Great Abs The Ultimate 12 Week Workout

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This e-book has been specially created for CSX customers who have purchased a CSX
Dual Ab Roller Wheel with Knee Mat. We would like to help all of our customers get the
most from their Ab Roller no matter what their fitness level.
Patrick Dale, renowned fitness writer, ex-marine, fitness trainer and author of three
fitness books has created this simple step by step programme which you can follow to
provide the best core exercises to strengthen, tone, flatten your belly and develop your
six pack.
This book doesn’t make extreme promises like getting ripped abs in 6 days, doesn’t
recommend crazy diets that you’re dying to stop within a week, and there isn’t a lot of
technical mumbo-jumbo. Follow the book through step by step and don’t be tempted to
skip ahead, each section builds on the previous skills and strength developed and will
set you up for optimum success towards a six pack in a healthy way.
Please feel free to share this e-book with anyone you think would enjoy it!
To find out more about our CSX products please visit: www.csxpro.com
If you have any questions or have any support issues please do not hesitate to contact
us at: www.csxprosupport.com
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Copyright © 2014, Competitive Sport Xtreme. All Rights Reserved
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Available from Amazon UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/CSX-Roller-Wheel-Comfort-
Handles/dp/B00G57XSHE/ie=UTF8?keywords=ab+wheel&tag=csxabweb-21
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25% Off Discount Offer for our CSX Dual Ab Roller

Wheel Customers
In the fat burning workouts 2 and 3, Patrick Dale uses a Skipping Rope as part of the
circuits; all of the other workouts in the book do not require any equipment.
Jumping rope is a great tool for a gentle warm up as well as burning fat fast. To get the
most from your workouts we have created a 25% discount coupon for the CSX range of
fully adjustable cable speed ropes, they can be adjusted to any length suitable for a
height up to 6ft 4” and use ball bearing handles to create a high performance speed
rope. The ropes are suitable for both beginner and professional experienced skippers.
Use this 25% discount code at checkout on Amazon UK:
ABWORK25
CSX Pro XL Speed Rope:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/CSX-Speed-Skipping-
Rope/dp/B00HQNIGTG/ie=UTF8?keywords=skipping+rope&tag=csxabweb-21
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Safety – Please Read Before Exercising
IMPORTANT – Before starting any form of exercise program, consult your doctor or
therapist. If at any time during your exercise you experience discomfort or pain, stop the
exercise immediately and consult your doctor.
Always Warm up – Cool down and stretch before and after exercising. This will help
prevent straining muscles.
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Contents
1) Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 9
2) Anatomy and Functionality ........................................................................................... 12
Key terminology in this e-book...................................................................................... 12
What is the core? ........................................................................................................... 13
The deep layer ............................................................................................................... 13
The middle layer ............................................................................................................ 13
How to brace ................................................................................................................. 14
Muscles of the inner unit............................................................................................... 14
The outer layer .............................................................................................................. 15
Muscle Actions ............................................................................................................... 16
3) Considerations, Myths and Mistakes of Core Training ................................................. 17
4) How to Use Your Ab Roller ............................................................................................ 22
1. Kneeling plank............................................................................................................ 22
2. Regular plank ............................................................................................................. 23
3. Hard style plank ......................................................................................................... 23
4. Press-up plank ........................................................................................................... 24
5. Extended plank .......................................................................................................... 24
Kneeling rollout ............................................................................................................. 25
Adaptations.................................................................................................................... 25
Using a wall .................................................................................................................... 25
Negatives ....................................................................................................................... 25
Static holds .................................................................................................................... 25
Uphill .............................................................................................................................. 26
Downhill ......................................................................................................................... 26
Weighted ....................................................................................................................... 26
Multi-directional rollouts .............................................................................................. 26
Standing ab wheel rollouts ............................................................................................ 26
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Training volume and intensity ....................................................................................... 27
5) Introductory Programme – Mastering Your Ab Roller .................................................. 28
Warming up ................................................................................................................... 28
Your four week introductory program .......................................................................... 38
Exercise instructions ...................................................................................................... 39
Programme notes .......................................................................................................... 41
6) Fat Burning Workouts ................................................................................................... 48
1. 50-meter sprints ........................................................................................................ 48
2. 5/10/15/20 AMLAP circuit ......................................................................................... 49
3. 10-1 burpee plus 50 jump rope turns descending pyramid ...................................... 50
4. 30/30 intervals ........................................................................................................... 51
5. Double under challenge............................................................................................. 51
6. Broken hundreds ....................................................................................................... 51
7. Tabata quadrathon .................................................................................................... 52
8. 50/40/30/20/10 countdown circuit .......................................................................... 54
9. The Doubler ............................................................................................................... 55
10. Out and Back ............................................................................................................ 55
7) 12 Week Six-Pack Abs Workout (combining the above workouts with ab and ab roller
workouts) ........................................................................................................................... 57
Weeks 1 to 4 .................................................................................................................. 57
Core workout 1 .............................................................................................................. 57
Core workout 2 .............................................................................................................. 58
Core workout 3 .............................................................................................................. 58
Weeks 5 to 8 .................................................................................................................. 59
Core workout 4 .............................................................................................................. 59
Core workout 5 .............................................................................................................. 61
Core workout 6 .............................................................................................................. 62
Weeks 9 to 12 ................................................................................................................ 63
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Core workout 7 .............................................................................................................. 63
Core workout 8 .............................................................................................................. 65
8) Eating for Six-Pack Abs .................................................................................................. 67
What is a fad diet? ......................................................................................................... 67
No need to starve yourself to lose weight... ................................................................. 68
Simple fat loss rule number one – eat protein at every meal....................................... 70
Simple fat loss rule number two – earn your carbs ...................................................... 71
Simple fat loss rule number three – eat your veggies................................................... 71
Simple fat loss rule number four – don’t drink your calories ....................................... 72
Simple fat loss rule number five – be more active ........................................................ 72
Simple fat loss rule number six – minimize stress ........................................................ 73
Simple fat loss rule number seven – treat but don’t cheat! ......................................... 73
9) Dos and Don’ts for Optimum Success ........................................................................... 77
10) About the Author ........................................................................................................ 81
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1) Introduction
If you ask everyone who exercises what their ultimate fitness goal is, a large percentage
will tell you they want a six-pack and those that don’t are either a) fibbing or b) just
want a flat, toned abdomen rather than fully-fledged six-pack abs.
Pick up any glossy celebrity magazine, watch a music video or movie and you’ll
inevitably see six-pack abs all over the place. Any media star worth his or her salt will, at
one time or another, sport a six-pack, much to the delight of photographers and
journalists alike although the number who can sustain such a look for long periods of
time seems to be relatively low.
Our appreciation of six-pack abs goes beyond media pressure, although that has at least
something to do with it. A six-pack is a non-too subtle sign that says the owner is fit,
healthy and of good breeding stock! At a very primitive level, we are all genetically
programmed to appreciate a lean midsection even if we aren’t aware of the reasons
why.
Six-pack abs have more than just simple genetic

or aesthetic appeal – the amount of body fat you
carry around your midsection has a direct impact
on your health. In fact, medical professionals
often call belly fat “heart attack fat” as fat stored
around your abdomen can significantly increase
your risk of suffering coronary heart disease or
CHD for short. Along with CHD, diabetes, high
blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels
are also often associated with abdominal fat and
what can laughingly be called a beer belly is
actually a health time-bomb waiting to go off.
There is more to the health of your midsection

than just fat – you should also consider the
function of the muscles in that region of your
Heart attack fat
body. Your abdominals (we’ll differentiate
between the many muscles, their names and locations in the next chapter) play an
important part in spine health. A very large number of adults will suffer back pain at
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some point in their lives – back pain often being caused by muscle weakness. Your
abdominal muscles work together to provide your spine with support and stiffness and
weak abdominals mean your lower back is much more prone to injury. Back pain is no-
one’s idea of a good time so it pays to look after your soon to be marvellous midsection.
Next, consider that your abdominal muscles bridge the gap between your legs and your
arms. If you are holding a heavy weight in your hands and then have to walk up a few
stairs, your midsection must be strong enough to transfer the force generated by your
legs into the load you are carrying. If it cannot do this you will a) not be able to lift and
carry the load irrespective of how strong your arms or legs are and b) probably end up
hurting yourself if you try. Your midsection is essentially your natural weight lifting belt
without the buckle at the front!
Finally, it is important to remember that your abdominal muscles actually initiate or

