Great Abs Workout

Disclaimer

• This abs workout is NOT guaranteed to get you six pack abs.
• This abs workout is NOT guaranteed to trim inches off your waistline.
• This abs workout is NOT guaranteed to take two sizes off your jeans within the next week

All of these things have more to do with weight loss than they do with an abs workout.  If you want to lose weight, lose inches and show more muscle definition, you need to lose weight, and that’s all about eating right and being more physically active.

What this workout is designed to do is to strengthen 50% of your core, by which I mean your abdominal muscles.  The other 50% is your back muscles and I’ll deal with those at a later date.

Why?

So if this workout doesn’t give you six pack abs, why do you care?  Well, first of all, that’s a bit misleading.  This workout does help tone the muscles that show up as part of your six pack.  However, they won’t show up until you lose weight, hence the disclaimer above.  More importantly, this workout does strengthen your core, which is a part of your body that you rely on for almost every movement.  Take a moment to really notice what muscles your body uses.

Are you breathing?  Well, you’re using your core muscles.  Walking?  You’re using your core muscles to stabalize your upper body.  Doing push ups?  You’re using your core muscles to keep your body rigid.  Running?  You’re using your core muscles to stay upright and balanced.  There’s almost no complex movement that your body does which does not use the core muscles, which is probably why they’re called your core.  That means that you need to strengthen these muscles or else suffer poor performance in pretty much every thing else you do.

Sounds like an exxageration?  It really isn’t.  Your abs and lower back are your foundation.  They are quite literally the core of every complex movement your body makes.  It all starts right there at the center of your body and you need to pay a bit more attention to it than just doing some crunches.

Let’s Start

Start with the basics.

This is called a V up.  It can be done with an exercise ball, with weights on either legs and / or arms or with just body weight.  Either way, you need good form.  Look at how this woman does her V ups.  She’s really controlled in her motion and takes her time.  She pauses all the way at the top to allow some strain to build and then slowly releases it as she moves back down to the resting position.  Excellent form all the way around.

Work the Sides

We’ve worked the center, now we work the sides with some trunk twists.  Again, check out the form.  This guy is doing them a bit faster than I would recommend but notice how controlled he is.  Also note the slight pause at the end of each movement.  Great way of working out the obliques and staying in that crunched position means your whole abs muscle group is being worked out.

Let’s Get Creative

Why stick with regular crunches when you can do reverse ones?

You can do this one with straight legs too if you want, but it’s slightly easier on the joints to do it this way, with legs folding as you raise them.  I like this one a lot better than regular crunches since it puts less strain on my neck and works out more of my abs.

Yoga Finish

And finally, if you have a bit of time, yoga can be a great way to finish out an abs workout with a bit of stretching.  This video is umm… slightly more artistic than your usual workout videos, but it’s a great example of a yoga abs workout.  Note that this workout can actually be quite challenging if you do it slowly.  Also, this is a great example of amazing form and muscle control.  Even if you’re not interested in the spiritual aspects of yoga, this is a great example of abs in action.

A Good Shoulder Workout

Do me a favor, stand up, arms at your side.  Now lift your arms forward until they point straight out in front of you.  Got it?  Good, now put your arms back at your side.  Again, lift your arms but this time straight out to the sides, not to the front.  Hold for a second and put them down.  Finally, lift your arms straight up above your head, hold for a few seconds and then put them back down at your side.  So why the heck did I have you do this?  Because it’s a good illustration of what’s good and bad with many workouts.

Why Direction Matters

It’s funny, but when I say the shoulder muscle group most people hear only the first two words.  They hear shoulders and muscle and that’s all.  So they go ahead and incorporate one or two shoulder exercises into their routine and call it a day.  Unfortunately, the shoulder group is just that, a GROUP of muscles, all working together to move your arms around.  Depending on the direction of the movement, some of these muscles work more, work less or don’t work at all.  Some do a lot of the pushing and pulling and others will just do stabilization so your arms go in the direction you intend.  The important lesson is that they all need to be exercised.  That means a good shoulder workout is one which incorporates a variety of movements, each working out different muscles in the shoulders in different ways.  Let’s take a look at a workout like that.

Front Raises

Lateral Raise

This guy has amazing form by the way!  Look at how steady he is as he raises the weights.

