I was raised somewhat backwards and mostly stayed that way. Momma always said, “Son, you’re special.” And, really, I think she meant good by it—but whatever, there is at least one theoretical advantage to this. That is, I’ve found that the answers to life’s peskiest problems can be found, almost invariably, by moving in the opposite direction of the general pull of the masses. If they go up. Best to go down. Them right? You left. Slow. Fast.
Take for example, body fat. Leanness, which I can say I know a thing or two about, has more to do with the 23 hours of restraint outside the gym, than it does the hour of effort in it. Take for example, muscular strength, which has more to do with the tuning of the nervous system, than it does the bulking of the muscles. These are just two examples where, if we followed conventional wisdom, we would be led largely in the wrong direction to cluster with the mostly unsuccessful.
This whole fascination over the striated muscles of the abdomen is an interesting case, too. I, like most infidels, suffer from this fetish—I will not deny it, I like having flashy abs. But unlike most, I do not work my abs grounded. Rather, I’m quite fond of strengthening my midsection in suspension—hanging from a bar, a pair of rings, straps, or other such dangly devices.
Windshield Wiper
For me, these alone seem to do what the classic sit-up or crunch cannot—which is to say they add some desired thickness to the abdominal wall, creating an outright blocky and somewhat geometrical appearance—protrusions and depressions in all the right places, if you will. There are, of course, other tremendous benefits of hanging ab exercises that could be mentioned, but they are far less interesting to me, and I think if I start to talk on them I’ll get bored and so quit this piece entirely.
The hanging leg raise, the windshield wiper , and the L-Sit are three heinous exercises for hardening the midsection; one linear, one rotational, one static, all undeniably marvelous. In my own sight, they are the vital few—quote unquote, ab exercises—to replace the trivial many. This is to say that a fellow or a ma’am who can rep hanging leg raises and said variations seldom has an unimpressive midsection. Are there still gaps to be filled? Surely there are. But not too many.
L – Sit
Here I come to you with no formalized routine, or anything of the sort. I’m not all that keen on setting someone to the business of what some would call an “ab workout”. Instead, I think you should just practice these two movements very nearly daily. No set or rep scheme, really—just purposeful movement rehearsal. Strive to make the movements look almost romantic, as lovely as choreography.
Hanging Leg Raise
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Pat Flynn, RKC: Pat Flynn is a certified Russian Kettlebell Challenge instructor, fitness philosopher, and 7th degree blackbelt in hanging out. Pat is the founder of ChroniclesOfStrength.com where he talks mostly on how to chop fat and multiply muscle through kettlebell complex training.