Best Workout for Abs
Nothing looks better than having perfect six pack abs! Ask any girl and she’ll tell you the same thing. A super developed midsection with defined v line muscles is a true sign of dedication and that is why most people will never have true six pack abs. In order to to achieve six pack abs you have to really be watching what your eating otherwise you will have a nice layer of fat covering up those abdominals.
However there will come a point in time when you’ve dieted hard and performed lots of ultimate fat burning workouts. It is at this point that you will have very little fat on your body but if you weren’t training your abs properly chances are they won’t look quite as sharp as you hoped.
This is where we got to rev up the core workouts and build some visually stunning razor sharp abs. But before I get to that I am going to show you guys what you should NOT be doing.
1. 1000 crunches – Have you ever seen the movie American Psycho? Well in the movie Christian Bale’s character boasts about doing 1000 crunches in a row. While this is impressive, it is also complete waste of time. People seem to think that the abdominals are like some alien muscle group that is completely different from the rest of the body. The truth is that the abs are no different and once an exercise becomes easy than it is time to increase the resistance or find a more challenging variation. Besides who wants to be doing 1000 crunches? That’s just lame.
2. Weighted Side Bends for Obliques – One of the most essential factors for building the perfect male body is increasing your shoulder to waist ratio. So the last thing we want to do is make the waist any bigger than it already is. Well that’s the problem with doing weighted side bends. It tends to add muscle in the WRONG AREAS (the obliques). So my advice is to drop this exercise altogether.
3. Neglecting your lower back – Most people spend crazy amounts of time training their abs yet they don’t even bother doing one set for their lower back. Well when you neglect a very important muscle group your just asking for injury. Therefore it is a MUST to include back extensions, bird dogs and superman’s into your core workout.
Now that I cleared that up lets get to the workout!
The workout is going to be broken up into 5 sections: Transverse Abdominals, Lower, Oblique Stability, Plank, Lowerback. This ensures that we do a complete core workout.
You’ll notice that I didn’t include a section for the upper abs. This is because training the upper abs is hard on the back. Anytime you do trunk flexion your putting your spine in a bad position. In addition I don’t feel that training the upper abs is even necessary. Look at gymnasts – they have some of the best stomachs in the world yet they do absolutely no exercises that involve trunk flexion.
Best Ab Workouts
1. Transverse Abdominals
The TVA (transverse abdominals) is probably the most important muscle to work of the abs. The TVA is like your inner weightlifting belt muscle. It supports your spine and keeps your core strong and rigid. People with weak TVA’s are more likely to get injured and chances are there stomach droops out. Gymnasts have extremely strong TVA’s and thus there abs look spectacular. Here are the best exercises for training your TVA.
- Ab wheel rollouts from knees – eventually you can build up to doing these from standing
- TRX Body Saw
- Dragon Flag
note: anytime your doing an exercise for your TVA make sure your back is flat and rigid – never let your back arch.
2. Lower Abs
Developing your lower abs are essential for a well developed core. The following are some of my favorite lower ab exercises that really help you develop a solid v line.
- Hanging Leg Raises
- Leg Raises on a Dip Bar or Captains Chair
- Hanging Knee Raises
- Knee Raises on a Dip Bar or Captains Chair
- Lying Leg Raises
- PULSE UPS – this one kicks but
3. Oblique Stability
Doing an isometric oblique stability exercise is great at firming up the obliques without adding muscle. The best exercises for the obliques are
- Side Planks
- Renegade Rows
4. Plank
The plank is a tremendous exercise for building 6 pack abs. One of the reasons is that your abs are contracted in a neutral spinal position. So in essence your teaching your abs to be activated and contracted without having to bend forward like your doing crunch. This will help your abs look way sharper while in your normal state. Ex: walking down the beach. My favorite Plank variations are:
- Regular Plank
- Plank with forearms on stability ball
- Plank with feet in TRX suspension bands
5. Lower back
This is where we got to injury proof the back. The best lower back exercises are:
- Hyper Extensions (back extensions)
- Reverse Hyper Extensions
- Supermans
- Bird Dogs
Now lets put this into a workout:
Razor Sharp Abs Workout:
1. Pick an exercise from the first group and perform 3 sets of 6 reps slow and controlled
2. Pick an exercise from the second section and perform 6-15 reps and superset it with pulse-ups like I do in this video:
3. Pick an exercise from the third section. If your doing renegade rows perform 3 sets of 3-6 reps per side. If your doing a side plank do 3 sets for time.
4. Perform 2-3 sets of max hold for time.
5. Perform 2 sets of 20 reps of one of the exercises and superset with Bird-dogs
WORKOUT NOTES:
- Perform this workout 2-3x per week
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Hi greg, regarding section 2, should this superset be completed only once per workout?
I’m following your S&D from the muscle building course, with great results. Right now im doing hanging leg raises after each workout (as my only ab training)
Was thinking about doing hanging leg raises, and side to side knee ups after workout A, and then ab wheel roll outs and renegade rows after workout B.
Im currently taking in around 500+ calories per day.
Does it sound like an okay approach to hit the abs, or will it be to much?
Thanks in advance!
