I am always looking for new ways to work my abs to develop better midsection strength and power as well as sculpting a nice six pack. And I know the RMO readers are too.

In this post I want to show you some alternative abs exercises and workouts that I have been working with in the past few months in the hope of giving you something different to do with your abs when you get bored of the usual suspects.

Alternative abs workouts for a better six pack

The crunch is a very effective exercise but it can get boring. It is also good to mix up your workout so that your body does not become accustomed to what you are doing. Here are some awesome alternative ways that you can hit your midsection and abs muscles.

1. Yoga asanas and stretches
A few days ago my girlfriend forced me go to a yoga class at our gym. I thought it would be good for my muscle recovery and flexibility. Boy was I wrong! It was a hard workout that left me sore, sweating and very exhausted.

The great thing about yoga is that all of the exercises are done with your own body weight so you can move at your own pace. The breath is used in order to make your internal energies flow properly and as such yoga is a very healthy exercise at the same time as being challenging.

Many of the exercises involve the abdominal muscles. One exercise (asana) we did involved lifting your legs up in a reverse crunch style way for about five minutes. It was hard but left my abs and lower back feeling amazing.

If you are looking for a new abdominal workout that works the muscles on a deeper and more isometric level then yoga is for you. Make sure you go to a class that has a well trained teacher - they need to know their stuff.

2. Capoeira kicks and acrobatics
A few months ago I started experimenting with Capoeira. This is a Brazilian martial art that involves a lot of acrobatics, high kicks and fast movements. The thing about acrobatics and high kicks is that your abs need to do a lot of work to get your legs to where they need to be. Seeing as the legs are the heaviest thing on your body the resulting effect is a lot of abdominal soreness!

You don’t have to go to a Capoeira class to reap the benefits. You can do 20 minutes of high kicks in your backyard and get a good abdominal workout. However, the best thing you can do is go to a proper class and throw yourself into the intensity of the art. This way you will get both the cardiovascular and the anaerobic benefits that it offers.

3. Heavy squats
I have to throw this in the mix. One of the best ways to get amazingly strong abs is to do heavy squats. Now you might be thinking, “hang on, squats don’t work the abs all that much” and you would be right. But, the testosterone that is released by your body after some heavy squats is one of the best ways to increase muscle mass in other areas.

Simply put, if you do heavy squats the other unrelated muscles will also grow. It creates a perfect internal environment for muscle gain. The abdominals are affected extremely well by heavy squats.

4. Overloading with one exercise
The other day I talked about how I had been “overloading” my triceps with an overhead cable extension. It worked extremely well. You can read about it here. Well, I have also been doing it with reverse crunches with some excellent results.

The idea is simple. Strap some light weights to your feet and pump out 15 of the best reverse crunch sets that you have ever done. After about set 5 you will be ready to throw in the towel but if you keep going you will reap some amazing muscle growth rewards.

Remember, only do this type of training once in a while so that your body does not get too used to the idea. Keep it guessing.

Any other exercises?

These are just some simple ideas to supplement your regular abs workout. Try picking one each week and rotating them over a month and see if it makes any difference. Can anyone think of any others?

photo Jippolito

We all want more visible abs that are as hard as a rock. However, many people do not understand that it is all about losing the fat that is covering the abdominal muscles. However nice your abs might be, they won’t be visible until that fat is gone.

1. High intensity cardio is best
The explosive stuff is the best if you want to bring out your abs. It burns more fat and it increases your metabolism so that your body will continue to burn calories after you have finished your session. This means that you will put on less fat that you would normally.

2. Increase the weight
The abdominal muscles are like any other muscle, they need to be continually challenged. Make sure you are increasing the weight on your abs all the time. Adding more muscles to your midsection means that you will burn more fat in the area. Muscle and fat do not exist well together.

3. Eat small meals regularly
Forget the traditional three meals a day. You want to be eating six or seven small meals every two and a half hours. This keeps your metabolism burning and it stops you from feeling heavy and tired after each big meal. This means you will be more likely to work out.

4. Kick stuff
Martial arts and sports where you need to lift your legs often help you get better abs. The high kicks bring your abs into play and you will find that over time the combination of cardio work and strength training will really bring out the best in your abdominal region. Some of the best abs I have ever seen are on kickboxers, not bodybuilders.

5. Eat the right stuff
You want to be eating foods that are high in proteins, vitamins and minerals. Empty calories in foods like candy, soda and so on do sweet “F” all for your abdominal region. Make each meal count.