contribute very strongly to a great many everyday tasks and sporting activities. Try
sitting up in bed, pushing open a heavy door, throwing a cricket ball, kicking a soccer ball
or manhandling a member of the opposing rugby team without using your abs. If you
can do it at all it’s fair to say your efforts will be quite inefficient.
Because firm, flat, defined abs are at the top of just about everyone’s fitness wish list,
there is a plethora of exercise and diet advice doing the rounds on how to achieve this
holy of holies. Unfortunately, a great deal of this information fails to conform to even
the most basic exercise and anatomical principles. Ab-centric workouts often focus
solely on rectus abdominus (the muscle at the front of your abdomen) and all but ignore
the rest of the muscles that make up your midsection. The exercises promoted are often
limited, non-progressive, only work if you do a very high number of repetitions and do
not take into account nutrition or the fact that you need to consider the rest of the
muscles in your body when pursuing the evasive six-pack.
If I had to sum up my approach to ab training in just a few words, I’d say it is holistic
because, ultimately, your abs are just one muscle in your wonderfully complex muscular
system that consists of over 600 individual muscles that must work together in synergy
and harmony. Trying to develop your abs without addressing the muscles in the rest of
your body is like putting a formula one tyre on a Ford Focus and hoping it will win the
next Grand Prix!
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You simply will not get a six-pack if you ignore the rest of your body – contrary to what
you might have heard on the shopping channel. There are no six-minute solutions or
electronic machines that will magically sculpt your abs while you sit and watch TV; while
most of us can develop a lean, defined midsection you will, as cheesy aerobics teachers
shout out to their classes, have to pay for it in sweat.
Speaking of ab training tools, the only one I am comfortable recommending is also one
of the cheapest midsection strengtheners around – the ab roller. Sometimes called an
ab wheel or exercise wheel, this simple device is also one of the most effective ways to
build a cast-iron midsection. If you haven’t got one yet you really should get one – it’ll
cost you less than a typical day pass gym membership. If you have already got one, well
done and prepare to put it to good use in the programme that follows.
Whether you are interested in simply looking better or you care about your health and
performance, you should try to develop a strong lean midsection. Use the information
herein to help you reach the World Cup of fitness goals – a genuine six-pack!
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2) Anatomy and Functionality

While you could (and many of you reading this
probably will) want to jump forward to the diet and
exercise section of this book, it’s worth spending a
few minutes reading this section because it will help
explain the rationale behind the following
programme. By gaining a basic understanding of the
underlying muscles and exercises principles on which
the workouts are designed, you’ll see why this
approach to creating a solid, lean midsection makes
perfect sense and why other programmes and
workouts are doomed to failure. Once you have read
this section, you’ll be able to understand the whys
and wherefores of the programme and also be able to
dazzle your friends with your newfound knowledge of
anatomy and physiology!
Abs
Key terminology in this e-book
 Core – collective term for muscles of the abdomen, waist and lower back
 Spine – your back bone consisting of 33 individual bones
 Vertebra – the individual bones of the spine (plural: vertebrae)
 Intervertebral disks – pads of shock-absorbing cartilage between each vertebra
 Ligament – non-elastic tissue that connects bone to bone
 Tendon – non-elastic tissue that connects muscle to bone
 Lumbar spine – lower back consisting of 5 vertebrae
 Thoracic spine – middle/upper back consisting of 12 vertebrae to which your ribs
are attached
 Cervical spine – neck consisting of 7 vertebrae
There are a number of terms used in conjunction with the muscles of your midsection
and this can lead to a lot of unnecessary confusion. The term abdominals or abs is used
and often misused when describing the muscles that make up your middle. For
simplicity and clarity, from now on you will see the term core used to collectively
describe the muscles that surround your midsection. Anything else e.g. abdominals or
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abs, is referring to an individual muscle (rectus abdominus) within the complex of
muscles making up your midsection.
What is the core?

The core is the collective term used to describe the muscles that control the movements
of your spine. These muscles are capable of working alone but are often required to
work together in synergy when supporting your spine. There are three distinct layers of
core musculature.
The deep layer

The deep layer consists of tiny muscles that connect each of your vertebrae and control
the movement of the individual bones that make up your spine. Also referred to as
“position sense” muscles, these vertically, diagonally and horizontally arranged muscles
connect each vertebra to its neighbour. Although you won’t be directly or specifically
targeting these micro-muscles during any of your core workouts, you can be assured
that the inerspinalis, rotatores and intertransverserii will be doing all they can to keep
each of your vertebrae properly aligned.
The middle layer

Sometimes referred to as the inner unit, the middle layer plays a vital part in spine
stability. Whilst not responsible for any large spinal movements, the inner unit is made
up of four major muscles that contract inwardly to create intra abdominal pressure.
Intra abdominal pressure or IAP for short supports your spine from the inside in much
the same way that pumping air into a football gives it shape and makes it solid. These
muscles “brace” our midsections when we move. Bracing and the ability to brace
strongly is vital for all physical performance, midsection appearance and spinal health,
and is something you need to do during every exercise within this plan.
Back in the days when man was roaming the savannahs and hunting for food, we braced
automatically whenever we needed to perform any kind of dynamic movement.
Nowadays, because of our predominately sedentary lifestyles and the supportive
environment in which we live i.e. chair backs, car seats, seated exercise machines etc,
many of us have lost the ability to brace automatically and need to re-learn this vital
skill.
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How to brace
1. Tense your abdominals for a “gut punch”. Don’t pull your belly in but, rather,
squeeze your midsection tight. Avoid leaning forwards.
2. “Pull up” your pelvic floor by pretending you are trying to stop the flow of urine.
3. Take a shallow in-breath.
Congratulations! You are now braced and

creating lots of intra abdominal pressure to
support your spine. As you inhale, you should
feel the whole of your midsection solidify and
become extremely strong. Exhale and you’ll
feel the pressure in the abdominal cavity
dissipate. The idea of bracing is that you time
your inhalations so that IAP is highest when
you need it e.g. as you push your ab roller
away from you, and least when you are
between repetitions and the weight is over
your base of support e.g. when the roller is
closest to your knees. As a general rule, to
maximise IAP when you most need it, inhale
into the hardest part of an exercise and Bracing is like using your core as a
exhale out of it. natural weight training belt
Muscles of the inner unit

The inner unit or middle layer is, as mentioned, made up of four muscles. Just like the
position sense muscles, these muscles are worked during every core exercise.
Additionally, you will also be targeting these muscles with a variety of specific bracing
exercises over the coming weeks. A strong inner unit will a) enhance spinal health, b)
improve your midsection performance and c) contribute to your appearance by creating
a much tighter waist line. The four muscles of the inner unit are the diaphragm—your
primary breathing muscle, your transverse abdominus which encircles your abdominal
contents, the multifidis which runs up your spine and the muscles of the pelvic floor
which supports your internal organs from below. These muscles form a cylinder with the
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diaphragm at the top, the pelvic floor at the bottom and transverse abdominus and
multifidis providing the sides.
The outer layer