Shoulder Press

Pushups

Pull Ups

Compound Exercises

By the way, if you look at all of these exercises, you’ll see that none of them are machine ones.  I’m not a big fan of various exercise machines because I feel that they isolate muscles too much.  That is, you only work one muscle at a time.  I’m a much bigger fan of these free and body weight exercises which workout multiple muscle groups at a time.  For example, push ups workout the shoulder, the chest and even the abs and back.  Pulls ups work the shoulders and the upper arms and so on.  Plus when you do free and body weight exercises, you recruit a lot of other muscles to stabalize you even if they’re not doing the actual lifting work.

Still, even if you’re a big fan of machine exercises, make sure to workout your muscles in a variety of different ways.  Take a look at these exercises that I listed here.  Each is different even though they all work out the shoulder.  If you only did one of them you’d be doing yourself a disservice.  Now granted, a lot of you are like me and don’t have an unlimited time in the gym to do a dozen different types of exercises, but you do have enough time to do 5 or 6 different ones for each muscle group.  If you manage your time well, you shouldn’t be spending more than 10 minutes on each muscle group.

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Think about your day to day use of your shoulder.  Are you only using your shoulders to move your arms one way?  Are you always moving your arms forward?  Of course not.  So make sure your workout accounts for all the ways in which you use your shoulder!

And remember, this doesn’t just apply to shoulders.  The only reason I picked shoulders is that, due to their flexibility of motion, shoulders are the best example for this.  The same lesson applies to all your muscle groups.

What’s A Good Workout?

I get this kind of question a lot “here’s my routine, is it good?”  The routine in question can vary.  Some people tell me about their cardio routine, others tell me about their weight lifting days.  I even get questions about things like Wii Fitness workouts and the SEAL training regimen.  The answer to all of these is “well, it depends.”  There’s no specific set of exercises or routines that is good or bad.  Yes, there are a few exercises that are more injury prone and a few that are less effective than others, but almost any workout can be good if done correctly.  So rather than go into specifics, I’d like to present to you a few general rules on what makes a good workout routine.

Cardio

Yes, cardio is a must for any workout routine.  Three to four times a week, you should be engaging in high level exercise that elevates your heart beat to around 70% of max, give or take a little.  You should maintain this for at least 15 to 20 minutes AFTER you reach this heart rate, which could mean an additional 15 to 20 minutes of warm up.

Running, biking, playing basketball, swimming, aerobics, jazzercise, spinning, whatever you pick, it’s all good as long as you follow the above rule.  Each of these activities has its advantages or disadvantages and you’re going to have to try them and decide for yourself which one you like best.  You can even mix and match like I do, doing running a couple of days and elliptical the other days.  As long as you’re doing something that gets your heart rate up, you’re good.

Weight Training

Yes, you do need weight training and yes, even if you’re a woman.  At least two times a week would be my recommendation and three or four if possible.  Now weight training does not necessarily mean training with weights, so I suppose I should call this resistance training if I want to be more accurate.  For example, doing push ups is great resistance training even though it involves no weights.  Some forms of Yoga are good resistance training, as are some forms of pilates.  Whatever you pick, it needs to challenge your muscles.  You’re basically trying to work your muscles to the point of failure.

You know that point where your arms are quivering and you’re not sure you can lift anything else?  Yes, that’s the point of failure.  You want to do that with all the major muscle groups in your body and you want to do it multiple times a week.  By the way, guys should know that there are muscle groups other than chest and biceps and girls should know that there are muscle groups other than ass and legs. 

Seriously though, you should be challenging every muscle group in your body to the point of failure multiple times a week.  Preferably in a variety of ways.  So for example, a good chest workout means three or four different types of exercises each done to the point of failure.  The reason for this is because a muscle group is just that, a group.  It’s not just one muscle.  Each exercise trains and challenges different muscles in different ways, even within the same muscle group.  Lifting weights straight forward trains muscles differently than lifting them out to the side, which means different muscles in the same muscle group are being used.  So doing multiple types of chest or leg exercises means all the muscles within those muscle groups are trained, not just one.

