Summer six-pack: anyone can trim his midsection in eight weeks with this progressive program - AB Fitness - abdominal exercises

Everything I do gon' be funky from now on," musician Lee Dorsey once said. A noble premise for many a human endeavor, but not for ab training, where precision is a virtue. Getting a defined set of abs can be simple and fast, but to achieve that goal by summer, your midsection regimen must be straightforward and strict for the next two months.

Strong abs and a flat belly will help prevent a bad back, allow you to stand up straight and tall, and get you noticed at the beach or by the pool. It won't hurt in the medial-pelvic-thrusting arena, either.

Follow this program, designed exclusively for MEN'S FITNESS by Joseph Dowdell, C.S.C.S., owner of Peak Performance gym in New York City, while simultaneously reducing dietary fat and maintaining a cardio routine. The plan is open to anyone, albeit from different starting points depending on experience.

THE PROGRESSIVE SOLUTION

The program builds on the gradual progress you make by challenging your midsection each week in subtle, yet important ways. The volume (sets times reps) increases whenever you go from an odd-numbered to an even-numbered week. The intensity, in the form of resistance, also increases, as does the difficulty of the exercises. Says Dowdell: "You start off in the most stable position, on the floor, then progress to more complicated standing positions, which require the sort of core strength and balance you need elsewhere in the gym and on the court or playing field."

Although the program includes variables, one constant is that you'll hit your entire midsection every workout. Do the exercises in the order prescribed, which deliberately shifts in emphasis from lower abs to obliques to upper abs over the course of each session. A study published recently in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research reported that in addition to hitting lower abs, hip-lift exercises such as the reverse crunch produce as much upper-ab activity as crunches, and generate greater external oblique activity than trunk curls.

THE EXERCISES

1. REVERSE CRUNCH (lower abs) Lie faceup on the floor with your arms placed alongside your body. Assume the starting position by raising your legs and bending your knees until your thighs are vertical and your shins horizontal (1a). Curl your pelvis toward your rib cage until your hips come off the floor (1b). Return to the starting position and repeat.

Added difficulty: Extend your arms behind your head. To make it harder still, use ankle weights.

2. CROSSOVER CRUNCH (obliques) Lie faceup with a rolled-up towel under your low back, knees bent 60 degrees, feet on the floor. Place your hands at the sides of your head (2a). Raise your left shoulder toward your right knee until your shoulder blade comes off the floor (2b). Return to the starting position and repeat for reps. Do the same number of reps crunching your right shoulder toward your left knee to complete one set.

3. CRUNCH (upper abs) Assume the same starting position you use for the crossover crunch (3a), This time, roil your torso toward your pelvis while keeping your low back on the floor (3b). (The range of motion may be no more than six inches.) Return to the starting position and repeat.

4. REVERSE CABLE CRUNCH (lower abs) Place a flat bench perpendicular to a cable stack. Connect ankle cuffs to the low pulley and then to your ankles. Lie faceup on the bench so your feet are near the stack. Holding on to the bench's sides for balance, assume the starting position by raising your legs and feet off the bench so that your torso and shins are parallel to the floor, thighs held vertically (4a). Roll your pelvis back toward your chest until your hips come off the bench (4b). Return to the starting position and repeat.

Added difficulty: Increase the weight on the stack, or adjust the bench so that your head is higher than your feet.

5. CROSSOVER BALL CRUNCH * (obliques) Sit atop an exercise ball with your feet planted on the floor. Slide forward until your lower butt comes off the ball, which should now be centered on your low back. Place your hands at the sides of your head (5a). Raise your left shoulder toward the right side of your body until your shoulder blade comes off the ball (5b). Return to the starting position and repeat for reps. Do the same number of reps crunching your right shoulder toward your left side to complete one set.

6. BALL CRUNCH * (upper abs) Assume the same starting position you use for the crossover ball crunch (6a). This time, roll your torso toward your pelvis (6b). Return to the starting position and repeat.

Added difficulty: Hold a dumbbell or cable attachment across your chest.

7. PRONE BALL JACKKNIFE * (lower abs) Lie facedown with your feet and shins up on the ball and your palms on the floor (7a). Raise your pelvis toward the ceiling, which will cause your shins and feet to "roll" the ball toward your torso (7b). (At full contraction, your body should resemble an upside-down V.) Return to the starting position and repeat.

