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January 9, 2023

50 Best Abs Exercises That Pack a Six-Pack Punch

The best ab workouts aren’t just for those seeking chiseled physiques. Anyone looking to improve their core strength can utilize compound movements to maximize gains. Learning how to engage your core is crucial for protecting the spine during everyday movements, as well as while engaged in physical activity.

We’ve highlighted 50 abs exercises that you can mix and match to create an endless array of core workouts, including suggested reps and sets.

Related: 15 HIIT Workouts to Get You Shredded Fast

The 50 Best Abs Workouts

1. Ab-Wheel Rollout

1. Ab Wheel RolloutHow to do it

  1. Kneel on the floor and hold an ab wheel beneath your shoulders.
  2. Brace your abs and roll the wheel forward until you feel you’re about to lose tension in your core and your hips might sag.
  3. Roll yourself back to start.

Reps: Do as many reps as you can with perfect form.

Sets: End the set when you think you might break form.

2. Arms-High Partial Situp

How to do it

  1. Lie on your back, knees bent at 90 degrees, and raise your arms straight overhead, keeping them pointing up throughout the exercise.
  2. Sit up halfway, then steadily return to the floor. That’s one rep.

Reps: 12-15

Sets: 3

Rest: 2-3 minutes between sets

3. Barbell Rollout

How to do it

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  1. Load the barbell with 10-pound plates and kneel on the floor behind it.
  2. Your shoulders should be over the bar.
  3. Brace your abs and roll the bar forward, reaching in front of you until you feel your hips are about to sag.
  4. Roll yourself back.

Reps: 8-10

Sets: 3

Rest: 1 minute between sets

Get the gear: Sunny Threaded Chrome Barbell; CAP Standard Barbell Grip Plate

4. Barbell Russian Twist

How to do it

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  1. Grasp the barbell near the very end again—this time with both hands.
  2. Stand with feet at shoulder width.
  3. Swing the bar to your left, pivoting your feet as needed, then swing to your right.

Get the gear: Sunny Threaded Chrome Barbell

5. Swiss Ball Crunch

How to do it

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  1. Lie back on the Swiss ball with feet shoulder-width apart on the floor.
  2. Your lower back should be supported by the ball.
  3. Place your hands behind your ears and tuck your chin.
  4. Curl your body up off the ball until you’re sitting up.

Get the gear: LuxFit Exercise Ball

6. Dip/Leg Raise Combo

How to do it

  1. Suspend yourself over the parallel bars at a dip station.
  2. Bend your knees slightly and raise your legs in front of you until they’re parallel to the floor.
  3. This will build you a magazine-worthy six-pack.

7. Flutter Kick

How to do it

  1. Lie on your back with legs straight and arms extend out at your sides.
  2. Lift your heels about 6 inches off the floor and rapidly kick your feet up and down in a quick, scissor-like motion.

8. Getups

How to do it

  1. From a sitting position, raise your right hand in the air and stand using (at most) your left hand. If you have sufficient core strength, get up without the use of your arms.
  2. Do the prescribed number of reps on one side and switch sides.
  3. Work to the point where you get up without the use of your arms.

9. Horizontal Cable Woodchop

How to do it

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  1. Set an adjustable cable pulley to shoulder level (or attach a band to a sturdy object) and grasp the handle with both hands.
  2. Stand with feet shoulder width apart, perpendicular to the anchor point, and arms extended, far enough away from the machine so there’s tension on the cable.
  3. Twist away from the machine as if you were chopping into a tree.
  4. Keep your feet stationary.

Get the gear: Body-Solid Adjustable Nylon Stirrup Handle; Marcy Olympic Multi-purpose Strength Training Cage

10. Leg Raise

How to do it

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  1. Lie on the floor and hold onto a bench or the legs of a heavy chair for support.
  2. Keep your legs straight and raise them up until they’re vertical.
  3. Lower back down, but stop just short of the floor to keep tension on your abs before the next rep.

Get the gear: Marcy Flat Utility Weight Bench

11. Medicine Ball Russian Twist

How to do it

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  1. Sit on the floor in the top position of a situp and, holding a medicine ball with both hands, extend your arms in front of you.
  2. Explosively twist your body to one side and then twist back.
  3. Alternate sides.

