The High Performance Journal - January 16th, 2024

Ever since I could remember I had an obsession with getting abs.

It started with reading every single Men's Health magazine I could get my hands on. Then onto books like Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. I didn't care about getting big like Arnold. I just cared about getting abs.

The more I learned about ab training the more I realized it wasn't all about looking good.

Don't get me wrong. A strong set of abs regardless of gender looks incredible and I'm happy to say that I achieved what I had set out to accomplish:

But having a strong set of abs is more than just being really really ridiculously good-looking​.

When you train abs you're not just training your core. You're also training your hips, pelvis, and lower back while building more stability in the body.

When you have more stability in the body, it increases strength, speed, and power while protecting your spine and your body from injury.

Having a strong core is essential to becoming a better human being so in today's article I'm going to take you through 3 of my favorite ab exercises.

Are you ready for that? Let's go.

The 3 Best Exercises To Build A Strong Set Of Abs

The 3 Worst Myths About Ab Training

#1 - Doing more ab exercises won't burn more fat. This is called "spot reducing" and it's largely a myth. No matter how many of these ab exercises you do you won't see them unless you have a low body fat percentage, which for men is 8-12% and for women it's 14-18%.

#2 - You don't need to do ab exercises. Just squat and deadlift. This is technically correct but not helpful. Your abs respond well to direct work much like a bicep responds to a bicep curl. Yes, you can work them in every exercise you do but direct work helps them look great and become more functional.

#3 - You gotta do hundreds of reps to see your abs. This is false and one one-way ticket to breaking something in your body. Like point #2 your abs are like any other muscle in the body. It responds to volume, frequency, and intensity aka. ​progressive overload​. Not thousands of reps.

Now hold your horses. Read this before doing continuing...

I promise you that we're getting to the good part but you need to read this first.

Too many times I see people doing ab exercises wrong because they don't engage their abs properly. Taking 30 seconds to read this will make your core exercises 2x better.

When you're working your abs you want to make sure you're "bracing" your core:

Breathing & Bracing

Bracing activates the core by pushing it out to increase stability for any movement.

Breathing creates intra-abdominal pressure that supports your ability to brace.

Use both of these while doing the core exercises above to protect & power the body. pic.twitter.com/ydOVisWVdC

— Dan Go (@FitFounder) October 25, 2022

Bracing your core means pushing your abs out while you're working them. This strengthens your core by activating them, which gives you more power while protecting your back from injury.

You want to do this with every rep of every exercise I'm about to show you. Capiche?

Now that we've gotten that out of the way...onto the show.

Best Ab Exercise #1 - The Garhammer Raise

The Garhammer raise works your lower abs by bringing your pelvis up to your rib cage. But the best part about it is that it keeps tension on your core muscles for the entire set.

One of the best ways to work a muscle is to increase the amount of tension you exert on it.

How To Do The Garhammer Raise

1. Choose your level: Level 1 is your back flat against the floor. Level 2 is your back against a decline bench. Level 3 is hanging from a pull-up bar.
2. With your chin up, chest up, and back straight, use your lower abs to raise your knees up so your thighs are parallel to the floor. This is your start position.
3. From here, use your abs to raise your knees up towards your chest. This movement should be done under complete control, with no swinging of your legs.
4. Pause briefly and hold this top position, then slowly lower your knees back down to the start position where they’re parallel to the floor. Again, this must be a controlled movement back down so don’t let your knees simply drop. That’s one rep.

Aim for anywhere from 6 to 15 reps for 2-3 sets for this exercise.

Best Ab Exercise #2 - The Cable Crunch

The cable crunch works your abs by bringing your rib cage down to your pelvis. They do a great job of enhancing core strength and stability and work your abs through a full range of motion.

The best part is you can add or lower the weight depending on how hard the exercise is allowing you to progressively overload your muscles.

How To Do The Cable Crunch

1. On a cable machine, secure a cable rope attachment to a pulley and set the pulley to the highest height setting.
2. Grab the rope attachment with an overhand grip.
3. Take a few steps backward to move the weight off the weight stack and kneel on an exercise mat or foam pad. Your toes should be flexed and in contact with the floor.
4. Pull the rope handles toward your face so that your hands are at the top of your head while bracing your core and hinging from your hips.
5. While keeping your hips and arms still, squeeze your abs and bring your shoulders toward your pelvis. Continue to lower while squeezing your abs until your elbows are close to your legs.
6. Pause at the bottom of the movement while squeezing your abs.
7. While maintaining tension in your abs, slowly return to the starting position.

Aim for anywhere from 6 to 15 reps for 2-3 sets for this exercise.

Best Ab Exercise #3 - The Single Arm Famers Carry

The single-arm farmers carry works your core through anti-lateral flexion (resisting side bending). They work your entire core including your obliques.

Note: I'm not a fan of doing direct work on the obliques for aesthetic reasons. The bigger your obliques the bigger your waist size. So this is a healthy alternative to still train your obliques without them looking blocky.

How To Do The Single Arm Farmers Carry

1. Start with a weight that is not too light but not too heavy either. You can use either a dumbbell or a kettlebell.
2. While holding the weight in one hand, begin walking. Walking should be slow and controlled.
3. Maintain a ​neutral spine​, upright posture, and level shoulder while bracing your core during the length of the exercise.
4. Time yourself on one side. Rest then repeat on the other side.
5. If you find that you can perform the exercise for a longer duration on one side in comparison to the other, then, you have found an imbalance.

Aim for 20-30 slow controlled paces for 2-3 sets.

Bonus Ab Exercise - Dinner Table Pushaways

Okay, the gif above is half joking and half honest. Do not throw everything off your table like Razor Ramon or your loved ones may take issue.

This needs to be said though:

The best way to see your abs is through the foods you put in your mouth. It's cliche to say but abs are made in the kitchen.

You need to be at a low enough body fat percentage or you won't see your abs through the fluff.

A great way to do that is either through the ​Lean Body 90​ or getting private coaching​.

Conclusion

A strong core leads to a strong body. But remember these exercises won't work unless you do.

This means training them intelligently using good form and making them stronger using progressive overload.

So don't go through the motions with these. Do the proper and slowly work them up to where you can be proficient at the movements.

Start with these now so by the time summer hits you'll be wow'ing everyone with your defined set of washboard abs.

See you at the beach.

Onwards and upwards 🚀

- Dan

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