Responsible for major spinal movements, the outer layer of muscles are the ones that
will be targeted directly during your core workouts and are the large muscles that are
generally thought of as the “show” muscles. There are three main outer layer muscles.
Rectus abdominus: Rectus abdominus is the muscle located on the front of your
abdomen and is responsible for that elusive six-pack appearance. The rectus abdominus
or abs for short is a long muscle that starts on the front of your pelvis and extends all
the way up to your lower ribs and sternum. The six-pack appearance comes from the
ligaments that criss-cross the abs dividing it vertically and horizontally. These ligaments,
called linea alba or white lines, become more visible as you get leaner but more on that
later. The rectus abdominus is responsible for flexing your spine forwards e.g. when
performing crunches and also works when you bend to the side in an action called
lateral flexion e.g. dumbbell side bends.
Erector spinae: Running up either side the rear of your spine, the erector spinae is
actually eight individual muscles that overlap one another and extend from the base of
your pelvis to the nape of your neck and base of your skull. These muscles are
responsible for extending your spine backwards and also lateral flexion. Interestingly,
the erector spinae, although not really an abdominal muscle, makes a big contribution
to the appearance of your core by holding you upright in good posture. Lean forwards
and your abdominals will bow outwards. Stand up straight and your abdominals flatten
out. In addition, strong erector spinae muscles also help promote spine health,
especially in your lower or lumbar vertebrae.
Obliques: These muscles make up the sides of your midsection and are best thought of
as your waist muscles. You have three sets of oblique muscles—external, internal and
transverse— on each side of your waist which start on your spine and curve around to
meet your ribs and pelvis. The obliques work together to rotate your spine and to flex
your spine laterally i.e. sideways and also contribute to forward flexion by assisting your
rectus abdominus.
Now you know the names of the muscles that make up your wondrous core, it’s time
to move on to seeing how they work.
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Muscle Actions
The primary job of your muscles is to generate force for movement or prevent
unnecessary movement by holding your limbs in a certain position. You may be pushing
a shopping trolley, dragging an opponent off the ball in a game of rugby or running up a
flight of stairs but it’s always your muscles that are the engine for movement. Your
muscles can generate force in three different ways which are collectively referred to as
the muscle actions.
Concentric Contractions – a concentric contraction occurs when your muscles shorten

to generate force e.g. lifting your shoulders off the floor when performing crunches.
Concentric contractions are probably the most familiar type of muscle action but are
also the weakest.
Eccentric Contractions – an eccentric contraction occurs when your muscles lengthen

under tension e.g. when descending into a squat or lowering the weight when
performing leg curls. You are around 33% stronger eccentrically than you are
concentrically. For example, perform a set of chin ups to exhaustion—the point at which
you can no longer pull your chin up to the bar. On reaching exhaustion, use your legs
and jump up so your chin is over the bar. Use your muscles to lower yourself slowly
down to full extension. Amazingly, even though you were unable to pull yourself up, you
can still control your descent.
Isometric Contractions – if concentric contractions involve muscles shortening and

eccentric contractions involve muscles lengthening what can isometric contractions be?
An isometric contraction describes how your muscles can also generate force without
any change in length e.g. holding your spine in an extended position when performing
planks. Isometric contractions are the strongest of the three muscle actions.
Whenever you exercise, your muscles will be producing force concentrically,

eccentrically and/or isometrically. When you use an ab roller, you get all three
whereas a plank is mostly isometric. To fully develop your muscles, you need to
ensure you include all three types of muscle action which is why you need to perform
a variety of exercises in addition to using your ab roller if you want a six-pack that not
only looks good but is also functionally strong too.
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3) Considerations, Myths and Mistakes of Core

Training
Improving the condition of your core muscles requires that you adhere to certain
exercise principles. You can think of these as being “signposts for success”. If you fail
to observe these principles, it’s very unlikely you will see any noticeable
improvements in the strength and function of your core muscles. Familiarity with
these principles will also help explain why some of the most common approaches to
core training are so ineffectual...
Specificity – specificity basically means you are fit for what you do so if you have a
particular goal in mind e.g. improving the functionality of your core muscles, your
training must match that goal. This means that, for the next 12-weeks at least, you need
to put as much effort as possible into this programme and not dilute your efforts by
performing extra ab work above and beyond what is included in the programme. This
may mean that you have to “opt out” of any ab training that takes place at the end of
group exercise classes or avoid Pilates classes for a while because if you try and do too
much work for your core, you’ll end up over training these muscles and make little or no
progress.
Overload – overload means challenging your body. No overload means no adaptations

which, in the case of this programme, means no improvements in core strength,
performance and appearance. Overload means working hard—there is no getting away
from that fact and overload will probably result in sore and tired muscles. Tired muscles
recover with rest. Muscle soreness is often referred to as DOMS or Delayed Onset
Muscle Soreness. No one has ever died of DOMS but it can still be quite uncomfortable!
You can minimize DOMS by making sure you always warm up before your workouts,
make gradual rather than drastic increases in workout intensity, cool off and stretch on
completion of your workouts and eat and rest properly. If you are suffering from DOMS,
spend an extra few minutes warming up and take it easy for the first couple of sets of
each exercise.
Progression – despite your best intentions, your body is pretty lazy when it comes to
getting stronger and fitter—it would really rather not bother! You are going to have to
bully, badger, cajole, trick and force your muscles into getting stronger. You MUST try to
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increase the intensity of your workouts on a week by week basis. Think about this: if you
only performed 10 repetitions of crunches, what would happen to your abdominal
strength? It’s unlikely you would develop the ability to lift greater amounts of weight
because there is insufficient stimulus. Strive to increase your workout intensity on a
week-by-week basis.
Recovery – so, if three core workouts a week are good, six workouts a week must be
twice as good, right? Sadly this is not the case. Exercise is a catabolic process that
actually breaks your muscles down. Your muscles respond to this attack by becoming
fitter and stronger which is an anabolic process called hypertrophy. This rebuilding
process can only happen when you are resting. This means that for every hard workout,
you’ll need a couple of days rest. Remember, you aren’t being lazy by taking time off
between workouts; you are giving your body chance to adapt and improve.
Rest
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Reversibility – you can’t store fitness indefinitely. Your strong core muscles or ability to
run for miles and miles can only be maintained if you keep training regularly. It’s a case
of use it or lose it. Just as training too frequently can result in poor training results, so
too can training infrequently. If you remove the stimulus, your body will begin to revert
to its pre-training state and you’ll soon lose your hard-won fitness. This means that
skipping workouts is counterproductive and will reduce the effectiveness of your
training. If you just “give up”, you’ll lose everything you gained over the preceding three
months.
Individuality – each one of us is different—different blood groups, height, weight, eye

colour, hair colour, muscle fibre make up, limb length...it’s a long list! Because of
individuality, we all respond differently to exercise. Some people, called mesomorphs,
develop muscle very easily whilst others, called ectomorphs, are naturally lighter and
find gaining muscle much more challenging. A third group, endomorphs gain muscle and
fat in equal measure. The point is that, although this programme will improve your core
strength and appearance, it is impossible to say by how much as individuality governs
your adaptation to exercise. Follow the workouts, eat well and get sufficient sleep to
maximize your results but remember; you cannot compare your results to anyone else’s
as they won’t share your unique physical characteristics.
Now you have a good understanding of the principles of exercise, you should
understand why some common core training approaches are so ineffectual...
1. Too little exercise – a couple of sets of crunches and back extensions at the end of a
group exercise class or weights workout is not sufficient stimulus to improve the
condition of your core muscles. Fitness improvements are the result of an adaptation
to a threat – your body is literally trying to ensure its survival after a challenging
event. Too little exercise means no threat and that means no adaptation.
2. Too much exercise – doing an hour of ab training is pretty pointless as there is only
so much punishment your muscles can soak up. If you can do an hour of ab training,
your workout is lacking in intensity or you are taking such long rests between sets
and exercises that you are wasting a whole lot of time. There is balance to be had
between cause and effect and you want to do the least amount of exercise to deliver
the greatest results possible. It’s not enough to train long or hard – you also need to
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train hard and smart.
3. No progression – using your ab wheel for five-minutes three-times a week is a good

