Abs are highly over-rated.
Wait a minute...I don't mean actually having abs. That can never be over-rated. After all, it's probably the #1 deep-down reason that most people exercise (no matter how much you want to say you do it for your health...).
What I mean is, that most ab exercises are over-emphasized and over-valued. You don't need hundreds and even thousands of ab crunch repetitions to build a stand-out midsection.
In fact, I'll bet that basic lifting exercises like chin-ups, front squats, and even lying dumbbell triceps extensions can do more for your abs than the traditional crunch. And that's why you rarely see "lying on your back on the floor" ab exercises in Turbulence Training workouts. They just aren't efficient and effective.
It's much better to get build your other abs through better exercises, such as the ones listed above, or total body bodyweight exercises.
One great movement is called the Mountain Climber. I've added a photo and description of this exercise to the same link that showed you the advanced push-up exercises yesterday. Check out the Mountain Climber exercise and other bodyweight exercises
here - and climb your way to abs.
Now you'll quickly notice that this is not a traditional bodybuilding ab exercise. You don't lie on the floor and crunch or do sit-ups in order to isolate one muscle group. That's always been a downfall of the bodybuilding approach.
Instead, the Mountain Climber is another total-body, efficient and effective exercise that helps you get more total body results in less time.
The truth is, any good efficient and effective compound exercise will work your abs. So you don't have to lie on the floor and bang out hundreds of crunches to get a washboard stomach. Heck, that's not effective at all.
The 3 keys to abs are:
1) Fat loss through fat loss nutrition
2) Fat loss through interval training
3) Ab strength through efficient and effective exercises - even if they not considered traditional ab exercies.
Remember - every exercise is an ab exercise - because you have to brace your abs in every movement.
And we'll talk more about ab training next week.
Stick to the basics,
CB
P.S. Take it outside...
Finally, some warm weather. Time for you to take your bodyweight workouts outside. Hit a playground if you need some chin-up bars.
Check out the pushups I'm doing outside here.
Abs Are Over-Rated
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