I have been getting a lot of questions lately from various clients and online clients about cardio and ab training. Before I get into these topics, I think it is important to get down to the root cause of these questions. Why do most people inquire about cardio and abs? I would be willing to bet you a month's salary it isn't because they are interested in strengthening their cardiovascular systems or even strengthening their abs and torso for improved performance or lower back health. I would guess that 100% of these questions relate to a person being dissatisfied with the way they look around the midsection. With this assumption in mind, I have to go back and harp on the number one problem associated with the way someone's midsection looks, their diet.
When asked what the best exercise for ab development, world famous strength coach Mike Boyle usually replies with "table pushaways". Having good abs is 100 percent about getting your diet dialed in. If you are not willing to get things figured out in the kitchen, you will never have respectable abs. Someone once said, "you can't out-train a shitty diet," and I have to agree with that.
On the rare occasion that you are completely dialed in on diet and have been so for 4-6 weeks (don't lie), here are some "cardio" considerations.
Cardio:
If you are training strictly for looks and not performance I think you can do cardio in addition to your weight training up to 4 times per week. 2 times should be sprint/interval style work and 2 times can be lower intensity 25 minute sessions on the bike or on the pavement.
Abs:
Get rid of situps, crunches, and anything that looks similar to these. Your ab training should be almost exclusively plank variations, anti-rotation drills, and anti-extension drills. I will put together a brief video for you later today detailing some of the movements I use.
Have a great day,
Tom
tssullivanjr@gmail.com
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