start BUT if that’s all you ever do, your muscles will soon become accustomed to
your workout. Without continual progression, your fitness will not improve. As the
fitness saying goes, if you only do what you have always done, you will only get what
you have always got. The bottom line is that the best workout ever designed only
works for so long and you’ll need to periodically increase exercise frequency,
duration or intensity if you want to see continual fitness progress.
4. Not enough intensity – easy workouts don’t result in much in the way of fitness
benefits. That means you need to overload your muscles to make them stronger. You
don’t need to go all out 100-percent of the time but you’ll certainly need to go to 8
or 9 out of 10 on the intensity scale if you want to see some progress. While the old
adage “no pain, no gain” isn’t 100-accurate, some exercise discomfort is inevitable if
you want to see benefits from your workouts.
5. Too much intensity – at the risk of contradicting myself, you can’t flog yourself
mercilessly and expect to see results from your training. There is a difference
between maximal effort and high intensity effort – although they are only separated
by degrees. Maximal effort is hard to recover from and can lead to injury as you are
likely to break good form when you are working that hard. However, you should
have no issues recovering from high intensity efforts and your chances of injury is
much lower. Shoot for level 8 or 9 on the intensity scale and you’ll be working hard
enough to get results but not so hard you risk hurting yourself.
6. Trying to “spot reduce” – the myth that spot reduction works is like a zombie that
just won’t die! Endless sets of sit-ups and crunches or any other ab exercise for that
matter won’t magically make the fat covering your abdomen melt away. Fat is simply
stored energy that needs to be burnt off and as important as ab exercises are, they
don’t use a whole lot of calories. Burn fat globally with cardio and other multi-muscle
workouts while strengthening the underlying musculature with targeted core
exercises. Lose fat, build muscle and reveal your abs.
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7. Isolating rectus abdominus – doing nothing but sit-ups and crunches may seem like
you are observing the principle of specificity but is likely to cause you more harm
than good. Muscle imbalances and postural issues are going to be the likely result of
such an ab-centric approach. Successful six-pack programmes are holistic in that they
address all of the muscles in your midsection – not just the one at the front.
8. Ignoring diet – it doesn’t matter how well-developed your abs are, if they are
covered in a thick layer of fat, you won’t be able to feel them let alone see them. Just
about everyone has a six-pack already – it’s just obscured by fat. Taking notice of
what you eat is a vital part of developing six-pack abs; you are going to have to eat
clean if you want to be lean enough to show your six-pack. Remember, you can’t out
run a bad diet!
9. Neglecting cardio – for the same reason diet is important, so too is cardio. Cardio
burns fat and also ensures you are fit and healthy enough to do the other workouts
in this programme. I’ve provided you with TEN fat burning workouts elsewhere in
this e-book.
10. Not following a plan – failing to plan means planning to fail and if you just do
whatever workout you feel like doing on a given day, chances are you’ll make little or
no progress. As Zig Ziglar says – if you hit what you aim at and you don’t have a
target, you’ll hit it every time! Follow this plan for the next 12-weeks and while,
because of what level you are starting from or other individual circumstances, you
might not get your six-pack first time around, I guarantee you’ll be a lot closer to
your target than if you tried to “wing it”.
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4) How to Use Your Ab Roller

Like any exercise, you’ll get more from your ab roller if you use it properly. Not only will
good technique make your workouts more productive and effective, it will significantly
reduce your risk of injury. But, and before you dive into using your ab roller, you need to
ensure you have sufficient core strength to support your weight in a kneeling plank,
regular plank, hard style plank, press-up plank and extended plank position as, after all,
an ab wheel rollout is nothing more than a plank with movement. Note: all plank
variations target your entire core with an extra emphasis on your rectus abdominus.
Only move onto the next exercise when you have mastered the one preceding it.
General plank performance tips
 Do not hold your breath – your blood pressure may increase as a result
 Do not let your hips drop – it places too much strain on your lumbar spine
 Do not lift your hips – you reduce the effectiveness of the exercise
 Do keep your shoulders, hips, knees and feet properly aligned
 Do not forget to brace as hard as you can to maximise IAP and spinal support
 Tuck your chin in and make your neck long – do not look forward or upward
 Planks are a dynamic exercise – don’t do them mindlessly; focus on creating
tension in your core
 Rest your elbows on an exercise mat for comfort
 Build up gradually – add five seconds per workout
 Work on your planks three to four times a week on non-consecutive days
1. Kneeling plank
Lie on your front and then rest on your elbows with your hands clasped lightly together
and upper arms vertical, elbows directly beneath your shoulders. Lift your hips up off
the floor but keep your knees down so you do not have to support your entire weight on
your elbows and toes but, instead, it is spread between your elbows, knees and toes.
Brace your abs hard but do not hold your breath. Maintain this position for 30 seconds.
If you cannot manage 30 seconds, keep practicing until you can.
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2. Regular plank
Set up as before but this time lift your hips and knees off the floor. There should be a
straight line from your heels to your shoulders via your knees and hips. Brace your abs
hard but do not hold your breath. Maintain this position for 30 seconds. If you cannot
manage 30 seconds, keep practicing until you can.
Plank
3. Hard style plank
In the regular plank position, make a conscious effort to tense your thighs, glutes, core,
chest, lats and abs as hard as you possibly can. Also imagine trying to push your elbows
and toes through the ground without lifting your hips and try to shorten the distance
between your shoulders and hips but without actually moving. Hold this peak
contraction for 10 seconds, relax for 10 seconds (without coming out of the plank) and
repeat three times to total 60 seconds. If you cannot manage 60 seconds, keep
practicing until you can.
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4. Press-up plank
Perform the regular plank and work up to the hard style plank but this time rest on
extended arms as though you were performing press ups. Your hands should be
shoulder-width apart and your elbows just shy of lock out. Work up to 30 seconds in the
regular version and then 60 seconds (3 x 10 seconds plus 10 seconds rest) in the hard
style version.
Press up plank
5. Extended plank
In either the regular plank or press-up plank position, move your feet further back (15 to
30 centimetres/6 to 12 inches). This lengthened base of support will make the exercise
more demanding. Monitor your lower back for tension – if you feel the arch in your back
increasing then shorten your base of support. Maintain your position for 30 seconds. If
you cannot manage 30 seconds, keep practicing until you can.
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You now have sufficient static strength and are ready for the ab roller – a much more
dynamic movement!
Kneeling rollout
Kneel down and grasp your ab roller. With straight arms, place your roller on the floor
directly in front of your knees. Your hands should be facing toward you, your chest
should be up and your shoulders down and back. Inhale, brace hard and push your ab
wheel away from you by extending your hips, knees and shoulders. Push the wheel as
far away from you as possible while lowering your chest toward the floor. Do not lose
your natural lower back arch so no rounding or hollowing allowed. Pause briefly in the
most outstretched position you can manage and then, using your abs and upper
back/arms, pull the roller back in to your legs. Exhale as you do so. Providing your last
rep went well and you feel you can do more repetitions in PERFECT form, roll out again.
Adaptations
There are several ways you can progress or regress kneeling ab wheel roll outs...
Using a wall
If you find you are unable to control how far the roller moves away from you, do your
roll outs in front of a wall. Position yourself so that the wheel will hit the wall rather
than roll completely away from you. Touch the wall lightly, don’t just crash into it. As
you get stronger, inch back from the wall until you are able to perform them
unrestricted.
Negatives
As you are stronger eccentrically than you are concentrically, make the most of this by
only rolling your ab wheel away from you. Once you are stretched out, drop carefully to
the floor, use your hands, elbows and knees to get back up, return to the starting
position and repeat. After a few weeks of negative-only roll outs you will be strong
enough to do the return movement also.
Static holds
If you can only do one roll out or are looking to increase your strength, do static holds at
the end of each rep. Roll out as normal but then, and without holding your breath,
pause for a slow count of ten. Do one static hold and then rest on the floor or pull back
to the starting position and repeat.
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Uphill
To make ab wheel rollouts less challenging, do them up a slight, moderate or steep
incline – the steeper the incline the easier the exercise will be. You can roll up an
inclined sit-up bench if you need a readily adjustable and quantifiable incline or just use
any conveniently inclined and located stretch of pathway. Progress to a less severe
incline as you get stronger.
Downhill
To make ab wheel roll outs more challenging, do them down a decline. Any slope will
suffice providing it is smooth.
Weighted
Wearing a loaded back pack or weighted vest will make ab wheel rollouts considerably
more demanding. Start off with an additional five to ten percent of bodyweight and
increase gradually from there. Do not sacrifice weight for form as you may end up
injuring yourself.
Multi-directional rollouts
From the kneeling or standing position (described next) roll out but slightly sideways to
around the 10 o’clock position. Return to the start position and then roll out to the 2
o’clock position. Continue alternating sides for the duration of your set. This variation
places a slight emphasis on your obliques.
Standing ab wheel rollouts

