Are you in Canada? Click here to proceed to the HK Canada website.

For all other locations, click here to continue to the HK US website.

Human Kinetics Logo

Purchase Courses or Access Digital Products

If you are looking to purchase online videos, online courses or to access previously purchased digital products please press continue.

Mare Nostrum Logo

Purchase Print Products or eBooks

Human Kinetics print books and eBooks are now distributed by Mare Nostrum, throughout the UK, Europe, Africa and Middle East, delivered to you from their warehouse. Please visit our new UK website to purchase Human Kinetics printed or eBooks.

Feedback Icon Feedback Get $15 Off

His abs and core 5: beyond the ab blast

This is an excerpt from JC's Total Body Transformation by Juan Carlos Santana.

This 6-week abdominal program is a heavy-duty version of the ab blast from Functional Training. I use this workout with many of my fighters to improve their guard game (i.e., fighting from their backs with an opponent between their legs). Our fighters have strong and great-looking abs because they follow a strict diet and because they do this kind of abdominal work. This advanced routine uses three exercises with a medicine ball. (Instead, you can use a stability ball.) We start by doing this workout resting between exercises. However, the goal is to go through all three exercises back-to-back without rest between each exercise in the circuit. This workout is also a great ab-shredding workout and will help you bring out the abdominals during a fat-burning phase.


Depending on your natural capacity and training history, weeks 1 and 2 can be repeated twice each to reduce the volume and provide more time to adapt. The higher ranges of weeks 4 to 6 are for elite trainees only.


Equipment

Medicine ball: Beginners, use a 2 to 3 lb (1 kg) medicine ball; intermediate athletes, use a 4-6 lb (2-3 kg) medicine ball; and advanced athletes, use a 7-10 lb (3-5 kg) medicine ball.


Notes

Weeks 1 and 2: Perform 2 sets of 10 repetitions of each exercise, resting 1 to 2 min between exercises.

Weeks 3 and 4: Perform 3 sets of 15 repetitions of each exercise, resting 1 min between exercises.

Week 5: Superset the 3 exercises, performing each exercise for 5 to 7 repetitions, with no rest between exercises. Perform 2 supersets, resting 1 min between supersets.

Week 6: Superset the 3 exercises, performing each exercise for 10 to 12 repetitions, with no rest between exercises. Perform 3 supersets, resting 1 to 2 min between supersets.


Table 5.5

More Excerpts From JC's Total Body Transformation