Almost everyone admits they want six pack abs–the rest are lying. Guys like them on girls and girls like them on guys. It is totally win-win. The usual and recommended exercise for abs is the crunch or the sit-up. Those aren’t bad exercises to build abdominal muscles but, they are not the best single exercise for developing a six pack. That honor belongs to the plank.
The plank is performed by getting into push up position with your forearms are on the floor. You then tighten your mid-section as if someone was about to punch you in the gut and hold it for 30 seconds. That is one rep. You’ll need to keep your body straight the entire time as well–much like a push-up.
You can also do a side plank which is ideologically the same. The difference is you are lying on your side with your upper body propped up by your left or right elbow and forearm. You then raise your hips until your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to ankles. Now you tighten your abs for 30 seconds and repeat until you’ve completed a set.
If you’ve never done planks before than this might sound easy. In fact, you might think it is a big waste of time. Let me convince you of its benefits and if I can’t, you should still give it a try.
Crunches and sit-ups are very limited abdominal exercises and work a proportionally smaller amount of core muscles than the plank. We use our cores to stabilize our spine, rotate our torso, flex our hips, and more. There is almost no activity you can do that doesn’t require your core to step in and do some of the work. The plank works a lot more muscles in and around your core than the crunch or the sit-up.
It is difficult to target all your six-pack muscles doing crunches because crunches predominantly work the upper abs. The plank will work the entire thing. Some people report that sit-ups create discomforts in their backs and a lot of people who do crunches are really just furiously nodding their heads. It is more difficult to do the plank wrong and cause back discomfort or waste time in a head nodding frenzy.
The plank is the single best exercise for targeting your mid-section. However, the key to a six-pack is body fat and not how long you can hold a plank or how many crunches you can do. It is entirely possible to never do a single ab exercise and come out with a six-pack by reducing your body fat percentage. Generally speaking, you’ll need a body fat percentage in the 10 percent range or below but, it varies by person.
Dropping body fat is going to take more time than the several minutes it takes to do crunches or planks. You can use these tips as a starting point. The best way to get those abs is to work your body’s biggest muscles so that you increase your resting metabolic rate which will help you burn fat faster. Eating well is also important and there is no diet easier than this one. A wise fitness guru once said, “six packs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym”.
