Abs workout are always fun to do, they don't require a lot of equipment, you get a good burn and you can do them at home.
In this article I'll show you 3 abs workout for different fitness levels.
Before you start you abs workout
Rep quality is very important
It's always better to go slower on all of the moves, and really focus on doing each rep properly. Take a moment to look at the modifications in the top left corner of the screen if you need an easier option.
Doing more repetitions with improper form won't help you train your abs properly. One thing you can always check is wether or not you actually feel your abs working.
If you do a ab crunch, and don't feel your muscles engage properly, take a moment to assess what is going on, try again and focus on feeling those abs burn.
If a move is giving you trouble, see if you can substitute it for another one, or ask for help. You can always ask questions on my youtube videos if you need to.
Take as much breaks as you need
Some of these workouts have breaks in them, but if you need more time to recover, you can always pause the video.
If you need to take breaks during the exercises that's totally fine. With practice, you'll be able to do these abs workout without a break.
Taking adequate breaks will help you do all of your reps properly and really give those abs the workout they need.
Progressive overload
Progressive overload is when you gradually make your workouts tougher and tougher over the course of weeks and months.
To apply this principle to these home workouts with no equipment, try to get more and more reps each time you do them. Remember the first point though! Rep quality is important.
If you feel like you have gotten the most out of a workout, you can go to the next level, or you can now do those workouts twice in a row.
How to eat to get defined abs
Your nutrition plays a decisive role in the definition of your abs.
Being in a sustainable calorie deficit over a long period of time will help you tremendously seeing your abs.
A calorie deficit is when you consume less calories than you spend in a day. This can be modified by either eating less food or exercising more.
You can read this post to for a complete guide on how to lose belly fat and get visible abs.
Here are a few tips to align your nutrition with your goal of getting abs.
Focus on whole unprocessed foods. These foods have a high nutrient density which will help your body function at it's best. They are also more satiating than processed foods so you will feel more full after eating them.
Balance your plate. When you make a meal or a snack, try your best to have a portion of protein, healthy fats and carbs on your plate.
I know you hear this a lot already, but drink your water. Aim for at least two litres a day. When we are dehydrated we actually feel more hungry, so staying well hydrated is an easy way to keep our hunger in check and eat less.
It doesn't matter when you eat throughout the day or how many times you eat. What truly matters is how many calories you ingest throughout the whole day. Different eat times or frequencies is a personal choice. Choose the times and frequencies that work best for you and your lifestyle.
Follow the 80-20 rule. Eat healthy 80% of the time and 20% of the time focus on those delicious, yummy and sometimes less healthy foods. You can in fact reach your dream physique and enjoy all the foods you love. It all lies in the amount of those delicious treats. I personally LOVE ice cream, so I eat it at least once every two weeks, but I try not to have more often because that doesn't align with my goals. The 80-20 ratio is here to help you enjoy your nutrition and be sustainable with it.
Beginner abs workout at home
This abs workout is only 6 minutes, so there no excuses for not trying it especially if you work at home that day.
You will do 12 exercises for 30 seconds. Take breaks if you need to, and work your way towards doing it without a break.
The workout:
Alternating toe taps
Windshield wipers
Hollow hold
Knee to elbow in plank
4 bicycles 2 V-sits
2 reverse crunches 2 regular crunches
Mountain climbers from elbow plank
Sit up twists
Alternating side plank
Hollow rocks - The toughest move
Crunches
Walk back planks
Once that gets easy, start doing this workout twice in a row. When you do, you can recover for a couple minutes before you start again.
Intermediate abs workout
In this workout you will be working your legs for 10 minutes and then finishing off with abs for 5 minutes at the end.
Why the legs? They will allow you to burn calories and burn fat which will help in the over all goal of seeing your abs.
The workout
LEGS
Lunges
Squats
Side lunges left
Side lunges right
Deadlifts
Paused Squats (hold for 3 seconds)
ingle leg hip raise left
Single leg hip raise right
Squat to lunge
Dumbbell snatches
ABS
Bicycles
Twists
Climbers to walk back
Vsits
Leg raises
Plank hops with elbow push up
Crunches
You can also add on the beginner abs workout above to the this one work more abs.
Once this workout gets easy, move on to the advanced one.
Advanced abs workout
Your abs will be sore after this one. 15 minutes of pure abs, you will be doing some moves for 30 seconds and some other moves for 1 minute.
There are some breaks within the workout, and as always, feel free to make them longer if you need to.
The workout
Single leg V-sit
Bicycles
Plank
Leg raises
Flutter kicks
Plank
Rest
Sit ups
Crunch with twist
Plank
Side V-sit
Other side V-sit
Push up knee up
Toe taps
Rest
Lunge and twist
Plank
Twists
Candlesticks
Final plank
Breakdancers
Reverse crunches
Windshield wipers
A few other things to consider if you goal is to see abs definition.
Doing strength workouts will help a lot
Your abs and core work a lot during strength workouts. Anytime you handle heavy objects, you core fires up to stabilize your body. So making sure your fitness routine involves 1-2 strength sessions per week will help you see those abs pop out.
You can't out train a bad diet
I'm sure you've heard that abs are made in the kitchen and there is a lot of truth to this. Abs become visible between the ranges of 14% and 20% of body fat for women and 6%-13% of body fat for men. Keep in mind that these are generalized ranges and may differ from person to person.
To learn more about nutrition and how to get lean, check out these posts:
Protein requirements:
Nutrition basics
How do you lose fat
Have fun with the workouts guys!
Clem
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