Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Crunches & Cardio for Six Pack Abs


I used to think you needed to do crunches and cardio to get six pack abs. But that was a mistake, because you don't need crunches or cardio. So today we travel back in time to learn about my mistakes...

Yes, there was a day, way back when, when I thought that cardio and crunches were the way to six pack abs.

The year was 1997. (This'll take you back...do you remember where you were when...)

- Puff Daddy was at the top of the charts.

- E.R. and Seinfeld were the top TV shows.

- The English Patient won the Oscar for Best Picture.

- Princess Diana died tragically in a high-speed car crash.

- And Elton John had re-released Candle in the Wind in honor of her death.

- The first sheep, Dolly, was cloned.

- Tony Blair was elected Prime Minster of Britain.

- Brett Favre won his first and only SuperBowl.

And I got up almost every morning and did crunches and then went to the gym to lift weights and even do some cardio in my quest to lose that last bit of body fat and get a full six pack of abs.

How embarrassing.

But I get to blame college. Everyone made mistakes back then...I was young. Stupid. Naive. Immature. Too proud to ask for help. Heck, I was only 22 years old, but I should have known better...

Still, feel free to call me what you want, I definitely made some mistakes back then.

But hopefully I made all those mistakes so that you don't have to. If I only knew then what I know now. If I did, then in 1997...

=> I would have banned crunches from my program...something I didn't get around to doing until 2 years later.

=> I would have used pull-ups with kneeups, one of the best abs exercises I've ever done. But I never saw anyone do those back then. I would have done those once per week rather than crunches everyday.

=> I'd have gotten off the Stability Ball and used it for Stability Ball Rollouts, instead of Stability Ball Crunches.

=> I'd have used more interval training (at least I was doing some) and eliminated the long running workouts I did.

=> I would have done fewer exercises with more intensity, although I was getting very close to the Turbulence Training style workouts that I've created for you today.

=> I'd have spent less on socializing and more on fruits and vegetables (yeah, right?).

But I was doing a lot of things right back then...

Squatting, single leg exercises, low reps, supersets, total body exercises, and interval training 1-2 times per week.

So I was on the right track...and then in 1998 and 1999 I finally put all the science and my workout experience together in the first Turbulence Training-style workouts. But more stories on that some other time...

And here we are, 11 years later and I realize my mistakes from 1997 have played a big part in helping you burn belly fat today. Strange how things work out, isn't it? It's hard to believe some current TT members were only 10 years old back then!

So learn from my mistakes, and take a look at these 3 ab workouts I should have been using in 1997. Visit this page to download your free no-crunch abs workouts:

=> Crunch Free Ab Exericses

1997 was a heck of a year,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS

PS - Have you taken the Abs 300 challenge yet?

Last month I created the Abs 300 workout series, and TT users are finally putting those challenges to the test...Here's one TT
member's story...

"Last week I was in between programs and decided to give the new 300 Abs Routine a shot. I was going to start with the Beginner's version, but at the last minute decided to do the Intermediate Program...

HOLY SHIZZLE!!! My abs haven't been that sore in I don't remember when. I had to stop after the medicine ball chops (couldn't do last 2 exercises) because my core was so wiped out that I could barely stand up straight!

I started the Home Abdominal Workouts this week, with the Intermediate Routine. I'm looking forward to being able to do the
Advanced 300 Abs Routine after this is all said and done!"
WhiteHulk4, as posted on the TT Member's Forum

Click Here to Get TT for Abs and the Abs 300:

=> http://www.TurbulenceTrainingForAbs.com

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