Why "six hellish cubes"?

Small bulging muscles on a tanned belly and a thin waist - this is the modern idea of six cubes. That may well be the stomach of an underage Brazilian call boy, but not that of a real athlete. If that's your thing, there's nothing you can do about it. But I certainly don't.

There's a lot more to the abs than you can imagine. Much, much more. It's not just smooth bulges on a skinny body, but damn powerful rectangles resulting from one hell of a workout. So here's my understanding of the abs.

Hell's six-pack consists of the following "components":

Incredibly powerful abdominal muscles-not just the central part of the torso, but all of the abdominal muscles: oblique, transverse, lumbar, intercostal, and serratus. The stronger the central part of the body, the stronger the whole body.

Extremely flexible and at the same time powerful abs and thighs not only support the spine, but are also the key to safe performance of intensive and fast movements, such as jumping and kicking.

The abdominal wall is so dense and well-trained that it can not only protect against blows from detractors, but also cause them a lot of damage themselves!

Dry abdominal muscles that support the internal organs involved in breathing and digestion. Strengthening the abs revitalizes them and has an overall positive effect on human health.

Powerful and well-trained abs look like bricks in a wall, not like charming cubes in a fitness model.

These are exactly the qualities my fellow inmates look for in their workouts. If you want to temporarily get abs with little square cubes like the ones young boys or swimmers can boast, don't read this chapter - go back to the glossy fitness publications or advertisements. But if you like the hard abs of a real man, all the information below is specifically for you.

Body lifts and other modern insanity

The first thing you need to do to get powerful abs is to forget about all the exercises you've had the misfortune to learn in modern workouts. It may surprise you to learn that all those "unsurpassed" techniques that trainers shout about from the pages of glossy magazines are actually not designed for the abdominal muscles at all.

I'm referring to exercises like crunches, reverse crunches, twists, incline crunches, etc.

In the preteroid era, all strongmen trained to get the six hellcats. They wanted dense, strong, manly bellies. And old-school strongmen not only had more developed entire abs than any modern bodybuilder, but their overall functionality was orders of magnitude higher. The ideal for them were the Greek athletes of ancient times, who performed many power twisting movements - such as javelin throwing - to develop the oblique abs. If you look at the sculptures of that time, you can easily see that the statues' waists are not thin at all, but steep, powerful and muscular.

Torso lifts became incredibly popular with the advent of the steroid era. When steroids are used, not only do the muscles in the arms, back, legs and abdomen increase in size, the abdominal wall and internal organs increase as well. Athletes who don't use steroids will never get the same visual muscle volume that can only be achieved with chemistry. In fact, those who used steroids got very ugly results, especially in the area of the abs, which was called the steroid belly ("roid gut"). Understandably, none of these guys were interested in stronger and healthier abs per se, and so they neglected effective abs exercises and came up with something of their own that seemed to give a strain to the abs. That's how the crunches came about - pathetic isolation exercises that are designed to massage the abdominal wall and give the abs a little workout to prepare them for posing during competitions. Crunches are completely incapable of adding real strength and muscle. But modern bodybuilders don't care - they only desperately want to reduce the size of their artificially bloated bellies.

Unfortunately, the useless training methods of modern bodybuilders, taken at face value, have become very popular in gyms all over the world, so it is difficult to find effective and safe techniques to work on the abs. No wonder that true "six-packs" are a rarity these days.

Another modern myth is the need to perform a variety of exercises to properly train the abdomen. Many people argue that body lifts rock the upper part of the abs, and leg lifts, on the contrary, the lower part. Anyone with a little understanding of anatomy will tell you that this is complete nonsense. The abdominal muscles are attached to the sternum on one side and the pelvic bones on the other. They all contract evenly along their entire length, no matter how we move. If, for example, you fasten a rubber band at both ends and by pulling one end, try to stretch the other more - nothing will happen, because all the muscles stretch and contract evenly along their entire length.

The modern ideology of training is obsessed with the "six-pack. It is much more important and reasonable to think not about the proverbial cubes, but about the abs and the central part of the body as a whole in order to develop athletic capabilities and true strength. This part of the body consists not only of the rectus abdominis muscle, but also of a dozen other equally important muscles. After all, exercises for the middle part of the body involve both upper and lower body muscles, they work as auxiliary, allowing the muscular system to develop in harmony. This is why exercise and isolation exercises such as crunches do not produce the desired results. Only movements that involve the whole body - throws, pull-ups, kicks - allow the muscles to grow and develop in a natural and balanced way.