The abdominal crunch is the most popular abs exercise of all time. It is done by everyone who is trying to develop their abs muscles. But there is a problem. Many of you aren’t doing it correctly.

So what’s wrong with my abs crunch?

You might be a little offended that I am just flat out telling you that you are doing the crunch wrong. I’m not trying to start some inter-site flame war, I am just trying to help.

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Does your back get sore?
If you back gets sore while you are doing your crunches then there is a good chance your technique is way off. This is a sure sign.

2. Does your neck or throat get tight?
A common symptom of bad crunching is a tight or sore neck or throat. It shows that you aren’t putting the correct emphasis on the right muscles.

3. Are your abs growing?
The sure sign. If your abs haven’t improved over the last six weeks then you are doing something wrong. The whole point of the crunch is to make your abdominal muscles grow and if that isn’t happening then something is wrong.

4. Do other muscles get worked?
Is it just your abs doing the work or are your hip flexors and obliques stepping in and helping cover some of the load? Make sure you notice which muscles are sore the day after.

So how do I do the abs crunch properly?

Now that we have looked at some of the symptoms of a poor abdominal crunch we now have to look at how to do the damn thing properly. Here are some tips:

1. Keep your lower back on the floor
Make sure you are not sitting the whole way up. That is a sit up! Keep your lower back pressed against the floor.

2. Mentally crunch the abdominal muscles
As always, make sure you are mentally “crunching” the abs as you do the crunches. Do not just go up and down over and over again - you really need to make sure you are crunching them hard.

3. Go slowly
If you are finding that other muscles are getting sore it is most likely because you are going to fast and your technique is suffering. Make sure you go slow and concentrate on the technique.

If you want to learn more about the crunch the check out these other articles which give more tips and hints to help you get the most out of your abdominal crunch.

When you think of the Army you think of extreme workouts, amazing fitness and grueling exercise sessions. You think of the fittest of the fittest. And their abs are no different. They are strong, powerful and usually very ripped.

An Army style abs workout

Although I have never been in the army myself, I have often drawn inspiration from the way they train. I love the way they workout. Every session is extreme and they give 100% at all times. Even on the days that they don’t feel like working out they get out of bed and do the work anyway. It is very tough work.

I am particularly interested in how they develop their abdominal muscles. I have talked to several current and ex army members who say that they abs workouts that they used to have to do were tougher than almost anything else. Core strength was considered very important.

Here I will take a look at some of the exercises and techniques used in the army to blast the abdominal muscles and develop soldier quality six packs.

1. Massive numbers of repetitions

One of the traditional ways that soldiers in the army are taught to train their abs is with massive number of repetitions. For example, a solider might train his abs by doing 100 crunches in a row without stopping. They might not all be done with perfect technique but they are done with intensity and energy.

The idea behind this type of training is to build up muscle strength as well as endurance. If you are carrying a massive backpack, gun and what not through a battle field you need to be strong as well as fit and these huge numbers of reps are one way that the army prepares the troops for this.

This type of training is suited to many abdominal exercises such as the crunch, sit up, leg raise, knee raise, etc. It is a great supplement to a normal abs workout and can really shock your abs into some new growth.

2. Mixing it up with stations

Another popular method of abs training in the army is to set up stations. This is a very grueling method of working your abs and often results in a soldier passing up what he ate for breakfast.

Stations are pretty simple. The idea is to set up “stations” where the soldier goes to in order to perform an abs exercise. He moves from one station to the next without stopping until he has completed each station. Only then can he have a short rest.

For example, you could have five stations:

STATION 1: Crunches
STATION 2: Reverse Crunches
STATION 3: Leg Raises
STATION 4: Bicycle Crunches
STATION 5: Short Rest

The idea is to make your way through the stations without stopping. Each time you do it you should increase the number of reps or the number of times you do the station. This way you can make sure you are progressing.

3. Complete exhaustion training

Another way the army likes to train its soldiers is by making them participate in exercise sessions that bring them to the point of complete exhaustion. Once they get to that point they are then kindly asked to keep going. This is how a solider is built.

This applies to the abs as well. For example, you can pick one exercise like the crunch and do it flat out as many times as you can for half and hour. Or, you can take another approach and hold a crunch for as long as you can. See if you can stay in the crunch position for five minutes at a time and then try to beat that time.

Conclusion
I hope this article has given you some ideas for your abs training. The marines and army troops train hard for their superior strength and toned bodies. However, this is not out of our reach. All we have to do is start training like them. These are just some of the ways that the army develops some boot camp style abs.

