Squat Your Way to Strong Abs

Currently, your ab workout most likely consists of some type of crunch and then repeat. Crunches are best to save for the end of your workout as you don't need a lot of energy to complete and you use your abs during traditional exercises so you don't want them to be too worn out at the beginning.

Some bodybuilders are even known to have washboard abs without doing a single crunch. If executed correctly, you can utilize your abs in complex exercises such as the squat, bench press, or row. Its a matter of how you carry the weight when you lift and tightening your abs through the exercises.

For now, continue the crunches, planks, bicycles, hanging leg raises, medicine ball twists, dumbbell lifts, cable cross-overs, or any combination of ab workouts you may be doing. However, try this exercise on for size based on this principle that comes from Cameron McGarr, C.S.C.S. at Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, CA:

Braced Squat

1. Feet shoulder-width apart, stand with arms outstretched holding the plate at chest level. Men; start with a 25-pound plate, women; start with a 10-pound plate.

2. Drop down as in the traditional squat with hips coming to knee height, keep abs tight, pause for four seconds at the bottom and then push through with your heels to the starting position.

Why: The the longer your body, the weaker you become. When the distance between your muscles and the end of the object you are lifting is greater, you decrease your body's leverage. Therefore, by holding the weight far away from your body puts more stress on your core to lift the weight because its no longer placed only on your legs like in a traditional barbell squat.