That will work fine! Also I’d recommend doing a lower calorie week every fourth week to stay lean.
That was the plan, after reading one of your not-so-old posts!
Thanks alot, amazing work your doing, always excited for your next article and podcast, keep up the great work, and really looking forward for an article about the clean, and about both rear delts and side delts (;
Cheers man!
Thanks man!
Hey Greg! Is the “side to side medicine ball” a good exercise for the obliques? Or will it add to much muscle so you losing the V-shape?
It’s a decent exercise and it won’t add much thickness to the obliques so I wouldn’t worry about it. My preferred oblique exercise is the renegade row.
Hey man do for the renagade rows should I be using as much weight as possible? or will that add unwanted mass?
No you won’t really add muscle mass from renegade rows. It will strengthen and tighten up the obliques. Use a weight that challenges you.
Hey Greg do you hold a dumbbell or plate to your chest when you do hyper extensions, or is body weight enough in your opinion? Also, is it ok to do an extra set or 2 for the 2nd exercise, i.e: Leg raises + Pulse Ups, or is one set enough since you recommend doing this routine 3-4 times a week? Thanks as always.
Yes, you can hold a plate when doing hyperextensions. Just make sure to maintain proper form. You can do an extra set if you’d like.
hey greg, do you not recommend doing deadlifts for your lower back?
Deadlifts are fine! Just make sure to use really good form to avoid injury. I like to opt for the sumo variation which I find to be safer and does a better job working the legs.
Hi Greg!
Thank your for everything you’re making for us!
I started the Superhero Workout, and i’m going low cal diet in the rest days
I never worked my abs, so it is not developed. Even with a low bf.
The question is: “If i do this Abs workout in the two rest days of the week with low cal diet, it will develop?”
Thank you very much!
Hugs from Brazil!
Yes! That is a good idea and your abs will improve significantly after 2-3 months.
Working out 3 times a week with this ab routine, when shall i switch exercises. Can I change my ab routine after 2month?
Awesome blogg, keep up the good work!
Yah you an mix up the exercises every 2 months.
what superset means?
It means you will do the two exercises back to back with no rest.
Hi Greg,
What are the rest times in between the sets? And are these suppose to be performed in a circuit or set by set? Thanks for the great workout!
Rest 1-2 minutes between sets. Perform the exercises set by set. Except the hanging leg raises and pulse ups. Those are to be super setted.
Ive always heard just had to rest less when working the abs? (like 30 sekonds) That isn’t true i guess? (:
Abs recover pretty quickly so you don’t need as long for rest. 30-90 seconds usually does the trick.
Hi Greg, it’s me again. :-)
I was curious on how you developed the strength and flexibility to perform the hanging leg raises flawlessly.
I downloaded Rusty Moore’s Abs Blueprint, and I can do the Hanging Knee-ups and Bent Leg Raises easily… but going straight legged up to 90 degrees or more is tough.
Any advice would be a great benefit.
Thanks.
@Mark Thomas
Its a process and it takes time. Do them with your legs bent and overtime try to keep them a little more straight each time. You can also raise your legs up with them bent and lower them with them straight (this is actually really brutal.)
[…] Greg O’Gallagher has written a complete article with workouts on The Best Workout for Abs […]
Thanks Greg. :-)
Keep up the good work!
Hi Greg,
Thank you for this post. I like it how you split up different exercises for each abdominal group (the TVA, lower abs, and obliques… and even the lower back.)
I did some research of my own and I learned that when training a muscle like the bicep, the opposite muscle must also be trained, in order for there to be no imbalances. (And muscle imbalances = injury.)
So to have a strong core, the abs AND lower back should be strengthened.
But I do have one question…
I’m one of those guys who doesn’t have visible upper abs, and you suggested that full-on upper ab training would be bad, so should to work on my upper abs indirectly, should I pick one or two of the TVA exercises instead? (and perhaps add planks?)
Thanks.
@Mark Thomas
I find that bridging is the best exercise you can do to ensure no injuries or imbalances. Bridging is one of my favorite movements. Hanging Leg Raises all the way up to the bar actually work the upper abs very well.
how do u excercise upper abs
what are the rest times??
what wait should be used for renegade rows?
Start light and build up.
I use around 70 lbs dumbbells. However I recommend starting with 30 lbs until your comfortable with that.
How can this workout be adapted for a beginner because I don’t want to overtain. Maybe I should only do 1 set of each part and progressively work my way up? Thanks
Start with 1 or 2 sets and build your way up. Also opt for easier exercises. Example Lying leg raises instead of hanging. Or knee raises instead of leg raises.
Sorry forgot to mention that it means I dont have a place to hang for the hanging leg raises, cheers!
Hey awesome workout! Thanks for what you’re doing.
Question about section 2, do you reckon it would be ok to do V-Ups instead of lying leg raises? Or perhaps a 1 minute l-sit? I don’t have a place to do pullups in my dorm room
I would do the L-sit.
The L-sit is a fantastic exercise.
The other option is if you have a place to do dips. Perhaps between two sturdy chairs than you can do leg raises from a dip position. This is a killer exercise.
Thanks man. Do you have the best workouts for chest, forearm, and shoulder. I appreciate that…