View the original article to see embedded media.

Get the gear: AmazonBasics Medicine Ball

12. Medicine Ball Mountain Climber

How to do it

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  1. Hold the med ball with both hands and get into pushup position on the floor.
  2. Drive one knee up to your chest, then quickly drive it back while you raise the opposite knee.

Get the gear: AmazonBasics Medicine Ball

13. Pike to Superman

How to do it

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  1. Get into pushup position with your toes on the stability ball.
  2. Bend your hips and roll the ball toward you so your torso becomes vertical.
  3. Roll back so your body is straight again and extend your spine, then roll the ball up your legs so your body forms a straight line with arms extended overhead but hands still on the floor. You should look like Superman flying downward. That’s one rep.
  4. Pull with your lats to return to the pushup position and begin the next rep.

Here are even more ab moves that use a stability ball.

Get the gear: URBNfit Exercise Ball

14. Plank

Beth Bischoff

How to do it

  1. Get into pushup position and bend your elbows to lower your forearms to the floor.
  2. Hold the position with abs braced.

15. Pullup to Knee Raise

How to do it

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  1. Hang from a pull-up bar with hands outside shoulder width and palms facing away from you.
  2. Pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar and then raise your knees to your chest in the top position.

Get the gear: Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar

16. Pushup Rocket

How to do it

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  1. Get into pushup position with your feet in the cradles of a suspension trainer.
  2. Perform explosive push-ups so that your hands leave the floor and you can clap in midair. 

Get the gear: TRX Suspension Trainer Kit

17. Resisted Reverse Crunch

How to do it

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  1. Lie on your back on the floor and wrap the resistance band around the arches of your feet.
  2. Cross the ends of the band over each other to make an “X” and grasp the ends with opposite hands.
  3. Bend your hips and knees so that your knees are near your chest and then crunch your torso off the floor.
  4. Extend your legs while you raise your arms overhead—keep your shoulder blades off the floor. That’s one rep.

Get the gear: Fit Simplify Resistance Loop Exercise Bands

18. Swiss Ball Rollout

How to do it

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  1. Rest your forearms on the Swiss ball and extend your legs behind you.
  2. Brace your abs and roll the ball forward as you extend your arms and hips.
  3. When you feel you’re about to lose tension in your abs, roll yourself back.

Get the gear: LuxFit Exercise Ball

19. Medicinal Ball Seated Knee Tuck

How to do it

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  1. Sit on a bench and squeeze the medicine ball between your feet.
  2. Extend and elevate your legs out in front of you and extend your torso so that your body forms a straight line.
  3. Hold on to the bench for support.
  4. Crunch your torso forward and bring your knees to your chest.

Get the gear: AmazonBasics Medicine BallMarcy Flat Utility Weight Bench

20. Side Plank

How to do it

  1. Lie on your left side resting your left forearm on the floor for support.
  2. Raise your hips up so your body forms a straight line and brace your abs—your weight should be on your left forearm and the edge of your left foot.
  3. Hold the position with abs braced.

21. Sprinter

How to do it

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  1. Place your feet in the foot cradles of the suspension trainer and get into pushup position with your hands on the floor.
  2. Drive one knee to your chest while the other leg remains extended.
  3. Now drive the opposite leg to your chest while you extend the other back.
  4. Continue so it looks like you’re running in place.

Get the gear: TRX Suspension Trainer Kit

22. Situp and throw

How to do it

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  1. Hold a medicine ball with both hands in front of your chest and sit on the floor.
  2. Anchor your feet under something sturdy for support, and lie back on the floor a few feet away from a brick or concrete wall.
  3. Explosively sit up and throw the ball into the wall and then catch it on the rebound.
  4. If you have a partner, you can throw the ball to him/her instead.

Get the gear: AmazonBasics Medicine Ball

23. Star Plank

How to do it

  1. Get into pushup position.
  2. Move your arms and feet apart as wide as possible—your body will make a star shape.
  3. Hold the position with your torso straight and abs braced for 30 seconds.

