Firmer abs in just 4 weeks: get the flat belly you've always wanted with these three easy moves

Shape, Feb, 2007 by Stacy Whitman

THIS MONTH'S GOAL

Learn the secret to sculpting sexy abs in record time.

Why these moves work

Have you been counting out crunch after crunch, but you still don't have the flat belly to prove it? It's time to get off the mat and into the weight room. These exercises use extra resistance and common strength-training tools to increase the intensity of your workout, which gets you results faster. The moves also target the front, sides, and deepest layers of your midsection for total ab firming. Combine this workout with regular cardio and a calorie-conscious diet and you'll be admiring your bare-able middle in weeks.

Anatomy lesson

Your abdominals comprise four primary muscles that work together to flex your spine, rotate your upper and lower body, and pull in your abdomen. The rectus abdominis extends vertically from your pubic bone to your breast bone. The external obliques run diagonally from your lower ribs to your pelvis; the internal obliques lie beneath them and run in the opposite direction. The transverse abdominis is underneath the other muscles and engages when they contract.

Details

At the gym you'll need a flat bench, a high-cable pulley machine with a rope attachment, a yoga mat, a decline bench, and a 5- to 8-pound weighted ball. Warm up with five minutes of easy cardio, then do each exercise in order, resting 30 seconds between sets. Do this workout three or four times a week.

* Trainer's tip Keep your legs still to ensure that you use your abs--not momentum--to lift your hips.

flat-bench hip raise

Emphasizes the lower part of the rectus abdominis and the obliques

* Lie faceup on a flat bench, and hold the edges beside your head with both hands.

* Extend your legs toward the ceiling, knees bent and together, and toes pointed. Draw belly button in [A].

* Lift your hips a few inches off the bench and turn legs slightly to the right, maintaining the bend in your knees [B]. Slowly lower hips to the bench and repeat on other side to complete one rep. Do 3 sets of 10 reps.

* Trainer's tip To get maximum oblique trimming out of this move, don't let your hips shift back toward your heels.

kneeling cable twist

Emphasizes the obliques

* Attach the rope to a high-cable pulley machine loaded with 10 to 25 pounds. Hold rope, palms facing each other, and kneel on a rolled yoga mat or towel placed about two feet in front of the machine and at a slight angle to it.

* Turn torso toward the machine and extend arms up, abs tight. Keep hips squared forward [A].

* Use your abs and not your arms to pull rope toward the outside of your left thigh, rotating torso to the left [B]. Hold for 2 counts, raise arms, and repeat. To complete set, switch sides (change mat angle). Do 2 sets of 20 reps per side.

decline weighted curl

Emphasizes the upper part of the rectus abdominis

* Hold a 5- to 8-pound weighted ball in both hands and lie with your head at the lower end of a decline bench that's been adjusted to a 30- to 45-degree angle. Hook your ankles under the foot pads, extend arms over your chest, elbows bent, and pull your belly button toward your spine as far as you can [A].

* Inhale, then exhale as you curl your torso up, one vertebrae at a time, and reach the ball over knees [B]. Hold for two breaths, lower to starting position, and repeat. Do 3 sets of 15 reps.

* Trainer's tip To protect your back, lift your head, shoulders, then back off the bench; don't raise your torso as one unit.

YOU CAN DO THESE AT HOME, TOO

You'll need a 5- to 8-pound weighted ball or dumbbell as well as a resistance band (find them at power-systems.com).

* Flat-bench hip raise Try it lying down on the floor, arms at sides, palms down.

* Kneeling cable twist Do it with a resistance band anchored to the top of a doorjamb.

* Decline weighted curl Perform the move on the floor with knees bent and feet flat. Hold a weighted ball or dumbbell.

MUSCLES TARGETED

abdominals:

1. rectus abdominis

2. external obliques

3. internal obliques

4. transverse abdominis

Shape reader model Karena Dawn, 24, of Marina del Rey, California, strength-trains three times a week and does cardio five days a week. She usually relies on her body as resistance for ab exercises but says this workout convinced her to add weight. "It's a great way to make my routine tougher without doing more reps."

TRAINER'S STRATEGY * "Most people never up the intensity of their ab moves; they just do more crunches, so they eventually stop seeing any changes," says Mylene Dane, who created this workout and co-owns Train West Hollywood in California. But, like other muscles, your abs get firmer when you increase the challenge. * The bottom line Instead of doing more reps, vary your exercises to ensure you hit all your abdominal muscles, and add resistance to your old and new moves.

take it up a notch

Advanced exercisers should add sets, reps, and/or resistance and follow
the special instructions.

          what to do    flat-bench  kneeling cable      decline
                        hip raise   twist               weighted
                                                        curl

advanced  sets          3           3                   3
program
          reps          15-20       20 per side         15-20

          weight range  3-5 pounds  25-50 pounds        8-12
                        on each                         pounds
                        ankle

          special       Use ankle   Kneel on a BOSU     Lower
          instructions  weights     Balance Trainer or  the
                                    Exerdisc            bench to
                                                        make the
                                                        angle
                                                        steeper