If you lift weights at a gym with any regularity, you get into a routine. It’s human nature. Just like when you sit in the same spot on the couch that is perfectly molded to the size of your butt each day, eat in the same squeaky chair at work or school, park in the same area, etc. It’s human nature to fall into the same routine or repeat very similar tasks, even with a plethora of other options.

For many gym-goers, this is the routine:

• Monday: chest/tris day
• Wednesday: legs and shoulders day (legs optional)
• Friday: back/bis day

Does this sound or look familiar? That and subtle variations of it were my routine for a while.

But what about the abs? Most gym splits do not have an “abs” day. Most of the time, some crunches are worked in between the heavier lifts, or they save the last few minutes for the spicy 5-minute to six-pack routine they saw on YouTube.

Train Abs Without Training Abs

You’ve heard that abs are made in the kitchen. This isn’t really true. Abs BECOME visible primarily through diet, but the abs are still muscles that can become bigger and stronger, just like any other muscle group.

You also might believe that crunches, situps, planks, and the ab twisty machine at the gym are the best ab exercises because they are the only ab exercises that exist! Right? Right?!

Well, I’ve got good news and good news. In case you have already forgotten the article’s title, there are ways to train your abs without dedicating time to ab exercises. In fact, you may be training the abs better than you think you do. Research shows that there are better ab exercises than crunches and planks. Don’t worry; they’re still solid exercises. However, many common and less common lifts are proven to contract the abdominal wall in ways superior to traditional ab exercises.

Here are the top 5 ab exercises that aren’t ab exercises:

1. Chinups. When it comes to working the rectus abdominis (the 6-pack muscles, there are TEN of them, by the way), the chin up has no equal. Already doing chins? Good for you. Maybe you can ditch the crunches.
2. Pullups. Yep, I’m kind of cheating. Pretty much the same exercise. I prefer chinups myself, but I’m left-handed, which means I’m wrong about most things. Pullups are just as good for abs.
3. Turkish Get-Up, or TGU. What is that? Look, I don’t make up the names. Nor can I claim or deny this is how they stand up in Turkey. But I do know the TGU is a highly technical and complex exercise that builds superior total body stability, mobility, and ab strength. Here’s how to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bWRPC49-KI A word of caution, kettlebell experts recommend doing 50 “naked” get-ups on each side first. Now, before you get banned from your gym by letting it all hangout, naked simply means without weight. Sorry to disappoint. Master it without weight before daring to go heavy on these.
4. Farmer’s Walk/Suitcase Carry. Two different, but very similar lifts that I lumped together. Suitcase carry will work the opposite side obliques very well, farmers carry will demand greater total abs contraction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OtwXwrJizk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RKKnZhhelE
5. Any Heavy Compound Lift. How big of a loser am I? Here I am promising the top 5 exercises, and I give you about 7,000 to choose from. Sorry to disappoint yet again. But the truth about training abs is all about how hard you choose to contract them. You can squeeze your abs as hard as you can while standing, potentially making standing better than crunches. Even so, lifting heavy things will force you to tighten your abs enough to crack walnuts. Again, you are probably already doing this, and you probably already have a decent ab routine going.

So, hopefully, you are already incorporating weightlifting into your routine. Resistance training truly helps achieve every fitness goal out there, and just about every non-machine lift is training the abs hard. Cardio exercise cannot claim the same.

But if it’s only visible abs you are after, then yes, you came to the wrong place. The gym will help you get a six-pack, and selling your old Pokemon cards will make you rich. Sure, you’ve got a $50 collection in the closet, but you still aren’t getting a Lambo.

To get a six-pack, you aren’t going to work hard enough to offset the Oreos. Get the diet dialed in if you want abs.

Regardless, the abs are easier to train than you likely thought. And they are crucial to moving well, being a better athlete, and being a more useful human. Train them hard!

https://t-nation.com/t/inside-the-muscles-best-ab-exercises/284623