24. Straight-Leg Barbell Situp

How to do it

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  1. Lie on the floor holding an empty or lightly loaded barbell over your chest as in the top of a bench press.
  2. Your legs should be extended on the floor in front of you.
  3. Perform a sit-up, raising your torso until it’s vertical.
  4. Keep the bar over your head, so it drifts back to an overhead press position at the top of the sit-up.

Get the gear: Sunny Threaded Chrome Barbell

25. Suitcase Deadlift

How to do it

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  1. Load the barbell on the floor and stand to the left of it with feet hip-width apart.
  2. Bend your hips back and lower your body until you can grasp the barbell in its center with your right hand.
  3. Brace your core and, keeping your lower back in its natural arch, push through your heels to stand up and lock out your hips.
  4. Squeeze the bar hard to keep it from teetering.
  5. Focus on keeping your spine straight the entire set—do not bend laterally toward the barbell.

Get the gear: Sunny Threaded Chrome Barbell

26. Swiss Ball Plank Circle

How to do it

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  1. Place a Swiss ball on the floor and get into pushup position with your hands on it.
  2. Now lower your forearms to rest on the ball, keeping your entire body in a straight line with abs braced.
  3. Use your elbows to roll the ball in a circular motion, clockwise and then counterclockwise, as if you were stirring a pot.

Get the gear: URBNfit Exercise Ball

27. Swiss Ball V-Up and Pass

How to do it

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  1. Lie on your back on the floor and hold the Swiss ball between your ankles.
  2. Extend your arms behind your head.
  3. Sit up while raising your legs simultaneously and pass the ball from your legs to your hands.
  4. Go back down to the floor and repeat, passing the ball from your hands to your legs. Each pass is one rep.

Get the gear: URBNfit Exercise Ball

28. Medicine Ball V-Up

How to do it

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  1. Lie on your back on the floor holding the medicine ball with both hands behind your head.
  2. Extend your legs.
  3. Brace your abs and sit all the way up.
  4. Raise your legs simultaneously and reach for your toes with the ball.
  5. Your body should form a V shape at the top.

Get the gear: AmazonBasics Medicine Ball

29. Seated Sprinter

How to do it

  1. Sit, legs extended, heels lightly touching floor.
  2. Keeping your torso tall and shoulders back, lean back until core engages, making sure your lower back doesn’t slump.
  3. Bend elbows at 90 degrees, and lift left knee toward ceiling, allowing left hand to come up and right hand to go back, like a runner, to start.
  4. Switch arm and leg positions back and forth continuously and fast, as if sprinting.
  5. Perform 40-sec. reps.

30. Half Kneeling Chop

How to do it

  1. Get into the bottom of a lunge position with your left leg forward and reach up over your left shoulder to grasp the resistance band.
  2. Pull it diagonally downward across your body to the outside of your right hip.

31. Boat Pose

How to do it

  1. From a sitting position, extend your arms out, palms facing each other.
  2. Extend and lift both legs.
  3. If keeping your legs straight is too tough at first, bend at the knees, with the insides of your feet touching to do half boat.
  4. Keep your arms extended on either side of your legs.
  5. Use your abs to keep your back straight.
  6. Stay in this position for five deep breaths, roughly 10 seconds.

32. Oblique Mountain Climbers

How to do it

  1. Start in pushup position, with the balls of your feet on the ground.
  2. Alternate driving your knees toward the opposite arm, twisting your body to that side, for 30 seconds.
  3. Keep your hips down for the entire motion.

33. Hanging Windshield Wiper

How to do it

  1. While hanging from a bar, pull your toes toward the bar.
  2. Keeping control with your obliques and toes together, rotate your legs side to side.
  3. If this is too challenging at first, you can do a hanging leg lift.

34. Banded Reverse Crunch

How to do it

  1. Attach a light resistance band to a pole at shin height.
  2. Sit on the floor facing the anchor, knees bent, the free end of the band across thighs.
  3. Scooch back until the band is taut, then lie back and grasp a heavy kettlebell behind your head to anchor the upper body.
  4. Draw belly in, lift lower back off the floor, and roll hips and knees toward shoulders, then reverse.

