MIDDLE MELT DOWN BY GREG MERRITT POWER UP YOUR ABDOMINAL-DEFINING PROGRAMME WITH OUR INNOVATIVE TRIPLE-THREAT ATTACK Maybe we should move all of the ab equipment into a padded cell. After all, if insanity can be defined as repeatedly doing the same thing yet always anticipating different results, then a lot of lunatics are doing a lot of sit-ups. Most of us treat ab training like a necessary chore, methodically racking up reps with the same intensity we apply to flossing our teeth or balancing our chequebooks. Same lethargic routine, same stagnant growth, and still we do it all over again next time. Are you ready to stop the madness? Mark Casselman, professor of exercise physiology, nutrition and high-performance training at Humber College (Toronto), has devised a three-month periodisation programme for raising intensity and attacking your abs with an evolving routine. He prescribes three distinct phases with the overall goal of muscling up your midsection. “People typically think of chiselling their abs, so they use tons of reps and sets, and obviously such high volume lends itself to low intensity,” Casselman explains. “You can either train with high intensity or high volume, but you can’t do both. Our idea is to train abs with the same intensity and workout volume as any other bodypart, albeit with a greater frequency. When you use high reps, you target slow-twitch fibres, which have less potential to hypertrophy than fast-twitch fibres. Fast-twitch fibres are stressed with heavier weights and greater intensity.” Fearing a bigger waist, many people do high reps precisely to avoid growing their abs. They want to keep their waists toned and defined — the classic “chiselled” look. Fear not: the abs typically don’t grow much, even with heavy weights and low reps. Furthermore, to get the look you seek — deep abdominal definition — you need to maximise your midsection muscle. Just as a sculptor chiselling a statue’s waist day after day would quickly find himself shaving off details, you can’t simply subtract your way to great abs. You need to do some addition. Our three-month training programme is designed to add to your abs by both increasing the intensity and altering the stress each month. Here’s the plan: Month 1 The focus is on endurance, though not with the endless reps too many people do. Instead, utilise moderate reps and intensity with limited rest. The exercises are mostly traditional with a (Russian) twist thrown in. Month 2 With the emphasis on strength and growth, you’ll increase the intensity and rest periods. The exercises chosen will work your midsection in conjunction with stabilising muscles. As Casselman states, “It’s important for athletes to do some ab training with their feet on the floor so they can apply the results more practically to their sport.” Training abs as part of a whole also builds core strength that will translate to standing lifts. Month 3 The final phase focuses on strength and power with moderate-to-heavy reps and intensity. Speed plays a crucial role. The first three exercises are plyometric and should be performed explosively to activate fast-twitch fibres. With this plan in hand, your days of mindlessly ripping out on the same no-intensity, standard abdominal fare month after month are over. Strip off your straightjacket and attack your abs with intensity and variety with our periodisation programme. Not only will you put an end to boring ab training, but you’ll craft a strong, ripped midsection. ABSOLUTE TRUTHS FOR ABS READY TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT TRAINING YOUR MID-SECTION? HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW. >> From workout to workout, strive to increase resistance. Even a small change can have a big effect. >> The further a weight is held away from the body, the greater the resistance. For example, if you hold a medicine ball to your chest during crunches one workout, try holding it away from your chest the next workout to make the crunches harder. >> Each workout in our ab periodisation programme features two exercises for the rectus abdominis (upper and lower abs), one for the obliques (running along the side of your mid-section) and one for the spinal erectors (lower back). >> The lower-back exercise is included to balance that area with your ab strength. If you do deadlifts or other heavy core lifts regularly, however, you may want to remove the lower-back work from one of your thrice-weekly midsection workouts. >> “Your abdominals are relatively small and resistant to exercise, so you’re able to overload them more than other muscle groups,” states programme creator Mark Casselman. We suggest training abs three times per week on nonsequential days. If your abs are still sore two days later, skip a workout or decrease the intensity. >> Prioritise your abs by training them first in your workouts, but with one caveat: on days you do heavy standing lifts like squats and deadlifts, consider working abs last so you don’t pre-exhaust key stabilising