The abdominal muscles can be worked almost anywhere. There is such a vast range of movements that can be done without equipment that we don’t really need equipment found in a gym to exercise them effectively. However, there is no doubting the fact that, when done properly, gym equipment does help with growing the abs further. It allows for better overload of the muscle.
When training abs at home, for example, without equipment, to reach the all-important failure, the exercise has to be done for 30-45 seconds to properly stress the fibers. However, when using equipment in a gym, we can reach this point more quickly and in a more controlled way.
How Often Should Abs Be Trained?
The abdominal muscles recover quicker than most of the other major muscle groups. It’s not uncommon for some people to train them every day, although these workouts won’t be too intense.
A full abdominal workout, like this one, would be best done twice a week. Research has suggested that training each muscle group, like the chest and legs for example, twice a week produces the best results. There’s nothing to suggest that training abs any more, or less, would be beneficial.
Train abs as often as you like, but make the workouts more intense if training less often, and less intense if training more regularly.
You can fit in some of the exercises found in this article at the end of your other training days. Doing two or three of them will not add to much time to your workout and make them much more manageable. Training abs consistently is the way to progress!
Abdominal Training
We need to train the abdominal muscles to build core strength. A strong core sets us up well for our other large movements when training. Such as the squat, bench press and deadlift to name a few. The core is always stabilizing our body’s and that’s why it is such an important muscle group to train.
When training the abdominal muscles, especially at home, it is all about volume. We need more reps and sets in order to continue stressing the muscles. If you have access to a gym, you could overload with more weight. But at home, without equipment, it’s harder to overload the muscle to continue the stimulus. This is why we need to perform more reps/longer sets. It’s also important to target all areas of our core in order to not overdevelop certain aspects of it. Abs are often trained in time periods. For example, you will do as many reps of a certain exercise in 30 seconds or 45 seconds.
When doing abdominal exercises, it’s important to avoid arching at the lower back. Doing this will not only take the tension off the abs, but it will also put stress on your back and likely cause injury issues. To avoid arching at the lower back, when lying down, lift your chest up slightly and, on certain exercises, you can support yourself with your arms each side.
If your goal is to get a six pack, this workout will definitely get you on your way to achieving this. It is, however, important to understand that there a lot of factors you need to take into account when this is your main goal. A six pack will only become visible when you get to a certain level of body fat. Of course, the more developed your abs, the bigger they are and therefore the more visible they will be at a higher BF%, but ensuring you are a healthy weight by eating well and exercising in other ways is just as important as training your abs!
Anatomy of the Abdominal/Core Muscles
Below are the five main core muscles that we need to go through. As mentioned, it’s important to train these muscles properly with the right exercises to avoid imbalances.
- Rectus Abdominis – The rectus abdominis is the most prominent of the abdominal muscles. This is the one that will give the six pack look. It runs horizontally down the front of the torso. The rectus abdominis flexes the spinal column, bring together the pelvis and the ribs.
- External Obliques – The external obliques sit either side of the rectus abdominis. The muscle fibers run diagonally downward. They begin at the bottom of the ribs and run down toward the pelvis area. The obliques are predominantly used when rotating the torso but are also activated when bending sideways as well as other things.
- Internal Obliques – The internal obliques sit underneath the external obliques – you can see where their names come from now. The muscle fibers run at the opposite angle to the external obliques. Despite this, they do the same function as their external counterparts, just for opposite directions of movements.
- Transversus Abdominis – The transversus abdominis muscle is the deepest muscle in the group. It sits underneath the rest and the fibers run horizontally across the torso. The muscle doesn’t help with moving of the spin or pelvis, but it’s used for helping with breathing. It also stabilizes the spine and supports the abdominal wall.
- Hip Flexors – The hip flexors are not technically apart of the abdominal muscle group, and they are in fact a group of their own. However, they are involved in a lot of abdominal exercises. The hip flexors can sometimes take over from the abdominal muscles when they become fatigued during some exercises. It’s important to try to avoid this.
The Exercises
The eight ab exercises below target the whole of the core to build strength and tone the muscles. Utilizing the different equipment gyms offer allow us to target the abs in a more effective way. We can better progressively overload on the exercises compared to when working the abs at home.
Pulley Machine Crunch
The pulley machine crunch is done using a rope attachment. It involves kneeling down facing the pulley machine and grabbing the rope before pulling it down, keeping the arms locked, forcing the abs to do the work. As the name suggests, the premise is similar to the normal crunch, but this time instead of lying on the back, it’s done while kneeling.
To perform:
- Set the cable high with the rope attachment in use
- Hold the rope with both hands and kneel down facing the machine
- Keep your arms in a locked position, your hands should be either side of your head
- Crunch down to use the core to pull the weight towards the floor, contract the muscles for a second at the bottom and return to the start position to complete a repetition.