35. Waiter’s Walk

How to do it

  1. Grab a dumbbell or kettlebell in one hand and hold it either overhead or with your elbow bent so it’s near your face.
  2. Keep your shoulder blades pulled back and down and fire your glutes as you walk.
  3. Keep your wrists straight, as if you were waiting tables and holding a tray.
  4. Walk 10 yards out and 10 yards back.
  5. Switch hands and repeat.

36. T Pushup

How to do it

  1. Start in pushup position, arms straight, with hands on light dumbbells (or start without weights, as shown).
  2. Lower yourself and as you push back up, lift your left arm and rotate to the left until your left arm is straight up and your right side faces the floor.
  3. Your body should look like a “T” on its side.
  4. Return to starting position and repeat on the other side.

37. Bird Dog Crunch

How to do it

  1. Kneel on all fours.
  2. Reach one arm as far as possible forward and the opposite foot as far as possible behind.
  3. Bring your elbow and knee together to crunch, drawing in the abs.

38. One-Arm Farmer’s Carry

How to do it

  1. Carrying just one dumbbell forces the abs to work overtime to keep you stabilized.
  2. While carrying a dumbbell in one hand, walk 10 yards out and 10 yards back. Don’t hunch over.
  3. Keep your shoulder blades pulled down and back, and fire your glutes as you walk.
  4. Switch hands and repeat.

39. Burpee

How to do it

  1. This is a full-body move that’s an underrated abs exercise.
  2. From a standing position, squat, place your hands on the ground, and “jump” your feet out into a pushup position.
  3. Perform a pushup, then jump your feet to your hands.
  4. Explosively jump as high as you can, throwing your hands over your head.

40. Swiss Ball Plate Crunch

How to do it

  1. Lie supine on a Swiss ball with your torso arched over the ball.
  2. Touch your shoulders, back, and glutes to the ball so your abs are stretched.
  3. Hold a weight plate over your head.
  4. Roll your hips and chest up, crunching from the top of your torso.
  5. Lower your hips and chest to the starting position.

41. Medicine Ball Rotational Throw

How to do it

  1. Stand facing a wall with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a medicine ball in both hands.
  2. Rotate your shoulders, hips, and torso away from the wall, taking the ball behind your hip.
  3. Turn your hip back to the wall and rotate the rest of your body, throwing the ball to the wall.
  4. Switch sides.

42. Medicine Ball Slam

How to do it

  1. With knees slightly bent, raise the medicine ball with two hands overhead with arms extended.
  2. Rise on the balls of your feet and bend at the waist to slam the ball to the ground.

43. Corkscrew

How to do it

  1. Lie on your back, arms along sides, legs straight at a 45-degree angle to floor to start.
  2. Inhale, bring legs toward torso and roll spine off mat into a hover position—hips are off the ground and tipped back, feet are overhead.
  3. Exhale, press through hands and tilt legs to left as you roll down the spine through the center at a 45-degree angle.
  4. Tilt legs to right and roll back up to hover to complete a circle.

44. Cable Crunch

How to do it

  1. Attach a rope to a high pulley.
  2. Kneel in front of it, grabbing the rope handles on either side of your neck.
  3. Contract your abs to bring your elbows to your thighs.
  4. Pause briefly and return to starting position.

45. Side Plank Row

How to do it

  1. Start in a right forearm-down side plank, feet stacked, left hand holding a resistance band anchored in front of body.
  2. Pull left elbow back, then release for one rep.
  3. Do all reps on the left side, then switch sides.

46. Single-leg Oblique Dip

How to do it

  1. Stand on left leg with right leg bent at 90 degrees, foot flexed, holding a heavy dumb­bell in left hand.
  2. Don’t rush: Keep obliques and glutes engaged as you dip toward the left.

47. Plyo Plank Shuffle

How to do it

  1. Start in a high plank, hands under shoulders, toes on a BOSU.
  2. Keeping your upper body still, and arms and legs straight, step left foot to the side, a foot away from the BOSU, then return foot to the ball.
  3. Repeat on the right side for 1 rep.
  4. For a challenge, move legs in unison.
  5. Start with the left leg a foot away from the BOSU, then engage hips and push off with both feet, so the left foot lands on the ball and right foot on the floor.
  6. Continue alternating sides.
  7. Perform 40-sec. reps.

