My Wife: Hey, wanna do abs with me today?
Me:
My Wife's ab routine is pretty epic. She's been doing it for years. Halfway through her 30's and 2 kids later, she still has shredded abs and can do a 10 minute plank. Not to mention regularly doing this 1,000 rep routine.
If you just want to see the whole routine, you can check it out in the video below: If you'd like a breakdown and some good info on ab training, then read on.
1000 Rep Ab Workout Breakdown:
How Often Should You Work Your Abs?
Most experts recommend working your abs at most every other day. This allows a day in between for the muscles to recover, helping you avoid injuries. Just like any other muscle in the body, you don't want to train your abs every day.
My wife does this routine two times per week and does another core routine with planks and weights 1-2 times per week. She's been doing this for years without any injuries, and has a six-pack to show for it.
What If You're Just Starting Out?
If you're looking to start training your abs and core, you definitely don't need to start with 1,000 reps. Instead of doing 100 reps of each exercise, try doing 15-20 reps. Then add reps each week until you feel ready to do the whole workout.
People mistakenly believe that more is always better. In this case, as is usually the case with exercise and working out, it is not. Always build up to higher volumes of training and make sure you're able to recover.
5 Ab exercises to start with
She recommends using these 5 exercises if you're just starting out. Do 2-3 sets of 15-20 reps of each. Do this 2-3 times per week max when you're just starting out. Then build up to hitting your abs more often over time.
Crunches with feet on the ground
- Lay on your back with your feet on the ground
- Don't pull on your neck when you crunch up. This puts unnecessary strain on your neck and can create injuries.
- Gently crunch up by flexing your abs, squeezing them on each rep.
Leg Raises
- Lay flat on your back, hands under your butt.
- Keep your back and head touching the floor throughout the movement.
- Keeping your legs straight (slight bend is ok) raise your legs to 90 degrees, then back down.
- Try to keep from touching your feet to the ground
- The legs are a long lever, making injury risk higher. Stay under control with slow, controlled movements and don't force reps out.
Knees to Chest:
- Start from a high plank position (push-up position).
- Bring your knee to your chest, then back out. Repeat for 10 reps each side.
- This movement can help get you started on building core strength and stability for more intense training in the future.
Planks
- Assume the plank position by resting on your forearms and feet.
- Don't allow your body to sag (hips to the floor) or arch up.
- Try to keep your body in a straight line.
- Do 2-3 sets of 30 seconds, then add more time each week.
- Planks build core strength and endurance and have many other physical benefits.
Side Planks
- If you felt comfortable in the plank position, try 2-3 sets of 30 seconds each side in the side plank.
- Again, your body should form a generally straight line from head to foot.
- Side planks work the oblique abs really well and build endurance in the upper body as well.
Diet and Nutrition for staying lean
No discussion about abs would be complete without talking about nutrition.
My wife puts me to shame when it comes to eating healthy. She isn't extreme about it, but here are some things that I see her do every day that help her stay lean and strong.
- She Juices every morning. First, a shot of ginger, lemon juice and turmeric. Then a green juice containing a variety of vegetables and sometimes fruit. Her favorite is:
2. She drinks a gallon of water every day. She carries around a gallon jug and makes sure she finishes it each day. This helps cleanse the body and stay hydrated. It also help to keep your stomach feeling more full.
3. She prefers protein over heavy carbs and sweets. At dinner she will sometimes eat a piece of chicken or steak and barely touch the potatoes or rice. She'll eat vegetables instead. Protein builds muscle and keeps you feeling fuller for longer.
4. She does moderate intensity cardio and lifts weights at least 2-3 times per week. (See this article if you want to know more about this). Lifting/resistance training makes your body a fat burning machine. The article I highlighted above can help you to understand how this works.
Conclusion:
I hope you liked this article. The purpose was not only to display my wife's ab routine, but also to offer some insight into how you can achieve a leaner body and shape up your abs by dissecting what she does.
My wife isn't usually too into my blog posts, but since I know she'll be reading this one.. I love you babe! And maybe, just maybe... I'll do abs with you tomorow.
Thanks for being here, and I hope this article helped in some way to get you a little closer to that best version of yourself.
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