SIX-PACK ABS! LOSE YOUR GUT! BLAST BELLY FAT! FLAT ABS FAST! WHITTLE YOUR MIDDLE! GET ABS IN MINUTES! BUILD A SEXY WAIST! GET AN EIGHT-PACK! SLICED ABS IN ONE WORKOUT!
You won’t be seeing any of these promises in this book. Why? Because, by purchasing this book you’ve made a decision that mere promises aren’t what you’re looking for. A complicated workout with dozens of exercises hasn’t worked for you. That fitness gadget you bought off an infomercial earned its spot in your garage between your tangled Christmas lights and old VCR. The meal plan you downloaded that promised instant health made you sick. Your gym membership does little more than keep your library card company in the last slot of your wallet. You’ve been through the promises. What you want is a solution.
But before you think you found another easy answer, take note: There is no single solution that works for everyone. The answer is a custom solution just for you. But you’re the only person who can create that solution.
A magazine can’t do it. A product off of late-night television can’t do it. Ultimately, even a meal plan and workout are only as effective as the effort you put into them. They, too, are fundamentally flawed because they are made to suit the masses—they simply aren’t made specifically for you. Even a personal trainer can only react to what you’re willing to divulge and, let’s face it: Nobody’s totally honest with trainers or nutritionists. The only honest conversation you can have when it comes to your appearance, your health and your fitness happens when you’re being honest with yourself. Bottom line: The only real solution that will yield results can only come from you.
The last time you were at the gym, someone told you to do four sets of 12 repetitions of a certain exercise. It may have been something you read, something you were told, or something you saw someone else do. Nobody ever said why. You weren’t told what weight to use for each contraction. You just followed the orders that were given, didn’t you? But only you knew when your muscles started to burn. Only you knew what weight was comfortable, what weight was too much, and what weight was pointless to try. Why? Because only you know your body, your commitment to being healthy and the effort you’re willing to apply in your quest to achieve it.
That’s why Core Fitness Solution is different from any other fitness plan you’ve read, heard about or tried. This really is your workout—you design it, you do the work, you decide the intensity, and you see the results. But results come best when you’re fully prepared. Before making your workouts, you need to understand the core, its importance and how it affects nearly every movement you make as an athlete, a weekend warrior, or an everyday person.
If you fall prey to the vernacular found in most much-hyped gadgets, books, and magazine articles, you’ll fall for the half-truth that your core is composed of the six abdominal muscles that seemingly only fitness models ever have. The elusive six-pack is actually made up of one muscle called the rectus abdominis. The appearance of the six distinct muscles comes from connective tissue. The muscles on the sides are called the obliques. While abs are definitely a vital element of your core, the truth is your core is the full circumference of your midsection. Think of it as the middle of your body. The middle, of course, isn’t just on the front of your torso; it’s also on your back and sides. That middle is integral to every step, move, push, pull and stretch you do every day. That is your core. Ultimately, you need to think of your core as the engine in a car: It is responsible for every motion, fast or slow, precise or relaxed, not just looking good.
Just because there are muscle targets mentioned in this book, don’t think that you can simply isolate a specific segment of your abs and solely target-train them. Sure, you can emphasize certain areas with certain moves, but if you already have upper abs and want to just train your lower abs, you’re not using this book correctly. Please refer to the next section for more direction.
While most other workouts will focus on the aesthetically pleasing muscles in the front, any athlete will tell you without hesitation that a strong core beats ripped abs any day. The best part of Core Fitness Solution, however, is that while we’re helping you build the core you need, we’re also making sure your abs pop just as noticeably as any avid gym-goer—only you won’t be spending long hours in the gym to do it!
The following chapters titled “Lower Abs,” “Upper Abs,” “Obliques,” and “Total Core” are composed of the best exercises for each specific target mentioned. Within each chapter you’ll find detailed descriptions of each move, intensity tips, beginner’s advice, and additional information on how to get the most out of your core workouts. We’ve designed the plan to be as easy to use as possible—while maintaining the promise that you decide your workout. With that said, there are only two rules to follow:
1. Each workout you create must consist of two exercises from each chapter. That means every workout will have eight exercises in total. No more, no less! Because you’ll be hitting every angle of your core throughout this process, all the typical complications of other workout plans are totally washed away.
