To get rid of subcutaneous fat and thus be able to flaunt your muscles (especially those on your abdomen), you will need a good diet. Not all experts agree on the right way to build a six pack but it all depends on the workouts that suit your body’s metabolism and configuration.
Diet and Crunches
Vince Gironda aka the “iron Guru” said that sit-ups should be completely avoided. He had a six pack most people in his era (and even today) could only dream of. He trained people who became bodybuilding champions and also celebs who were mostly known for their beautiful bodies.
For abs, he recommended crunching exercises on a mat while hanging on a pull-up bar, on the roman chair or a bench. He also said that diet was what maintained the abs not the routine of the workout.
Working Everything
Bill Perl, who has been Mr. Universe four times, has written a book on weight training and it is with no doubt the best bodybuilding and weight training book to have ever been written. The book has got only 62 pages dedicated to how you can work the abdomen using 240 different kinds of exercise.
A look at Bill Pearl’s Abs, and you would not be mistaken to confuse them with the Rocky Mountains which have been divided by the Grand Canyon. This should explain one of the many reasons as to why, at 47yrs, his contemporaries voted him as the man who is best built in the world.
Who’s Right?
Well, both of them are right! Gironda had a small stature, was very muscular, trim and fit whereas, Bill pearl was tall in a moderate way, very fit, extremely defined and massively masculine.
Today, we can take these two trainers of champions and champions themselves, as good examples of the kind of techniques to combine to get the ultimate 6-pack guide.
The following exercise is to be performed in three sets
- Sit-ups using the Roman chair: This chair is backless thus allowing your legs to be hooked under a rung. You can then perform back-bends for your lower back and sit-ups for your abs.
- Inclined crunches from a board: This is a partial sit-up where your abs are contracting forcefully as you raise your shoulders and head.
- Supine crunches: Using either a mat or bench, have your legs elevated at 90degrees, then placing your hands at the back of your head, crunch the abs as you touch your right elbow to left knee and vice versa.
- Side-bends using Dumbbells: You can do this while sitting or standing with a dumbbell. Lower at arms length the weight and then go back upright. Alternate taking each side with 20reps. The rear oblique is pulled with the weight hanging at the buttocks.
- Leg raise pull-up bar: Place your hand widely at the chinning bar then elevate the legs slowly from your knees then to the chest. Lower then repeat.
- Knee-ups using parallel bar dip machine: Have your forearms rest of the dip bar sides then elevate your knees to the level of the waist.