Also, if you’re curious, the main muscle groups most people train are upper arms (biceps and triceps), Shoulders, Chest, Abs, Back and upper legs (which includes your butt).  Sure, you can train the lesser muscle groups like calves and lower arms, and if you have time, I highly recommend that you do.  However, for those of us with limited time, focus on the major muscle groups.  Even better, do compound sorts of exercises that train multiple muscle groups at the same time.  For example, squat down with dumbbells in your hands.  Now slowly stand up.  As you stand up, extend your arms up, lifting those weights over head and keep straining up until you’re standing on your tip toes.  Guess what, you just training multiple muscle groups (upper legs, shoulders, triceps and calves) all at the same time.

Keep Active

Yes, a workout doesn’t just include your time at the gym.  You need to use those muscles you built.  That means that when you’re not in the gym you should still keep active with things like walking, yard work, dancing or really energetic sex with your partner!

Rest

Your body does need a break from time to time.  Pick one day a week and try to take it easy that day.  No hikes or dances and keep the sex to a slightly less than energetic level

Read more
How to design a workout
Four day workout

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If you’re curious, my current workout include resistance training three times a week for about 45 minutes each.  Jogging twice a week for about 45 minutes each and elliptical three times a week for about 40 minutes.  Plus I stay active on non workout days other than Sunday, that’s my rest day.

Increase or Decrease Weight By Set?

If you’ve been to the gym on a regular basis, you will eventually see the following behavior.  Someone is working out with freeweights, doing some common exercise like bench presses.  They do a set and then they change weights, sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing.  They do another set and again they change the weight.  In fact, they go on like this for multiple sets, usually four or five, changing the weight each and every time.  Is this normal?  Is it helpful?

Well, Maybe…

As with many things, the answer isn’t quite as straightforward as you would think.  There are reasons for and against both increasing and decreasing weight.  However, the difference is rather small.  In fact, unless you’re a serious body builder, you probably don’t have much to gain from increasing vs. decreasing weights.  However, that doesn’t mean you should ignore the impact of weight altogher.

The Right Weight

The right weight is the one at which, when you do your target number of reps, you can barely do the last rep.  For example, if I plan on doing 10 reps, then I should pick a weight where, on the 10th rep, I am barely able to lift the weight.  If I can easily do an 11th and a 12th rep, then I’m using a weight that’s too low for me.  The same applies to any number of reps.  For example, if I want to do 5 reps, then I should pick a weight that will be very difficult on the 5th rep and pretty much impossible on the 6th rep.  That’s called “working to failure” or “failure point”.  That last rep is the failure point at which you simply cannot complete another full rep.  Ideally, every set of exercises you do goes to the failure point.

NOTE - This applies to everyone, not just body builders.  And yes, it applies to women too.

What Does This Have To Do With Increasing Or Decreasing Weight?

A lot.  Think about the fact that many people do multiple sets.  For example, I used to do 4 sets of 10 reps for each exercise.  So for example, I would do 10 lunges, rest a few seconds, 10 more, rest, 10 more, rest and then 10 more.  That’s 4 sets of 10 reps.  Now clearly, as I do more and more of these sets, I’m going to be pretty tired.  That means I’m going to have a harder time with the weight.

If I used the same weight for each of these sets, I would have an easy time lifting it on the first set and I might find it impossible to even complete my fourth set.  To compensate for that, I would start out with a higher weight and decrease the weight as I progressed in sets.  So the first set might be with 120lbs, the second with 110, the third with 100 and the last one with 90.

So Decreasing Weight Is Good?

That’s not what I’m saying.  Decreasing weight is just a means to an end.  That end is always working each set so that you’re unable to do even one more rep at the end of it.  Decreasing the weight was just one way of achieving that.  I could have done it in other ways.  For example, I can do:

1. Set 1 - 12 reps with 100lbs
2. Set 2 - 10 reps with 100lbs
3. Set 3 - 8 reps with 100lbs
4. Set 4 - 6 reps with 100lbs

This way I can keep the weight the same while still working to failure on each set.

Alternatively, I could do:

1. Set 1 - 20 reps with 60lbs
2. Set 2 - 15 reps with 80 lbs
3. Set 3 - 10 reps with 100lbs
4. Set 4 - 5 reps with 120lbs

This approach is just as valid.

These days I only do one set of exercises per workout.  So I’m never doing multiple weights.  However, I do change weights per day so that on Monday I might be doing a set of 10 lunges with 100lbs.  In Wednesday I do a set of 5 lunges with 160lbs while on Friday I do a set of 20 lunges with 70lbs.  Again, it’s not about increasing or decreasing weight, it’s about always working to failure and making sure that last rep is really the last one that you can do.

