Best Ab Workouts For Men – 2 Insanely Powerful Routines

Ab training doesn’t have to be complicated.

While everyone has their own favorite method when it comes to training abs, we can all agree that consistency is key, and the main determining factor in terms of results. A popular method that is very effective are follow along workouts videos – they are concise, and efficient.

Of course, there are on YouTube alone thousands of ab workout videos, a lot of them mediocre, especially if you have already been training for some time. In this article we’ll have a look at 2 of the best ab workouts for men I could find. When it comes to difficulty, results, and a healthy burning sensation throughout your entire core, these 2 videos certainly deliver.

The workouts

One thing to note about these workouts beforehand is that they are not for beginners. They will challenge you to some degree and prove to be a test of both strength and endurance. If you can’t finish the workout in a single go at first, pause the video whenever you can’t go on for a single second more, and resume from where you left off after a 10 second break.

Aim to gradually be able to complete the workout without pausing it once, and even doing it twice in a row when you build up the strength/endurance. If you notice any substantial back pain or pain in general anywhere, your form is probably off – take the intensity down a notch (increase resting periods), and perform every exercise with the best form possible.

No material is needed, the workouts last around 6-7 minutes each. You can perform them every other day. The exercises will be noted below the videos in case you need to write them down separately or don’t wish to use the video.

Routine A

1. 10 sec hold – feet off ground
2. 8 single leg crunch each side
3. 10 sec hold
4. 8 single leg lifts each leg
5. 10 sec hold
6. 10 knee crunches (knees to chest)
7. 10 sec hold
8. 10 leg lifts
9. 10 sec hold
10. 10 toe touches
11. 10 roll ups ( hands slide to knee)
12. 20 toe touches
13. 20 roll ups
14. 2 single leg crunch & twist
15. 4 plank crunches
16. 4 single leg crunch & twist
17. 8 plank crunches
18. 8 6 inch circles each side
19. 20 second v-hold
20. 20 fast bicycles each side
21. 50 pulsators

Routine B

1. 15 Seconds 6-inches
2. 3 Leg Raise Pulsators
3. 3 Leg raise Flutter Kicks
4. 15 Second 6-inches
5. 20 6-inches Single-Leg Crunches
6. 15 Second 6-inches
7. 10 Single-leg Leg Raises
8. 1 Min Plank
9. 15 Plank Crunches
10. 15 Second Plank
11. 10 Left, Mid, Right Toe Touches
12. 50 Pulsators

The importance of training your core

Your core is the central piece through which all actions happening in both the upper and lower body are impacted. Whatever motion you are performing, they either begin at your core, or pass through it in some way.

An under developed core can have a negative impact on how efficiently your legs and arms function, by diminishing your total power output. A strong core is a solid foundation which will increase all around strength and performance in many different movements, as well as enhance stability and balance. Everything you do is impacted by your general core strength and flexibility.

Power and strength

Pretty much any sports your partake in require some sort of core activation and will challenge your abs to some degree. Activities such as swimming , rowing, tennis, football, climbing, and more, will all require a stable and strong core.

Outside of sports, your abs will also be used in everyday movements like picking something off of the floor, sitting down, putting your clothes on, and even just standing still. A strong core promotes a healthy back which in turn rids you of any debilitating problems that can be hard to cope with in your everyday life.

Due to our increasingly immobile lifestyle, where we spend significant amounts of time sitting down and performing repetitive tasks, performing some extra core work to prevent development of imbalances and pain would also come to help in many jobs that involve computer use, standing, lifting, and more, as well as improve posture.

Stabilization

Your midsection includes highly important muscles such as the traverse abdominis, erector spinae, obliques and lower lats, that act as stabilizers for your body, and help you maintain a healthy posture and perform everyday tasks and activities. Direct or indirect core training will help you to further develop the strength and resistance of these important stabilizer muscles.

When you are running or walking, sitting or standing, it’s those same core stabilizers that keep you upright.

Aesthetics

Other than all the obvious important health and everyday life benefits, a defined set of abs looks and feels great, and can be a powerful confidence booster. As far back as ancient Greece and even before that, hundreds of statues and drawings can be observed, depicting the human body with a strong muscularity, beautiful proportions, and a shredded core.

And even if not everyone wants to look like that, and/or it would take a lot of work to consistently look like that, strengthening what you already have and working on bettering yourself according to your own objectives is what you should be doing.

Posture

Weak core muscles contribute to slouching. Good posture trims your silhouette and projects confidence. More importantly, it lessens wear and tear on the spine and allows you to breathe deeply. Good posture helps you gain full benefits from the effort you put into exercising, too.

Weak, tight, or unbalanced core muscles can undermine you in any of these realms. And while it’s important to build a strong core, it’s unwise to aim all your efforts at developing rippling abs. Overtraining abdominal muscles while snubbing muscles of the back and hip can set you up for injuries and cut athletic prowess. If washboard abs are your holy grail, it’s essential to trim body fat through diet and aerobic exercise and build strong abdominal muscles through frequent core exercise sessions.

Best ab workouts for men – Conclusion

It’s important to understand the key role the core plays in your everyday life, and how strengthening it can have many beneficial impacts. With these two workouts included for you, you have plenty of different exercises to hit the core from all angles and even work towards a 6 pack (providing your diet is in check), within a few weeks.

Remember; when it comes to anything in training, diet, and life in general, consistency is key. If you want defined abs and a strong core, you’re going to need for it consistently, anywhere between 2 to 4 times a week. Don’t train them once in a week, and then everyday the next.

One last important thing to note, is that without a reasonable diet, or shedding some fat, you won’t ever see your abs. That doesn’t mean restricting everything you eat until all you are left with is bland turkey, rice, and Brussels sprouts. This is a rather large misconception that many people seem to share – to look great, you must eat a miserable diet. And whilst sure, you will have to sacrifice some of the things you eat (if you make a habit off eating junk food), you DO NOT have to go on some crappy bland diet that makes you miserable.

What’s silly is that many people will go down that route, thinking they’re doing themselves a favor but really they aren’t – you’ll just come to a point where you become fed up, and you’ll give up altogether. So, eat a balanced, nutrient dense diet, make it tasty, but do your best to cut out any useless, empty calorie foods. Life is short, eating food you enjoy is important, and even if you have to get your chicken nuggets from time to time, do it, just don’t make that a regular part of your diet.