Six Pack Builder: Decline Bench Crunch + Bonus Workout

Everybody want 3-D abs of steel. They are the flashing neon light screaming, “FIT! FIT! FIT!” Great abdominals are not the flat things on guys that weight 135 lbs. They are thick and look more like the speed bumps in a neighborhood designed by moms. That means that your abs need mass and that’s something the decline bench crunch with a medicine ball can definitely offer.To gain mass in your abdominals you must progressively overloaded and challenged them just like you do with any other muscles that you want to see growth in. The same old set of 1000 floor crunches just won’t cut it. At some point, even your abs plateau. So, how do you overload abs?Use a decline bench! Abdominal exercises on a decline bench increase the amount of resistance you apply because you are forced to lift more body weight. Next, you will also throw a medicine ball into the mix (not literally for this exercise). Adding the medicine ball provides even more load which will force your abs to develop. The main muscles trained in decline bench crunches are the rectus abdominus, which are your major abdominal muscles that give you the coveted 6-pack, but you also recruit your obliques and hip flexors secondarily.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnRhz73OPJg

How To Perform The Decline Bench Crunch With a Medicine Ball:

• Find a decline bench with a foot brace at the top.
• Sit on the decline bench and lock your feet into the foot brace.
• Lie all the way back. Your knees will be bent.
• Position the medicine ball behind your head holding it with both hands. Your arms will be outstretched, but keep a slight bend in the elbow.
• Keeping your arms outstretched, raise your torso up from the bench by bending at the waist and come up to a seated position while lifting the medicine ball toward the ceiling.
• Control your body back down to the bench until the back of your shoulders make contact with the bench, and ease the medicine ball back to its starting position.
• Go directly into the next repetition.

Sample Abs Exercise Routine:

• Hanging Knee Tucks 3 sets of 8-12
• Ab Rollouts with Barbell 3 sets of 10-12
• Decline Bench Crunch with Medicine Ball 3 sets of 10
• Reverse Crunches 3 sets of 15
• Oblique Crunches 3 sets of 12-15

Read more fitness articles here.