Old School Techniques: Leg Raises and Torso Raises

The main job of the mid-body muscles is to maintain and stabilize the body. If these muscles are weak, then the body is inoperable. And if you need to exert strength, these muscles literally burn out. So if you want to take the development of your abdominal muscles to the next level, you need to purposefully train them with a single movement. It will take a real mastery of this movement so that your abdominals have truly unprecedented strength - that would be the "six infernal cubes"!

Body lifts and leg lifts are two exercises that in the good old days (before the 1970s) were considered sufficient for working out your midsection. These two different lifts are performed in the opposite direction - the body lifts lift the torso and the leg lifts lift the legs (up to hip level) through a strong contraction of the abdominal muscles. But remember, it's not at all necessary to perform both exercises during the same workout - as I said earlier, both lifts work the abs in the same way. But which exercise is more effective?

Both are equally effective, but leg lifts were more popular in prison for the following reasons:

Leg lifts require less equipment than body lifts. This is important, especially in prison. You'll need an adjustable bench, or a Roman chair, or a support object, or better yet, all three pieces of equipment for the body raises. For leg raises, all you need is a chinning bar or crossbar or a tree branch or something similar. If you try hard enough, you can always find something to hang on.

Leg raises are more practical than trunk raises. Torso lifts are good at getting the nervous system to lift the torso forward at the hips, while leg lifts train the hips to lift the legs. The second action is much more natural and useful in sports: jumping, wrestling and kicking.

Leg lifts engage more muscles than torso lifts. Obviously, leg lifts in a hanging position require more muscle work than body lifts. The hanging position, as you already know, works the grip, shoulders, back muscles and makes the jaw muscles work, which support the rib cage and serve as an important link between the ribs and the abs. The deep quadriceps muscles of the legs work to keep the legs in a horizontal position.

My abs training system is based on leg lifts, precisely for the reasons stated above. Leg raises are the most effective abs exercise that man has ever known - necessary and sufficient for strong and healthy abdominal muscles.

Series of leg raises.

Most people who work out are familiar with the hanging leg raises. The technique of the exercise is simple - hanging on the bar, you need to slowly raise your straight legs while keeping your knees together until they are parallel to the floor, stop for a second and slowly lower your legs down. It's simple.

But precisely because of its apparent simplicity, the technique is difficult to perform because pure performance requires abdominal muscles of steel, powerful, well-developed thigh muscles, lower back muscles, spinal muscles and sufficient mobility of the hip joint.

Leg lifts are performed at a slow pace with ideally straight legs, such a technique may be beyond the power of many, even professional wrestlers and weightlifters. But do not worry about this - no one requires you to lift straight legs at the beginning of the program. The Big Six system is built on a gradual increase in the difficulty of exercises, so you'll learn simple exercises first and gradually move on to more complex ones. At the first level, knee pull-ups will prepare your abdominal muscles for the load and strengthen your joints. The next four types of exercises are performed on the floor - each one a little more difficult than the previous one. At the next levels, the exercises are performed in a hanging position. In this position, the abdominal muscles get a huge load, and as they are strengthened, we will move on to the most difficult exercise - straight leg raises in a hanging position. The result of this approach will please you - the abs will be much stronger than in the vast majority of athletes.

And all this without crunches, special trainers, fitballs, electrodes and other modern nonsense.

Notes on abs training

Some abs exercises are very different from each other, so in order not to overload you with details, I want to briefly outline the basic principles - I will outline a number of general recommendations that will help you understand the technique of leg raises and apply it in practice.

Breathing contracts the abdominal and intercostal muscles. Remember how your stomach hurts if you laugh too hard and for too long? Inhale while relaxing during the movement and exhale completely at the highest point to increase the effect. In the pause between movements, you can also take extra breaths.

The transverse abdominal muscles form a thick abdominal wall, a kind of corset that holds the internal organs together. If the abdominal wall muscles are weak, under the influence of intra-abdominal pressure, a hernia or hernia sac can form, in which internal organs can fall out. Therefore, it is necessary to train the transverse muscles, keeping the abdomen taut. Moreover, during the day, tighten your abdomen, don't bulge it out, and develop good posture.

Some argue that leg raises can trigger back pain. If you do the exercise slowly, there will be no pain. Sometimes back pain can occur because of a muscle imbalance - if your abdominal muscles are stronger than your back muscles. Squats and the "bridge" will help develop the muscles of the spine. Include back strengthening exercises along with leg lifts in your program to avoid uneven development of the back and abdominal muscles.

