10 Abdominal Exercise Substitutions
Website design By BotEap.comToday, you’ll discover the substitution list of approved ab exercises for ripped abs AND 1 exercise you should never do.
Website design By BotEap.comPrint this exercise substitution list and email it to your friends. Heck, you could even post it in your gym.
Website design By BotEap.comHERE WE GO – starting with the 1 exercise you should NEVER do…
Website design By BotEap.comNow, yesterday I told you how I watched a trainer put his client through a BACK WRECK exercise, and this is what it was like:
Website design By BotEap.comThe exercise consisted of weighted stability ball crunches, but there were no normal crunches on the ball that you see people do. No way.
Website design By BotEap.comYou see, the client not only made a full movement to sit up, but continued, violently, in a full-body flexion movement that ended with her almost putting her head between her knees.
Website design By BotEap.comBut doing any type of spinal flexion can be detrimental to your lower back because it will compress the discs in your spine.
Website design By BotEap.comIn fact, Dr. Stuart McGill, the world’s leading expert on lower back injuries and abdominal training, said in a recent New York Times article, “…there are no crunches, they place devastating loads on the discs.”
Website design By BotEap.comThe spinal discs are the same discs that herniate in a low back injury. And movements like crunches essentially CRUSH the discs between the bones of the spine, causing excruciating pain and nerve damage.
Website design By BotEap.comSo STOP doing crunches and crunches!
Website design By BotEap.comFortunately, you can still get ripped abs and a flat, sexy stomach by using back-friendly ab exercises.
Website design By BotEap.comSo let’s run through a huge list of ab exercise substitutions:
Website design By BotEap.com1) Replace abs with:
Website design By BotEap.comStability Ball Boards, Mountaineers, and Blades
Website design By BotEap.com2) Replace crossover crunches (i.e. twisting or oblique crunches) with:
Website design By BotEap.comSide planks and crossed mountaineers
Website design By BotEap.com3) Replace abs with:
Website design By BotEap.comStability Ball Jackknives, Stability Ball Planks, Stability Ball Pikes, Stability Ball Toss, and Hanging Knee Raises
Website design By BotEap.comNow let’s take a look at how we can make some of these back ab exercises even harder on your abs:
Website design By BotEap.com1) How to increase the difficulty of the Iron
Website design By BotEap.comFirst of all, before moving on from the table, you must master it.
Website design By BotEap.comDr. McGill says that we should all be able to do a plank for 2 minutes straight.
Website design By BotEap.comNow I’ll be honest, I allowed myself to do this exercise last summer and, unsurprisingly, it was probably one of the reasons I had back pain.
Website design By BotEap.comAt one point, I could only do a strict plank for 75 seconds, but I’m back up for 135 seconds, and now my back pain is gone.
Website design By BotEap.comYou can also do pushups, as they will help you prepare for pushups if you are a beginner.
Website design By BotEap.comEventually, you’ll move on to the Stability Ball Plank, which is 30% harder on your abs than regular planks.
Website design By BotEap.com2) Harder Versions of Side Plank
Website design By BotEap.comAdvanced versions include Side Plank with Leg Raise and Side Plank with DB Lateral Raise (allowing you to train your shoulders at the same time). Dr. McGill adds that we should be able to do side planks for 90 seconds straight.
Website design By BotEap.com3) Substitutions of mountaineers
Website design By BotEap.comYou can use the Spiderman Climb exercise as a replacement, and it’s great for lower body and hip mobility.
Website design By BotEap.comA tougher version of the mountain climbers is the Cross-Body Mountain Climber, and you can also do mountain climbers with hands on the ball or hands on the ground and feet on the ball.
Website design By BotEap.comOne of my favorite advanced versions is “Hands on the Floor, Feet on the Ball Cross-body Mountain Climber” or even “EXTREME X-Body Mountain Climber”.
Website design By BotEap.comstability ball NOTE
Website design By BotEap.comIf you don’t have a ball, you need to get one. They’re cheap, and I’m not asking you to perform dangerous circus tricks on them!
