I look back on this one and I can't even believe I thought this was a good idea.

Granted, this was during my second year of training, so I think it can be forgiven ... :).

I had just watched some stupid '80s martial arts movie and was all gung-ho to train like a fighter...so I decided to mimic one of the "training montage" exercises I saw them doing (I think they were dropping sandbags on their stomach from the top of a tree or something like that).

So the exercise I came up with was a crunch...with a 45 lb weight plate held behind my head...

Crunches aren't a great exericse, but that's not even the stupid part.

As I came up into the crunch, I would bring the weight plate from behind my head and ram it down into my guts really hard.

On every rep.

If you want to picture it, it looked like I was trying to chop myself in half with a weight plate.

Stupid.

Granted, it did teach me how to brace my abdominals very effectively...repeated impacts with solid objects will do that for you.

However, I've since progressed (quite a bit) in my approach to abdominal training...most of my abdominal training is based on using heavy asymmetrical loading, supports, natural movement (like dumbbell crawling) with some flexion-based exercises like hanging knee raises.

This approach works VERY well for me and it's stuff that I would definitely recommend for a fighter in training (no plate chopping).

Now, even if you're not a fighter, and just want to TRAIN like one, I've got a program recommendation for you.

It's from my friend and collegaue Andrew Raposo...an ab-training program called "Fighter Abs."

Andrew is a nationally-ranked Muay Thai fighter and he's spent years training his abs to absorb punishment and DELIVER punishement.

He's put together a series of effective fighter-based abdominal workouts that cut that training time to MINUTES a day.

You can learn more about his program here...

I like this program so much that when you pick up a copy of his program, I'm going to give you a FREE copy of my own book "The Best Combat Athlete Exercises You've Never Heard Of" to go with it.

FREE Bonus

When you purchase (make sure you use a link in this email to qualify), just forward your receipt to support@fitstep.com and we'll set you up with a download of it (including demo videos for all the exercises).

This book not only covers abs, it covers exercises that will improve punching, kicking, grappling, explosive power...the whole deal....incredibly effective stuff.

And it's yours FREE when you get Figher Abs though any link in this email.

Very good stuff...and no weight plate stomach chopping.