Abdominal Training For Bodybuilding

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Q. Is the ab exercise just for body builders?

A. Yes the Magnificent Seven Bodybuilding Abdominals Training Routine!

Nothing looks more impressive than a well built physique with a six pack of sharply defined abdominal muscles in front of it. Remembering that abdominal definition is entirely dependent upon an awesome bodybuilding diet (as unless you strip enough body fat from your body to get down to 6% for males and 12% for women you will not be able to clearly see your abdominals), I will present below a routine that guarantees quick results in terms of hardening the abdominal wall.

The routine below is composed of 7 abdominal exercises carefully chosen to hit both the upper and lower abdominals. You will note that it can be performed very easily in the comfort of your living room. You will also notice that no direct oblique work is present.The reason for this is the fact that in my experience, direct oblique work only leads to a wider waistline. Besides, obliques get enough indirect stimulation from basic exercises like Squats, Deadlifts, and Standing Presses, as well as Sit-ups, V-Ups, etc.

Exercise #1: Partial Sit-Ups
Primary Target: Upper Abs
Secondary Target: Lower Abs and Obliques

1. Lie flat with your back on the floor and your knees bent. Your legs should be secured under a piece of heavy furniture. (Note: I am assuming that you are doing this routine at home).
   
   
2. Place your hands crossed in front of your chest.
   
   
3. Flexing your abdominals, raise your torso until your torso is lifted about 30 degrees off the floor. Exhale as you perform this step.
   
   
4. Retaining tension on the abs, lower your torso to the beginning position as you inhale.
   
   Safety Note: Maintain full control throughout the movement and avoid the temptation to rock back and forth.

Exercise #2: Lying Leg Raises
Primary Target: Lower Abs
Secondary Target: Upper Abs and Obliques

1. Lie flat with your back on the floor and your legs extended straight in front of you.
   
   
2. Place your hands at your sides by the floor for support.
   
   
3. Flexing your lower abdominals, raise your legs and exhale until they are perpendicular to the floor.
   
   
4. Retaining tension on the abs, lower your legs to the beginning position stopping just an inch off the floor as you inhale.
   
   Safety Note: Maintain full control throughout the movement. Avoid the temptation to let your legs drop on the negative portion of the movement.

Exercise #3: Lying Leg Raise & Crunch Combo
Primary Target: Upper and Lower Abs
Secondary Target: Obliques

1. Lie flat with your back on the floor and your legs extended straight in front of you.
   
   
2. Place your hands at your sides by the floor for support.
   
   
3. Flexing your lower abdominals, raise your legs until they are perpendicular to the floor.
   
   
4. At this time, raise your shoulders and torso as far as possible from the ground in a curling movement without raising your back from the floor as you exhale.
   
   
5. Retaining tension on the abs, lower your legs to the beginning position and then bring your torso to the starting position as well while breathing in.
   
   Safety Note: Maintain full control throughout the movement. Avoid the temptation to rock back and forth.

Exercise #4: Knee-Ins
Primary Target: Lower Abs
Secondary Target: Upper Abs and Obliques

1. Sit on the floor (or on the edge of a chair or exercise bench) with your legs extended in front of you and your hands holding on to the sides for support.
   
   
2. Keeping your knees together, pull your knees in towards your chest as you exhale until you can go no further.
   
   
3. Keeping the tension on your lower ab muscles, return to the start position as you inhale and repeat the movement until you have completed your set.

Exercise #5: Modified V-Ups
Primary Target: Upper and Lower Abs
Secondary Target: Obliques

1. Sit on the floor (or on the edge of a chair or exercise bench) with your legs extended in front of you and your hands holding on to the sides for support.
   
   
2. Simultaneously bring your legs up as far as possible while at the same time bringing your torso towards them as you inhale.
   
   
3. Exhale as you return to the start position and repeat the movement until you have completed your set.
   
   Note: This is a modified version of the V-Up. In a true V-Up your starting position is lying down on the floor and bringing yourself up with no arm support.

Exercise #6: Crunches
Primary Target: Upper Abs
Secondary Target: Lower Abs and Obliques

1. Lie flat with your back on the floor and your legs in front of you bent at the knees.
   
   
2. Place your hands crossed in front of your chest.
   
   
3. At this time, raise your shoulders and torso as far as possible from the ground in a curling movement without raising your back from the floor as you exhale.
   
