One good thing about powerlifting is the more you improve, the better your physique becomes. For instance, when you increase your bench press from 300 to 400, your upper body looks more athletic and muscular. When you increase your squat from 300 to 500, your legs look more athletic and muscular along with most other muscles in your body. Many other styles of working out do not have this same objective component.
One day, it occurred to me that if I applied this objective training philosophy to abs, then maybe the same result could be achieved. Specifically, I mean that I thought that if I could find exercises where the abs are involved where weight can safely be added in high amounts over time, then the abs would become more muscular and defined as I am able to do more weight in these lifts.
1.) Hanging Leg Raises
When I was first searching for ab exercises where large amounts of weight can be added safely over time, I first tried declined situps. After all, many say this is supposed to be the “best” of ab exercises to build a six pack. Also, I thought weight can be added over time by holding heavier weights behind or in front of your head, and you can really “feel the burn” on this exercise. The problem is I noticed my back hurt more while I was doing this exercise as I was improving more. My hip flexors were also feeling pain the more I improved.
For this reason, I turned to hanging leg raises. Because the body is freely hanging from a bar, the movement does not create any pressure on the back or hip flexor, and for this reason the exercise doesn’t create pain the way that declined situps did for me.
This exercise is performed by freely hanging from a pullup bar, and lifting your legs straight in front of you while keeping the legs straight. A dumbbell is placed between the feet, and the dumbbell can get heavier as the muscles get stronger. To make sure you are going up the same distance with each rep, it is a good idea to pick a reference point against a wall or the like so your toes make it to the same height with each rep.
Not only do hanging leg raises work the entire front of the core from the lower abs to upper abs, leg raises also work the inner abs, which are the muscles that pull the stomach in, thereby preventing the stomach from protruding outward as much when you are idle. Also, because the muscles are the opposite that are used in the squat, this exercise creates a more balanced, healthy physique when lots of squats are performed.
2.) Windshield wipers
This exercise is performed by laying on your back while sticking your legs straight up in the air, and moving them side to side like a pendulum while keeping them straight. You can put a dumbbell or medicine ball between your feet to add weight. If you do not have the flexibility to do this, you can place a foam roller under your lower back to maintain the correct position (I almost always use a foam roller myself).
There are a couple of unique benefits to this exercise. First, this exercise hits the ab muscles in such a way that leg raises do not because of the side-to-side movement, and thereby add definition in a unique way to not only the front of the abs but the sides as well. Second, the side-to-side motion with the legs strengthens the area where the lower back meets the hips, which ends up preventing injuries to this area usually caused from muscle weakness from squatting and deadlifting heavy.
3.) Russian twists
This is an exercise where you lay on a decline bench while holding a medicine ball, and you move the medicine ball or a heavy weight side to side like a pendulum. I usually use this exercise as an alternate exercise to windshield wipers because it also works the “twisting” motion with the abs.
The main difference between this exercise and windshield wipers is that this exercise tends to work the upper abs more than the lower abs. Of all the exercises I mentioned here, this exercise is probably the most difficult to increase maximally heavy weight. For this reason, I do this exercise about once every four weeks and try to focus mostly on form with very small increases in weight over time.
4.) Side bends
This exercise is simple because it only involves holding a dumbbell and bending sideways slightly while keeping your legs straight so the dumbbell goes down to the knee before moving back up. Like Russian twists and windshield wipers, this exercise works the area where the lower back meets the hips. This means it prevents injury to this area.
Usually, I use straps with the weight since I noticed I could do a lot of weight with this exercise, and at times I would miss the heavy sets due to grip. I also usually do this exercise after deadlifting and other movements requiring a grip, so my forearms would wear out without straps.
If you have not done side bends in a long time, you might feel a lot of soreness after this exercise. On the other hand, if you do not do this exercise often, but do it consistently at the same time, you may not feel much soreness despite the long time between sessions. For this reason I do this exercise once every 2-4 weeks.
5.) Crunch machine
This exercise is in most commercial gyms. The reason I prefer this exercise to regular crunches is so that weight can be added over time. Unlike hanging leg raises, this exercise is one where you should focus mostly on form and make very slow increases in weight over time. As far as muscle goes, this exercise is also very effective in building muscle in the abdominal area, and combined with the exercises above it can create well defined abs.
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