It’s been said by many people that the six pack is the holy grail of working out and getting in shape, and you certainly need a strong core to jump higher.
For many, this can be a frustrating challenge, if you’re carrying around a pot belly, or an overhang.
All you want to do is get rid of it!
Well, there’s a lot more to abs training than exercises such as nutrition and cardio, but this article will focus on the abs training exercises that build muscle the fastest.
I personally had a toned midsection from all the sports I was doing, but I didn’t have a really defined six pack.
I wanted a stronger core so I could be more explosive on the mat and on the track.
The crunches my coach had us doing, just wasn’t cutting it.
So I switched up what I was doing with this one tip I’m about to teach you and got phenomenal results.
The trick that no one’s really talking about is to add weight!
Once I started training my abs like my other muscles, they began to grow like my other muscles.
So here are 3 great abs training exercises for a strong explosive core:
Exercise 1: Rope Pull Down Crunch
- Get a mat and set the pulley up high
- Crouch down on your knees about 4 ft away from the column
- Adjust the weight accordingly
- Grab the rope and do a crunch
- Most importantly – keep your hips still and curl your torso down
- Try to pull your elbows to your knees
- Keep your chin tucked in to take stress off your lower back
- Hold for a sec, then release
This exercise is great because it keeps your abs in tension the entire time and you get a full range of motion. Do 8-12 reps for 3 sets. You should be about to max out on the last few reps of the last set.
Exercise 2: Hanging Knee Raise
I’ll explain two methods:
Method 1:
- Use a pull up bar to hang and hold yourself suspended
- Bend your knees
- Curl your knees toward your chest while keeping your knees bent, while keeping your back perpendicular to the floor
- Make sure you use your abs for this and not your hip flexors
Method 2:
- Use a pull up bar to hang from
- Bend your knees
- Curl your knees toward your chest and let your back roll back until it’s almost parallel the floor
- Make sure you use your abs for this and not your hip flexors
These are pretty intense workouts. The second version is a little more intense than the first. Once you get comfortable, you can hold a 5,10, or 15 lbs weight between your feet. I promise you’ve never felt anything like this before.
Exercise 3: Decline Bench Sit Up
- Adjust the height of the bench for your skill level (more declined for advanced)
- Grab a 5 lb weight in each hand and hold them next to your head
- Do a sit up like normal while keeping your chin tucked
- On the way down, don’t let your shoulders touch the bench, but hover, then go back up
This exercise is great because it lets you go below horizontal and gives you a full range of motion. Using dumbbells are good because you can easily adjust the weights. They’re a lot easier and safer to use than putting a plate on your chest.
These abs training exercises are sure to pack on muscle in your midsection and give that pop-out washboard you’ve always been looking for.
Couple that with a great diet or Healthy Lunch everyday, and you will have the abs you’ve always dreamed of.
That’ll in turn create an explosive core which will help you increase your vertical jump.
About the author
Mitchell is the author of Fit With Mitch, a website dedicated to showing the beginner how to build muscle with weight training. Learn how to get ripped abs today at www.FitWithMitch.com
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November 23rd, 2009 at 7:39 pm
These are good ideas and I’m definetly going to try all three, you can really feel your abs working when you try to jump, I read that abs account for like 2-5% of your vert so that’s why no matter how athletic you are you can’t jump unless you don’t have a worthy set of abs.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
great knowledge,thanks
November 25th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
thanks for the tips
November 25th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
You’re very welcome Jimmy, although I’d have to give full credit to Mitch for this one.
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:15 am
this is exactly the information i have been looking for i will return to read more later thanks