   
4. Retaining tension on the abs, bring your torso to the starting position as you inhale.
   
   Safety Note: Maintain full control throughout the movement and avoid the temptation to rock back and forth).
   
   Exercise Variation: I like to perform this movement on top of an exercise ball in order to achieve full stretch of the abdominal wall and thus get full range of motion.

Exercise #7: Knee-In & Crunch Combination
Primary Target: Upper and Lower Abs
Secondary Target: Obliques

1. Lie flat with your back on the floor and your legs straight in front of you.
   
   
2. Place your hands at your sides by the floor for support.
   
   
3. Slowly bend your legs at the knees bringing them towards your chest.
   
   
4. Once the knees are by your chest, raise your shoulders and torso as far as possible from the ground in a curling movement without raising your back from the floor as you exhale.
   
   
5. Return your legs to the starting position and bring your torso back to the floor as you inhale.

Sets, Reps and Rest in Between Sets

Each exercise is to be done for 3 sets each of as many repetitions as you can perform in good form. Typically, I end up doing anywhere from 15-50 repetitions. I focus more these days on feeling the repetition and the burn than actual amount of repetitions. Remember that you get better results from performing 15 impeccable and well controlled repetitions than 50 sloppy ones.

There are many ways to perform this routine. I like to do a superset of exercises 1 and 2, rest 30 seconds, superset 3 and 4, rest 30 seconds, superset 5 & 6, rest 30 seconds and perform exercise 7. After exercise 7, I rest 1 minute and start the sequence again two more times for a total of three sets.

This is just the way that I like to do it.
You may want to do it in the more traditional way of doing 3 sets for sit-ups (with no more than 60 seconds of rest in between sets) and after those three sets, move on to the next exercise, etc. It is really up to you. My personal goal is to be able, at the end of 12 weeks, to do the seven exercises in a big giant set all at once.

Modifications For Absolute Beginners

Note that this is an advanced abdominal routine. I would not recommend it to absolute beginners. Beginners would be better off just performing 1 set of each exercise with a minute of rest in between sets for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, they can move up to 2 sets for each exercise resting a minute in between sets. After remaining at this new challenging level for 6 more weeks then they can move on to the advanced routine thereafter.

When To Perform The Routine

You can perform this abdominal routine at any time that is convenient for you. Even in the late afternoon as you watch the news.

Ideally, I like to do abs followed by cardiovascular exercise first thing in the morning and weight training in the afternoon. That way I get to spike up my metabolism twice a day. If due to schedule conflicts I can only do one session on a particular day, then the order below is the way in which I do it all at once:

• Abdominal Routine (Great warm up before the weight training session)
  
  
• Weight Training
  
  
• Cardiovascular Exercise

Typically, however if I have a full day ahead of me, I rather just perform weights and cardio in the morning and then abs at night whenever I get home since the abdominal routine is easily done in the living room. In this manner, I do not have such a big exhausting session first thing in the morning and I still get two metabolic spikes.

Abdominal Workout Frequency
You may perform this routine a minimum of 3 days per week with the maximum being every day. However, keep in mind that you will not get to see your abs unless you are eating slightly less calories than your body burns. Remember that I am not talking about starvation here.

I am referring to 5-6 small meals a day composed of roughly 40% carbs, 40% Protein and 20% Fats each as advised on my Bodybuilding Nutrition Basics article. People with higher metabolisms may need a bit more carbohydrates however. In addition, ensure that you are doing at least 3 days of cardiovascular exercise work.

Workout Modifications

If you cannot do an exercise due to lower back injuries, for instance, then feel free to substitute it for an exercise that does not bother your back.

If on the other hand, if you have a healthy lower back and would like to add a bit of mass to your abs, I would just do this routine three times a week but use some resistance in the exercises.

Instructions For Quickest Results

Assuming that you are an advanced bodybuilder, the quickest results will come from performing this routine on a daily basis in conjunction with aerobic exercise first thing in the morning with weight training performed later in the afternoon.

Conclusions

I cannot overemphasize enough that if your bodybuilding diet is not dialed in neither will be your abs no matter how much cardio or exercise you do. So stick to your diet, weight train hard, and bomb those abs. Come Spring and Summer and I guarantee that if you have paid your dues you will have a better midsection than the one you have now.

Any personal health questions or problems mental or physical. Please consult your physician !

Wishing You Great Health!

Glen Edward Mitchell

Any questions? Ask Glen!