Abs like a Roc: chisel your own granite-hard midsection with rookie IFBB pro Roc Shabazz's heavy-hitting routine

Muscle & Fitness, June, 2005 by Shawn Donnelly

What's ahead for this driven man from Mississippi? "The next goal is to become one of the top smaller guys in the sport," Roc says. "I look at guys like Shawn Ray and Dexter Jackson, smaller guys who have been around a long time and continue to compete with and beat bigger guys. I think in four years I can be in that category."

Lee agrees, often using Roc as an example to new guys. "There's a young man I'm training right now who's getting ready for his first show," Lee says. "The other day I showed him pictures of Roc when he was just starting out. I said, 'You see that small guy there? He just turned pro.'"

RELATED ARTICLE: SNAPSHOT

BIRTHDATE: March 15, 1970

BIRTHPLACE: Newark, New Jersey

HOMETOWN: Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

CURRENT RESIDENCE: Atlanta

HEIGHT: 5'5"

WEIGHT: 210 pounds

MARITAL STATUS: Wife Gina, and three children

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: 2004 NPC Nationals, 1st, light-heavyweight; 2003 NPC Nationals, 2nd, light-heavyweight

TO CONTACT: therealroc.com

RELATED ARTICLE: ROC-HARD ABDOMINALS

1 Perform compound sets. I like to use compound sets in my abdominal workout. I take 3-4 ab exercises and I do one set of each, one after the other, for a total of 3-4 compound sets.

2 Train abs right after cardio. You're warmed up, you're sweating and you're exhausted. At that point, 20 minutes of ab work produces a great burn.

3 Stick to it. For an extra challenge with the decline-bench oblique crunch, take a broomstick and hold it behind your neck as you do the exercise (similar to the way you hold a bar during squats). That makes the exercise more difficult, which means you'll get a better burn.

4 Instead of counting reps, go by feeling. With more difficult moves, such as the hanging oblique raise, don't count reps. Concentrate on contracting the ab muscles and really feeling them work. It's the same feeling as when you pose--blow all the air out and crunch your abs. Keep working until you know you've had enough.

5 Time or increase the number of reps in your sets. When you do crunches, occasionally try going for time instead of counting reps. Set a stopwatch to five minutes. Crunch at a steady pace until the stopwatch goes off. Or try increasing the number of crunches you perform each set. Do 50 crunches in the first set, then 75, then 100.

6 Create a foundation. In college I had a statistics teacher named Dr. Chao. Whenever anyone got an answer wrong, he would say, "Poor foundation!" I realized the foundation he was talking about was within me. It's the same with bodybuilding. Maybe you're not feeling that well or your car broke down. But if you've got a good foundation, none of that matters. You're going to do what you need to do. Always make choices based on a strong foundation and you can't fail.

HANGING LEG RAISE

START: Jump or step up to a high bar and grasp it with an overhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart. Your body should hang freely without your feet touching the floor. You can use wrist straps or elbow pads for this exercise--they'll increase how long you're able to hang. Use a low stool or bench for support while you adjust the straps.