Now that you know how to eat and have a good understanding of the best abdominal exercises, it’s time to lay out the routines for a ripped midsection and six-pack abs. But before we get specific about abdominal training – especially sets, reps, and exercises - we need to give you a few extra pieces of information. As saw earlier, there are two philosophies of thought on abdominal training. You can treat them like any other muscle and train them two to three times per week. Or you can hit them every day. While we encourage you to experiment, we strongly suggest that for the first 4 to 6 weeks you only train them two to three times per week. Going from zero workouts to hitting the abs six or seven times per week is just too stressful. As time goes on you can start adding an extra session or two per week for developing six-pack abs . Another thing to keep in mind; even though there are really no upper and lower abs, you should train them assuming there are two separate areas. The programs we have outlined below will hit the entire abdominal region. As time goes on you can start mixing and choosing exercises on your own for a ripped midsection. Just make sure that you select exercises for both sections of the abs. It’s also probably a good idea to rotate the following exercises every couple of weeks during your abdominal training. Like most muscles the abs adapt pretty quickly to doing the same exercises. You’ll notice that you’ll be sore after the first couple of workouts but by the fourth or fifth workout there will be little soreness the next day. But as soon as you switch the exercises that all-familiar soreness will return. Finally, and while it’s not etched in stone, leave your abs until last in your workouts. Besides the great improvement in physical appearance that a ripped midsection will give you, your abs are used for stabilizing on most of the exercises for the other muscle groups. If you tire your abs out first you may have trouble performing these exercises properly. And on an exercise like squats, a tired set of abs will force your lower back muscles and ligaments to pick up the slack. At the very least this may result in instability during the movement, but there is also the risk of a lower back injury. To maximize your six-pack abs building potential perform one of the following abdominal training routines two to three times per week at the end of your workout. Routine 1 Exercise Sets Reps Ball crunches 3 15-20 Reverse crunches 3 15-20 Hanging leg raise 3 15-20 Routine 2 Bicycles 3 15-20 Ball crunch 3 15-20 Planks 3 60 second holds Routine 3 Planks 3 60 second holds Reverse crunch 3 15-20 Hanging leg raise 3 15-20 Routine 4 – Superset routine Perform each pair of exercises back to back nonstop Ball crunch – reverse crunch 3 sets 15-20 Bicycles and hanging leg raise 3 sets 15-20 Routine 5 – Giant sets routine Perform all four exercises in a nonstop circuit for 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps (or whatever you can get on the last couple of exercises) Bicycles Reverse crunch Hanging leg raise Ball crunch
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