Hanging Bar Leg Raise
The hanging bar leg raise uses a pullup bar. While holding onto it with both hands and hanging straight down to the floor, we will then raise the legs, engaging the abs. Using the legs and the hips as a pivot puts immense stress and tension on the abs and is perfect for building strength.
To perform:
- Hold onto a pullup bar with both hands and hand vertically down
- Focus on keeping your upper body still and try eliminate momentum before raising your legs upwards – bring them as high as possible
- Let your legs come down slowly to complete a repetition.
Cable Pulley Core Rotation
This exercise, as the name implies, again uses the cable pulley machine. This time for an exercise that will target the obliques. It involves holding a handle attached to the pulley machine which should be set at mid-drift height. Holding with both hands, we will rotate at the core. This exercise can be done standing or kneeling. This exercise will target the obliques one side at a time.
To perform:
- Either standing or kneeling, set the pulley to mid-drift height and hold the handle with both hands
- Keep your hips and lower body tight, your arms straight and rotate at the core, going as far as you can – slowly bring your arms back to the start position to complete a rep.
Ab Crunch Machine
The ab crunch machine is a fantastic piece of equipment found in most gyms. It involves taking a seat, holding onto handles and requires you to crunch your abs to move the weight. The machine keeps you in the right range of motion, making it more difficult to cheat the exercise.
To perform:
- Take a seat and hold the handles either side of you
- Lean forward to crunch down towards your knees – slowly bring yourself back up to complete a repetition.
Russian Twists
Russian twists are a fantastic movement for hitting the oblique muscles, found at the side of your six pack muscles. The obliques are a crucial muscle for building strength and stability in the core while also building an aesthetic looking mid-section. The exercise involves, as the name suggests, twisting at the waist. You will be seated on the floor on your bottom with your legs in front of you. You will lean back slightly and twist at the waist, this will burn out your obliques.
This exercise can also be overloaded with weights like a dumbbell or weight plates. Hold this in your hand when doing the exercise to make it harder.
Although this exercise does not require equipment, it is too good of an exercise to leave out of this workout. Find some free floor space at your gym at work those obliques!
To perform:
- Sit on the floor with your back off the ground and your knees bent – bring your feet off the floor to make the exercise harder
- Your body should be at about an angle of 40-degrees to the ground – go lower to make the exercise harder, and higher to make it easier
- Hold your hands together (or hold a dumbbell or weight plate) and twist at the waist, attempt to touch the ground on each side.
Weighted Plank
The plank is an isometric movement. This means that the body is kept in a still position and stresses the muscles by keeping them locked in a difficult position for a long time. The plank, in general, is a fantastic movement for developing strength in the core and is often recommended for people who are lacking in this area. It’s also an incredibly easy exercise to perform!
As we have access to weights in this gym workout, we can overload the movement with weight. This makes the movement harder and allows the muscles to develop better.
To perform:
- Lie on your front and get the weight on your back – you can ask someone to help you place this for you if needed
- Place your forearms on the floor next to you and raise yourself up so your toes are supporting you along with your arms
- Your upper arms should be perpendicular to floor and your back and legs should be straight
- Hold this position for as long as possible – aim for progressing 10 seconds at a time, complete 2-3 sets per workout.
Lying Dumbbell Leg Raise
The leg raise is a movement which uses the same premise as the hanging bar leg raise. However, this time it’s performed lying on our backs and using a dumbbell to make the exercise harder.
Ensure the dumbbell is secured between your feet properly when doing this movement. If the weight was to drop on you it could cause serious injury.
To perform:
- Lie on your back with your legs straight out, bring your feet either side of a dumbbell and make sure it’s secured
- Avoid arching your lower back and lift your legs up above you
- Slowly lower back down to complete a repetition.
Low to High Woodchopper
The low to high woodchopper movement is similar to the core rotation and again utilizes the cable pulley machine. It involves setting the cable pulley low to the ground and attaching a handle. You’d then hold the handle with both hand and pull it up and across your body. Having it go low to high means the motion runs in line with the muscle fibers of the external obliques. When the movement follows this path, it will great engage these muscles, growing them more effectively.
To perform:
- Set the cable pulley low with a resistance suitable for you
- Hold the handle with both hands and stand side on to the pulley machine, your arms should be extended, the start position might look like you’re holding a golf club
- Keep your arms extended and pull the handle by rotating your core across and up your body, the motion would also be like swinging a golf club
- Slowly return the handle back to the start position to complete a repetition.
Conclusion
This concludes the gym ab workout with our eight best exercises. When training abs, ensure you’re always focusing on form and make sure to avoid cheating to get the best results. Your abs are always being engaged from your other lifts in the gym, such as the big compound ones such as the squat and bench press but it’s important to still directly train them. Try these and see how you get on!