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Optimal Abs - The No Crunch Ab Workout

By Jason Zaretzky

Tired of doing endless hours of crunches and sit-ups? Well, these pointless exercises may not be the answer. Instead Learn the Optimal abs anticrunch ab workout for a ripped midsection.

I know you want it and just about everyone else wants it too!

What is it we all want?

A ripped 6 pack! A sexy 6 pack! Wash Board abs!

The Problem is I see so many people do absolutely ridiculous things in an attempt to get those washboard abs going. The most common thing people do to try to get these amazing abs is endless hours of crunches or sit ups.

Seems like a pretty obvious action plan if you ask me. But is it really an effective way?

When I'm pressed with this issue and someone is complaining to me that they have yet to see 1 ab let alone a 6 pack from all their hard crunch and sit up training, I stare at them at let them know a dirty little secret…

But first I fill them in on the Guinness book of world record holder for doing the most sit-ups in a 24 hour period.

First guess how many it is?

Nope! Now I may be outdating as I haven't checked this stat out for some time, but the record at some point was 24,000.

I'm serious! Now for the icing on the cake, the guy that did it was downright pudgy. No six pack, no 2 pack, PUDGY.

My point is not to knock on this guy; I actually think doing 24,000 sit-ups in a day a kind of funny.

My point is that crunches and sit-ups are not the answer.

So what is the dirty little secret to getting that sexy ripped set of wash board abs?

Here is a quick little cheat sheet of what you need to be doing for that sexy midsection;

1.) Supportive nutrition, proper diet, and super clean eating.

Hold onto your seats, this may be the only time I reference a bodybuilder when talking fitness. These guys and gals have a super shredded midsection right?

So do what they do right?

WRONG! I have actually been a body builder in the past and I actually didn't train my abs directly. I pretty much relied on my diet and nutrition along with my heavy lifting. To make a long story short, I did have a six back, and a host of back problems to go with it.

So I guess you do need to eat very clean, and focus on getting your body fat levels as low as humanly possible. However, ignoring your core and midsection is a big mistake. Trust me I know from personal experience.

2.) Doing lots of abs will burn off belly fat

WRONG!

Spot reduction doesn't work. You can't just work the muscles of a certain area of your body and expect to have the fat in that region go away. Think about it: almost everyone does crunches but proportionately very few people perform total body workouts. So, with all of these crunches, we'd expect to see nothing but people with flat tummies and fat depots everywhere else on their body (arms, legs, etc.). But think of how many people you know and see on a regular basis that has more than a few inches to lose in their midsection. See what I mean- spot reduction doesn't work!

See, your body loses fat in a genetically pre-determined way when there is the appropriate caloric deficit AND hormonal environment created by proper eating and training. So your best bet is to focus on burning as many calories during your workouts as possible by engaging your whole body each and every training session (not just your abs). Compound, multi-joint movements like squats, push-ups, lunge, etc. (or better yet, total body exercises like squat to presses) burn a lot more calories than isolation movements like crunches and sit-ups. So be sure to focus on these movements first and then if you have time, you can do some extra core work to please the abs training Gods.

Crunches and Sit-ups are the best exercises for your abs

3.) No need to doing endless hours of sit-ups and crunches

This is a big misnomer I chalk up to the BS the media shoots at us. For years now, we have been conditioned to think that the best way to work your abdominals is by doing endless crunches and sit-ups. It's probably due to the fact that when you do these exercises you feel the "burn" and actually think your making a difference right then and there. However, the true function of your abdominals or rectus abdominis (to be politically correct) is to prevent hyperextension, not to flex forward over and over again, and to prevent twisting. Basically your abdominals are for stabilizing your body.

So, instead of doing pointless back aching crunches and neck wrenching sit-ups, we focus on stabilization exercises in all three planes of movement (saggital- front to back, frontal- side to side, and transverse- rotational) by using what I'm calling Optimal Abs training. This type of core training not only will aid in developing a super shredded 6 pack, but it will improve posture, function, total body strength, and of course prevent back pain.

4.) Do lots of long-duration cardio to burn the fat covering your abs

WRONG!

Both scientific research and real world case studies show that aerobic training for fat loss alone doesn't work. Total body resistance training is the true foundation of any solid fat loss plan. In addition, interval training, where you alternate between bouts of maximum effort and active recovery, is scientifically proven to burn nine times more fat than ordinary exercise. Please note that you can perform both resistance interval training and cardio interval training to combine the best of both worlds. More on this to come!

Ok, so maybe this isn't a cheat sheet on what you need to do to get a cover models abs, but it should put some clarity into the whole "how do I get a shredded 6 pack" debate.

To give you a real live example of the New Optimal Abs training way .

About the Author:

Jason Zaretzky is Owner and Program Director of Optimal Performance Training. He specializes in athletic performance enhancement, corrective exercise, and physique alteration. Jason is committed to optimizing your results. He has helped a countless number of individuals and athletes look, feel, and perform at optimal levels, through his system of scientific results oriented programming.

Jason Zaretzky is Rockland County's go to fat loss expert and owner of Optimal Performance Training Center located in Rockland County NY. For a FREE 1-week trial to his Rockland County Bootcamps, to experience the best fat loss training in Rockland County please visit RocklandCountyBootCamps.com

For more information on the bootcamp solution, visit www.optimalfitnessexpress.com and see how a real results based bootcamp type workout is properly conducted. Jason Zaretzky has developed the fitness bootcamp antidote - the Optimal Fitness Express! The fastest, most efficient way to look, feel, and perform your best.