Key Takeaways:
- After calculating your ideal calories for losing fat, the next step is to do the right ab exercises that will help you get lean.
- For men, the right ab exercises can help “spot reduce” fat around the belly area.
- Men can get abs that pop when they do the right ab exercises and using the right circuits.
The right ab exercises for you
The first step in getting lean is to calculate the exact calories you need, along with the exact protein, carb and fat split, to lose fat and retain your strong, sculpted muscle.
After that, selecting the right ab exercises as a man is a must, because the right ab exercises will reduce your belly fat and grow your abs, giving you a lean, sculpted physique.
For men, there are 2 types of ab exercises you should be doing as you're getting lean:
- Weighted ab exercises
- High rep, bodyweight type exercises
You want your abs to look defined once you have reduced the layer of abdominal fat covering them, and to do that you need to build them in the same way you build up any other muscle: with weights and progressive overload.
The best weighted ab exercise
For men, the best weighted ab exercise (by far) is the cable crunch, with the rope attachment.
However, remember to focus on curling with your torso, otherwise you may find that your arms and legs are doing a lot of the work.
Select a weight where you can do 8-10 reps per set, for 3 sets with 1 minute rest in between. You can do this exercise 4-5 times a week.
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Higher-rep ab exercises
After doing the cable crunch, men then benefit greatly from doing high-rep ab exercises, preferably after cardio.
These exercises will help bring more blood flow to the abdominal area, which research (1) has shown has the effect of breaking down fat cells into energy.
This is called “spot reducing”, and therefore helps with getting rid of belly fat.
For these high-rep exercises, you can do a circuit of the following:
- Hanging leg raises (10 reps)
- Sit up on a bench (10 reps)
- 30-second planks
Do this circuit 3 times, while resting 1 minute between each circuit.
The bottom line
When you combine weighted and high-rep ab exercises, you'll get a small waist with abs that pop, which will get you that strong, sculpted physique that turns heads.
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REFERENCES
1: Pubmed 16985258