With your roller in your hands, bend your knees slightly and lean forward to place the
roller on the floor just in front of your feet. Brace your core, inhale and then push the
roller away from you. Roll it as far away from you as you comfortably can letting your
lower back tell you if you have gone too far; remember – the arch in your back should
not increase. Using your abs, pull the roller back toward your feet and simultaneously
push your hips up into the air. Use a wall to limit your range of movement as explained
earlier. In a perfect standing roll out, your arms and legs will be completely extended,
your chest and nose an inch/three centimetres from the floor and you will have a
neutral lumbar arch.
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Training volume and intensity
I am a firm believer in stopping any exercise while you still have a rep or two in hand
and stopping any workout while you still have a set or two in hand. For example, if you
can do five standing roll outs but that last rep is pretty much do or die, it is going to
take longer for you to recover before you can safely do your next workout. This will have
a negative effect on subsequent training volume and frequency or, in other words, you
won’t get to exercise as often.
However, if you do a slightly more conservative set of three, you won’t be as tired, you
will recover quicker and you’ll be able to train again sooner. Remember the rule of RPE
8 to 9 – stop every set and workout before you are exhausted and while you still have a
couple of repetitions and sets left in you. This is a marathon and not a sprint! It’s better
to do one less rep/set today and be able to train again in 24 to 48 hours than do that
extra rep and then have to wait 48 to 96 hours to recover. As you get stronger and fitter
you’ll soon be able to do more repetitions and sets naturally so don’t force it by going
flat out too soon!
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5) Introductory Programme – Mastering Your Ab

Roller
Even if you have an ab roller, you probably haven’t been using it with any degree of
regularity or structure. This is a four-week workout plan designed to get you used to
following a programme and ensure you are ready for the more demanding programme
outlined in chapter seven.
Warming up
Before you start any kind of workout, you should spend a few minutes preparing your
body and mind for what is to come; a good warm up can make or break your workout. A
good warm up will ensure your workout is as safe and productive as possible and is
broken down into three main parts...
 Pulse raiser
 Joint mobility
 Dynamic stretches
To raise your pulse, do some form of light cardio for five to ten minutes. Walk briskly,
jog on the spot, head out for a brief run or grab your jump rope and do some skipping.
Given the choice, I’d use a jump rope every time but do whatever works for you.
Increase your speed over several minutes so that you finish this warm up component
feeling warm (obviously!), slightly out of breath and ready to exercise.
To mobilize your joints, take each of your major joints through a progressively larger
range of movement. Do 10 to 20 repetitions of the following...
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1. Ankle circles
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2. Shallow progressing to deeper knee bends
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3. Hip circles
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4. Side bends
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5. Shoulder shrugs
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6. Arm circles
7. Overhead arm raises
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Finally you are ready for some stretching but not the typical stretches you may be used
to. Dynamic stretches involve movement which will ensure your heart rate stays
elevated, you stay warm and you “wake up” your muscles rather than put them to
sleep. Do 10 to 20 repetitions of the following…
1. Leg swings
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2. Squats with a five-second hold every fifth rep
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3. Reverse lunges with pull back arms
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Your four week introductory program
This introductory programme is designed to “break you in” to more demanding
workouts and assumes you have a basic level of core strength and are able to do the
plank progressions described in the previous chapter. If you are still struggling with
planks, stick with them until you have mastered at least the hard style plank and
preferably the extended plank exercise.
For this workout you are going to combine ab wheel roll outs with several other
exercises designed to develop your core as a whole. The ab wheel is going to be your
main exercise but the additional exercises will provide structural balance and improve
your roll out performance.
Work out three times a week on non-consecutive days to give your muscles chance to
rest and recover.
Day 1 e.g. Monday Day 2 e.g. Wednesday Day 3 e.g. Friday

Week Rollouts 3 mins @RPE Rollouts 4 minutes@ Rollouts 5 minutes @
1 6 RPE 6 RPE 6
Side planks 3x30 Supine hip bridges 3x10 Bird dogs 3x6
seconds
Week Rollouts 4 mins @RPE Rollouts 5 minutes@ Rollouts 6 minutes @
2 7 RPE 7 RPE 7
Side planks 3x35 Supine hip bridges 4x12 Bird dogs 3x8
seconds
Week Rollouts 5 mins @RPE Rollouts 6 mins @RPE 8 Rollouts 7 minutes @
3 8 Supine hip bridges 3x12 RPE 8
Side planks 3x40 Bird dogs 4x6
seconds
Week Rollouts 6 mins @RPE Rollouts 7 mins @RPE 9 Rollouts 8 mins @RPE 9
4 9 Supine hip bridges 4x12 Bird dogs 4x8
Side planks 3x45
seconds
Four week introductory program – Read below for instructions and programme notes
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Exercise instructions
Rollouts
How to perform: See chapter four. Choose the difficulty level that best suits your
current core strength.
Side planks
How to perform: Lie on your side with your hips and shoulders perpendicular to the
floor and resting on your bent elbow. Lift your hips so your body is straight. Hold this
position (but not your breath!) for the prescribed duration. Roll over and repeat the
exercise on the opposite side.
Side planks
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Supine hip bridges
How to perform: Lie on your back with your legs bent and feet flat on the floor. Place
your hands on the floor next to your hips with your palms turned upwards. Push your
feet down into the floor and lift your hips up so your knees, hips and shoulders form a
straight line. Lower your butt back to the floor and repeat.
Hip bridges
Bird dogs
How to perform: Kneel down on all fours so your knees are directly under your hips and
your hands are directly under your shoulders. Brace your abs and then extend your left
leg and right arm – try and reach out as far in front and behind you as possible. Hold this
extended position for the count of one and then return your hand and leg to the floor.
Do an identical repetition on the opposite side. Continue alternating sides for the
duration of your set.
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Programme notes
Each workout and each week is slightly more difficult that the one preceding it. This
ensures that the overload is progressive which will make certain your fitness and
strength increase from one week to the next. Adjust the volume and intensity of the
workouts down or up as required but remember to change ALL the workouts by around
the same amount i.e. if you only do 20 second side planks on day one, take 10 seconds
off all the remaining side plank workouts.
For the rollouts, you will see that time and Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is
prescribed rather than the usual sets and repetitions e.g. 3 minutes @ RPE six. This
simply means do as many repetitions as you can in three minutes but stop doing
rollouts when you feel you are working at level six out of ten. Assuming you could do an
all-out set of ten, this means you stop at around rep number six, rest a moment and
then do more repetitions up to that same level of intensity. This will probably be fewer
repetitions than your first effort. Continue this format until your time runs out. As you
work though the four-week programme, you’ll do more rollouts and also work closer to
your maximum capability.
For the secondary exercises, the first number prescribes how many sets you are to
perform and the second number denotes how many repetitions or how long you do per
set. For example, 3x10 means do ten, rest a moment, do another ten, take another rest
and then do a final set of ten. Rest as long as you need to to ensure you can do the next
set of ten – one to two minutes should be sufficient.
Cool down
On completion of your workout, you may well want to just stop and crash out or head
off for a shower. As attractive as these may sound, you’d be better served by doing a
little more exercise to gradually return your body to its pre-exercise state and then
stretching your major muscles. That means there are two components to a typical cool
down...
 Pulse lowerer
 Static stretches
To lower your pulse do a couple of minutes more of light cardio but this time reduce
gradually the intensity so you finish up breathing normally. More skipping, walking or
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jogging is the order of the day. On completion, perform the following stretches – hold
each position for 10 to 30 seconds. If your muscles feel tight then hold them for longer
but if your muscles feel loose, hold them for less time.
1. Standing calf stretch
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2. Standing quad stretch
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3. Standing hamstring stretch
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4. Kneeling hip flexor stretch
5. Lying ab stretch
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6. Standing chest stretch
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7. Standing lat stretch
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6) Fat Burning Workouts

If you want to be able to see your six-pack and not just feel it you’ll need to burn some
fat and that means doing some fat burning workouts. Yes, you could do a whole lot of
cardio or go to a gym but who has got time for that?! Firstly, traditional cardio is low
intensity which means although you’ll be in your fat burning zone, you won’t actually
burn much fat. Secondly, going to a gym is great but also can be a major obstacle to
getting in shape if home, family and work commitments make it hard to actually get
there. For that reason I have designed TEN fat burning workouts you can do at home
that require nothing more than a jump rope, an exercise mat or folded towel and
around 20-minutes of your time. Remember though, always warm up before and cool
down after each workout.
1. 50-meter sprints
Mark out 50 meters either by using a tape measure, going to a running track or sports
ground or pacing out around 50-steps. No need to be super accurate – this isn’t the
Olympics!
3 x 50 meters at RPE 8 – walk back recovery

Rest three minutes
Rest four minutes
When sprinting, use a rolling start (build up your speed as you approach your start line
and then maintain it over 50 meters). Get up on your toes, pump your arms but stay
relaxed.
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Sprinting
2. 5/10/15/20 AMLAP circuit