8. PRONE BALL LOWER-BODY ROTATION * (obliques) Lie facedown with your palms on the floor and the tops of your shins on an exercise ball. Your torso and legs should be parallel to the floor and perpendicular to your arms (8a). (The starting position resembles a push-up's "up" position.) Rotate your hips and legs as far as you can to one side (8b). Rotate them back in the opposite direction, again going as far as you can without losing stability. One rep equals a complete rotation to the right and left.

9. CABLE CRUNCH (upper abs) Kneel before a cable stack holding a rope handle attached to the high pulley, so that your elbows are tucked into the sides of your chest and your hands are just outside your face (9a). Round your torso forward, making sure not to pull with your arms (9b). Return to the starting position and repeat. Added difficulty: Increase the weight on the stack.

10. HANGING KNEE RAISE (lower abs) Grasp a pull-up bar with an overhand grip so your body hangs freely. To assume the starting position, flex your hips so that your thighs are parallel to the floor (10a). Roll your pelvis up toward your rib cage, bringing your knees close to your chest (10b). Return to the starting position and repeat.

Added difficulty: Keep your legs straighter.

11. REVERSE WOOD CHOP (obliques) Stand perpendicular to a cable stack, holding a rope attached to the low pulley with both hands (11a). Without pulling with your arms, rotate your torso away from the stack, bringing the handle up toward your outside shoulder (11b) as if you're about to chop wood. Return to the starting position and repeat for reps, before reversing your position and doing an identical number of reps.

12. STANDING BALL CABLE CRUNCH (upper abs) Attach rope handles to a high-cable pulley. Turn around so your back is to the cable stack. Slide an exercise ball between your low back and the pole. Grasp the ends of the rope attachment so that your hands are up near your ears (12a). Round your torso forward, letting your abs, rather than your arms, pull the resistance (12b). Return to the starting position and repeat. (If the cable stations you use don't permit this--that is, if there isn't a metal guard between you and the stack--continue doing the kneeling crunch.)

Added difficulty: Increase the weight on the stack.

* According to university studies, exercise-ball crunches are among the best ab builders you can do.

Note: Placing a rolled towel under the lumbar spine lets you maintain proper exercise form and minimizes the potential for lower-back strain.

WORKOUT TIPS

* Perform the workout three times per week.

* The prescribed set range allows for customization. In Week 1, for example, beginners should start with two sets; intermediates and advanced should start with three. After four weeks, everybody should be on the same page.

* Rest 45 seconds between sets unless instructed otherwise.
* An alternative to adding sets during even-numbered weeks is to increase intensity through greater resistance, where applicable. "If you're more interested in increasing the strength of your abs, go the intensity or more-resistance route," says Dowdell. "For muscular endurance, go the volume or more-sets route."

WORKOUT BOX

Week 1

EXERCISE SETS REPS

Reverse crunch 2-3 10-12
Crossover
crunch 2-3 10-12
Crunch 2-3 10-12

Week 2

Do the same exercises from
Week 1, but increase the sets
to three or four and the rest
period to 60 seconds.

Week 3

EXERCISE SETS REPS

Reverse cable
crunch 2-3 10-12
Crossover ball
crunch 2-3 10-12
Ball crunch 2-3 10-12

Week 4

Do the same exercises from
Week 3, but increase the sets
to three or four and the rest
period to 60 seconds.

Week 5

EXERCISE SETS REPS

Prone ball
jackknife 2-3 10-12
Prone ball lower-
body rotation 2-3 10-12
Cable crunch 2-3 10-12

Week 6

Do the same exercises from
Week 5, but increase the sets
to three or four and the rest
period to 60 seconds.

Week 7

EXERCISE SETS REPS

Hanging knee
raise 2-3 10-12
Reverse wood
chop 2-3 10-12
Standing ball
cable crunch 2-3 10-12

Week 8

Do the same exercises from
Week 7, but increase the sets
to three or four and the rest
period to 60 seconds.
Men's Fitness, by Mike Carlson, Allan Donnelly, Ben Kallen, Bobby Lee, Mark Thorpe, Tom Weede. COPYRIGHT Weider Publications & Gale Group

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