Bruce Lee had some of the best abs of all time and when I do my abs workouts I often like to do them according to his advice. While I think some of Lee’s abs training is now a little out of date, he did have some really good ideas for sculpting that six pack. Here is a simple abs workout in the style of Bruce Lee.

What is a Bruce Lee style abs workout?

First of all I should probably clarify what a Bruce Lee style workout is. Basically, it is any abs workout that is explosive, difficult, beyond the norm. It also involves a lot of twisting as Lee himself used to do a lot of that.

The Bruce Lee style abs workout

Start with a warm up of some running, heavy bag work or a bit of skipping. Walk around tensing your abs so that you can get the “feel” for contracting those particular muscles.

After that it is time for the actual workout which should look something like this:

1. Lying Leg Raises - 4 sets of 25 reps

2. Weighted Abdominal Crunches - 3 sets of 25 reps

3. Decline Sit Up Twists - 5 sets of 25 reps

This is the type of workout Lee liked. He liked to hit all areas of the abs including his hip flexors which he considered very important for flinging his kicks out as fast as possible. Remember, Lee’s abs were also a product of some strict dieting and a lot of cardio. The man had no fat on him. However, if your goal is to have strong abs that can are ready for martial arts or the sporting field then this is the type of workout you should be doing.

Everyone wants to have nice and defined abs. The problem is, there is so much bad information on the net these days that people are confused and don’t know what to do. In this post I’ll look at 8 ways to get better and more defined abs when you feel like nothing is working for you.

8 ways to get better and more defined abs

Here are some things you can take on board that will certainly bring you some good abdominal results.

1. Scrap your old routine
If you have been doing the same routine for more than two months it is time to scrap it and try something new. You need to constantly be changing your routine so that your abs do not fall into a rut. This is very important.

2. Get more quality protein
If you think you are getting enough protein but still aren’t seeing result then maybe you need to better the QUALITY of that protein. Fresh raw milk, free range eggs, etc.

3. Re-learn the techniques
The RMO abs archives are full of articles showing you how to do abs exercises correctly. If you aren’t seeing any results the problem might be that you aren’t using the proper technique. Without correct technique you will be targetting the wrong muscles. Go back and make sure you are doing things right.

4. Slow down your reps
There is a common tendancy to pump out abs exercises like Rocky did in the movie - fast and furious. While this might be good for fitness and building up midsection muscles for fighting, it really won’t help you develop your abdominal muscles in isolation. Slow each rep right down and feel the burn, this is how abs should be trained.

5. Reduce man-made carbs
Eating bread, pasta, rice and other things that have been heavily processed and manipulated will add inches to your waist. Cut them out and replace them with fruits vegetables and fresh food.

6. Lose weight
If you have fat on your belly you will not be able to see your abs. This is simple.

7. Lift heavy weights
The people with the best abs are the people who put them under lots of stress. However, the abs exercises we all do are not the only way you should be stressing them. Big weights exercises like the military press and deadlift are important ways to build your abs. They increase testosterone in the body and force muscles to grow. This is an important secret.

8. Switch from low intensity to high intensity cardio
Low intensity cardio seems to burn up a lot of muscle when it is done for a long period of time. High intensity cardio, on the other hand, is very anabolic and creates an environment in your body perfect for building muscle and losing weight. Try sprinting instead of running for hours at a time and see how you go.

How you can make the abs crunch more difficult

Undoubtedly most of you reading this will have become bored with the usual abs crunch at some point in your career. I know the feeling. Doing the same thing every week gets a little too much.

There are, however, some really good ways to jazz up the abs crunch and make it more challenging and thus more productive. These techniques will show you how to make the abs crunch work better for you.

1. Slow right down
One way you can challenge your patience and your abs muscles is to slow the exercise right down. You want to be doing reps that take five seconds up and five seconds down. This really gives you a nice deep burn and will add a new dimension to the way you train your abs.

2. Add weight
The most fundamental and effective way to develop your abs is to add weight to the basic crunch. Stack a bench press plate on your chest and do the crunch as normal. Hopefully you will only be able to do half the amount of reps and as such will push through some plateaus.

3. Medicine ball work
My favorite way to make the abs crunch more difficult is to throw a medicine ball with my training partner. We both lay down with our toes touching and take a heavy medicine ball and then proceed to throw it to each other as we do our crunches. This is an awesome workout! Another way is to get your partner to drop the ball on your chest from above and then you throw it back up to him while doing a sit up.

4. Super sets
Another popular method is to mix your crunches with another exercise. For example, you might do a set of crunches and then instead of resting jump straight into some hanging leg raises. This gives your muscles a complete and total workout and is an excellent way to move to the next level.

