Tips to Build Abs
- Change the variation of abdominal movements in your workouts, if you are going to isolate your abdominals in a workout, doing this once per week is perfect by using movements such as hanging leg raises and roll outs.
- Use Olympic lifting as a part of your training routine. These large compound movements are massively effective for fat burning and help build an incredibly strong core.
- Reduce cortisol exposure by limiting time spent on actual training. Although training is a vital part of building a strong core, it is important to know when to slow it down and take a day of rest. Cortisol is thought to increase adipose tissue around the umbilical section of the stomach. Spend the time resting from weights doing more holistic sessions such as yoga or meditation as a way of relaxation.
Your workout routine should look like the following:
Day 1: Big Compound Movements
Day 2: Upper Body Hypertrophy Session (Isolated Core Workout to follow)
Day 3: Lower Body Hypertrophy Session (Core Stability Workout to follow)
Day 4: Rest/Yoga
| Order | Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| A1 | Front Squat Into Overhead Press | 6 | 6 | 90s |
| B1 | Snatch Grip Podium Deadlift | 6 | 6 | 90s |
| C1 | Wide Grip Chin Up | 6 | 6 | 90s |
| D1 | Barbell Back Squat | 1 | 20 | 90s |
| E1 | Strict Barbell Overhead Press | 1 | 20 | x |
| Order | Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| A1 | Incline Dumbbell Press | 4 | 10 | 10s |
| A2 | Semi Supinated Grip Pull Downs | 4 | 10 | 60s |
| B1 | Seated Cable Flies | 4 | 12 | 10s |
| B2 | Seated Low Row | 4 | 12 | 60s |
| C1 | Machine Bench Press | 4 | 15 | 10s |
| C2 | Seated Unilateral Row | 4 | 15 | 60s |
| D1 | Seated Dumbbell Laterals | 4 | 20 | 10s |
| D2 | High Face Pull | 4 | 20 | 60s |
| E1 | Ab Roll Outs | 3 | 12 | 10s |
| E2 | Hanging Leg Raises | 3 | 12 | 10s |
| E3 | Reverse Crunch | 3 | 12 | 60s |
| Order | Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| A1 | Reverse Hack Squat | 4 | 10 | 10s |
| A2 | Lying Leg Curl | 4 | 10 | 60s |
| B1 | Dumbbell RDL | 4 | 12 | 10s |
| B2 | Dumbbell 1 & 1/4 Squat | 4 | 12 | 60s |
| C1 | Leg Press | 4 | 15 | 10s |
| C2 | Leg Extension | 4 | 15 | 60s |
| D1 | Standing Calf Raise | 4 | 20 | 30s |
| E1 | Renegade Row | 3 | 12 | 10s |
| E2 | Plank (on hands) | 3 | 12 | 10s |
| E3 | Plank position knee to elbows | 3 | 12 | 60s |
Arvind is a StrongFirst Kettlebell Level 2 coach and Nutrition Coach.
He has worked with hundreds of people at his gym to help them find their path to sustainable, life-long fitness and health. Arvind was also the co-author of the best poster awarded at the NNEdPro International Summit on Medical Nutrition Education and Research 2018 held in Cambridge, UK.
He is the co-founder of Daily9, a wellness start-up that uses cutting edge science and technology to help people lose weight, gain confidence and feel better than they have in years. Daily9 has coached over a 1,000 people to make sustainable lifestyle changes and see real results.