Do not train on a full stomach - start training no earlier than two hours after eating. Otherwise not only your technique will suffer, but also your stomach.

If straight leg lifts are causing difficulty, it is possible that hip joint mobility is impaired. Try doing stretching exercises.

Frequent torso lifts are thought to make the abdominal muscles more prominent. Stretching the muscles is achieved by reducing the fat layer. You can't get rid of fat in just one place. As a rule, the body gets rid of fat evenly, so don't waste time on high-intensity reps, rocking your abs in the hope of getting rid of fat in just that spot.

If you want your abs to become clearly defined, work carefully on the exercises of the entire program and, when your muscles are strong and firm, go on a diet to get rid of the excess fat.

Modern abdominal muscle training programs consist of isolation exercises designed for frequent repetition and include all sorts of twists to work the muscles from "all sides," as they are called. These mini-exercises don't get any results. Good training and building muscle mass is based on using the entire human muscular system, so instead of small exercises it is better to work through the Big Six program.

Many bodybuilders believe that high-intensity curls with a barbell will help get rid of excess belly fat. This is a myth. If, for example, you run four marathon distances a week, overloading and exhaustion of muscles is ensured. Of course, excessive load will not lead to muscle atrophy, but it will contribute to the loss of muscle fibers. Moreover, frequent twisting affects the spine not in the best way.

Leg lifts are easier to perform by rocking the body and using inertial momentum. But this is definitely a bad practice. To get strong and healthy abs, follow my instructions clearly.

So, we're done with the theory. Let's get down to the workout. The abs workout program for home

Options

Virtually every fitness publication publishes "the latest and most super-effective abs programs. All of them are usually based on crunches and their variants, the most useless exercises the physical culture has ever known. There are many different crunches: reverse crunches, twisting crunches, incline crunches, lateral crunches, fitness ball crunches - similar to crunches on an exercise machine, all of which are essentially isolating and rather pathetic exercises. They are completely incapable of turning your stomach into something functional and athletic. Therefore, for those who value their time, I recommend avoiding any crunches and exercises. Much more useful will bring other exercises - time-tested, but forgotten by modern sports fans.

Body lifts

A classic but simple exercise that is good for training your abs and thighs. Lie on the floor, bend your knees, put your feet under some heavy object to counterbalance and lift your body from the hips. Some claim that torso lifts are dangerous to the spine, but this is complete nonsense if you have your legs well bent at the knees. Don't put your hands behind your head, or you may pull the ligaments in your neck. Instead, bring your fists to your temples and stand up until your elbows touch your knees. I've read tons of wiki written by lauded experts who claim that lifting has no effect on your abs. Apparently, these writers have never tried these exercises themselves. A couple hundred lifts and the next day you know exactly where your abs and thighs are. The only drawback is that the body quickly adapts to the load and you have to constantly take weights. If you do not want to work with weights, try more complex variants of body lifts - in an incline, on a Roman chair or Yanda lifts.

Yanda Raises.

Janda lifts are named after the Czech scientist who invented them. They are very similar to classical trunk lifts, the only difference being that the feet are pressed into the floor and the glutes and thighs are strongly strained during the lift. According to the theory of reciprocal braking, when the gluteus and rear thigh muscles work, the hip flexor muscle is not loaded, since they are anatomically opposite. Proponents of this theory claim that when the hip joint does not work, but the gluteus and thigh muscles work, all the load shifts to the abdominal area. I highly doubt this. For starters, it's not true that when one muscle contracts, the opposing muscles don't work (Lombard's paradox is not a bad example, see p. 83)? Besides, why would you want your thighs to stop working? The abdominal and pelvic muscles developed as a unit, so by training some muscles and not working on others, you're running into trouble. That being said, however, Yanda lifts are a useful exercise in the training arsenal because of the isometric load on the abs, which causes them to contract intensely. Start Yanda lifts only after you've crossed the bar of 50 classic body lifts.

Body Raises in Incline.

For this exercise, you'll need an incline bench. Lock your feet in an overhead position and perform body lifts. Gradually raise the top edge of the bench a few degrees higher as the exercise begins to become easy for you. Perform the lifts until the bench is almost vertical.

