What's the best way to get six-pack abs?
Is it:
A) Crunches
B) Nutrition + Intervals + Weights
C) Some other "secret" ab exercise that can only be done with a $99.99 piece
of equipment that is advertised between midnight and 4am?
Well, I'd cast my vote for B. Wouldn't you?
After all, how many hours of your life have you wasted doing hundreds and
hundreds of crunches?
How many have you done without really getting the abs you wanted? Do you really
need to do any crunches at all?
Could you imagine, having a strong and lean core without ever doing another
set of crunches?
Most people can't, because they believe the following to be true...
"You should do crunches every day to get a 'six-pack.'"
In a word: Wrong! The most important factor in developing visible abs is a
low body-fat percentage - and that won't come from crunches, since they burn few calories and work very little overall muscle.
You're better off doing intense workouts that trigger your body to burn tons
of fat - like my Boot Camp Revolution workouts, full of high-intensity interval sessions and multi-muscle strength-training
exercises such as squats and lunges.
As for direct ab work, first you need to focus on abdominal endurance and
master exercises that improve core endurance & stabilization, such as the plank and side plank.
Once you have your nutrition in order, you've built up your abdominal endurance,
you have a good strength training program, and you are doing intervals, only then can you justify spending 10 minutes 2-3
times per week on traditional ab exercises.