Do as many laps as possible (AMLAP) of the following exercises. Try to do more laps
whenever you repeat this workout.
5 burpees – with your feet together, squat down and place your hands on the floor.
Jump your feet out and back and do a perfect chest to the floor press up, jump your feet
back up to your hands and then leap into the air. Land on slightly bent knees and repeat.
10 press ups – either on your toes or knees, place your hands on the floor so your body
is straight. Bend your arms and lower your chest to the floor. Push back up to full arm
extension and repeat.
15 squats – with your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees and sit down until
your thighs are roughly parallel to the floor. Stand back up and repeat. Try not to round
your lower back.
20 jump rope turns – as fast as you can, do 20 jump rope turns. If you are more
advanced, do double unders (two rope turns per jump). If you are not a proficient
skipper, do jumping jacks instead.
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Jump rope
3. 10-1 burpee plus 50 jump rope turns descending pyramid

Do ten burpees, as described above, and then 50 turns with your jump rope.
Immediately do nine burpees followed by another 50 turns of your rope. Do eight
burpees next and so on. The workout is done when you are down to a single burpee and
have competed your final 50 jump rope turns. Try to complete this workout as fast as
you can and then try and beat your time when you repeat it.
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4. 30/30 intervals
Do five sets of each of the following four exercises working hard for 30 seconds and
then resting for 30 seconds to total 20 minutes...
Mountain climbers – from the press up position, jump your left knee up and into your
chest and then shoot it back. Do the same move with the opposite leg. Keep pumping
your legs for 30 seconds.
Shadow boxing – keep moving your feet while you throw out jabs, hooks, crosses and
uppercuts at an imaginary opponent. If you have a punch bag, use it!
High knee sprints – with or without a jump rope, run on the spot but lift your knees up
to hip-height; really pump those legs!
Spiderman press ups – from the normal press up position, lower your chest toward the
floor and also bend one leg and pull your knee up to lightly touch your elbow. Extend
your arms and leg at the same time and then do the same move with the opposite leg.
Continue alternating legs for the duration of your set.
5. Double under challenge

Do as many double unders (two rope turns per jump) as you can in 10, 15 or 20-minutes
depending on your fitness. Rest when you need to but try and clock up as many
repetitions as you can in the given time. If you cannot do double unders, do single rope
turns instead.
6. Broken hundreds
Mark out the following pattern on the floor using cones or stones...
-----5 meters
----------10 meters
---------------15 meters
--------------------20 meters
Run out to the first marker and back, out to the second marker and back, out to the
third marker and back and then out to the fourth marker and back. This totals 100
meters. Rest for 60 to 90 seconds and repeat ten times. Alternatively, for a super tough
workout, perform this sequence at the top of each minute for 10 minutes to total 10
repetitions .
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7. Tabata quadrathon
Perform 20 seconds of each exercise in sequence and use the 10 second recovery to
move to the next exercise. There are four exercises in the circuit and you are going to
perform eight to ten laps in total – so 16 to 20 minutes to complete the entire workout.
Place the exercises close together so you don’t waste any time in the transitions.
1. Skipping – knee lift sprints. As described above
2. Lunges – stand with your feet together and your hands by your sides. Take a large
step forward, bend your legs and lower your rear knee to within an inch of the
floor. Pop back up, return to the starting position and then do the same move but
leading with your opposite leg. Continue alternating legs for the duration of your
set.
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3. Bench dips – sit on a bench, stair or wide chair and place your hands on either
side of your hips with your fingers pointing forward. Support your weight on your
extended arms and shift your butt forward so it is clear of your seat. Bend your
arms and lower your butt toward the floor; bend your arms to 90 degrees. Push
back up and repeat. The closer your feet are to your hands, the easier this
exercise becomes so adjust your position to suit your strength levels.
4. Squats – as described above.
So your workout will look like this:
20 seconds skipping
10 seconds rest/transition
20 seconds lunges
20 seconds dips
20 seconds squats
Start from the top again with 20 seconds skipping…repeat for 8 or 10 laps
Make a mental note of how many repetitions you manage in your first lap and
endeavour to hit similar numbers in each subsequent lap. The next time you perform
this workout, try to add a rep or two.
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8. 50/40/30/20/10 countdown circuit
Start your watch and perform 50 repetitions of each exercise in the following sequence.
On reaching the fourth and final exercise, start the sequence again but only perform 40
repetitions. Continue working your way through the sequence but drop 10 repetitions
from the count each time until your final round consists of 10 repetitions per exercise.
Rest when you need to but try and keep going as the clock is ticking right up to the very
end!
1. Press ups – as described above. Do kneeling or full press ups as appropriate.
2. Jumping jacks – stand with your feet together and your hands by your sides. Jump
your feet out to wider-than shoulder-width and raise your arms up and above your
head. Jump your feet back together and bring your arms back down.
3. Back extensions – lie on your front with your legs straight, feet on the floor and hands
resting lightly on your temples. Lift your chest and shoulders off the floor and then lie
back down. Anchor your feet if necessary and place a folded towel or gym mat under
your hips for comfort. Placing your hands behind your lower back makes this exercise
easier.
Back extensions
4. Double unders – as described above. If you cannot do double unders do tuck jumps
instead.
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9. The Doubler
This workout requires a bit of maths but is a very simple and effective self-regulating fat
burner. Perform a maximum set of non-stop press ups and then rest 15 seconds. Next,
perform double that amount of squats and then rest 15 seconds. Perform a 2nd set of
max rep press ups, rest 15 seconds and then perform double that amount of
squats. Continue for 5 sets. (See example below)
Set 1
24 press ups/48 squats
Set 2
Set 3
Set 4
Set 5
Totals 80 press ups/160 squats
10. Out and Back

This workout includes a built in warm up so there is no need to do any additional cardio
before starting. Although you could theoretically perform this workout on a bike, it’s
best as a running-based workout.
Start your stopwatch and start running. Head out at a slow pace which increases slightly
as you progress. Run for 10 minutes and then stop. Take one to two minutes and
perform a few light dynamic stretches. Now, run back exactly the way you came but try
to run as fast as you can. The idea is to see how much faster you can run the return
journey compared to the outward journey. On completion, spend a few minutes
stretching your major muscles and then hit the showers.
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Fat burning workouts needn’t be complicated or time consuming – as these workouts
prove. Despite their brevity, each of these workouts will not only burn fat while you
are doing them but will also trigger something called EPOC – short for Excess Post-
exercise Oxygen Consumption or what we used to call oxygen debt. EPOC basically
describes how your metabolic rate remains elevated after intense exercise which
results in a significant increase in post-exercise calorie usage. Think of EPOC-triggering
workouts as being two workouts for the price of one!
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7) 12 Week Six-Pack Abs Workout (combining the

above workouts with ab and ab roller workouts)
The following 12 week plan is designed to take you from soft-bellied zero to six-pack
hero in progressive four week steps. Each week builds on the last and, combined with
the diet detailed in the next chapter, these workouts will help you drop fat and
strengthen your core.
It goes without saying that if you are new to exercise you should check with your
doctor before you start this or any other workout. He’ll probably be glad to hear you
want to get in shape but may want you to start with an easier routine. Also, make sure
you have competed the introductory 4 week core strengthening plan before you move
on to this program.
Weeks 1 to 4
Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
One Core 1 Fat burner Rest Core 2 Fat Rest Rest
1 burner 2
Two Core 3 Fat burner Rest Core 1 Fat Rest Rest
3 burner 4
Three Core 2 Fat burner Rest Core 3 Fat Rest Rest
5 burner 6
Four Core 1 Fat burner Rest Core 2 Fat Rest Rest
7 burner 8
Core workout 1
Ab wheel rollouts – AMRAP in five minutes
Using perfect form and the ab wheel rollout variation that suits you best, do as many
repetitions as possible (AMRAP) in five minutes. Make a note of how many you do and
try to beat that number when you repeat this workout. Rest when you need to and
consider doing lots of short sets rather than just a couple of longer sets – you’ll
complete more repetitions that way.
Skydivers – 3 sets of 30 seconds

Lie on your front and place your head on the floor and rest your arms palms down next
to your head. Lift your head, arms, shoulders and legs off the floor so you are balancing
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on your hips. Hold this position (but not your breath) for 30 seconds. Rest a moment
and repeat.
Side plank – 3 sets of 30 seconds per side

