your goal now is to not let your heels or your shoulders touch the ground again. You then lift your legs off the ground until they point as close to the ceiling as possible. UPGRADE: lift your bum off the ground as well to get added strain on the abdominals.
V Sits: For v sits you start in a similar position as leg lifts however you are not sitting on your hands. For v sits you hold your shoulder blades up or a weight over your head with your heels off of the ground. You then move from this hold slowly into a V position. This should be done slowly and controlled for the most strain on the abs. This one can be a little tough for beginners so I included an alternate exercise called flutter kicks. For flutter kicks remain in the leg lift position and keep your heels off the ground, you then kick your feet while keeping your legs straight and your toes pointed. Your heels never touch the ground again until the kicking is done at the end of 1 minute. UPGRADE: Do them on the end of a bench so that your legs can go into a negative horizontal angle for a wider range of motion!
Bicycles: These are also sometimes called 1,2,3's and are awesome at getting nice obliques (just outside your central abs) and serratus anterior muscles (those little abs up by your lats and chest). What you do is again keep your heels off of the ground. From there you bring your right elbow to your left knee by rotating and twisting the core around. Don't reach with your arms, remember to bring your elbow to your knee by using your abs to both stabilize and perform the lift. You then follow by doing this to the opposite side. Some people like to hold every 3rd one to make sure the motion stays slow and the abs are fatigued I normally do not include the pause but I make sure each rep takes around 3-4 seconds. This slow movement will increase tension. Additionally fast twisting movement put a lot of torque and strain on your lower back and can lead to injury, so remember to slow down and use your abs.
Plank: The plank is the staple of any good ab routine. It does a fantastic job at completely fatiguing the abs as well as build lean muscle without bulky muscle. You want your elbows directly below your shoulders and nothing but a straight line from your shoulders to your heels. Make sure you do not let your bum sag down or lift up and maintain a flexed core throughout the movement. By not flexing your abs some of the tension will be transfered to your lower back and can lead to pain or injury. UPGRADE: I put my toes on a bench and my elbows on an exercise ball. This added lateral instability leads to a harder hold for the abs.
So there it is guys! Try this routine 3-5 times a week along with a healthy diet and you will see abs in no time! The proof is in the pictures!
Cheers!
Ryan Trueman
Ryan.Trueman@dal.ca
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