The Best Summer Ab Workout Guide
Everybody wants to look their best for the summer. A big part includes developing your core so that individual abdominal muscles pop. But creating an effective ab workout circuit with all the various exercises available is tricky.
MUTANT has the end-all, be-all core workout. Below, we go over our ultimate ab workout circuit, how often you should work out your abs, and which movements are worth your while.
Let’s get that core summer-ready!
However, you don’t have to do as much as you think when directly training abs. Because of the additional work you get from other movements, you only have to do dedicated ab workouts once or twice weekly. This will maximize adaptation while allowing your abs ample recovery time. Remember, the abs are a muscle, too, so they need rest!
Progressive overload is key for all of these exercises (just like other muscle groups when resistance training). Pick a weight you can do easily for each movement, then move up in weight or reps each workout.
Do this workout for half an hour twice a week for 12 weeks. If you start in early spring, your abs should be ready to show off come summertime. Nine sets once or twice a week and 30 minutes per training session is all you need to be pool ready!
Article by Terry Ramos
MUTANT has the end-all, be-all core workout. Below, we go over our ultimate ab workout circuit, how often you should work out your abs, and which movements are worth your while.
Let’s get that core summer-ready!
How Often Should You Workout Abs?
If you already have a workout routine, you train your abdominals inadvertently every time you hit the gym. Most exercises, especially compound movements, engage your core.However, you don’t have to do as much as you think when directly training abs. Because of the additional work you get from other movements, you only have to do dedicated ab workouts once or twice weekly. This will maximize adaptation while allowing your abs ample recovery time. Remember, the abs are a muscle, too, so they need rest!
MUTANT’s Weighted Ab Workout Circuit
Incorporating weights when training your core will help you build more ab strength and bigger ab muscles to get them to pop. Here’s the ab workout with weight:- Cable Machine Inverted Crunches: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
- Medicine Ball Decline Bench Curls with Arm Raise: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
- Barbell Plate Russian Twists: 2 sets x 30-50 reps
- Slow Myotatic Crunches: 1 set x 10-15 reps
Cable Machine Inverted Crunches
Get down on the ground on your knees. Hold the cable bar with both hands behind your head, at the top of the neck. Bend over so your torso is parallel to the ground. Crunch by contracting your upper body so that the crown of your head moves back toward your thighs. Make sure to engage your core and move through your abdomen.Medicine Ball Decline Bench Curls
Grab a medicine ball with both hands in front of your stomach on a decline bench. As you crunch upwards, lift the medicine ball above your head. At the top position, your upper body should be straight and perpendicular to the floor, arms straight above with the medicine ball in your hands.Barbell Plate Russian Twists
Grab a barbell plate and sit on the floor. With your feet and upper body suspended from the ground, twist and tap the plate on either side of your body with both hands gripping the plate. The giant rep range accommodates the jumps in plate weight (typically 10 to 25 to 45 pounds). Each side tap counts as one rep.Slow Myotatic Crunches
Get a Bosu Balance Trainer and sit before it. With a 5- or 10-pound dumbbell, lift the weight above your head with both hands. Slowly fall backward into the Bosu ball, stretching your spine and abs out as the weight almost touches the floor behind you. Hold the bottom position for a few seconds, then slowly crunch back up. Don’t lose tension at the top; stop just before you are perpendicular to the floor, then go back down.Progressive overload is key for all of these exercises (just like other muscle groups when resistance training). Pick a weight you can do easily for each movement, then move up in weight or reps each workout.
Do this workout for half an hour twice a week for 12 weeks. If you start in early spring, your abs should be ready to show off come summertime. Nine sets once or twice a week and 30 minutes per training session is all you need to be pool ready!
Article by Terry Ramos
