The Year of The Monster Is Coming

Abs- Mini Feature Lately I have been having a new obsession, my abs. I think at some point that is everyone’s obsession. When I was younger I had really nice abs or at least I think I did. Now that I’m getting a little older I have to actually work at trying to keep my abs. Nothing defines a well muscled body better than a well defined six or eight pack. The large rounded shoulders, the hulking chest and even the nice butt just are not complete with out a nice set of abs to go along in the mix. Everyone wants them and everyone admires them. To top it off a good strong set of abs will make you stronger in all other parts of your body. You want to squat more… strengthen your abs, you want a stronger back … strengthen your abs you even want to be more athletic …strengthen you abs. The question is: how do you get them back or even how do you get them in the first place. Well believe it or not it actually is simpler than you would think. I guess the first initial response would be do hundreds of sit ups a day and you’ll be good to go. Fact is nothing could be further from the truth. Hundreds of sit ups a day would end up doing you more harm than good in the long run because your muscles would not have adequate recovery time and you are not hitting enough different ab muscles. The first part of learning to get a six pack is learning what muscles to hit. The muscles you need to concentrate on are the Rectus Abdominal (the all mighty six pack), the Transverse Abdominal (the muscles that pull your stomach in and out), ant the Internal and External Obliques (those nice cuts that run along the sides). The Rectus Abdominal is what I call the six pack muscles. They are the part of the abs that shape the six pack, or in some peoples cases the eight pack. I should note that weather you have a four or six or eight pack is purely genetic and based on how your muscles are banned together by connective tissue. I personally have more of a four than six. It’s just a genetic thing, because even when my abs were at their very best it was always hard for five and six to come in. These are the muscles that control mostly crunching and sit up type movements. The Transverse Abdominal acts as a natural belt and helps keep you abs pulled in tight. This is the probably the most important muscle for trunk stability. Usually people with bad backs and or “beer bellies” have weak transverse abdominal. Lean to strengthen your transverse abdominal and you will automatically shrink your waist size. The Internal and External Obliques are those great looking muscles that run down your sides. Besides looking really good their main function is to stabilize your abs and rotate your torso. Strong obliques help pull in the abs from the sides also giving a slimmer appearance to the waistline. Now that you know the muscles to target for a six pack, it’s time to learn what to do to get that six pack. The most important thing you can do to get a six pack is…………..EAT A PROPER DIET!!!! I repeat EAT A PROPER DIET!!!! No amount of ab work will help you in your goal unless you learn to control your eating. You do not want a diet that is high in fats and excess carbohydrates, if you are tying to get lean. You a good amount of protein in you diet with low fat and moderate amounts of carbohydrates. You want to avoid sugary foods and a lot of processed stuff which will wreak havoc on your six pack. If you can’t follow a proper diet I would not recommend wasting your time. A second thing you want to do is drink plenty of water. Water not only keeps you vitalized but drinking water helps remove excess water and toxins from the body. This is especially helpful to those who tend to hold excess water around the midsection. The exercises: I recommend training the abs no more than three times a week on alternate days. Abs are smaller muscles and you don’t want to over train them. I also recommend four exercises per ab workout. You want to concentrate on hitting the Rectus, the Transverse, and Internal and External abdominal each workout. For your Rectus Abdominal you could chose one of the following: Crunches 4 sets 0f 20 (if you can’t do 20 start at 10 and work your way up by one rep each week) Lying Leg Lifts 4 sets of 10 Ab Crunch Machine 4 sets of 10 For your Transverse abdominal: Ab Pull Ins 4 sets of 20 Pull in your abdominals as far as you can a hold for one second before you release For you Internal and External Obliques: Bar twist 4 sets of 20 Place a bar on your shoulders and slowly twist from side to side. These can even be done with a broomstick. Side Bends 4 sets of 20 These can also be done with a bar, broomstick, or just your bodyweight. Slowly bend from side to side flexing your abs. These are some of the things I recommend to help you get your six pack. Always remember to keep your diet in check, have a solid abdominal training program and a little extra cardio would not hurt either. The one other thing I can say is to be patient. Patience is a virtue. Even with a proper diet and a solid abdominal program it is still going to take a few weeks for your hard work to shine through. Now go out and get your self a six pack and I don’t mean beer.

Yesterday was chest day for me, unfortunetly it seemed like it was chest day for the entire gym also. It was the first time I have ever been there and all the benches, inclines,declines and hammer strength chest machines were ALL being used. Talk about a pain in the ass (or chest rather). Now I had to switch up my entire workout and wing it of sorts. I ended up still having a pretty good chest and shoulders day. Besides I figure a little improv is good once in a while.

Chest-

Incline Dumbell Presses 15 9 9 9 15

Dumbell Flys 15 9 9 9

Decline Presses (it took a while but I finally got on one) 4 sets of 9

Pec Dec Machine 15 9 9 7

Shoulder-Middle Delts

Wide Grip Upright Rows 15 9 9 9

Cable Side lat Raises 15 9 9 9

Military Presses 4 sets of 12