48. Front Squat

How to do it

View the original article to see embedded media.

  1. Set a barbell on a power rack at about shoulder height (if you don’t have a rack, clean it to your shoulders).
  2. Grasp the bar with hands at shoulder width and raise your elbows until your upper arms are parallel to the floor.
  3. Take the bar out of the rack and let it rest on your fingertips—as long as your elbows stay up, you’ll be able to balance the bar.
  4. Step back and set your feet at shoulder width with toes turned out slightly.
  5. Squat as low as you can without losing the arch in your lower back.

Get the gear: Sunny Threaded Chrome Barbell;Fitness Reality Power Cage

49. Weighted Situp

How to do it

View the original article to see embedded media.

  1. Lie on the floor holding a weight plate at your chest.
  2. Bend your knees 90 degrees with feet on the floor.
  3. Tuck your chin to your chest and sit up all the way.

Get the gear: CAP Standard Barbell Grip Plate

50. Kettlebell Plank Sweeps

How to do it

  1. Hold a high plank with a kettlebell just outside your left hand.
  2. Reach under your torso to grab the kettlebell with your right hand and “sweep” or drag the KB back and forth with a full range of motion.
  3. Keep your core tight, glutes engaged, and hips level.
  4. Your obliques should power this exercise.
  5. Perform 60-sec. reps.

Tips for Maximizing Your Abs Workouts

Whether you’re a pro athlete or just want to get ripped abs—a comprehensive core workout should comprise three planes of motion: frontal, sagittal, and transverse to hit your rectus abdominis, external and internal obliques, and transversus abdominis.

An endless number of total-body exercises light up your core muscles, but targeted ab workouts can really make a difference in strengthening your core from every angle. And doing core exercises in a circuit keeps the intensity high and will likely lead to more fat loss.

But we need to acknowledge a hard truth: Not all six-packs are created equal. Some guys need to work their belly to exhaustion before they can carve out abs, while other dudes seem to get a six-pack to pop without a single sit-up or side plank. Yes, genetics play a significant role here, too.

Your meals are also crucial. The visibility of your six-pack “really comes down to the amount of body fat that covers them,” says strength coach Lee Boyce. “This will mainly be affected by diet, though proper core training is still beneficial for the health and function of your abdominal region.”

Once you’ve cleaned up your diet, be patient with progress, and stay consistent. Of course, ab exercises aren’t just hitting your upper abs, rectus abdominis, and deep core muscles. Some of these exercises also hit the upper body, lower body, or total body to help prevent injury by bolstering muscles like erector spinae (muscles along the spine) and hip flexors.

Source

March 17, 2021

Longevity in Fitness

John Du Cane is the author of Qigong Recharge, publisher, fitness guru, and accomplished businessman. I was lucky enough to talk to him recently. At first, I thought we would be steering the conversation towards all things kettlebell, and John’s pioneering work on seeding the fitness industry with quality kettlebell trainers, but something else caught my attention. And so, we talked about resilience and longevity.

John’s journey started in South Africa, where he spent his youth. At a young age, he sensed a connection between life and energy. I understood this as his awareness of the human body’s life force and the energy connection between humans.

John says, “I was constantly surrounded by nature, and it made me think about the world.”

John began his Qigong and Tai Chi practice in 1975 and has owned and run Dragon Door Publications since 1990 where he has embraced everything from martial arts to isometrics, beyond the popularization of hard style kettlebell training under the RKC banner.

Qigong and Resilience

As a qigong student, John Du Cane understands how our breath is a tool that we can use to develop physical and mental resilience.

Qigong is an art that originated in China and is taught to warriors to develop full self-awareness of their bodies and movements. I asked him if a specific qigong segment would help modern-day martial artists create this type of resiliency.

He suggested the iron shirt qigong.

If the breath is energy and energy is life, it will make sense why we would breathe in a way that flexes our core muscles as we engage in exercises like running, pull-ups, or lifting heavy weights in general.