Lie on your side with your legs and shoulders perpendicular to the floor and resting on
your elbow. Lift your hips up so your body is straight. Hold this position but not your
breath for 30 seconds and then change sides. Rest a moment and repeat. Do three sets
per side.
Core workout 2
Ab wheel rollouts – Ascending pyramid
Do one perfect rollout and then rest a moment. Then do two and rest again. Do three
and then rest. Keep adding one rep per set until you are unable or unwilling to continue
and hit RPE 9. Rest three-minutes and repeat the process one more time although you
probably won’t get as many repetitions .
Supine hip bridge – 3 sets of 30 seconds

Lie on your back with your legs bent and your feet flat on the floor. Lift your hips so they
form a straight line with your knees and shoulders. Keeping your core and glutes tensed
as hard as possible, hold this position for 30 seconds. Rest a moment and then repeat.
Crunches with a twist – 3 sets of 10 repetitions per side

Lie on your back with your legs bent and feet off the floor. Your knees and hips should
be bent to 90 degrees. Place your fingers and your temples and flare your elbows
outward. Lift your head and shoulders off the floor and twist your left elbow to your
right knee. Lie back down and do the same move to the opposite side. Continue
alternating sides for the duration of your set.
Core workout 3
Ab wheel rollout – Intervals
Do as many rollouts as you can in 30 seconds and then rest for 90 seconds. Make a note
of how many you do. Repeat for four sets. Add up your total from the four sets and try
to beat that number when you repeat this workout.
Good mornings – 3 sets of 15-repetitions

Stand with your feet together and your knees slightly bent. Place your hands behind
your head with your elbows pushed back to open your chest. Without further bending
your knees or rounding your back, push your butt backward and hinge forward from
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your hips to work your lower back, glutes and hamstrings. Stand back up and repeat.
Rest for a moment and then do another set.
Flutter kicks – 3 sets of 30 seconds

Lie on your back with your legs raised six inches off the floor and your hands either flat
on the floor next to your hips or under your buttocks. Kick your legs up and down twelve
inches for the duration of your set while keeping your core braced tight. Do not hold
your breath.
Weeks 5 to 8
Five Core 4 Fat burner Core 5 Fat burner Core Rest Rest
9 10 6
Six Core 4 Fat burner Core 5 Fat burner Core Rest Rest
1 2 6
Seven Core 4 Fat burner Core 5 Fat burner Core Rest Rest
3 4 6
Eight Core 4 Fat burner Core 5 Fat burner Core Rest Rest
5 6 6
Core workout 4
Ab wheel rollouts – AMRAP in six minutes
repetitions as possible (AMRAP) in six minutes. Make a note of how many you do and
try to beat that figure when you repeat this workout. Rest when you need to and
Floor angels – 3 sets of 40 seconds

Lie on your front on an exercise mat. Place your head on the floor and your hands
outstretched in front of you. Lift your head, chest and arms slightly off of the floor by
contracting your lower back. Keeping your arms as straight as possible and your palms
facing down towards the ground, sweep your arms backwards until they touch your
outer thighs—do not let them touch the floor! Swing your arms forwards again to the
starting position and repeat. Do not overextend your lower back as this may lead to
injury. Keep your neck long and chin tucked in to reduce the strain on your neck.
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Chinnies – 3 sets of 15 repetitions each side
Lie on your back with your legs extended and your hands next to your temples. Lift your
head, shoulders and upper back off of the floor whilst simultaneously lifting and bending
your left leg. Turn your torso and touch your left knee with the inside of your right
elbow before extending your leg and lying back down. Repeat the movement on the
opposite side. Continue alternating sides for the duration of your set. Avoid pulling on
your neck as you sit up as this may result in injury. Establish a brisk rhythm and stick
with it for the duration of this exercise.
Chinnies
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Core workout 5
Ab wheel rollouts – Descending pyramids
Do five rollouts and then rest a moment. Next, do four rollouts and rest again. Continue
until you have done a set of thee, two and then one final rollout. Rest two-minutes and
repeat the sequence again. Do three descending pyramids in total i.e. 5,4,3,2,1 REST
5,4,3,2,1 REST 5,4,3,2,1 FINISH.
Single leg Romanian deadlifts – 3 sets of 10 each leg

Stand up straight with your hands by your sides. Shift your weight over onto your left
leg. Lean forward from the hips and reach down to touch the floor just in front of your
left foot. Extend your right leg behind you for balance. Stand back up and repeat.
Change legs and do the same number of repetitions on the opposite side. Rest a
moment and then repeat. Hold a weight in your hands if necessary. If balance is an
issue, stand side on to a wall and use it for support but try not to become over reliant on
it – wean yourself off the wall as soon as you can.
Single leg Romanian deadlifts

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Lying side hip lifts – 3 sets of 12-repetitions each side
Place your forearm on an exercise bench and extend your legs so that you are in an
inclined side plank position. Make sure your heels, hips and head form a straight line.
This is your starting position. Slowly lower your hips toward the floor and then lift them
back up into the starting position. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions and
then change sides. If this exercise proves to be too demanding, perform it lying on the
floor as though you were performing regular side planks.
Core workout 6
Ab wheel rollout – Intervals
Do as many rollouts as you can in 45 seconds and then rest for 75 seconds. Make a note
of how many you do. Repeat for four sets. Add up your total from the four sets and try
to beat that number when you repeat this workout.
Cossack hip bridges – 3 sets of 12-repetitions per leg

Lie on your back and adopt the hip bridge position described back in workout two. From
this position and while keeping your hips up, lift your left foot off the floor for a count of
two and then your right leg. Continue this marching/alternating leg action for the
duration of your set. Rest a moment and repeat.
Negative crunches – 3 sets of 5 repetitions

Lie on your back with your legs bent and your hands resting on your thighs. Sit up so
that your body is as upright as possible. Use your abdominals to slowly lower yourself
back down to the floor. Take 10 seconds to lower all the way down. Immediately sit up
again and repeat. Use your arms to pull yourself into the upright position if necessary.
Exhale as you lower yourself down to the floor. Adjust your repetition speed to suit your
core strength: Lower more slowly to make the exercise harder or slightly quicker to
make it easier.
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Weeks 9 to 12
Nine Core 7 Fat burner Core 8 Fat burner Core 9 Fat burner Rest
7 8 9
Ten Core 7 Fat burner Core 8 Fat burner Core 9 Fat burner Rest
10 1 2
Eleven Core 7 Fat burner Core 8 Fat burner Core 9 Fat burner Rest
3 4 5
Twelve Core 7 Fat burner Core 8 Fat burner Core 9 Fat burner Rest
6 7 8
Core workout 7
Ab wheel rollouts – AMRAP in seven minutes
repetitions as possible (AMRAP) in seven minutes. Make a note of how many you do
and try to beat that figure when you repeat this workout. Rest when you need to and
Reverse hyperextensions – 3 sets of 15 repetitions

Lie face down on an exercise bench so your hips are on the edge and your feet are
resting on the floor. Keeping your upper body still and your legs together, lift your legs
up until they are slightly above parallel to the floor. Lower your feet back down and
repeat. If you do not have an exercise bench, place two chairs side by side and lie across
the seats.
Reverse crunches 3 sets of 20 repetitions

Lie on your back with your legs bent, thighs perpendicular to the floor and shins parallel
to the floor. Place your hands on your temples and your head and arms on the floor—
this is your starting position. Keeping your upper body still, pull your knees into your
chest to raise your hips and lower back off of the floor. Return to the starting position
and continue for the desired number of repetitions. Inhale as you lower your legs in
exhale as you pull your knees into your chest to maximise the effectiveness of this
exercise.
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Reverse Crunches
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Core workout 8
Ab wheel rollouts – 50-rep challenge
Do 50 perfect ab wheel rollouts in as little time as possible. Rest when you need to but
remember the clock is ticking! Record your time and try to beat it when you repeat this
workout.
Romanian deadlift – 3 sets of 15-repetitions

Hold a heavy object in your hands such as a bag filled with books. Stand with your feet
hip-width apart and your weight in front of your upper-thighs. Bend your knees slightly
but then keep them rigid for the duration of the workout. With your chest up and
shoulders back, push your butt rearwards and hinge forward from the hips. Lower your
weight down the front of your legs to just below knee-height. Do NOT round your lower
back. Push your hips forward and stand back up. Repeat for the prescribed number of
repetitions.
Boat pose – 3 sets of 40 seconds