Website design By BotEap.comBut if you don’t have a ball, you can replace the Stability Ball Plank with the Mountain Climber exercise, but it won’t be that difficult.
Website design By BotEap.com4) How to increase the difficulty of the Stability Ball Jackknife
Website design By BotEap.comYou will eventually progress to the Stability Ball Pike. And another way to do this exercise is using the TRX straps. That is one of the exercises that improves the TRX. Very effective move. But even with the ball you can intensify your training using this exercise.
Website design By BotEap.com5) Stability Ball Pike
Website design By BotEap.comThis is another exercise enhanced by using the TRX, as well as a cool toy I bought called the Power Wheel. The key to the exercise is to lift your hips as high as possible, and again, using the Power Wheel or TRX allows you to do it better.
Website design By BotEap.com6) Alternatives to Stability Ball Deployment
Website design By BotEap.comIf you are new to this exercise, you can use a modified Roll-out which is easier.
Website design By BotEap.comAlso, you can substitute the ball for an ab wheel or you can even use the TRX in a similar type of movement. It works because you are fighting against the extension of your torso.
Website design By BotEap.comStretch your abs as you come out and contract them to return to the starting position. This move will leave your abs pretty sore if it’s a new exercise for you!
Website design By BotEap.com7) Additional Advanced Abdominal Exercises
Website design By BotEap.comOnce you’ve mastered all of these Stability Ball exercises, you can move on to the traditional advanced ab exercises of Hanging Knee Ups and Hanging Leg Raises.
Website design By BotEap.comHowever, you should only do these exercises if you can completely ELIMINATE the urge from the exercise. DO NOT sway your hips or rock from side to side.
Website design By BotEap.com8) Push-ups that work your abs
Website design By BotEap.comYou should also understand that MANY traditional exercises work your abs and slight variations of traditional movements can work your abs very hard.
Website design By BotEap.comFor example, some of the best pushups for abs include:
Website design By BotEap.com* Elevated push-ups
Website design By BotEap.com* T-push-ups
Website design By BotEap.com* Spiderman push-ups
Website design By BotEap.com* Decline Spiderman push-ups
Website design By BotEap.comOf course, you will get all of this in home workouts for ripped abs.
Website design By BotEap.com9) Pulling Exercises That Work Your Abs
Website design By BotEap.comIn the past, I’ve trained a fit woman who had never been asked to do a chin-up by her previous trainers. So I asked him to do 2-3 sets of 3-5 reps.
Website design By BotEap.comHe came back for the next session and couldn’t believe how sore his abs were from this exercise. So again, you’ll get a lot of ab work from traditional moves. Besides pull-ups, these are my favorite “full-body pull-up ab exercises.”
Website design By BotEap.com* Rank Renegade DB
Website design By BotEap.com* pull-ups
Website design By BotEap.com* Chin-ups/Pullups with kneeups
Website design By BotEap.com* Spiderman suspenders
Website design By BotEap.comUse them to make your workouts more efficient.
Website design By BotEap.com10) Shoulder/Arm Exercises
Website design By BotEap.comYES, you can use shoulder and arm exercises to work your abs. Every time you do a standing exercise, you’ll need to brace your abs HARD to maintain a rigid core. That works your abs just as hard as planks and side planks.
Website design By BotEap.comAlso, in the triceps extension exercise, you stretch your abs as you lower the weight and contract your abs as you contract your triceps to return the dumbbells or bar to the starting position. I’ve had super sore abs just from doing triceps!
Website design By BotEap.comSo here are my favorite upper body exercises for the abs:
Website design By BotEap.com* 1-arm press
Website design By BotEap.com* 1-arm curl
Website design By BotEap.com* DB Triceps Extension
Website design By BotEap.comI hope you enjoyed that huge list of ab exercise substitutions!
Website design By BotEap.comJust say NO to abs!