2. Each exercise must be done to failure. That means you’ll be doing eight exercises until you simply can’t do them anymore. If you can do a couple of exercises 22 times each, but can only get to 12 on the rest, that’s fine. As a general rule, you should try to hit 12 to 24 reps in each set. If you find yourself consistently only managing a few reps on a specific move, you should probably try an easier variation. By the same token, if you’re doing 50 reps of the same move every time you do it, it’s time to graduate to a more advanced move. If you’re performing timed exercises, then stay with 15 to 60 seconds; if this is too easy, you’ll need to select a more advanced move.
Ultimately, the choice is yours and is based on your effort, fitness level, and desired workout intensity. We suggest recording your reps in the training log in chapter 7 to track your progress. The goal here is to work your way up through the beginner and intermediate moves to the advanced moves. This ensures that you build strength through repetitions and gradually add more intense moves. It also reduces the risk of injury that is caused by performing the wrong moves for your fitness level.
Each exercise in this book has a beginner and an advanced version for this purpose. Be honest with yourself and your selections. Core strength and visible abs will come more quickly than you think.
Because the core is in constant use, there’s little fear of overworking the area as you would with your other major muscle groups. As such, you can do a customized Core Fitness Solution workout every day if you wish, or you can do them on off days from your full-body workouts or in conjunction with them. The choice is yours! You can also do more than one workout each day, though we do not advise more than two on any single day. Since you should be working to failure on each move, one workout each day should suffice.
Sound like an unbelievable promise? Think again. The entire premise of this book is based on you creating your own daily workouts, and although there are very few rules you have to follow, the few that you do are set in stone. By selecting two exercises from each category of exercises in this book—upper abs, lower abs, obliques, and total core—you’re creating a specific workout plan for your day. There are 12 exercises in upper abs, 10 in lower abs, 12 in obliques and 19 in total core. We consulted with two colleges to calculate the exact amount of workouts in this book and they both agreed on 63,577,800 total possible configurations from these options. If we hear anyone complaining that there aren’t enough options in this book, we’ll find you and hurl more than sixty-three million sweaty gym socks at you!
Use the Core Fitness Solution Checklist, on pages 13–15, to quickly and easily design your workouts. It lists all 53 exercises described in the book, organizes them by category, and even provides a thumbnail to help you quickly recall the exercises you love—and the ones you love to hate.
1. Pelvic Tilt
2. Ab Crunch with Vertical Legs
3. U-Boat
4. Figure Four Leg Raise and Crunch
5. Captain’s Chair Leg Lift
6. Hanging Leg Raise
7. Flutter Kicks
8. Vertical Leg Crunch
9. Bench Leg Raise
10. Reclining Leg Circles
11. Hover
12. Toes to Bar Hanging Leg Raise
1. Crunch and Reach
2. Dead Bug
3. Stability Ball Crunch
4. Double Crunch
5. Bosu Ball Crunch
6. Leg Climb
7. Weighted Crunch
8. Kneeling Resistance Band Crunch
9. Cable Crunch
10. Decline Bench Curl
1. Side Plank
2. Side Bend
3. Stability Ball Hip Rolls
4. Bicycle Crunch
5. Cross Body Crunch
6. Seated Broom Twist
7. Stability Ball Oblique Crunch
8. Hanging Leg Raises with Twists
9. Landmines
10. Kneeling Cable Oblique Crunch
11. Captain’s Chair Side Leg Lift
12. Oblique Crunch with Legs Up
1. Plank
2. Spidermans
3. Mountain Climbers
4. Dog Pointers
5. Roll-Ups
6. Stability Ball Knee Tuck
7. Pike
8. Cable Push-Pull
9. Cable Lawnmower
10. Weighted Hip Raise on a Bench
11. Windshield Wipers
12. Medicine Ball Figure Eight
13. Medicine Ball Wood Chopper
14. Decline Medicine Ball Toss
15. Corkscrew
16. Reverse Hyperextensions
17. Isometric V-Hold
18. Jump Squat with Twist
19. Bridge
Before jumping into any serious workout plan, you should consult a physician. You should also test your fitness level before deciding the intensity of your workouts. This section of Core Fitness Solution is your test to see how fit your core is before you begin your custom workouts, and then to see how far you’ve come after progressing through your training.
Why do you need to test your core strength before doing these workouts? Well, the truth is that you actually don’t have to, but we recommend it for several reasons. In our years of helping people with their fitness and health, one thing has always been constant: Left unchecked, or untested, people will almost always jump into a workout plan that is far above their capacity. This results in injury that keeps people away from the gym, ruining any efforts or desires they had on improving their lives. Testing your fitness level before starting a program will also help you better select your workouts and track your progress.
With that in mind, we’ve devised a test that measures your stability, endurance, and overall core strength. The test is based on one exercise: the plank. Execution of the move is simple, but becomes more and more challenging with each passing second.