5. Twist
Scientific studies have shown that adding a twist to your crunches gets a 20% greater muscle contraction in the abdominal muscles. This is exactly what we are after. The great thing about the twist is that it teaches you to mentally target and “crunch” your abs which is exactly what we are trying to do!

Conclusion
The abs crunch is one of the best abdominal muscle building exercises there is. These added bonuses are a great way to take your muscles growth to the next level. Try them all!

Top Tips for Developing Better Lower Abs

The lower abs are a strange creature. You need to work them out in a certain way to get results. Most people don’t know what they need to do and as such have some pretty soft and flabby lower abs.

1. Work the lower abs first

This is by far the most important rule for working with the lower abs. You need to work them first in your workout because they are not as strong as the upper abs. If you work them after the upper abs they will be too tired to handle the weight and resistance you need to put them under in order to progress. Make sure you always do your lower abs first.

2. Lose some weight

As always with the abs you will not see those nice sexy muscle unless you lose the weight on your belly. Ripped abs are created by getting lean not by adding more muscle. If you want your lower abs to shine through then clean up your diet and start doing some intense cardio to burn off the fat.

3. Hanging exercises are best

Hanging leg raises and hanging knee raises are much more powerful than the ones where you lay on a bench. If you start working with the hanging exercises you will have much more success and in a much shorter time span. At first it will feel like they aren’t working well but if you stick with it you will soon see the results.

Does anyone have any other tips?

How to do the Hanging Leg Raise for Sexy Lower Abs

When you first start doing the hanging leg raise you are going to be a little confused because for a while it feels like you aren’t hitting your abs at all. I know a lot of people who left this exercise aside because they didn’t get the same “burn” that they get from other exercises. However, if you stick with it you will soon see that you don’t need that burn to make some amazing abdominal progress.

To do the hanging leg raise you are going to need a horizontal pole to hang from. It could be a chin up bar or something home-made like a tree branch or roof beam. It doesn’t matter.

Here is how you do it:

- Jump up and grab the bar

- Hang naturally, allowing your abs to stretch out

- Tense your abs

- Keeping your legs almost straight slowly begin to lift them by using the muscles in your lower abdominal area

- Once they are as high as you can go tip your hips so you can get the knees a little bit higher

- Slowly lower the legs back down while keeping tension in your abs

- Repeat

Conclusion
If you stick with this formula you will find your whole midsection grows faster than before. It really is a very powerful exercise. Make sure you keep it slow and controlled.

4 Crunch Tips for Better Abs

Here are some tips that you can apply to your crunches to make them more enjoyable, challenging and effective.

1. Change the way you use weight
If you have been doing crunches for a while now then you would be adding weight to your chest in order to increase the resistance of the exercise. What you should be doing as well is changing the way you use that weight.

For example, if you normally do all your sets with a 5kg weight on your chest try starting with a 10kg and working your way backwards in a drop set. Or do the reverse of that and start with a light weight and work your way up. These are just some ways you should change the way you use weight when working with the crunch.

2. Change the way you use speed
I always advocate that abs exercises should be done extremely slow and steady. You should not be letting any momentum assist you in the execution of your crunch.

However, once in a while changing up the speed of your crunch can be a very valuable thing. For example, for one or two sets of crunches I like to make the crunch very quick and explosive and the decline super slow and controlled. This works both the slow and fast muscle fibers and is an excellent way to jive up the crunch.

Or, you could do both parts of the exercise as slow as possible. Try aiming for something like one minute up, one minute down and see how your abs feel after!

3. Experiment with different breathing
Bodybuilders are pretty clever people. They spend a lot of time working out and in that time the experiment with different ways of building muscle. One of the things they try is different breathing.

Traditionally one should breathe in on the decline part of the crunch and breathe out as you sit up. This helps you contract your muscles. However, a different technique exists where you take a breath and hold it while you do your crunch and then breathe out at the top. Do some research on some different breathing techniques and see if it helps your progress. At the least, make sure your are breathing in the correct traditional fashion.

4. Change when you do the crunch
By alternating the time that you do the crunch in your workout you can intensify the muscle contraction or shift the focus on to a different area of your abs. It is always a good idea to to your crunches after working your lower abs because the lower abs are weaker and need to be worked first. However, if you do your crunches first you can get a greater contraction and thus better results. Perhaps if your upper abs are lagging behind try shifting your crunches to the start of your workout.

There are plenty of other tips for the crunches. Can you think of any?