[@RenaissancePeriodization] Top 5 Ab Exercises for a Shredded Midsection

Link: https://youtu.be/Q6Jk5eT-kp0

Short Summary

Despite the presenters' own lack of visible abs, this video demonstrates five effective ab exercises: decline sit-ups, hanging knee/leg raises, rower rollers, lying L-sits, and ab rollouts. The video emphasizes proper form, progressive overload, and selecting 2 exercises per week for optimal ab development, suggesting the use of RP apps for diet and training.

Key Quotes

Here are 4 quotes from the video transcript that I found particularly insightful or interesting:

1. "I used to think the higher you put the incline or decline, the better the exercise is for you. And it does make it harder. But actually, if you put the incline really high, it creates minimal tension at the bottom and maximum tension at the top, which reverses the force curve we want ideally for muscle growth, which is a ton of tension at the bottom and a little bit at the top."

2. "If you're raising your knees all the way up as high as you can, ideally to your face, you're getting a curvature in the spine. That curvature is literally generated that flexion by the shortening of your abs. So, it's an amazing exercise."

3. "Everybody wants that nice like broad look, small waist, especially on stage if it's bodybuilding specific and just to look good naked. That's what you want. You kind of just want like that slim look all the way down into the hip. So, not really training the obliques too heavily here. If you want that really cool shape, the shape everybody kind of goes for whenever you're on stage, try not to train the obliques too heavily."

4. "The ab roller is an amazing exercise because as the movement lengthens, the forces applied due to the lever arm in relation to gravity increase radically, which means at the peak contraction, there's a minimal amount of force, kind of zero. At the most lengthened part of the exercise, when you're all the way on the ground, the force is maximum."

Detailed Summary

Okay, here's a detailed summary of the YouTube video transcript, presented in bullet points, highlighting the key information about the 5 ab exercises and related advice:

Introduction:

• Hosts admit they lack strong abs, contrasting with the model, Briani Terry.
• The video will cover 5 ab exercises.

1. Decline Sit-Up:

• Common exercise found in most gyms.
• RP-style: Control the eccentric (lowering) and athletically come back up.
• Incline Height:
  • Higher incline does make the exercise harder, but is not necessarily better.
  • High incline creates minimal tension at the bottom of the movement (stretched position) and maximum tension at the top (contracted position). This is the opposite of the ideal force curve for muscle growth.
  • A barely-there decline and doing more reps is a viable option.
• Progressive Overload (Increasing Difficulty):
  • If doing more than 30 reps is easy, options include:
    • Holding a weight plate on the chest. Gradually increase the weight.
    • Reaching hands over the head, extending the lever arm. Keep hands overhead throughout the entire rep, avoid swinging to make it easier.
• Adding Difficulty:
  • Focus on controlled eccentric, leaning into the stretch.
  • When reaching the bottom of the movement, lightly tap the scapula on the bench before coming back up. Avoid resting the entire back on the bench at the bottom.

2. Hanging Knee Raise/Leg Raise:

• Raising knees to the face creates spinal flexion, engaging the abs.
• Lever arm is relatively short with knee raises.
• Progression:
  • Start with hanging knee raises.
  • Progress to hanging straight leg raises (toes up to the bar) when strong enough.
  • Advanced technique: Do straight leg raises until failure, then transition to knee raises (a built-in superset).
• Technique:
  • Push hips back at the bottom of the movement.
  • Tilt and tuck the pelvis forward (demonstrated with humorous analogy).
  • Athletic concentric (raising) movement.
  • Brief pause at the top.
  • Control the eccentric (lowering) movement to create tension as the abs lengthen.

3. Rower Roller (Created Name):

• Exercise demonstrated, credited to Arman and Dylan.
• Feet/knees/shins placed on the rower.
• Hands out in front.
• Raise and lower knees (similar to hanging knee raise, but with a different force curve).
• Raise athletically and lower with control, pausing at the bottom.
• Highly scalable by adjusting hand and feet placement.

4. Lying L-Sit:

• Emphasizes tension on the abs in the lengthened position.
• Start with knees tucked up.
• Hands on the ground (or under the butt).
• Extend legs straight out, hovering just above the ground (1 inch).
• Bring legs back to tucked position.
• Scaling/Progressive Overload:
  • Don't extend legs all the way out; do partial reps.
  • Mechanical dropset: Do full range of motion L-sits until failure, then decrease the range to 3/4, then halfway, maintaining reps until fatigue.

5. Ab Roller:

• A humbling exercise unless abs are already exceptionally strong.
• Force increases radically as the movement lengthens (maximum force at full extension).
• Minimal force at peak contraction.
• Warm-up: Important. Do sets of crunches (10 reps). Warm up lats and shoulders, especially if older or injured.
• Technique:
  • Control the eccentric (rolling out).
  • Pause at the very end.
  • Come back up.
  • Key Cue: Keep hips up throughout the exercise to better engage the abs.
• Reps and Sets:
  • May only be able to do a few reps at a time.
  • Micro-reps: Do 3-4 reps, then rest in the curled position for 5 seconds, and repeat. Aim for 8-15 total reps in a workout.

General Ab Training Advice:

• Obliques: Avoid heavy oblique training if you want a slim waist and the "V-taper" aesthetic. No heavy twisting exercises. Obliques will still be worked to some degree during other ab exercises. Athlete may incorporate some of that stuff into their training at some point in time, but really it's all programming dependent based on what your outcome is.
• Exercise Selection and Routine: Pick two of these exercises per week. Run them for 4-12 weeks. Progress in reps or load. Switch out exercises when they feel stale.
• Diet: Use a diet app to lose body fat and reveal the abs.
• RP Hypertrophy App: Features pre-made programs (2-6 days per week) for all muscle groups, including abs, with male and female options.

Humorous Tone:

• Throughout the video, there are many jokes and playful banter between the hosts.
• Britney Spears is humorously quoted with advice on ab training.

I hope this comprehensive summary is helpful!