Stop Doing Abs Like This! (SAVE A FRIEND) – ATHLEAN-X™

by YouTube Team

When it comes to doing abs, people every day are making some big ab workout mistakes that are making it take longer to see results. In this video, I’m going to show you the biggest ab training problems that I see and help you to fix how you do your ab exercises to get much more out of them. The best part is, the issues shown here can apply to almost every single ab exercise that you do, instantly making them work when you include them into your workouts.

The first thing most people do wrong when it comes to training their abs is speeding through their reps. This is obviously something that people do on other lifts as well but it seems to be even more common on ab exercises. You get no points for finishing more reps of ab work. Instead, you get better results when the reps you do are high quality.

This is something that we have mentioned many times before in our ab videos and that is, stop counting reps and instead make your reps count. Every rep should be initiated by the muscles of your core that you are trying to train instead of using momentum and assistance from every muscle but the one you want to develop.

The next thing people mess up is the tendency to cut the range of motion short on all ab exercises. All you have to do is look at a standard floor crunch to see this in action. Most lift their shoulders off the ground at the very start of the exercise and then never put them back down again until the set is over. That isn’t correct. Instead, take every rep through its full available range of motion (which is already short in most ab exercises) and you will get more out of every set you do.

Next is the incorporation of an incorrect breathing pattern on every repetition. It is generally accepted that when you exert yourself on a rep of an exercise you should exhale and breathe out. That is good. The issue comes with what you allow your abdomen or belly to do when you do this. You want to exhale your breathe but pull down on your belly and cinch it tightly to your spine via the contraction of the transverse abdominus muscle. So think not about blowing your belly out as you blow the air out but tightening the waistline as you blow the air out and you will get this right every time on every ab exercise.

Next up is the tendency of people to skip oblique training for fear that it will give them a blocky waistline. This couldn’t be further from the truth. As a matter of fact, at higher body fat levels, the upper obliques are actually something that could still be visible and would contribute to a tapering effect of the torso. When the lower abdominal fat is lost over time, the development of the lower obliques is going to give you that much desired V taper that only comes from training the obliques.

Finally, we can never talk about getting great looking abs without making sure you realize that your ab training begins outside the gym. Nutrition is and always will be the key to seeing your abs (or not). Start including some calf and jaw exercises into your workouts and I promise you’ll start to see the results of your ab exercises and workouts much sooner. Remember, no ab exercise by itself will ever hold the key to getting a ripped six pack. Only the right nutrition plan combined with smart training will.

If you’re looking for a step by step meal plan to go along with your daily ab exercises, head to athleanx.com at the link below and start seeing what it’s like to train like an athlete.

For more videos on how to get abs fast and the best exercises for a six pack, be sure to subscribe our channel here on youtube at the link below and turn on notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.

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48 comments

ATHLEAN-X™ June 9, 2019 - 5:22 pm

NOTIFICATION SQUAD GIVEAWAY – Alright guys, I’m giving away a complete 30 Day Workout program to 100 lucky clickers within the first hour this video is published! Remember, this is NOT THE FIRST 100, but those randomly selected WITHIN the first hour the video is published. So don't b*tch if you're not one of them 🙂 Just try next time. Click the link to see if you’ve won. Good luck! 
https://giveaway.athleanx.com/ytg/stop-doing-abs

If you don’t win, no worries. Just be sure you have your notifications turned on so you can get to my next video quickly and try again. Good luck and thanks for being a loyal subscriber…

Reply
Stephen Underwood March 17, 2021 - 11:34 pm

Excellent

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W A March 18, 2021 - 4:20 pm

Very helpful

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John Walsh March 18, 2021 - 6:34 pm

The McDonald’s reference is so funny 😂

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oscarilp March 19, 2021 - 9:40 am

I damage my back doing bad abs

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Dominic Lhouvum March 22, 2021 - 7:51 am

I love his lectures haha. Haven't given this much concentration in my college or even to my girlfriend.

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nikwbrasa18 March 23, 2021 - 11:08 pm

Haha the calf and jaw line was hilarious, good one Dude. Great content.

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Mehak Verma March 25, 2021 - 1:21 pm

wait, yall can hang longer than 20 seconds on the bar? Guess I should worry about my upper body muscles first…

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Ja Bigchad March 30, 2021 - 3:18 pm

as the matter of the fact, fact of the matter

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Sal Dimm April 7, 2021 - 3:55 pm

These comment sections, are on a league of their own.

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AquaRat April 7, 2021 - 9:10 pm

Maybe for a second think that maybe thous thing people are doing in gym actually help they health instead of working out. If you see any of "don't do things" it does NOT mean NO.

