Are you doing hundreds of sit-ups and/or crunches, spending 15-20 minutes doing abdominal work?

Better yet, have you plain given up on doing abdominal work because it's just too dang hard, and you're not getting any results for all the effort?

My friends, ab training doesn't have to be a chore. You just need to know how do use the proper exercise order to maximize your efforts.

WORK LOWER ABS FIRST

Exercise: Lying Hip Thrust Lie on your back on a soft mat or carpet.

Place your hands under your pelvis on eight side of your tailbone, palms down. Your lower back should be flat on the floor at the start of the exercise. Adjust your hand position to prevent your back from arching. Raise your legs about eighteen inches off the floor - high enough that you can feel your lower back flat against the floor. Keep your legs slightly bent. If you tend to arch your back, bend your knees a bit more.

"Hinging" at the waist, raise your legs and pelvis until your feet point straight up. From here, thrust upward from you pelvis, as though you are stamping your feet on the ceiling. Drop straight down, going back to the starting position the same way you came up. Each rep should feel like a two-step motion, an upswing and a vertical thrust.

THEN UPPER ABS

Exercise: Standard Abdominal Crunch Get in a standard bent-knee sit-up position. Slowly raise your shoulder blades and upper back about 30 degrees. Movement is slow and in control, about 2 seconds each full rep (up and down).

Do NOT pull against the back of your head - that's just unnecessary stress you're putting on your neck.

THE ROUTINE

15 Lying Hip Thrusts
25 Ab Crunch
Rest 10 sec.
10 Lying Hip Thrusts
20 Ab Crunches - do them as fast as you can

You're going to feel a burn like you've never felt before - a sign that something's workin'. BUT - you'll be done in 90 seconds.

The goal of any weight training workout is to STIMULATE, not ANNIHLATE the muscle fibers ... abs included.

Dan,

Have you ever heard of someone INCREASING their waist size from working their abs? I've been LCing for 90 days now. I've stayed at the induction carb intake of 20 grams per day because I'm not losing much weight. I started lifting weights with supervision three times a week for an hour. This is added to an hour of cardio ( heart rate 150 ) three times a week. I rest one day a week.

I know I'm getting stronger. I stared doing leg presses with 150 pounds, 12 reps per set, two sets. Now I'm doing 480 pounds, 12 reps per set, three sets.

My ab workout is two sets of 20 reps on an inclined bench. I put a basketball behind my knees and raise them until my thigh touches my chest. After doing several other exercises, I come back to the abs. This time, I sit on a large rubber ball. I roll on it so that my lower back is cushioned against the ball and do two more sets of 20 crunches.

My waist size has increase an inch. Is this normal, or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks,

Mark