Ab-a-licious: Refreshing Your Take on Abdominal Work

September is typically the second busiest time of year for a gym. Runner up to the post-holiday season, autumn sees gym bunnies ready to pounce back into action after a summer of reaping the benefits of their hard work (ie

One course of action every client wants to pursue is the attack on a six pack: SIX PACK ATTACK!

So, take a seat and pay attention to some simple adjustments you can make in your quest for a perfectly sculpted midsection...a refresher course in ab-bersizes is about to begin:

(And remember, just because you can do 200 crunches doesn't mean that you deserve ripples - haven't you been doing the same exercise for, like, forever? You body IS a machine and will quickly put to muscle memory the regime you execute every week, with your eyes closed).

1. One of the most simple and effective ways of changing a crunch (especially if you're working out from home or a hotel room) involves this cunning trick - grab a towel, roll it up and place it under your lower back; this gently curves your back - forcing your abs to stretch a little further at the starting position and to contract to a greater degree when you crunch.

2. Get on the ball with ball crunching - keep your knees bent and your feet flat and hold that medicine ball just above your head. Now crunch up to bring your shoulder blades off the floor. Hold for a count of two and lower again for 20 reps.

3. The path to a lick-worthy stomach involves using the rest of your body, as well.. Although they are not typically related to abs-focused exercises, SQUATS and DEADLIFTS work the core muscles since your abs need to be strong to support your body when lifting heavy weights and impressing fellow gym bunnies.

4. Rest. Rest is good. Rest is necessary. Your ab muscles are like every other muscle in your body and are subject to the ill-effects of overtraining. Mind you, they can be worked with a bit more frequency than larger muscle groups, but by no means should they be made to work at hour-long intervals 3 times a week.

5. Abs are 90% diet, 10% exercise. Enough said! Just because you workout like a possessed fiend does not entitle you to eat whatever you like and still expect the results worthy of all your hard work on the gym floor.

According to my calender, there are only nine more months 'til summer. No time like the present: we had better get working.

WERQ.