http://www.thebestabdominal... - So you want to do a challenging abdominal exercise that targets the "six pack" abs...and crunches and sit-ups...well, let's just say they're not great exercises and you're much better off not doing them.
If that's the case for you, THIS exercise is going to be your new best friend. It's one of THE best abdominal exercises I've ever found and it's going to SHRED your rectus abdominus (the six-pack abs).
Essentially, it LOOKS a lot like a hanging leg raise...the way you do it, however, is VERY different from the standard form for a leg raise. We're going to convert into what basically becomes a hanging bodyweight pullover type of exercise.
To do this one, for equipment you'll need a chin-up bar. For strength, you'll need to be able to do at least 10 or more good reps of chin-ups. This one isn't a beginner exercise at all and does require some solid upper body strength to perform.
Start by pulling yourself up into the half-way position of the chin-up...arms bent 90 degrees...and hold it there. Bring your knees up so your hips and knees are also bent 90 degrees.
Now you're going to start the "pullover" movement. You're NOT going to do a hanging knee raise. Instead, you're going to focus on bringing your elbows down towards your knees (the pullover movement originates in the upper body), pushing forward and down with the arms.
Obviously, since your hands are locked onto the bar, your upper body won't come down...your legs will come up. It's the INTENTION of that movement that we're looking for. It will force the tension into the lats and full sheet of the rectus abdominus rather than hitting the lower abs and hip flexors (we actually want to keep the hips bent 90 degrees - no movement in them during the exercise).
Come all the way up until your upper body is horizontal.
Then reverse the movement under control, keeping tension on the whole way down until you get back to the start position (arms, hips and knees bent 90 degrees).
Now, the key here is we're NOT going to release the tension at the end of the rep...go DIRECTLY into the next rep (you'll hate me for it, I promise).
Repeat until you can no longer control the movement then hop down off the bar.
The first time you do this one, you WILL feel it very strongly in your abs. Your lats are going to get some work as well, but I find the majority of the tension actually ended up in the six-pack abs.
Adding in Chin-Ups
To increase the difficulty even further, you can also mix this technique in with chin-up movements as well. Feel free to use your imagination on this, but I like to come halfway up, do the pullover, then come all the way up into a full chin top position, then back down to the bottom chin position. Then back up into the pullover again.
You can mess around with the pattern and find what works for you...believe me, it's ALL going to work.
Bottom line, this exercise is going to SHRED your abs. It targets the six-pack strongly but WITHOUT ever having to do a crunch or sit-up. If you're strong enough to perform this exercise, you've going to love it.
Read more
http://www.thebestabdominal... - So you want to do a challenging abdominal exercise that targets the "six pack" abs...and crunches and sit-ups...well, let's just say they're not great exercises and you're much better off not doing them.
If that's the case for you, THIS exercise is going to be your new best friend. It's one of THE best abdominal exercises I've ever found and it's going to SHRED your rectus abdominus (the six-pack abs).
Essentially, it LOOKS a lot like a hanging leg raise...the way you do it, however, is VERY different from the standard form for a leg raise. We're going to convert into what basically becomes a hanging bodyweight pullover type of exercise.
To do this one, for equipment you'll need a chin-up bar. For strength, you'll need to be able to do at least 10 or more good reps of chin-ups. This one isn't a beginner exercise at all and does require some solid upper body strength to perform.
Start by pulling yourself up into the half-way position of the chin-up...arms bent 90 degrees...and hold it there. Bring your knees up so your hips and knees are also bent 90 degrees.
Now you're going to start the "pullover" movement. You're NOT going to do a hanging knee raise. Instead, you're going to focus on bringing your elbows down towards your knees (the pullover movement originates in the upper body), pushing forward and down with the arms.
Obviously, since your hands are locked onto the bar, your upper body won't come down...your legs will come up. It's the INTENTION of that movement that we're looking for. It will force the tension into the lats and full sheet of the rectus abdominus rather than hitting the lower abs and hip flexors (we actually want to keep the hips bent 90 degrees - no movement in them during the exercise).
Come all the way up until your upper body is horizontal.
Then reverse the movement under control, keeping tension on the whole way down until you get back to the start position (arms, hips and knees bent 90 degrees).
Now, the key here is we're NOT going to release the tension at the end of the rep...go DIRECTLY into the next rep (you'll hate me for it, I promise).
Repeat until you can no longer control the movement then hop down off the bar.
The first time you do this one, you WILL feel it very strongly in your abs. Your lats are going to get some work as well, but I find the majority of the tension actually ended up in the six-pack abs.
Adding in Chin-Ups
To increase the difficulty even further, you can also mix this technique in with chin-up movements as well. Feel free to use your imagination on this, but I like to come halfway up, do the pullover, then come all the way up into a full chin top position, then back down to the bottom chin position. Then back up into the pullover again.
You can mess around with the pattern and find what works for you...believe me, it's ALL going to work.
Bottom line, this exercise is going to SHRED your abs. It targets the six-pack strongly but WITHOUT ever having to do a crunch or sit-up. If you're strong enough to perform this exercise, you've going to love it.
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