Longevity in Fitness - Fitness, weightlifting, strongman, diaphragmatic breathing, kettlebells, martial arts, self awareness, core strength, at home training, pushing boundaries, energy, energy systems, posture, resilience, qigong

Master Your Breathing

There have been many books and courses published on breathing techniques.

If you ever get intrigued enough to pick up a copy of John Du Cane’s qigong series on Amazon, I would also suggest picking up a copy of Breathing for Warriors by Belisa Vranich and Brian Sabin.

These books contain lots of information, tips, and tricks to get you started on your journey to mastering your breathing.

According to John, learning to master your energy through qigong can take many years. It takes a long time to develop because it goes beyond the physical aspects of our being. It helps us develop mental fortitude that will go on to sharpening our intuitive mind.

Train Your Inner Self

This ability can help us navigate through life by making decisions that make sense. I have made some choices in life that were logically sound but didn’t exactly feel right. Ultimately, those decisions led me to square one because I chose to ignore this sense of inner knowing.

That sense of inner knowing is your intuition, and if you choose to cultivate it through qigong, everything that happens to you starts happening for you.

It’s a shift in perspective—a deeper understanding of your purpose on this planet.

Teamwork makes the dream work. John began his friendship and working relationship with Pavel Tsatsouline when he enrolled in Pavel’s classes. Pavel’s technique, charm, and articulation skills made John approach Pavel to publish his programs.

In an interview with John, I asked him, “Was it because of all those decades of cultivating and training your intuition that you had an inner knowing that this partnership was going to be a success?”

John Du Cane replied that it might be challenging to comprehend what was going on in his universe, but it makes sense that he derives his strong self-knowing from training his inner self.

Kettlebell Movement

At that time, kettlebells were neither a trend nor incorporated in mainstream training programs. Even Pavel stated that it was probably a very niche market where he could reach out to elite strongman lifters and other interested professional athletes.

Little did they know, the kettlebell movement would become a worldwide phenomenon.

The kettlebell challenge provided a platform for people to develop their strength, breathing, and resilience all-in-one. At this point, it’s probably safe to say that as long as we are alive and enthusiastic about life, we will always want to push the limits.

We push boundaries to find the answer to the question that we’ve all been asking—Is there more to life than just our daily routines and duties?

A training program emerged called the Russian Kettlebell Challenge (RKC) and led to millions of people worldwide having the initials RKC tattooed on their bodies. It’s safe to say that there is more to life for anyone who decides to challenge themselves by enrolling in this rigorous program.

Like Pavel says, “I’m going to show you how to be a better man. If you don’t know, I’ll show you. If you don’t want to, I’ll make you.”

Kettlebell Mechanics

I am a reflective learner who takes knowledge from the external world to make it my own internally. My experience with kettlebell workouts has been amazing.

But to do it well, it will take even more years of training because the pursuit of perfection is the journey of a lifetime.

My initial encounter with the kettlebell helped me expose my bad habits with posture, breathing, and timing. I was a strong young man in my late teens and always found ways to add to my training program.

The first thing I noticed was that you could easily hurt yourself with bad form.

More specifically, it’s not advisable to curve your back when you are on the down-swing. It also means that I was using my arm strength and hip strength without utilizing my core strength’s full potential.

Having abs is cool but having the ability to flex and relax your core at the exact timing you want is the next level.

The repetitive movement of tension and release that we use to perform the kettlebell swings can apply to other fitness forms such as martial arts and rugby.

It’s a lot to take in, but the good news is, if you have a kettlebell sitting in your room or office like I do, you can get more training time to perfect your form and breathing. It only takes about 10-20 mins for a real workout which means it’s less invasive on your time.

As UFC multiple weight-class champion Connor Mcgregor once said, “Accuracy beats strength, and timing beats speed.”

I hope you have embarked on your journey to finding your form of perfection. If that journey is in fitness, I would highly recommend you pick up a copy of John Du Cane’s Qigong Recharge and Pavel’s Fast and Loose- Secrets of Russian Champions.

Source

January 10, 2021

10 At-Home Exercises For Women That Actually Work

Since the idea of work-from-home is getting extremely popular during the pandemic, make sure you do not leave your health regimen high and dry. Everyone is suffering from Schrödinger’s disease.