One Last Point

The only real benefit of decreasing and increasing weight is change.  Change is good for your body.  Doing the same thing over and over in the exact same way tends to lead people into a rut.  They get stuck with one routine and can never improve.  Changing weights can be a way of forcing your body to adapt to different conditions and that’s a good thing.  So whether you change weights every set or every day, just keep trying new things and always work towards that failure point.

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Speaking of which, today was my blowout workout with 50% the normal weight and but only half the reps.  I loved it!  If anyone hasn’t tried something like this before, I highly recommend it.

Ab Workout (for free!)

I was at a friend’s house last night and the TV was playing in the background while we talked. I usually don’t pay that kind of background noise much attention, but I was distracted by one of those annoying infomercials. This one was for some ab machine and promised toned “six pack” abs within 2 weeks or your money back.

Scam Alert

First of all, this kind of ad is just a scam.  If your belly is covered in fat, no amount of crunches on some silly machine is going to help that.  You need to lose some weight which you can do by eating healthy and exercising.  Second, this isn’t going to happen in two weeks.  These ads rely on people looking for a quick fix.  They know you’re not going to see results and the odds of you getting your money back are zero!

No Need For Fancy Machines

Second, there is ZERO need to spend money on fancy workout gear, especially not for abs.  All you need for ab work is your body and a little bit of time.

1. Start out with basic crunches.
2. Once you’re able to do sets of 20 basic crunches, add some difficulty by doing knee to chest crunches instead.
3. Remember to work the sides with exercises like alternate situps.
4. And if you get bored, add in something a bit different like leg raises.

That’s all it takes.  Do 1 or 2 sets of each of these exercises once or twice per week and you’ll be fine.  Just remember that this needs to be part of an overall fitness plan.  You can’t just work on your abs and not worry about anything else.

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Don’t fall for infomercial scams.  They’re just preying on your desire for a quick fix.  Unfortunately, there is no such thing, but the good news is that a real fix doesn’t cost you any money.

Whole Body or One Body Part At A Time; Which One Is The Better Workout?

A few months ago I talked about my four day workout.  At the time, I was splitting up my routine to work one or two parts of the body per day.  Since then, I’ve changed my routine to work my entire body each time I work out.  I’ve had a few questions from readers on which style I found best.

Whole Body Workout

A whole body workout means just that, work out your entire body.  It’s 24 different exercises and I usually do 1 set of each for a total of 24 sets.

Body Part Workout

The body part workout works one or two individual body parts per day.  I would typically do abs and back one day, legs the second day, biceps and triceps the third day and chest and shoulders the fourth day.  You can do different splits but it’s still the same idea.  I would usually do 6 different exercises and 4 sets of each one for a total of 24 sets.

Advantages of the Whole Body Workout

• Speed - I get through the whole body workout faster even though it’s the same number of sets.  This is because I don’t have to rest as much between sets since I’m not constantly working out the same body parts.
• Schedule Flexibility - With the whole body workout, if I miss one day, it’s not as bad.  I still workout my whole body on other days.
• Variation - This workout keeps me more interested in the workout since I’m doing a new exercise each time.

Advantages of the Body Part Workout

• Targeted - You’re working out a specific body part every day and you’re really targetting that part.  I seemed to be getting a better workout overall when I was consistently doing a body part workout schedule.
• More Rest - After doing an abs and back workout, you have a week before you workout that area again.  That lets you rest that area and allows the muscles to recover.

Which One Do I Recommend?

Well, it depends on how serious you are about your time in the gym.  If you have at least three or four days to spend and a good amount of time on each of those days, you should probably go for the body part workout.  You’ll get a better workout for each body part and you’ll see better results.  However, if you’re like me and you’re trying to juggle working out into an otherwise very busy schedule, I think the whole body workout is a better option.  It guarantees you that you workout all your muscles equally, it’s quick and you’ll still see good results, if not quite as good as those of the targetted workout.

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There’s really no right answer here.  Neither workout is clearly better or worse than the other.  Try them both and stick to what works for you, but don’t be afraid to change things up and try something new once in a while.