Roman Chair Lifts

Roman chair abs exercises are more challenging than regular incline lifts. Grab your feet for support on something that also supports your hips, and lean backwards. Performing lifts in this position is complicated by the lack of back and pelvic support and a wider range of motion than in incline lifts. Therefore, the entire load is shifted to the abdominal muscles. This exercise was popular in the golden era of bodybuilding in the 1930s and 1940s. Famous athletes of that time Zabo Kozewski and Leo Robert had incredibly powerful and strong abs, unlike today's bodybuilders. The exercise is usually performed on special equipment, but in prison, for example, they used an ordinary chair and someone else held the legs. I saw guys who jumped up and clung their feet to a basketball hoop as a Roman chair. I wouldn't recommend doing such a stunt to those who aren't quite sure of their abilities, but this example shows that when there is a will, there are opportunities. The whole world around you can become a gym if you are motivated and resourceful enough.

Twisting trunk lifts

These are classic lifts, the only difference being that you must touch the opposite knee with your elbow while moving up. And, accordingly, in the next lift - vice versa. Many bodybuilders (and boxers, who should know better) perform the exercise in the hope of strengthening the oblique abdominal muscles. Unfortunately, not much muscular effort is required to perform the lift and the twist itself, so the oblique abdominal muscles don't get the necessary load. Soviet trainers realized this decades ago and came up with a more effective exercise for the oblique abdominal muscles, called Russian twists.

Russian twists

Sit on a Roman chair or take any position with your body in a horizontal position without support. Take a weight: in gyms this is usually 20 kg, but in prison we took a heavy book or water bottles - one in each hand. Then slowly tilt your body sideways. Keep your weight on your straight arms. Twist from left to right. Your arms (and consequently your abdomen) should move in small amplitude, say ten to two hours on the dial. Your muscles will tell you the correctness of the exercise: as soon as you feel an unbearable heat, the technique is mastered. This exercise has no complicated variants, but it is an interesting option that you can include in your workouts from time to time.

L-shaped stance.

Sit on the floor, straighten your legs, keep your arms straight, with your palms resting on the floor. Now, pressing your hands hard into the floor, pull your legs and pelvis off the floor. Maintain a right angle between your legs and your body. Not only do you need strong abs and thighs to keep your legs from going down, but you also need strong back and arm muscles to

to get your weight off the floor. The exercise is similar to the end position of the leg raises in the hanging position, but it is not as effective because of the lack of movement. Moreover, hanging works the intercostal and serratus muscles, which is what this exercise lacks. But it is good enough for a change.

Training with a medicine ball

The medicine ball was an integral part of many athletes' workouts years ago. But the practice has long been forgotten. Throwing and picking up a heavy medicine ball on the fly is a great workout for all the muscles of the mid-body, especially the transverse muscles and the diaphragm. This kind of exercise causes the

the deep muscles that protect your internal organs. You may not even buy a medicine ball, but use a regular basketball, but just tense the muscles harder during the workout. Moreover, you do not need a partner to work with the ball, a good wall in a safe place is quite a worthy substitute.

Leg lifts to the side

Lie on the floor on your side. Keeping your legs straight, lift your upper leg as high as possible. A straight angle is ideal, but this will be difficult at first, as the sides of your hips are usually weak unless you skate or do martial arts. Once you learn how to do 50 reps, move on to doing the lifts in a standing position (one leg at a time) - this will be significantly harder. Complicated technique of this exercise is with weight. You need to take a pancake or a dumbbell in your hand and put it on your head. But I do not recommend taking weights - in this case the lower spine experiences a dangerous load. In today's fitness literature, there are many tips and recommendations for doing lateral lifts and twisting crunches, which are supposedly good for the lateral muscles. In fact, leg lifts work all the muscles, including the oblique abdominals, and make your thighs strong and healthy. If you train hard on my program, no additional "side" exercises are necessary. But if for some reason you need to work that area, you'd be better off training twisting leg lifts.

Twisting leg lifts

This is as specialized an exercise for the sides of the body as possible, but you need to be strong enough to even try it. Start with leg lifts to the side and work through a series of regular leg lifts. While hanging from the bar, straighten your legs as much as possible. In the upper position, lift one hip up and rotate the pelvis as high as possible. Don't forget to do twists evenly in both directions. One approach is a thousand times more effective than twisting crunches. The powerful oblique muscles will stand out like bars of steel on your stomach, and the strength and athleticism you achieve will be worthy of adulation. Because it's strong, powerful and painful. You can poke a pencil at a stick of dynamite for a long time, but if you hit it with a hammer, it will explode for sure. Muscle cells work in roughly the same way. Just making them contract won't make them get bigger or stronger, so electrical stimulation of the abs doesn't work. But if you start using the right, powerful and sometimes even unbearably hard exercises, it won't take long to get results. So grab a hammer, finally. Pull yourself up, and go ahead and perform leg lifts.