Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals.
Caution! You may find your abs ripped, shredded, and developed to the max! Don't worry, this is a normal side effect of intensely performing these ab training techniques and exercises.
To maximize your mid-section development, the rectus abdominis, external obliques, and intercostals must be equally and evenly developed in proportion to the surrounding muscle groups: the pecs, legs, and back. Employ variety and change to shock the muscle groups of the abs as much as possible to build the kind of quality muscle you want! You've got to make them respond with whatever it takes to make them fully developed no matter how hidden they are!
The great advantage to training abs is that it doesn't take much motivation to want to blast them! But, developing competition worthy abs is more than just a matter of size building. Every contour, striation, and angle must be brought out. This requires working the mid-section from a variety of angles. It takes a variety of high intensity ab exercises to confuse the abdominals, obliques, and intercostals into gigantic, ripped proportions.
Nothing ties a bodybuilder together more than ripped abs. Imagine sweeping lats, and a full ribcage complete with well-developed pectorals. Imagine a big layer of fat around the abs...not a pretty picture? Ripped abs definitely complete this pose. This kind of development isn't something you're born with. It takes hard work, dedication and hard training over the entire body in balance and power.
As the visual center of the body, abs play a crucial role in bodybuilding. Your eyes are inevitably drawn here. Women actually have it a little easier than guys because guys have a disproportionate number of fat cells on the stomach. So, seeing well-defined abs is a sign of incredible hard work.
Follow these 10 tips for a greater looking abs and see the results!
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Train consistently, never miss workouts. It helps to always remember the body you want to have and that great feeling of having absolutely stunning abs!
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Concentrate hard on each set
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"One rep equals two" - Concentrate as hard on the eccentric as the concentric parts of the movement
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Do basic movements to begin with for building mass: crunches, reverse crunches, sit-ups, etc.
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Do 10 minutes of Romain Chairs to really sculpt the abs
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Use twisting moments like: twisting crunches, side bends, and seated twists.
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Completely tense the entire oblique area during the contraction of the movement
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You can use resistance to build them bigger; however, most bodybuilders do not use resistance to maintain the V-shaped torso (you don't want them too big). These muscles in the upper sides of the torso really please the crowd, so developing these can really please the judges.
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Any kind of crunching workout will hit these, especially twisting crunches where you bring your elbow to the opposite knee in a slow controlled movement there and back.
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Adding twists to the many variations of crunches will develop these into ripped striations of muscle!
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