Lie face down on a mat so your toes, forearms, and fists are holding all of your weight off the ground. Your body should create a straight, plank-like line. Create a neutral (flat) spine by tilting your pelvis forward. Engage your abdominals, glutes, and thigh muscles. Your butt and hips should stay in this same line; make sure they don’t sag or rise beyond the level. Do not round your shoulders. Maintain this position throughout while looking straight down at your hands.
Depending on your workout philosophy, you could hold this move to failure once or several times (which is what we suggest) or you could hold it for a set time span and repeat the interval as many times as you like (much like you would with reps). For the purpose of this test, you’ll be staying in the plank as long as you can, but, to better test your overall core strength, endurance, and stability, we’ve added intensifiers, target-specific variations, and intervals.
There are several variations to the basic plank exercise. In order to fully test your core strength, we have incorporated the ones we feel are the best gauges to understanding your fitness level. Here is a brief description of each one found in the test that follows.
Plank with arm raise: From the basic plank position previously described, raise one arm off the floor so your fingers are pointing straight ahead with your palm facing inward. Your arm should not go above your shoulders, which must maintain a straight line with your body.
Plank with leg raise: Lift one leg off the ground so it creates a parallel line with the floor. Keep the leg straight with no bend in your knee and point your toes away.
Plank with leg and arm raise: Raise your left leg and right arm together (as described) and then your left arm and right leg together.
Plank with leg and arm raise
Plank with leg and arm raise with crunch: As previously described, raise alternating legs and arms, but before returning to the plank position, crunch your leg (with bended knee) and arm (with bended elbow) into your torso and hold for one count.
Side plank: Balance yourself so only your left foot and left forearm and fist are holding all your weight.
Side plank with hip raise: Perform the side plank as already described, but lower your hip to the floor and then raise your hip back to the side plank position.
Side plank with front leg drive: Perform the side plank as previously described, and drive the knee of your top leg toward your chest, forming a right angle at the hip and abdominal area.
Side plank with double leg drive: This is the same as above but with both legs.
As you can see from the chart that follows, the test is broken down into timed intervals. You are not to rest between intervals or performance levels. This is a running clock test. We suggest a training partner time you, or that you follow your own progress on a device placed between your fists. Each interval is a specific form of the plank and the further you get into the test, the better your core strength, endurance, and stability.
Where you’ve placed on the chart dictates where you should begin your training in this book. If you’ve fallen in the Beginner or Intermediate sections, you should start your exercises with the beginner’s tips. If you’re in the Average or Advanced sections, perform the moves pictured and described in each chapter. If you’ve scored in the Superior or Elite sections, challenge yourself with the advanced tips.
We recommend coming back to this test every 30 days so you can measure your progress in your core performance training.
|
|
Plank |
10 seconds |
Raise arm |
5 seconds each arm |
Raise leg |
5 seconds each leg |
Side plank (stacked feet) |
10 seconds each side |
BRACKET 2: Intermediate |
|
Plank |
20 seconds |
Raise left arm and right leg |
10 seconds |
Raise right arm and left leg |
10 seconds |
Side plank (stacked feet) |
15 seconds each side |
BRACKET 3: Average |
|
Plank |
30 seconds |
Raise left arm and right leg |
15 seconds |
Raise right arm and left leg |
15 seconds |
Side plank with hip raise (stacked feet) |
10 reps each side |
BRACKET 4: Advanced |
|
Plank |
30 seconds |
Raise left arm and right leg and crunch both in before returning |
5 reps |
Raise right arm and left leg and crunch both in before returning |
5 reps |
Side plank (stacked feet) |
20 seconds each side |
Side plank with reach under rotations |
10 reps each side |
Side plank with top leg drive (knee toward chest) |
5 reps each side |
BRACKET 5: Superior |
|
Plank |
45 seconds |
Raise left arm and right leg and crunch both in before returning |
5 reps |
Raise right arm and left leg and crunch both in before returning |
5 reps |
Side plank (stacked feet) |
30 seconds each side |
Side plank with hip raise then reach under rotation |
5 reps each side |
Side plank with leg drive and leg raise |
5 reps each side |
BRACKET 6: Elite |
|
Plank |
60 seconds |
Raise left arm and right leg and crunch both in before returning |
10 reps |
Raise right arm and left leg and crunch both in before returning |
10 reps |
Side plank with hip raise and reach under rotation |
10 reps each side |
Side plank with double leg drive (staggered/split feet) |
5 reps each side |
