The Truth About Abs and My Top 5 Exercises – VIP #10

Elin Granstrand, Writer & Nutritionist from Lotus Health Co I'm a nutritionist, not a personal trainer, but I do have a fair bit of experience in the gym and abs is one of my favourite things to train. When it comes to training, the most common question I get is “How do I get a six pack?” and unfortunately it’s true what they say - abs are made in the kitchen, hence why it's the perfect topic to include in this series. I wish I could give you my top five favorite ab exercises and, by doing them religiously, you’d have a rock-hard six pack after a few months. It's just not that easy! The truth is, we all have abs, they’re just hidden under our body fat. Some people seem to always have abs, no matter how much weight they put on or how many burgers you see them demolishing on the way home from a big night, and some people never really get them despite working out every day. It truly is unfair. Whether you do or don't have abs that naturally show comes down to genetics; not how many crunches you've done in the gym. We all hold body fat differently. Some people hold it on their legs and some hold it around their waist. Unfortunately we can't easily spot where we reduce fat when we train and we tend to lose it first where we put it on last, leaving those stubborn bits that you’ve “had forever” to be the last thing to go. In saying that, there's nothing wrong with having a strong core and strengthening those muscles will help you lift heavier in the gym (even if you can’t see the muscles). Having a strong core also helps your posture, balance and stability. My Top Five Ab Exercises These are my favourite exercises for when I train abs: (1) Plank/hollow hold - build this up and make sure you’re keeping you back flat. (2) Dead bugs - either with alternating hands and legs or with both at the same time. (3) Hanging knee raises/strict toes to bar - scale to your ability and take it easy. (4) Mountain climbers - do alternating sides and do them slow and controlled. It's not a race up this mountain! (5) Heel taps - these might look easy, but do 20 sec x 4 rounds and you’ll be burning! I usually train abs for around 10 minutes at the end of a workout and do some form of “Tabata intervals” or 8-15 reps x 4 of each exercise. The five exercises above are all great to get that burn we’ve all learned to love at the end of a workout but my BEST tip for a strong core is to really focus on engaging it when you do your big, compound lifts like your squat, bench and deadlift. Elin

TOP BRANDS

The Truth About Abs and My Top 5 Exercises – VIP #10

Free Shipping

VIP Club

Free Shaker

Price Match Guarantee

Contact Us

Join the TSS community