16
Dec '09
New Abdominal Exercises
I’ve been filming a lot of workouts and abdominal exercises recently, and have modified a few classic movements.
As a result, I have a few *new* ab exercise photos and descriptions to share with you today for your ab workouts.
1) Kneeling Ball Plank
The regular Stability Ball Plank (aka “Plank on Stability Ball”) is a tough exercise for your abs. In fact, one study quoted by Men’s Health magazine said the Ball Plank is 30% harder on your rectus abdominis than a regular plank.
But for some folks, it is so hard they can’t do the Ball Plank. Fortunately, we can modify it and allow them to do a kneeling version.
Here’s the exercise description and photo:
• Kneel on a mat and place your arms on the ball. Extend your body in a straight line.
• With your back flat, your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. Hold the plank position for the designated time.
2) Stability Ball Mini-Rollout
Here’s another great ab exercise that we modified for people who find the original version to be too hard.
• Kneel on a mat and place your clasped hands on the top of a medium sized ball.
• Brace your abs and slowly lean forward and roll your hands over the ball while the ball moves away from your body.
• Keep your body in a straight line and rollout 6-12 inches.
• Keep your abs braced as they get a stretch on the way out.
• Then contract your abs and reverse the motion to return to the upright position.
3) Kneeling Renegade Row
The regular renegade row can be murder on your obliques in the lower ab area. But again, this exercise is often too advanced for most folks, so we cut back to a kneeling version.
NOTE: It is a little awkward, but if you play around with your body position, you should be able to do it and get the benefits. It is a lot harder than it looks.
• Start in the kneeling pushup position.
• Wrap your hands around two light dumbbells – NOTE: They must be flat edged dumbbells – not round. You can also use kettlebells.
• Keep your abs braced and row one dumbbell up to your ribcage.
• Slowly lower under control and alternate sides.
• This is a very tough exercise on your lower abs and obliques.
• Keep your abs braced strong at all times.
4) Chin-up with Knee-up
And now for an advanced, unique ab exercise. The extra eccentric stress in this exercise can put a hurting on your abs – even your “lower ab” area – the next day.
• Take underhand grip on the bar with the palms facing you.
• Pull your body up until the chest reaches bar level.
• At the same time, pull your knees up to your chest.
• Slowly lower yourself but do not let your body swing and do not use momentum.
• Let your knees drop slowly from your chest to their original position.
5) Barbell Rollout
And lastly, a tougher version of the Stability Ball Rollout
• Add 25 or 45 pound plates to a barbell. Kneel on a mat and place your hands on the barbell slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. .
• Brace your abs and slowly lean forward and roll out while the bar moves away from your body. Keep your body tight and go slow.
• Keep your body in a straight line and go as far as you can with perfect form.
• Contract your abs and reverse the motion to return to the upright position.
So hope you get some benefit out of those…if you can do those easily, make sure you are putting the advanced versions of these abdominal exercises into your fat burning workout.
And by the way, most people are surprised by this, but I believe that almost every exercise is an ab exercise. You can even modify arm exercises to work your abs hard.
Some of my favorite traditional lifting exercises for abs are:
A) High repetition dumbbell rows (murder on your obliques)
B) Lying dumbbell triceps extensions with an extra stretch at bottom
C) 1-arm staggered stance heavy dumbbell curls
So brace your abs, contract them tight, and work them on every rep you can…and just say NO to crunches.
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training for Abs
Comments on New Abdominal Exercises »
These are fantastic exercises Craig! Thankyou for sharing them!! I can’t wait to try them out! Y’know, the interesting thing is, I can feel my ab muscles when I tense them, but they’re just covered in a heap of flab which I’m desperate to lose!! Gotta get my diet under control, eat better and get motivated! I’m close to diabetes (just had a diabetes blood test done) so I really need to get moving! Thankyou again! Looking forward to your next post!
Rick
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I found these ab exercises are great. These really works to flaten ur abs. Thanx
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Nice Christmas pressie Craig, look forward to these over festive period. Shall see you in January in Tampa along with Freebird.
Have a great Christmas
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Hi Craig,
I keep seeing people in the gym doing crunches, & guess what? they still have enormous stomachs! I like your exercises, because they work! I can’t manage the chin-up with leg raises but I’m happy with the effects of the rest of the exercises – I can do them at home or in the gym.
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Cool i will use it! ;p
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Hi Craig,
some great information here…(as usual) I will give these a try as after having a lower spine operation earlier this year, I find the advanced exercises a little too hard. Please keep up the great work and enjoyable emails. You are a great role model for anyone who wants to make/get the best out of the only body we have.!
Karl
Birmingham (England)
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I love most of your exercises but doing ANY rollouts, whether using the ridiculous wheel, barbell or physio ball, puts a tremendous amount of stress on your rotator cuff group. The supraspinatus takes a beating and over time (if you’re lucky) something is going to give, and not when you’re doing the exercise.
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At last! Been waiting for this for us ‘really out of shape’ persons to help us get started without the tough exercises that make me feel stupid and a hopeless case. Thanks! And the pictures and explanations were great. It’s good to see something at a beginner level.
