Eric Babcock Issued: 2014-12-11
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BEN PAKULSKI PRESENTS…
HARDCORE ABS
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LEGAL DISCLAIMER The information presented in this work is by no way intended as medical advice or as a substitute for medical counseling. The information should be used in conjunction with the guidance and care of your physician. Consult your physician before beginning this program as you would with any exercise and nutrition program. If you choose not to obtain the consent of your physician and/or work with your physician throughout the duration of your time using the recommendations in the program, you are agreeing to accept full responsibility for your actions. By continuing with the program you recognize that despite all precautions on the part of Pakulski Fitness International, there are risks of injury or illness which can occur because of your use of the aforementioned information and you expressly assume such risks and waive, relinquish and release any claim which you may have against Pakulski Fitness International, or its affiliates as a result of any future physical injury or illness incurred in connection with, or as a result of, the use or misuse of the program.
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HARDCORE ABS
…THE PROFESSIONAL SERIES. Everyone wants a great set of abs. A tight midsection not only makes you look awesome, but makes you feel fit and confident. We all know, or you should by now, that without a proper nutrition program, all the ab training in the world wont help you. So before you dive into this program, make sure you have all of your nutrition dialed in and make it a point to plan for success. An accredited and experienced nutritionist can run you from $400-$1000 for ONE diet, so unless you’ve got that kind of money to burn, get to work reading the MI40-X Nutrition Manual, Supplement Guide, as well as the FAQ document. All of those have plenty of info that will help you design the perfect program for yourself. If you still don’t know where to start, you can always order a custom-made meal plan from me via your MI40-X download page!
Now on to the good stuff… How to build HARDCORE ABS!! Professional bodybuilders and fitness models have the best abs in the world, no doubt about that. They place a LOT of tension through their midsections with heavy lifting, and the best ones pay a lot of attention to their core training and control. For those of you that have never had abs before, don’t worry, they’re under there, we’ll teach WWW.MI40X.COM Eric Babcock SMQXQX3E
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HEADER TK you how to bring them out, and save you a TON of time and frustration. And just let me clear the air on something, AB training WILL NOT make your waist thick. Just like curling a soup wont make your biceps big. Your body will adapt to the resistance way sooner than it will be able to grow, and you will never use enough resistance to build any size (unless you’re training like a strongman for 10 years).
AB TRAINING 101 Lets get right to it, ab training is just like any other muscle under the MI40 principles, but with a few other minor considerations. If you’re starting to understand the concepts behind building other body parts, and how to execute exercises for those, then you’ve got a good head start. Near-all those tips and rules will apply here as well.
The keys to your success: Just as you’ll see if you watch the ‘6 essentials of exercise’ videos (available on the MI40-X download page), there are a few keys to achieving success that should be applied across the board for all exercises.
1) Use a FULL Range. Knowing what this is, and it may not be as simple as you think, is imperative (see ‘FUNCTION’ below).
2) Initiate with the working muscle (the abdominals in this case). Begin the movement in a fully lengthened position (spinal extension), with the antagonist muscle contracted (erector spinae of the low back). Initiate by sucking the stomach IN, then think about flattening out the rib cage. If your spine is extended to begin with, your rib cage will likely be pointing upward. Flatten the rib cage by bringing it closer to your hips. This will ensure that you’re starting the movement with the right muscles. Even if you can only move 2 WWW.MI40X.COM Eric Babcock SMQXQX3E
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3) Maintain Tension. - Slow, continuous, deliberate. - No hiccups, no jerking, no swinging. - Try to keep the muscles engaged as long as possible. Time under Tension (TUT) is king for abs. Learning to HOLD your contraction in the shortest position is probably one of the most valuable tools you will EVER come across for ab training. Start with 2-second isometrics and work up to 6-second isometric holds. The key here is not simply to hold the position, but to focus on continually trying to get the muscle shorter and shorter, making the contraction harder and harder. Exhaling all the air from your lungs and diaphragm is essential. When you think you’ve got it all expelled, expel some more, trust me there’s some still there… expelling it all will make the biggest difference in the level of contraction you can successfully achieve.
4) Hard contractions. Regardless of your goal, you want make sure you focus on HARD contractions, and intenseshort workouts. This is definitely the most neglected component of most exercise programs, especially with ab training. Most people are directing all their focus and attention on simply completing a rep, while others are focused on using as much weight as possible to finish a prescribed number of reps.
