Almost all the experts have built the abdominals we all desire.
How you build yours is a matter of choosing which method works best for your
body configuration and metabolism.
Crunchies and diet
Let’s start with the late, great Vince Gironda, aka The Iron
Guru. He advocated avoiding sit-ups completely. Vince had a 6-pack of abs like
no one else of his era (his was more like an 8-pack!). He trained hundreds of
bodybuilding champions and a host of other body-beautiful celebs, including
movie stars and action movie heroes.
For abs, Vince recommended a series of crunching exercises;
on the mat, hanging from a pull-up bar, on a bench and using the Roman chair.
He also maintained that it was your diet that displayed your abs, not your
workout routine. Vince was very controversial, but he was also a very
successful trainer.
Work everything
Four-time Mr. Universe winner, Bill Pearl has written what
is arguably the very best book on weight training and bodybuilding ever
composed. In his Keys to the Inner
Universe, Bill has 62 pages on abdominal work covering more than 240
different exercises and variations of exercises.
Bill Pearl’s abs looked like the Rocky Mountains divided by
the Grand Canyon. At the age of 47 he was
voted the “best built man in the World,” by his contemporaries.
Who is right?
Actually, they both are. Gironda believed in working the
abdominals sufficiently and correctly to develop them and then dieting properly
to show them off. Pearl
believed in building every muscle to its maximum potential and then dieting to
get rid of the body fat so they would show well.
Vince Gironda was small of stature, very muscular, fit and
trim. Bill Pearl was exactly the opposite: moderately tall, massively muscled,
extremely defined and very fit. Both of their students emulated Pearl’s build as much as they
could.
Today we can learn from both of these champions and trainers
of champions, and combine their techniques to get the ultimate guide for 6-pack
abs.
Perform three sets of
each of these exercises
• Roman Chair Sit-Ups – This is a backless
chair device that allows you to hook your legs under a rung and then perform
sit-ups for abs and back-bends for lower back muscles.
• Incline Board Crunches – A partial
sit-up where you raise your head and shoulders while contracting your abs forcefully.
• Supine Crunches –On a bench or mat,
elevate your legs with them bent at a 90 degree angle and place your hands behind
your head. Crunch your abs while touching your left elbow to right knee and the
reverse.
• Dumbbell Side-Bends – Seated or
standing and using a single dumbbell, lower the weight at arm’s length and then
return to upright. Alternate sides with 20 reps each side. This is also
performed with the weight hanging behind your buttocks so you pull the rear
obliques.
• Pull-Up Bar Leg Raises – With your
hands widely placed on the chinning bar, slowly elevate your legs, bring your
knees to your chest. Lower and repeat.
• Parallel Bar Dip Machine Knee-Ups –
With your forearms resting on each side of the dip bar, elevate your knees to
waist level.
This completes your
6-pack ab workout!