Free Weights Vs. Machines, The Gym’s Eternal Argument

It never fails, get three people together in a gym and ask them to discuss their workout and inevitably the conversation will eventually turn to machines vs. free weights. If you’re completely clueless about this argument, it comes from the fact that some people prefer free weights like dumbbells and barbells while others like to workout on specialized machines that offer a narrow range of choices for exercises per machine.

In fact, most gyms are set up to have one area in which people work out on machines and another area in which people use free weights. for beginners, this can be a little confusing. After all, it seems like these two options are identical. I can get on a machine and do some curls or I can use dumbbells. I could use the leg press machine or I could do some squats. What’s the difference?

Form Is Better On Machines

As I’ve said before many times, form is very important when you workout. You want good form in which you slowly and gradually move the weights around. You want to primarily use the muscle group which you intend to workout. That means if you’re doing curls, you shouldn’t be swinging your entire body around trying to lift those weights.

For the purposes of good form, machines are better. Machines force us to have good form by stabilizing our whole body. For example, when I do a curl on a machine, I’m sitting and my upper body is relatively immobile due to the various supports on the machines. That means it’s only my biceps which are doing the work. With free weights, I’m free to swing more body parts around which could contribute to bad form. In fact, you can see that if you click on the free weights curls link here. The person working out is swinging back and forth, which is bad form. By way of comparison, look at these machine curls here. You can see that the whole body is much more stable and only the biceps are working. Do free weights have to mean bad form? Not at all. It’s very possible to achieve good form with free weights, but it’s somewhat easier with machines.

Muscle Recruitment Is Better With Freeweights

What the heck is muscle recruitment? It’s that thing your body does when you lift something and need to maintain your balance. Think of it this way. When you do a squat, you’re lifting a weight up with your legs. Your leg muscles are doing most of the work lifting straight up, but your body also recruit quite a few smaller muscles groups to maintain stability, to keep you upright and to prevent you from falling over. If you did the same exercises with a machine, less of your body would be involved.

Muscle recruitment is a little like form. It means more muscles are involved in the exercise than just the ones you wanted involved. The difference is that bad form means you’re making things too easy for those primary muscles. You’re replacing the work they’re supposed to do by doing it with other muscle groups. Muscle recruitments means you’re adding more work which is being done by other muscle groups.

Take a look at a free weight squat here, vs a machine press here.  Both have very good form and in both, the legs are doing the same amount of work.  However, with the free weight squat, the user is also recruiting other muscle groups to keep himself upright and stable, which the machine press does not do.

Less Injuries With Machines

By their nature, machines limit the potential for injuries.  You’re not going to drop a weight on your foot, you’re not going to move your arm into a weird position and tear a tendon and you’re not going to find yourself pinned to the bench with too much weight on your chest.  Machines are in fact safer to use since they limit the range of things you can do.

More Accurate Progress With Machines

It’s easier to measure progress with machines since the movements and weights are always the same.  For example, if I use the example of the machine press vs. the squat I showed above.  The machine press is easy to adjust for less or more weight, but what about the squat?  My body weight ranges up or down a few lbs every day.  Since I’m also lifting my body weight, that could make things harder or easier.  Also, as you lose weight, exercises with freeweights could feel easier because you’re lifting less weight.  Finally, you could adjust your form or grip to make things harder or easier, something that’s more difficult with machines.  For example, if I’m doing a bench press, a narrow or wide grip on the bar could make things harder or easier.  With a machine press, there are places for you to grip, which means you always grip in the same spot.  All of these things combine to make machine workouts more precise.

Even Workout For Both Side With Free Weights

With machines, you typically workout both sides at the same time.  For example, when you do curls, you’re doing them with both hands at the same time.  This is not always true, but in general, that’s how most machines are set up.  That means one side could be doing more of the work and you might not notice it.  In fact, many people, when doing two handed exercises, will let their dominant hand or leg do most of the work.  With free weights, and specifically with dumbbells, it’s impossible to let one side do more of the work.  So you end up with a more even workout for both sides.

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So have we solved the argument?  Well, not really.  Personally, I’m a free weights fan.  However, I believe that most people who are new to the gym start out with machines before they use free weights.  That will help you learn good form and how to avoid injuries.  In the end, the best workout is the one you feel comfortable with.  The differences between free weights and machines are relatively small and both are far better than not working out at all.

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