muscles. >> To save time, the exercises in this ab periodisation programme can be performed as giant sets: one exercise after the other in sequence without rest between sets. >> Don’t forget the importance of nutrition. You need to eat clean to see the fruits of your labour. HANGING KNEE RAISE MOVE | Hang from an overhead bar. With your knees bent 90-degrees, flex your abs to curl your hips towards your chest. Do controlled, fluid movements without swinging. Add resistance by holding a dumbbell between your ankles or squeezing a medicine ball between your knees. ROPE CABLE CRUNCH MOVE | Grasp a rope attached to a high pulley at a cable station. Kneel on the floor facing the station and hold the rope slightly above your head. Flex your abs to pull your shoulders down towards your hips. Hold briefly at each contraction. RUSSIAN TWIST MOVE | Lie face-up on the floor and extend your arms overhead, grasping something secure. Keeping your shoulders on the floor but elevating your hips slightly, extend your legs above you and slowly lower them to the floor on the right side. Reverse to touch the floor on the left side. Add resistance by holding a medicine ball between your knees. PRONE BACK EXTENSION MOVE | This lift is sometimes called the “Superman”. Lie face-down on the floor, secure your ankles and hold your arms out straight in front of you. Raise your shoulders and chest off the floor as high as possible. Hold briefly. The movement is very short yet intense. EXERCISE-BALL CRUNCH MOVE | Studies have shown that this crunch stimulates more muscle than other ab exercises. Lie face-up on a ball and place your feet on the floor. Pick a point on the ceiling and focus on that throughout to help steady your spine and neck. The closer together your feet are, the less stable your position and thus the more difficult the exercise. You can also increase difficulty by sitting further back on the ball. ROMAN-CHAIR BACK EXTENSION MOVE | Position yourself face-down in a roman chair or on a glute-ham raise bench, securing your feet. Bend at the hips until your upper body is at a 90-degree angle to your lower body, then return to the starting position (body straight). Hold a medicine ball or light weight plate to add resistance. REVERSE EXERCISE-BALL CRUNCH MOVE | The advantage of the exercise ball is its instability, which makes your core muscles work harder to maintain your balance. Lie face-up on a ball, extending your arms overhead and grasping something stable. Bring your knees up and curl your hips toward your shoulders. Bring your hips off the ball slightly at the top and hold. Perform your reps slowly. CABLE WOODCHOPPER MOVE | Woodchoppers work your obliques in conjunction with several other muscles. They’re especially effective for boosting swinging strength for sports like golf, cricket and tennis. Stand at a cable station so that the high pulley is above and in front of your right shoulder. Grasp a D-handle with both hands. Pull it across the front of your body to your left hip, rotating at the waist. In subsequent sets, reverse the process to work the opposite side. HANGING LEG RAISE WITH MEDICINE-BALL KICK MOVE | Hang from an overhead bar so your feet almost touch the floor. Have someone roll a medicine ball toward your feet. When the ball reaches you, kick it away as you bring your legs up. No partner? Kick the ball against a wall or simply add resistance by holding a dumbbell or medicine ball between your feet. Perform each rep explosively. EXERCISE-BALL CRUNCH WITH MEDICINE-BALL THROW MOVE | Do a crunch on an exercise ball and throw a medicine ball to a partner at the top of each rep. Hold the contracted position as your partner throws the ball back to you. Use your abs to resist the direction of the ball as you return to the starting position. If you have no partner, simply perform crunches as before, increasing the difficulty by placing your feet close together and/or positioning your body further back on the ball. Perform reps explosively. REVERSE WOODCHOPPER WITH MEDICINE BALL MOVE | This is done in the same fashion as the cable woodchopper, but at a higher speed. Hold a medicine ball or light dumbbell with both hands and use your abdominal and oblique strength to quickly reverse direction in the low and high positions. Even though you’re moving at a faster speed, you should be careful not to let momentum do the work or torque your spine too much during the twisting motion. BARBELL GOOD MORNING MOVE | Unlike such drearily named exercises as the deadlift and the clean and press, the good morning sounds deceptively pleasant. In fact, it’s an intense lower-back exercise. Hold a lightweight barbell behind your neck as if beginning a squat, then bend at your hips and push your glutes back. Lower your torso until it’s parallel to the floor, then return to an upright position. Unlike the three previous lifts, maintain a controlled pace. M&F Greg Merritt is a senior writer at FLEX magazine.

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