Down To The Core

Lets get down to the core. We all love that down to the bone soreness we all pride ourselves with. I mean lets face the facts, if your like me you wear the pain you get from your workouts like a badge of honor. However nothing is more honorable to us gym rats than a powerful, lean and ripped midsection. All too often we get into the habit of falling into the same routine, doing the same workout over and over again. Well I have news for you, your abs are like every other muscle in your body. If you give your abs the chance to adapt they will and in the long run all that work was for nothing. Here are four strategies to construct one bad ass midsection.

ADD WEIGHT
If you ever find yourself doing sets greater than 50 stop now. Anything over 50 is great for endurance training but do very little to strengthen or shape your abs. If you want your abs to look like the rest of your body you must add weight to create a resistance.  For some exercises it's ok to do more than a 20 rep range. In others, I would suggest you shoot between the 10 and 15 rep range and add a high load (weight) into the equation.

SETS
Its ok to perform each exercise as a straight set. I on the other hand like to switch it up from time to time. There has been instances when I would perform anywhere from 3 (tri-set) to 6 (giant set) exercises in a row without rest for a combined set of four or five. Now way would I do that? Simple, creating a circuit will burn more calories and increase the intensity of my workout. That my word for it.

PLANK
Yes I want you to plank. Just don't make it a point to plank somewhere ridiculous and post it on the internet. That's a fad that's long gone. Planks are very important for the aesthetics of your abs because it targets the transverse abdominis. In doing so your muscles tighten and drawn in, showcasing a strong core.

DIET
Maybe this should have been number one on the list, nonetheless when it comes down to the nitty gritty diet is key to a well defined midsection. What you eat is definitely what you get. If you eat like shit, your going to look like shit. There's no simpler or more straight forward way in putting it. I am a firm believer that you must live what you preach and if your all about the core you have to make the scarifies.


BELIEVE.ACHIEVE.INSPIRE