Complete Ab Training Explained (Best Exercises)

Complete ab training explained

Nothing represents a lean fit midsection like a six-pack. Training plays a crucial role in this, as does genetics and diet. Some things you can change and some things you can’t. Today we’ll be focusing on complete AB training with an emphasis on the rectus abdominis or six-pack.

Not everyone has a six-pack or can have one. The number of blocks you have is genetically determined. I’ve been pretty lean but never truly had a six-pack.

Your abs are one muscle, that runs from your ribs under your chest down towards your pelvis.

The line down the middle of our abs is called the Linea Alba, and there are other tendinous lines running horizontally on our abs, and how many of these we have is genetically determined.

Some people like Arnold Schwarzenegger only have 2 lines, and no matter how hard they train, they will never have a six-pack.

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We’re just about to get to training our abs, but first, how lean do we need to be for our six-pack to show? This depends on body fat distribution, another genetic element and how thick our abdominals are. You need to be at least 15% body fat or leaner.

To look at exercises for our rectus abdominis, I reviewed a few EMG studies and settled on a 2014 study done by The American Council on Exercise.

They compared a series of exercises to the basic crunch to see which activated the abdominals the best.

They looked at the upper and lower portion of the rectus abdominis, external obliques and the rectus femoris, a quad muscle that acts as a hip flexor.

The top exercise was the decline bench curl up for both upper and lower activation. It was the second-best when it came to external obliques.

The stability ball crunch came next and was a close 2nd. This isn’t an exercise I do, but one thing it does is it puts you in a position to use a full range of motion by allowing you to hyperextend your abdominals while supporting your back.

Another exercise that allows you to do a full range of motion is a cable or band crunch. This movement doesn’t provide any back support, so make sure you flex your abs to keep your core engaged in the fully stretched position, or you could feel some discomfort in your lower back.

Regarding the number one exercise, decline crunches, I would consider this an advanced move from the basic floor crunch with the slope of the bench increasing the resistance. This exercise also had very high hip flexor activation.

The range of motion stops once you have fully curled up your midsection. Going any further only works your hip flexors.

The third exercise on the list is the captain's chair, crunch. For upper ab activation, some lesser-known pieces of equipment ranked slightly better, but for lower abs, it was a solid third. It also had high rectus femoris activation.

To ensure you are working your abs, you need to curl them as you raise your knees.

We could apply this result to hanging knee or leg raises. The most significant difference being you’ll have a lot less stability when hanging and run the risk of using momentum to bring your knees up.

The captain chair crunch was another exercise that highly activated the external obliques. From looking at the data, the more unstable an ab exercise is the harder the external obliques had to work.

The exercise with the most instability and hit the obliques the hardest was the ab wheel rollout.

The key to getting strong sculpted abs is the same as any other muscle. We need to overload it progressively.

Starting with the basic crunch using bodyweight. Going slow and controlled, making sure you do a full range of motion. Once you have mastered this, you can hold your arms straight overhead to increase the resistance.

For the next level, hold a dumbbell overhead.

https://acewebcontent.azureedge.net/certifiednews/images/article/pdfs/ACE%20AbsStudy.pdf