Six-pack tips

By: Lovena Stamatiou-Tuley

June 13, 2008

Aerobic exercise is also necessary, not only for a healthy heart but for peeling away those layers of fat hiding your muscles.

• When I do any type of crunch, it's a very small movement because of where the muscle originates and inserts. Imagine a rubber band between your sternum (the breastbone) and your pelvis. You can change your leverage, and thus the difficulty level of the exercise, by changing your leg or arm position, but the contraction always has to be sternum to pelvis for ab development.
• I use relatively low-rep sets for my ab training. I don't think there's any magic number that'll give you abdominals; like anything else you do in the gym, it's all about your intensity. I met a guy who said he was doing 1,000 crunches a day, and I thought, "Heck, you're not doing them right!" If you do each crunch slowly, and squeeze the muscle hard at the top, you won't be able to do more than 40-80 in a single session - total!
• I always tell people to put their hands where it feels most natural. I always put mine behind my head to give it support, and I don't interlace my fingers. You can also cross your arms over your chest, or even raise them above your head, which increases the difficulty.
• Counting reps shouldn't be your goal. You don't want to push to achieve a certain number of repetitions if they're done poorly. I see some people pull on their necks so much it probably hurts the next day, or they let their hip flexors take over. They may also start lowering their shoulder blades to the floor or let their lower backs arch up. If you can't do an exercise correctly, take a break and see if you can do it right after a brief rest.
• It's vital to keep your abdominals and lower back in balance. A lot of people think, "I have a bad back, so I'm not going to do abs." That's the wrong philosophy. Both the back and abdominal muscles have to be tight and taut, and you need to practice good postural habits or the imbalance will result in aches and pains. I work lower back every week, usually in conjunction with my hamstrings or as part of my regular back session.
• If you want to see the results of your hard work in your midsection, you must do cardio and watch your diet. Your abs can be strong and you can be very fit, but you still may never have a washboard midsection. A healthy, fat-conscious diet is 90% of seeing your abs, especially with men, since the abdominals is their No. 1 fat-deposit spot.