You can’t win the Figure Olympia twice without great abs (or great everything) and IFBB Figure Pro Nicole Wilkins has the 6-pack to prove it. While crunches and leg lifts are effective, Nicole uses a lot variety in her ab workouts and she always finds a way to make all of the standard moves a little harder. Raising the intensity and the challenge raises the results. Here are Nicole’s top three ab training tips and two of her favorite ab exercises.
AB TRAINING TIPS
1. “Make sure you train your abs two to three times per week, and incorporate an upper, lower and oblique exercise. Examples include crunches, leg lifts and the twisting crunch.”
2. “Eat small meals every three hours with lean protein at each meal and no sugar or alcohol. Remember, there is no such thing as spot reduction— 1,000 crunches will not equal a six-pack. Abs are made in the kitchen!”
3. “Don’t forget your cardio. By lifting weights you will gain muscle and lose fat. However, in order to speed up the fat-burning process, increase your cardiovascular activity.”
HOW TO…
Ball Tuck-ups in Pushup Position
How to do it: Using large exercise ball, lay tummy down on the ball and carefully walk your hands out in front of you until the ball is resting below the top of your feet. You may need to rest the ball at your ankles for better stability. Slowly curl your knees toward your chest while keeping your feet resting on the ball. Extend your legs to starting position and repeat.
Twisting Crunches with Medicine Ball
How to do it: Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Keeping your knees slightly bent and feet slightly above the floor, hold a medicine ball waist level, twisting from side to side. Tap the ball to the floor on each side of your body.