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HEADER TK FUNCTION The Abs are primarily made up of 4 muscles, that function in 4 different manners; all of which are important for great core development.
1) Flexion/Extension of the SPINE. NOT THE HIPS! The rectus abdominis functions to flex and extend the lumbar up to the midthoracic region of the spine.
Example: Lean back until your low back muscles contract, then round your spine forward (slouch) while sucking your stomach in, and imagine trying to touch your shoulders to your hips.
2) Trunk Rotation. This is the most neglected movement for all humans after the age of 25 (when we stop playing sports/being active), hence why so many people hurt their backs while twisting… weak muscles. Adding a simple twist to the top of your movement (one side at a time) is all you need. Doing it in different planes, with different resistance profiles is a good idea.
Example of different planes: While crunching, aim your shoulder toward your knee, versus crunching up first then twisting. Neither is right or wrong, simply different.
3) Trunk stabilization. Static contractions and stabilization are a major function and shouldn’t be neglected. One of the best ways to progress someone with weak core muscles is to add simple manual resistance with your hands. Try making them (or you) sit really tall, and in a controlled way, push them in different directions while they resist with isometric contractions. You can push in any direction, back, transverse, twist, etc. (other than forward, which would be a spinal erector exercise) – you could even move them into some different starting positions, for example: WWW.MI40X.COM Eric Babcock SMQXQX3E
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4) Holding the stomach in. Many of us lose function of the TVA (transverse abdominis) due to overeating and stomach bloat. The TVA muscles change length (become longer/stretched) and lose their tension, as well as their ability to contract to control the waist. The best way to understand this function is to watch bodybuilders do what’s called a “vacuum pose” - sucking in their stomach as far as possible. This is a function of the TVA, and it is a very good idea to practice this a lot. It’s a great addition to all abdominal exercises. Try activating the TVA (sucking in) before any and all ab contractions, it will hold the stomach in and allow for a better contraction.
SUMMARY Learning to ENGAGE, CONTRACT, HOLD and SQUEEZE the abdominals will be the keys to your ultimate success. Executing a movement for completion sake is a waste of time, unless you’re training for a specific sport or activity. To improve the esthetic of your abdominals, control and contraction are everything.
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PROGRESSION “How often should I train my abs?” Be progressive. For fastest progress, I suggest working your way up to training abs 5-7 times/week... that doesn’t mean you should start there.
Try every 3rd day to start this program, then: - after 4 workouts, move to every other day - after 4 workouts, move to 2 days on, 1 day off - after 2 weeks, you’re ready to start 5 consecutive days - take 2 days off after that, then repeat.
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HEADER TK VOLUME Week 1: 3 exercises, 3 sets each. 1 for lower, 1 oblique, 1 upper abs. Week 2: 3 exercises, 4 sets each with 3-second isometric holds on each rep. Week 3: 3 exercises, 5 sets each with 5-second isometric holds on each. Week 4: 4 exercises, 4 sets each done in two Supersets format. Example: - A1/A2, rest for 1 minute, then repeat x4 - B1/B2, rest 1 minute, repeat x4 Week 5: 4 exercises, 4 sets each, done in two Supersets format, with 3-second isometric holds. Week 6: 4 exercises, Giant Set format. Example: - A1/A2/A3/A4, rest 2 minutes, repeat x4
Week 7: 4 exercises, Giant Set format, with 3-second isometric holds.
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HEADER TK REP RANGES Proper rep range for abdominal training is 12-20 repetitions, or, 40 seconds to 2 minutes of Time under Tension. Once you’ve learned proper execution, combined with performing HARD contractions during the isometric holds, 8-12 reps will be difficult with no added resistance – you’ll be adding the resistance manually via the tension generated during the contraction! Counting reps is much less important once you’ve learnt to properly engage and contract your core, therefore see the prescribed rep range above as a guideline. If you find yourself outside of this guideline on the high end, meaning above 20 reps, you’ve gone too fast and haven’t spent enough time performing isometric contractions.
If you find yourself outside of this range on the low end, decrease the resistance or difficulty of the exercise. DO NOT decrease the duration or intensity of the contraction! Training your brain and nervous system to only ever engage the core HARD, will result in
HARDCORE ABS!!
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