Secret
Training Tip #927 - Two Ab Exercises With a Twist
For Rock-Hard Obliques and Explosive Core Power
These two unique abdominal exercises will have
you doubled over in a good way! You'll develop
eye-popping obliques that will give your midsection
a finished look, and you'll develop tremendous
core strength.
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The
muscles of the abdominals are always on the list of
improvements people would like to make to their physique.
I've got two exercises that can help you not only develop
obliques that jump out of your abs and demand attention
but also help you develop rock-solid core power and
strength.
As
always, there will be a link to view pictures of the
exercises in action at the end of this article.
The
first abdominal exercise is one that I call the "Stretched
Flying Cable Crunch." It is done using the Cable
Crossover machine. This exercise allows you to place
direct tension on the upper oblique area to sides of
the upper abs where the obliques form the "fingers"
that truly finish a physique.
Start
by attaching two single handles to the high pulleys
of the crossover machine. You will be using a moderately
heavy weight for the exercise itself but you can start
light to get an idea of the movement first.
Grasping
the two handles, kneel down then walk a few steps forward
on your knees. As you kneel down, you will need to rotate
your shoulders so that your arms are being stretched
behind your back (your palms will be facing up in this
position). The reason you want to step forward a bit
is to get a better stretch on the obliques.
From
this position, you can perform one of three movements:
a cable crunch straight forward, a side crunch to the
left or a side crunch to the right. The angle of the
cables form a direct line of pull for the obliques on
the opposing side of the body, e.g. when you side crunch
to the left, the right pulley has a direct line of pull
on the left obliques.
I've
found that a good way to execute this exercise is to
cycle between the three movements during the set - do
one crunch to the front, one to the left, one to the
front, one to the right, one to the front, one back
to the left, etc. This will give you a balanced workload
on the abs. You can also choose to just focus on the
obliques by going back and forth between the two sides.
The
unique angle of tension from this exercise will really
place demands on the abs in a way that they're not used
to.
The
second abdominal exercise is a variation of an exercise
you may already be familiar with. The exercise this
variation is based on is commonly known as a "Cable
Torso Rotation." This variation takes this basic
concept and adds a unique twist that literally doubles
the effectiveness of the exercise.
This
movement is done on a cable machine. If you have access
to a machine that has an adjustable height pulley, this
is the best option. If not, it will also work on either
a high or low pulley. The movement itself is exactly
the same regardless of where you pull from.
Set
the pulley to about belly-button height (or use either
the high or low pulley) and attach a single cable handle
to it. Use a fairly light weight to start so you get
an idea of how the movement is performed and what resistance
you'll need.
Stand
perpendicular to the pulley with your left side towards
the pulley. Grasp the handle with your right hand and
take a step to the right. Plant your feet a little wider
than shoulder width apart and get ready to rotate. The
movement itself is very similar to a baseball swing,
making it a very effective sports-training movement
not only for baseball but from any sport that requires
a powerful transfer of force from lower body to upper
body.
At
the start of the movement, your right arm will be held
across your chest with your left arm at your side. Initiate
the movement by rotating your torso to the right. Be
sure to keep your elbow slightly bent and locked into
position. If you allow the elbow to bend, you will turn
the movement into a side row, lessening the effect on
the obliques. Keep that arm stiff and fairly straight!
When
you start this rotation, begin bringing the cable around
in front of your body by pulling on the cable handle
with your right arm. Your right arm will come away from
your body as you rotate, placing more torque on the
obliques.
Here
comes the trick that doubles the workload on the abs...
As
you start to approach the midpoint of the rotation,
grasp the CABLE about 6 inches from the cable clip with
your left hand. Do not grasp the handle itself with
the left hand - it's important that you wrap your left
hand around the actual cable for this to work. Read
on...
In
a normal cable rotation exercise, after you go past
the halfway point of the rotation, the tension on the
abs will start decreasing. The peak tension is at the
halfway point. We're going to fix that!
Once
you've passed the halfway point of the rotation, continue
pulling the handle with your right hand but now start
PUSHING forward and away from your body on the cable
itself with your left hand. As a visual, think of the
string games that kids play such as the Cat's Cradle.
What
you're essentially doing is creating a new fulcrum for
the tension of the cable to go through. Instead of losing
some tension around the arc as you normally would, you
now have direct tension on the abs again and in a different
way than in the regular rotation exercise. This not
only works the obliques on the pulling side with the
pulling motion, it also works the obliques on the pushing
side with a strong pushing motion.
The
effect on the abs with this double movement is tremendous!
The next day you should have a very strong feeling of
tightness (and possibly soreness) in the upper/side
ab area.
Exercise
#1 - Stretched Flying Cable Crunches
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This
is the start position of the exercise.
You'll
be in a kneeling position, a step forward
from the centerline of the pulleys to
get a stretch on the abs.
You
arms will be rotated around so that
your palms are facing up.
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This
is the straight crunched position of
the exercise.
Come
straight down as if you were doing a
regular cable crunch.
Squeeze
hard at the bottom.
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To
hit the left side obliques, crunch down
towards the left side.
Your
right arm will be pulled down while
your left arm will remain motionless
in space. The left weight stack should
not move at all.
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To
hit the right side obliques, simply
crunch over to the right side.
Again,
your left arm will be pulled down while
your right arms stays motionless in
space.
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Exercise
#2 - Cable Toso Rotations With a Twist!
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- This
pictures demonstrates the position
of the left hand on the cable at the
end of the movement.
- The
cable is bent about 90 degrees at
the end. The right arm is only stabilizing
the movement now and the left arm
is pushing against the resistance.
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