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Harder or easier if you do all the exercises (except hanging) with straight legs?
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I have all these exercises as a member. I can’t do a chin up, and never have. Is there something I could do instead? I am doing the 2K10 workout and had to skip the dips and chins.
Thanks for all your programs. They are fantastic and I live by them.
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Craig Ballantyne Reply:
December 17th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Hi Bev, thanks! For the chinup, if you can, do a kneeling reverse grip pulldown at a lat pulldown station. If you can’t, you can do a dumbbell pullover. For the dips, do close-grip pushups instead.
Thanks!
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Hi Craig,
Can you please explain (or do a video showing) what ‘bracing’ and ‘contracting’ your abs exactly is…I’m very confused about both and find myself sucking in my abdomen which results in me holding my breath while doing any ab exercises. I’ve yet to find someone explain the proper techniques to me…I always hear “just suck your stomach in”…but when I do, I hold my breath (which can’t be good!)
Thanks!
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Craig Ballantyne Reply:
December 17th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Imagine someone was going to punch you in the stomach. You brace for it. That’s bracing.
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Craig,
I’ve been doing some of your exercises for a while now and find them fantastic, however, I have just had surgery for a Gilmore’s groin (sportsmans hernia) which is in quite a sensitive area. Just wondering if you have any recommendations for upper body exercises which wouldn’t put undue stress on the wound site? Appreciateyour help.
Traolach
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Craig Ballantyne Reply:
December 17th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I dont, sorry. This is something you will need to talk to your doctor about.
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Just curious, is that your own personal gym or a public gym? It may seem like a dump question but I have seen personal gyms that big (for example Tony Horton’s) and no one is ever around or in the background.
Thanks for the early CHRISTmas present!!!
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Craig Ballantyne Reply:
December 17th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Its a gym we rent to use.
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Michael M Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 5:36 am
Cool Thanks.
So I guess you had some clean up after you made the video of you mashing a pumpkin lol. Still one of my favorite youtube videos …
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Craig Ballantyne Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
yes, much cleanup
Can I ask your opinion on the following…… should your spine be kept in ‘neutral position’ for all exercises ? For example the plank – I presume spine should be neutral, that is, the natural lumbar curve should be present ? The reason I’m asking is because I get confused when doing alot of supine ab exercises trainers state that your lower back should be pushed into the floor. Is this correct for these type of exercises – it’s just I would have thought that this is placing your low back in a vulnerable position.
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Craig Ballantyne Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 1:19 am
Yes, natural curve should be present in the plank
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These are great modified versions for those who can not perform the original version. Plus you still get a great workout. Thanks for including the pictures – seeing it makes is much easier to follow and know you are doing the movement correctly.
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What about exercises like the Stability Ball Exchange or Crunches I presume that the spine should be neutral in starting position. Sorry I’m just curious about this
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Craig Ballantyne Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I don’t do those.
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Can work obliques while doing the ball roll out by rolling to each side as well as in a straight line. And if you elevate your legs higher than your hands, it’s great while doing the dumbbell rows. Pull to the side and look up for obliques.
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Great moves Craig… I love the barbell rollout and the pull up move, these really feel great once I am done!
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Great exercises craig; can’t wait to try them out.
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Hey Craig,
I really feel a lot of pressure on my shoulders when doing any of the rollout exercises. Is that normal? It really hinders me from doing them because it is so painful. Should I be doing something different?
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Craig Ballantyne Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
You can skip that exercise. You will have to stick to other exercises.
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Love this one. I feel it for sure a day after. Just curious, what is the best way to get rid of the 5 pounds?
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Craig Ballantyne Reply:
December 19th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Nutrition and interval training. Advanced results require advanced nutrition.
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Great reminded abour brace your abs, contract them tight, and work them on every rep even with arm curls. I rememmber you saying before and got great results from it. Just saw your workout in mens health “More muscle no waiting” Congradulations! I belevie it was November or december.
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“Bracing” & “Contracting” ? Before I start working out just wanna check exactly what this means.
I’d assume that “bracing” refers to “pushing out” the abs, engaging them so that you can feel them harden up whilst “contracting” refers to pulling them in .
Might sound a daft question to most of you but just wanted to ensure I was going to be exercising as effectivly as possible.
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Hey Craig! Love your work, you are a source of inspiration and your videos have helped me in ways i cant tell, thanks. I was wondering if you could suggest me some good oblique bodyweight exercises, ones that would be a replacement of exercises like oblique crunches, bicycle crunches etc.
Thanks and Merry Xmas
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Craig Ballantyne Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Cross body mountain climbers, side planks, and chinups with kneeups.
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Loved all the moves, particularly the barbell rollout – one thing that I found unique about what you show is, it doesn’t look complicated … and eventually you end up feeling great
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A better position for beginner Renegade rows, is to be in a quadreped position, stabilizing the torso by bracing tummy..give it a try!
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Ahh the gorilla chin crunch! That exercise is super for your back, biceps and core. Definitely not something for a beginner but great to add into your workout if you are in need of some more advanced ab workouts. I also love these exercises since they are so good for the entire core as well as the deep tranversus muscle. Definitely beats doing hundreds of repetitive crunches and getting nowhere!
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