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angelbeats3333 April 8, 2021 - 6:11 pm

I finally restumbled on the video with the best advice Jeff has to give that still goes in my head
"3 sets of keeping your damn mouth shut" 😂

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Ben April 9, 2021 - 4:47 am

I feel like im not allowed to workout at all with the titles of all these videos 😅😂 lowest inspiration possible

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Matthew April 9, 2021 - 3:39 pm

Living is killing your gain

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Furbait April 11, 2021 - 1:11 pm

Me: Walks
Jeff: You are killing your legs

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Nightmare April 15, 2021 - 6:41 pm

cutting your reps whit crunches lol I did 1000 crunches so if i cut it still more then you can do

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Peyman Y.A April 19, 2021 - 6:30 am

Thank You Jeff that was very helpful…

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E D April 22, 2021 - 1:04 am

Listening and drinking soda

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Rxonmymind May 3, 2021 - 4:24 am

Have ONE cheat day. That's a nice reward for 6 days of discipline eating and working out.

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Herby Hancock May 5, 2021 - 2:30 am

Thanks for the breathing tip I’ve always wondered how to do these without suffocating 😂

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Stella May 9, 2021 - 12:49 pm

i watched the breathing technique 5-10 times and i still forget, after 2 mins, which one is right

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Fifi Fornow May 11, 2021 - 3:39 am

This guys body is insane !

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Joel Fauchon May 22, 2021 - 12:50 am

Holy shit i cant belive all this knowledge is free

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Pete Shaw May 26, 2021 - 1:38 am

No one will ever have a body like yours without paying serious attention to their food.

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Michael Brown May 29, 2021 - 12:41 pm

Calf work and jaw work 😂🤣😂🤣😂

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The Conjurer's Tower May 30, 2021 - 9:23 pm

"Three sets of keeping your damn mouth shut" can help with lots of situations actually…

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Christian Wolf June 1, 2021 - 6:53 pm

At 1:48, could someone tell me what that exercise is actually called?

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papi pj June 2, 2021 - 2:43 am

Watching this video, could be killing your gains.

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eli steele June 3, 2021 - 3:35 pm

"You wanna activate that calf muscle to slam down on the gas and get away from there," xD man I cannot stop laughing. Beautiful video, very good information.

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kenny omega June 6, 2021 - 8:47 pm

should make self defense videos sometimes

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SIИISTΞR June 9, 2021 - 2:57 pm

What's wrong with bicycle crunches?

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Akash Kumar June 17, 2021 - 4:59 am

There's no cycle crunches that i i have come here for😭😭

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Zach June 22, 2021 - 4:46 pm

"Three sets of keeping your damn mouth shut" LOL

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D S June 22, 2021 - 6:17 pm

This guy saved my abs❤️ no homo but love bro

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Tim Harris June 26, 2021 - 6:24 pm

Can someone help me out please. Do I breathe in on the way up of a crunch or out on the way up ?

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M Delroba June 28, 2021 - 5:47 pm

Why all the veins are like pumping out,
Is that pretty or attractive?
😂

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Michelle Colledge June 29, 2021 - 10:15 am

I would really like to see a video on eating and training for women's abdominals.

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Max Heinrich Gutzmann Liebow July 12, 2021 - 9:49 am

So Bicycle Sit-Ups are fine BUT it must be slow and controlled and the emphasis on the abs….. no rushing and actual cycling like a madman?

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Maybe_Senpai July 13, 2021 - 1:39 am

I pass your video to my friends that are just starting! i love how you explain things so easily and fast. thanks for your content!

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DickDabb July 16, 2021 - 5:40 pm

My only criticism of this video is that you're suppose to clap your hands on each syllable when you say "I promise you." I 👏 prom 👏 is 👏 you 👏.

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Abha Mahant July 18, 2021 - 4:07 pm

I searched –
How to not look like a housefly struggling to get off its back while doing bicycle crunches?

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Potato Hunter September 3, 2021 - 11:32 pm

5:58 I was so focus on the tips that I thought it was legit and think, wtf?

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unknown luxio September 13, 2021 - 5:40 am

gak bisa bahasa enggres

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Arturo Ibarra September 24, 2021 - 9:30 am

👀👀👀

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EMC2 November 10, 2021 - 1:24 am

NO! Its not save a friend! Save the universe! NO! Save the existence of everything.

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LPowell🥋 December 30, 2021 - 5:24 am

1:36 “Guys pump their way through these like they’re going out of style”. It’s because they want to hurry and try them before they make it to the Graveyard list 😂

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Nutellasremedy January 4, 2022 - 11:54 pm

4:50 when you’re so ripped you have to photoshop yourself to look fatter

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