Today’s information will be about the exercises that I perform to target my Abdominal muscles, from now on known as abs. I target this muscle group twice during an eight-day cycle.
Note: this eight-day cycle does not include days off, which may occur for a variety of reasons from soreness from a previous work-out, to sleeping in after a late night, or a scheduled day off.
The abs are a different kind of muscle from any other in your body. Some ab muscles run up and down in your body, some side to side. Some are near the surface, and some are deep inside. Ab exercises are generally divided into three sections: lower abs, upper abs, and serratus or side ab muscles.
Due to this great variation, you must perform a variety of exercise to train all the ab muscles.
There are so many exercises you could perform to work your abs. There are as many exercises as there are days in the year, it seems. You need to try a bunch of different exercises, and then do the ones that work best for you. Below are some exercises I use to ensure lower, upper and serratus ab muscles are being worked, with some pictures and videos to show how they are performed
Let’s get started!
Lower Ab Exercises
Dragon Thrust
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2FesPR4WEQ
Start at 0:54 for the demonstration.
V-Sit hold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tQuBuZLma4
Flutter Kicks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHxbqt9ApdM
Upper Ab Exercises
Dragon Thrust
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2FesPR4WEQ
Start at 0:54 for the demonstration
Knee raises (or straight leg raises)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJF99OreIV8
Start at 0:09 for the demonstration
Crunch Plate Press
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2FesPR4WEQ
Start at 2:02 for the demonstration
Serratus Ab Exercises
Gymnastic Ab Movement variation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d08B-QJL124
Start at 3:30 for the demonstration (or watch the entire video for an excellent ab workout)
Heel touches
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C35_SRFBwHM
Ab Wheel roll-out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKJHKItCL3c
The Finisher
It seems the six-pack abs are the goal of most men. We do one set of exercises and look in the mirror expecting to have them! The fact is, you may have them, you just can’t see them, yet.
There is a saying in bodybuilding that abs are created 20% from the gym and 80% from the kitchen. I could not agree more. You can do as many ab exercises as you want, but if you don’t do something to eliminate the fat around your middle, you will never see the abs.
That is the beauty of the keto lifestyle when it is done in conjunction with weight lifting. The weight lifting will give you the muscles, including abs, and the keto lifestyle will eliminate the fat so everyone can see them!
Sets and Reps
The research I have read varies in opinion on how often you should work your abs. Some research states that you can work your abs every day. Other research says once a week, or twice a week.
Once again, my advice to you is to try some different exercises, try some varied routines, and try different schedules to find what works best for you.
So there you have it. Those are the exercise that I perform to build my ab muscles. You should perform 15 repetitions of each exercise, one after the other, with no rest until all exercises are complete. Then rest for one minute and repeat the sequence. I can guarantee that you will be sore the next day. And the next.
But that is the joy of weight lifting. Being sore means the muscle is growing. It shouldn’t be painful, just sore.
If you need any more information on these exercises and how to perform them, go to the following website:
Final Words
Maintaining the habit of exercising 5 or 6 days a week, in combination with the Keto lifestyle, has resulted in me being in the best shape of my life. I am excited to get up and exercise each morning. The results I see are what drive me to continue. I can actually see the abs showing!
Give it a try. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.
Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you in the next post!
Have a great day!
Great post! Very informative! Thank you for listing youtube links.
The exercises are easier to understand with a demonstration, that’s for sure!
Stay tuned for more fun exercises and keto hints!
Have a great day!
Hi Tom. Thanks for a great article with so many references. They make it so easy to know exactly what to do to get abs! I cannot use the excuse of not knowing what to do anymore now.
I did not know that there were so many abs and that they required different exercises to make them grow. I know what you mean when you say that abs are revealed when we eat healthier. Now I have to look into this Keto diet a lot more seriously.
Thanks for sharing.
I am glad the article was helpful. It does seem that abs and arms are the most important muscles to grow visually. By working the whole body, those muscle groups will benefit. Please stay tuned for more info on the keto lifestyle.
Have a great day!