The "normal" Abdominal Plank is one of
the most effective and simple abdominal
exercises you can do.

If you're not familiar with the Plank, you basically hold
your body in a stiff, horizontal position on your forearms
and toes (on the floor), maintaining a straight body
position for as long as possible. It's a great exercise
you can do anywhere.

The version of the plank I've got for you is a bit different...
instead of holding your body in the horizontal position,
you'll instead be holding it an angle.

This change in angle and body position shifts the
tension to the lower abs and can be very effective for
tightening the lower abdominal area, especially if
you're looking for that cool "V" look down through the
obliques (once you get your bodyfat low enough, of
course).


This exercise could also help get rid of
that "pooch belly" bulge...

This is done by tightening up the specific muscles that
control that area of the abs...when these fibers don't have
"tone" (in this case lack of tone means they relax too
much, not the other "tone" that just means training with
light weights and getting zero results ;)...

...so as I said when these fibers don't have tone, they
just let the internal organs push outward, causing that
bulge, even if your bodyfat is low. This exercise can
help correct that.

I've got it set up in the rails of a power rack, but you
can very easily do it between two benches or chairs
if you don't have a rack to work with (or a bench for
your forearms and something else a few feet off the
ground to hook your feet over - you'll see what I mean).

So to do this one in the rack, set your rails a few feet
off the ground, then stand facing one side. Set your
forearms (near the elbow) on the rail then hook your
feet on the other rail.

Now just hold your body in that position, keeping your
body just a bit bent (not completely straight like the
floor version...because your knees are lower, you
need to keep some bend in your hips to keep pressure
off the lower back) and stable as you can.



Here's the view from the other side.



It's easier to see the bend in the hips from this view.
Keeping the hips bent is really important...if you
straighten the body, you'll immediately throw a lot of
stress onto the lower back. This is different from the
standard plank where you want to keep the hips
straight and locked.

Once again, though, nice exercise for targeting the
lower abdominal area and you can do it on benches
or really anything else you can set your forearms and
feet on. Hold the position for as long as you can, staying
short of complete failure and strive to increase the
hold time in your next workout.

You can do this exercise first in your abdominal routine,
which I usually recommend doing after the rest of your
training is completed. I wouldn't do it first in your
workout, though, as it will temporarily weaken the area.
Which means if you do this exercise then a set of
heavy squats, your squats will suffer.

That being said, if you're doing a cardio training
session, you can do it before or after cardio, since that
doesn't require the same level of stabilization in the core.

---

Now, if you're interested in MORE ab-flattening and
core-strengthening information, you may have noticed
I've been talking about just such a program the last few days.

The" 0-6 Pack Abs" program from Dr. James Vegher is a
straightforward method to flatten and tighten the stomach using
exercises that properly activate the muscles of the core...

...and it does so in a way that crunches, sit-ups and even
PLANKS like the one I just showed you above won't do.

Bottom line, if you wish your stomach was smaller,
flatter or tighter, this is a program you should get.