My Abs Are Still Sore from this Abdominal Exercise

Today's abdominal Q'n'A finishes up "Ab week" here at Turbulence Training...and I want to talk about a tough ab workout I did this week...Ouch. I knew I was going to be sore as soon as I finished the first set of this new ab exercise. In fact, even though I trained Monday at 1pm, the soreness was already setting in by 7pm that night.

And as I type this, almost 36 hours later, it still feels like I put my abs through a paper shredder.

All thanks to my new favorite ab exercise which I'll mention later...

And last week, one of my best friends used a similar version of the exercise to work her abs harder than she had ever worked them before. She told me she had a tough time just getting up from the couch because her abs were sore from her version of my new favorite exercise...

But first...

Since I wasn't invited to speak on Scott Colby's "Amazing Abs" teleseminar series, I figure we would do our own interview here...

Listen to all the ab interviews HERE

Q: How many crunches do I need to do to get a 6-pack?

Answer:
Ugh, you don't ever have to do another "lying-on-the-floor" crunch ever again.

The most important thing you can do to get closer to seeing your abs is to lose belly fat. A heavily muscled guy will be able to see his abs at around 15% body fat, and they will look great as you get to 10% body fat.

For women, you'll be able to see your top abs at around 16% body fat, but then you'll have to get very strict on your diet in order to see more of your 6-pack.

But you see, none of the above really depends on crunches...just nutrition and interval training to burn fat.


Q: What do you think of broomstick twists for your obliques?

Answer:
A complete waste of time. This will do nothing to help you achieve a set of 6-pack abs or slim obliques.

I can't believe I still see people doing this.


Q: What is the best type of cardio for fat loss?

Answer:
Interval training, of course. As Professor Steve Boucher of Australia says, "high intensity intermittent exercise may result in greater fat loss in the abdomen".

Which when translated from Australian to North American means, "Interval training burns stomach fat the best".


Q: What should I eat for ripped abs?

Answer:
Less than you need.

You might be surprised to hear that I am not an "anti-diet" type of guy. In fact, I think all diet books (that aren't "crazy") can help.

Dieting is often more of a mental game than anything else...and we will all respond differently to specific eating strategies.

While I'd like everyone to simply eat whole, natural foods each day, you might have more success with a low-carb approach, or Brad Pilon's fasting for weight loss program.

Regardless of your approach, you have to eat fewer calories than your body needs to lose fat. But don't worry, as long as you do some multi-muscle resistance exercises, you will keep your abs while you burn the fat.


Q: Ok, so what is your new favorite ab exercise?

Answer:
The Diagonal Ab Wheel Rollout.

Personally, I think this little infomercial doo-hickey is the most under-rated piece of ab training equipement ever.

Instead of going straight out with your Ab Wheel Rollout, you'll go slightly to the left, come back in, and then repeat for the other side. Do 6 reps per side. And do just 1 set the first time, or else
you'll be very sore the next day. Add a set each workout until you are up to 3 sets of 6 reps...then add reps to each set.

You can also use a Stability Ball (which my friend used to train her abs so effectively) or even a Barbell for Rollouts. I'll get a video of all the "Ab rollouts" you can do, soon.

IN THE MEANTIME...

Scott Colby is interviewing this cast of characters to help you get your 6-pack abs...It sounds like a real Royal Rumble with this motley crew... 

Tom "The Ab-inator" Venuto

Jason "Hardcore 4 Life" Ferruggia

Valerie "Hollywood Abs" Waters

Chris "Nutrition is Numero Uno" Mohr

Holly "America's Fat Loss Expert for Moms" Rigsby

Shawn "I'm Bill Phillips' Brother" Phillips

Clark "My Abs Have Been On Every Magazine Ever" Bartram

Jon "Abs over 40" Benson

Mike "Underground Abs Secrets" Geary

And many others... 

Click HERE for the ab expert interviews

But hurry, they start soon!

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training for Abs

PS - The Abs Controversy...

...isn't just for bodybuilders...it also goes over female fat loss with the top "Fat Loss for Moms" expert in the world, Holly Rigsby.

If you're a Mom of any age, you can't miss her call...

PPS - Tom Venuto is promising to give secrets to give you a hyper-ripped set of abs...

I don't even know what that means, but there is no way I'm going to miss his interview...

Click HERE for the ab expert interviews