The abs are the muscles that a lot of guys want the most and yet they’re also the muscle group that many guys are most likely to ignore in the gym. That is to say, that a lot of guys simply don’t do sit ups and crunches when they go to the gym, or even when they get home. This might seem strange at first: why would so many people neglect to train the main muscle group they’re interested in developing?
The answer is simple: training the abs is boring. Sit ups don’t provide that much of a challenge, they’re repetitive and they take ages if you’re trying to get any kind of burn from them.
Any new and more interesting ab exercises you can find then should be treated with excitement and reverence. And boy do I have an interesting new ab exercise for you today…
Introducing: Ab Shifters
The exercise in question is something called ‘ab shifter’ and it’s quite unlike anything you’ve probably done before.
To do it, you’re going to lie on the ground on a soft surface. Raise your legs ever so slightly and raise your back just slightly off the ground – you might recognize this as the starting position for the ‘hollow rock’ movement. This is similar to that, just even weirder…
Now what you’re basically going to do, is to rotate your entire body around 360 degrees or more. You’ll do this by rocking up slightly, moving your back clockwise or anti clockwise and then rocking back to the starting position. It basically looks like you’re having some kind of seizure on the ground but gradually you should be able to rotate your entire body around.
What makes this so useful? For starters, it’s just very different and the fact you’re moving around makes it quite rewarding and challenging. This is great if you’re bored of doing the same old sit ups! At the same time, this move combines an isometric hold as you’re keeping your body rigid with a short explosive movement to help propel yourself up and around. It’s also great cardio – so try it yourself and see just how challenging it is.
A Routine
Now you’ve got that cool new move, how do you go about putting it into a routine that you can employ to train your abs?
Below is a quick circuit you can use either once or a few times. There is no rest between each of these exercises and all of them revolve around having your legs raised off the ground – ideal for your lower abs.
- Isometric hold (15 seconds)
- Leg raises x 10
- Flutter raises x 8
- Single leg raise crunches x 10
- Shifters 720 degrees on each side
- Reverse crunches
- Shifters 180 degrees
- Flutter kicks x 20
This is a simple and effective ab routine you can do from the comfort of your home and it’s a great way to try out those super-challenging ab shifters for the first time.