The self-isolation focuses on the idea of assuming that either you are containing the virus from the outspread or preventing yourself from being infected by avoiding any contact with the external environment.

As necessary as it is to stay indoors and work from home, it is also a good idea to focus on a Workout Program to Burn Fat.

Utilize this time to achieve your fitness goals.

If you are self-conscious about excess body fat and weight issues, the following is a list of exercises curated workout program to burn fat for women that work.

1. The Bridge

This exercise serves as an activator for your glutes, hamstrings, and core muscles.

  • Lie down on a mat with your knees bent and your back and feet touching the floor.
  • Raise your bottom off the ground and slowly bring it back to the resting position.
  • Make sure you are using your core strength.
  • Do two sets of 10 reps if you are a beginner.

2. Knee Push

It is an exercise that will serve as a prerequisite for pushups.

  • Lie face-front on the floor with your knees touching the floor.
  • Go down slowly and raise your body just before reaching the floor.
  • Make sure that your elbows are at a 45-degree angle.

3. Lunges

Lunges focus primarily on your core and abdominal muscles.

They help shred extra body fat and are included in the Tone Program For Females. If you are looking to build stability, this exercise is excellent for you.

4. Squats

The squat is a prominent lower body workout regimen.

The most important aspect of a squat workout is ensuring that your form is correct. Otherwise, there will be no visible results.

5. Crunches

Crunches are the go-to workout plan when it comes to scorching your excess belly fat. It requires immense core strength to perform crunches.

If you feel that crunches are on the more accessible side of the spectrum and you want to intensify them, you can add resistance bands or weights.

6. The Plank

It is one of the most conventional exercises in tone programs for females.

The reason being that the plank helps in shredding fat evenly from your body without causing any stretch marks.

With time, you will be able to do a plank for a longer duration of time.

7. Bird Dog

  • Lie with your face forward and knees touching the ground.
  • Lift alternate leg and hand simultaneously.
  • You will feel a tingling in your arms and legs.
  • This exercise requires balance and stability.

8. Hip Abduction

This exercise is meant for you if you are not a beginner.

  • Lie on either side
  • Say left hand, lift your right leg slowly while resting the other on the ground.
  • Reverse

The exercise helps in toning your hips.

9. Side Planks

  • If you want to maintain a proper posture and reduce stress on the spine, it’s time to take up side planks.
  • It strengthens the abdominal and back muscles, and the best thing is you can practice at any time.
  • But, to achieve the best results, you have to remain constant.
  • To perform side planks, extend your legs and lie on your right side and keep your feet and hips at rest on the floor.

10. Go for the Russian Twist

Yes, you heard it right; like its name, it’s an effective exercise you can perform at home to reduce weight.

  • You have to sit on a floor mat and lean back in a Russian twist until you feel that the abdomen area muscles are well stretched.
  • Create a V shape, and slowly twist from one side to the other.
  • Make sure you have the right posture to get the best results.

Even though you are confined to the four walls of your home, do not let this confinement stop you from following and achieving your fitness goals.

Make sure that you are eating right and following a workout routine to stay fit and healthy.

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December 2, 2020

Get More Power from Rowing

I’m a rower – on water and in the gym. I regularly watch rowers and trainers work out on their rowing machines with growing frustration. Why am I frustrated?

Because they could be getting much better scores if only they knew one key technique.

Get More Power from Rowing - Fitness, crossfit, rest and recovery, rowing, indoor rowing, power, core strength, power output, hamstrings, hip hinge, back strength, glutes, arm strength, competitive rowing, rowing ergometer, rowing technique, ratio and rhythm

Master the Rowing Machine

Go into the average gym, CrossFit, or a rowing club, and you will see a lot of great athletes using the rowing machines.

What difference does it make?

They are an order of magnitude different. Somehow those on-water rowers seem to coax more and more out of a rowing machine and leave most gym rowers for dead.

