The BodyBlog of Patrick Hitches

I love people.  I truly do.  Ask any and all those in my life of this reality and it’ll be a unanimous opinion.  But when it comes down to finding that hidden gem of knowledge to get a six pack, I sometimes stop for a second, look them in the eye and ask this one question; “Do you really want a six pack?”  Seems like an obvious answer, but I’ll tell you this, it’s a whole lot of hard work, dedication and a constant drive of determination.  I like to support what I call a little bit of “fun weight” to where you have the ability to flex back and forth between a ripped torso and a somewhat soft look that has the backdrop of late night grubbin and weekend shenanigans.  But to each his own and if that answer to my socially implicated question is still indeed a yes, well goodness gracious I’d better shoot you down the right path.  With that being said, below you’ll find my favorite of all favorites 6 Pack Exercise.  This workout movement will undoubtedly help build the abdominal muscles and ultimately strengthen your core as a whole.  Don’t get too excited now, you’ll still have to lose that nice little grab bag of body fat that you’ve put so many hours of beer drinking and pizza inhaling time into.  Otherwise, your hard work will forever hide beneath the surface and remain a secret that you and only you will know exists.

The Exercise – Hanging Leg Raises w/ the Valeo Ab Straps

First off, I would like to break down the style of my abdominal workout.  I like to pick three of my favorite exercises that will allow me to focus on the upper region of my abs, the lowers, and the obliques.  I do a superset of the three exercises for a total of 1 set and I repeat this 3 times. As with any other muscle group being worked, the rep range should always fall in line with other movements of roughly 8-15 depending on the exercise movement.   One key factor focus I always stress is the concept of a controlled negative with a 2 second pause at the contraction portion of the movement.  Make sure you exhale completely as you hold this 2 second pause.  With the rep range falling between 8-15, you’ll more than likely need to do weighted abdominal exercises as well.

The Ab workout will breakdown like this:

3 Exercises (1 upper, 1 lower, 1 oblique)

Example Exercises

• Weighted Swiss Ball Crunch
• Hanging Leg Raises
• Oblique cable crunch

To review, you’ll want to superset the 3 exercises for 3 sets.  Always focusing on a 2 second hold at the contraction portion of the exercise.   Make sure to give yourself a rest period between each superset.  And that’s it.  Do this 1-2 times a week just as any other muscle group, and you’re all set.

Hanging Leg Raises

Ok.  Now that we’ve gone over the basics of the overall abdominal routine, let’s focus on just one of the core exercise movements that I absolutely love.  I’ve used the Valeo Ab Straps for well over 6 years now and I’ll continue to swear by them.  If the Ab straps just don’t fit into your budget, or even if you forget them at home, you can always use your Lifting Straps (absolute essential for back training day by the way) as a secondary means to accomplish the same task.  Not quite as comfortable and fluid a motion, but it’ll still get the job done.  Anyways, let’s dig into the movement and talk about some of the things to consider while you’re executing the exercise.  But first, take a look below to get a visual at what we’re talking about…

A look at the straps in action

Now that you have a visual, let’s discuss some key basics to consider while performing this exercise.  You will want to start by performing the exercise as it is being shown on the left here.  You will bend your knees and raise your legs towards your chest.  As you bring your knees to your chest, ensure you exhale all the oxygen from your lungs.  This will ensure a full contraction of the abdominal muscles.  The exercise itself will cause your body to sway from front to back.  This will force you to use your stabilizer muscles to keep from swaying (another positive from the exercise).  Do a set of 8-12 reps, depending on how many you can execute and then continue on with your superset.  Once you feel you’re blazing through the reps without much strain, you can bump up the intensity by doing these with straight legs.  You’ll be emailing me in a fit of painful fury… But hey, a little hard work never hurt anyone.

And there you have it.  My favorite of all favorites 6 Pack Exercise.  Get some Ab Straps and go to town.  You’ll love em… I promise!