Ab Workout

The most common question I get asked by my friends is "how do I get abs?"

Firstly, I would just like to point out that we all have abs! Just hidden underneath a layer of body fat. So the best way to get abs would be to change your diet first and foremost- follow a clean eating plan, cut the processed and sugary crap and don't skip your cardio sessions! (I will be bringing out a form of guidelines of clean eating in the coming weeks).

As for ab exercises, there are so many versions and crazy exercises you can do, my best advice is to keep it simple and make sure you are feeling the abdominal muscles activate when doing the exercises. It's all well and good if you can do 200 crunches, but if the muscle isn't tearing- you aren't building!
The aim is to build abdominal muscles, whilst eating clean to shred back body fat.
You also want to incorporate a variety of exercises that target all of the abdominal muscles: upper, lower and obliques. There are far more muscles each with scientific names, but these are the 3 main groups i target (see diagram below).

So what exercises do I do for a good abs workout?
Below is an example of a workout you can try incorporating the 3 main muscle groups:

Upper:
Crunches on stability ball
Too easy? Hold a 5kg plate
Ab pull down using tricep rope. One of my faves, it may look like you are praying to the Gods, but it works. See diagram below.

Lower:
Hanging leg raises
Reverse crunches
Both very simple, yet effective.

Obliques:
Cable wood chops
Russian twists with medicine ball

Essentially I have included 2 x upper, 2 x lower and 2 x oblique exercises.

Aim for 3 rounds of this circuit of 15-20 reps per exercise :)

Any questions email me: jennableakleyfitness@hotmail.com
xx