Two reasons why this happens:

  1. On-water rowers who use the rowing machines understand the concept of ratio and rhythm. This allows them to get more rest each stroke, thus allowing them to be more powerful because they’re getting less tired.
  2. On-water rowers know how to recruit extra muscles into their effort. The more muscles that are brought into the power phase, the more the flywheel accelerates, and the better the numbers.

The Basic Rowing Stroke

Rowing is comprised of two main parts:

  1. The Power Phase– In which you push against the footboard and accelerate the handle and chain towards you.
  2. The Recovery Phase– You rest and return to a bent-leg compressed posture with the chain retracted inside the machine.

An effective power phase uses legs, back, and arms to accelerate the handle and chain. So far, so good., but that isn’t what I’m seeing being done in the gym.

Most gym rowers fail to use their back muscles to accelerate the handle and chain.

This is a critical difference compared to the on-water rowers. This is what I teach my clients.

Add Back Power to your Rowing

First, learn which muscles to activate. Finding them and feeling these muscles, and knowing how to make them activate is probably the hardest part of this technique improvement.

Then, I would like to show you how to recruit them into your rowing stroke cycle and give you a drill to practice, which will enable you to add your back muscles into your rowing stroke.

Body Swing Only Rowing

On-water rowers learn technique and effective power using drills and exercises. And so I’m going to show you a drill called Body Swing Only Rowing.

  • Let’s start by sitting on the rowing machine.
  • Pick up the handle and sit with your legs straight, arms straight, and your body leaning forward.
  • The key is that your shoulders are forward of your hips (use a mirror to check), and your neck and shoulders are relaxed.

On-water rowers call this position the catch position. It’s achieved by hinging through your hips with a straight back. If you have tight glutes and hamstrings, you may find this challenging.

If you cannot achieve this position, don’t do the exercise. You won’t gain anything until you can stretch forward in this posture.

Stage One

  • Swing yourself backward until your shoulders are behind your hips.
  • Leave your legs and arms straight. Then swing forwards again, and back moving the flywheel with the handle and chain as you swing.
  • Try not to lean back further than 5-10 degrees.
  • Now make the flywheel spin faster by gripping your abdominals just before you start the backswing.

A strong mid-section helps you connect your backswing to the handle and chain without any slippage.

Stage Two

  • Add the arms to the backswing.
  • Start swinging the back alone as in stage one, and then add an arm draw to keep the handle and chain accelerating as the handle comes close to your body.
  • Then straighten your arms and swing forward from the hips.
  • This sequence is important—arms before body swing.
  • Keep working the swing-and-draw with a strong core to remove chain slippage so that when you start to move, the chain immediately accelerates the flywheel. Notice that you can do a tiny bit of backswing before you start the arm draw.
  • This is important for activating the back muscles. You have to get larger muscle groups (legs and back) working before smaller muscles (arms) in rowing.

This is a critical skill for developing stroke power.

Stage Three

  • Half the leg drive.
  • Add a half leg drive. Rowers call this half-slide, and it’s when your legs are 50% towards being straight.
  • Normally this is when your elbows are over your knees.

Stage one is the back. Add stage two, which is the arms, and then add stage three, the legs.

You are now moving the handle and chain faster because more body parts are accelerating the flywheel.

The critical component is the transition from one body part to the next.

Keeping this smooth and keeping the chain taut, and continuing to accelerate will give you the best results.

Stay focused on legs-back-arms and the reverse sequence when you return to start another stroke.

Learning this will reinforce the big muscles before the small muscles rule.

String It Together

Do the drill with 10 strokes at each stage. Then move to full slide and use a full leg drive; try to make the second half of your power phase feel like when you did the drill.

Use the mirror to check your posture. The first half of your power should be using only your leg drive. Check your torso is leaning forwards with shoulders forward from the hips. This is an unnatural posture and has to be learned – but it reinforces the big before small muscle rule, and that’s why it’s effective.

The last thing you can practice is rowing and try to finish your legs, back and arms simultaneously. This is an exaggeration from normal rowing technique – but it’s a good way to get a seriously powerful end of the rowing stroke.

And a good way to continue practicing or use it to do a 10 stroke power push during a workout when you want more power and that split to go down.

Next is learning that second thing… ratio and rhythm. But we’ll leave that for another day.

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