Sit on the floor with your legs bent, feet flat on the floor and your torso upright. Hold on
to the backs of your knees, extend your arms and lean back slightly. Slowly extend your
legs as far as your flexibility allows while maintaining your balance. Release your legs
and hold them in position using your abdominals. Keep your arms parallel to the floor.
Maintain this position for the prescribed duration.
You can make this exercise more demanding by extending your arms above your head
or easier by bending your knees. Make sure you breathe steadily throughout this
exercise.
Boat pose
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Core workout 9
Ab wheel rollout – Tabata intervals
Do as many rollouts as you can in 20 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds. Do eight sets
in total.
Feet elevated supine hip lifts – 3 sets of 15-repetitions

Lie on your back with your legs bent and your feet resting in a sturdy knee-high bench,
step or chair. Lift your hips up and off the ground so that they form a straight line with
your knees and shoulders. Keep your core and glutes tensed as hard as possible. Lower
your butt back to the floor and repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions and sets.
Cossack Plank – 3 sets of 40 seconds

Adopt the press up position with legs extended and arms straight. Make sure your
hands are directly below your shoulders. Keep your abs braced and lift your left hand off
of the floor and place it on your right shoulder, pausing for one second. Return your
hand to the floor and then perform the same movement but taking your right hand to
your left shoulder. Continue alternating hands for the duration of your set. Keep your
abs braced throughout this exercise. Keep your hips square and avoid rolling your
shoulders from one side to another—this exercise is an anti-rotation bracing exercise so
try to keep your entire body still except for your arms.
So there you have it – a 12-week progressive plan to help you obtain the holy grail of
fitness – the six-pack. Of course, because of several factors such as individuality,
dietary adherence, where you are starting from and so on, I can’t guarantee you will
have a six-pack at the end of this programme but I can assure you that you will be well
on your way, have increased your fitness and, above all, improved the strength and
function of those all important core muscles.
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8) Eating for Six-Pack Abs

Whenever you open a magazine or newspaper you will see lots of information and
misinformation printed about fat loss and weight control. Diet books are often a source
of contradictory misinformation and the internet is literally drowning in fat loss advice
that is often ineffective, impractical and, in some instances, downright dangerous.
Google fat loss and you’ll get in the region of 52,200,000 hits! While experts will argue
which diet is best, the one thing they all agree on is if you want to lose fat, get in shape
and display a six-pack, what you eat (and don’t eat!) is vitally important. Six-packs are
made in the kitchen as much as in the gym!
It seems like good, honest fat loss advice is becoming an endangered species and is
being replaced by something far less useful – fad diets.
What is a fad diet?

Fad diets come in all shapes and sizes but usually share some common characteristics...
 Promise amazing fat loss results in very short time frames

 Are endorsed by someone famous but not necessarily connected with the health
and fitness industry
 Involve a very strict eating regime that is usually impractical and/or unappealing
in the long run
 Require you to buy unusual or expensive foods and/or supplements
 Eliminates certain food groups while promoting others disproportionally
 Leave you hungry, tired and feeling deprived of the foods you enjoy
 Are not designed for long term use but, rather, to provide a “quick fix” i.e. lose
10lbs in two-weeks...
The problem with any fad diet is that they only work because they are so restrictive.
Unfortunately, the more restrictive the diet, the more likely you are to fall off the “diet
wagon” before you have reached your ultimate fat loss goal.
The bigger or more dramatic the changes you make to your eating and exercise regimes,
the more likely you are to revert to your previous unhealthy lifestyle. This is often called
the pendulum effect as in, the further the pendulum is swung away from the norm, the
faster and harder it swings back again.
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For example, you could embark on a fad diet that allows you to eat nothing but chicken
and Brussels sprouts for the next 12-weeks. Every breakfast, lunch and dinner you sit
down to a big plate of chicken and sprouts and nothing else. Initially, you will experience
rapid and dramatic fat loss but after a few days of eating such a restrictive diet, you’ll
soon get bored, feel deprived, become tired and irritable and most likely quit your diet
and dive head first into a barrel of ice cream to cheer yourself up. Needless to say, such
an approach is not recommended.
After such a big swing in one direction (the fad diet) you are much more likely to swing
back to your old eating pattern and are going to end up eating even less healthily than
before to make up for your period of deprivation. As a result, any fat loss will quickly be
regained; usually accompanied by a few more pounds for good measure!
When it comes to weight loss, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Any diet
that promises seemingly miraculously fast weight loss is going to have to be very strict
and limiting and while crash diets can work in the short term, for long term health and
leanness they are just about useless. Very few crash dieters ever keep the weight off
they have lost. The majority of the crash diet gang tell horror stories of feeling weak, ill,
lethargic and then, after all that sufferance, regaining the weight they lost seemingly
overnight.
Why do crash diets fail to deliver meaningful and long lasting weight loss? It’s all down
to something called the starvation response.
No need to starve yourself to lose weight...

When you go on a crash diet and dramatically reduce your calorific intake, your body or,
more specifically, the hypothalamus region of your brain, doesn’t know you are
voluntarily eating less. It makes the assumption that food is dangerously scarce and
takes steps to ensure you stay alive despite the lack of available nourishment.
Once this starvation response occurs, your body makes a number of changes designed
to help you survive this period of drastic calorific restriction. These changes include:
 Reducing your metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn per day) to ensure
the little food you have got goes further
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 Using muscle mass for energy which results in further lowering your metabolic rate
and a loss of the muscle which can leave you looking “skinny fat”
 Increasing the production of lipoprotein lipase – an enzyme that increases your

ability to store fat
 Increasing your hunger levels to motivate you to get out and hunt (or hit the cookie
shelves at the supermarket more likely!)
 Reducing your insulin sensitivity so that food consumed is more likely to be stored as
fat
These mechanisms are designed to ensure your fat stores last longer, that the little food
you do eat is readily converted to fat and that you return to your previous level of
fatness as quickly as possible. In many cases, crash dieters don’t just regain the weight
they lost, they gain back more as the body creates additional fat reserves to guard
against future periods of starvation. This “lose fat/gain more fat back” cycle is
commonly called yo-yo dieting.
Sadly, there are no quick fixes to long term weight loss – especially crash diets. It takes
most people years to gain excess body fat so it’s going to take a while to lose it –
especially if you want to keep it off. Most experts agree that instead of trying to lose
twenty pounds virtually overnight, you should aim for one or two pounds of weight loss
per week which might not sound like much but over 12 weeks could amount to 25lbs or
around 11kg. This is best achieved by making a small reduction in food intake and a
small increase in activity levels – following the six-pack abs workout for example. Such
conservative interventions are sustainable for a long period of time and are very unlikely
to trigger the starvation response. This way, when you reach your target weight, you
won’t experience a dramatic fat “bounce back” and regain all the weight you have
worked so hard to lose.
Rather than buy into the next celebrity-endorsed fad diet and set yourself up for
catastrophic failure, why not try a proven if less sexy option that is guaranteed to deliver
results while allowing you to eat fairly normally? Moderation is the answer!
Moderation simply means eating a little better, eating a little less, exercising a little
more and making these changes part of your everyday lifestyle for the rest of your life.
Okay, so you won’t lose twenty pounds in two weeks but the whole process will be
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much more enjoyable and you can still eat normal foods. You can even enjoy treats from
time to time – you just need to make sure that treats are an occasional rather than
frequent occurrence.
When asked “what is the best fat loss diet” the response is always the same – it’s the
one you can stick with. Forget the fad diets and practice nutritional moderation – you
might take a while longer to get to your ideal weight but you’ll enjoy the process more
and, most importantly, won’t regain the weight you have worked so hard to lose. As
with exercise, when it comes to fat loss and weight control, consistency is the key.
Here, finally, are my seven golden fat loss guidelines which should make designing
your own fat loss diet a cinch.
Simple fat loss rule number one – eat protein at every meal
Take a look at most meals and you’ll see they are built around starchy carbs like pasta,
bread, rice or potatoes. There is nothing especially wrong with these foods but they
aren’t great if you want easy fat loss. Protein, on the other hand, will really ramp up
your metabolism, helps to preserve muscle mass when you are dieting and also keep
you feeling full for longer than carbs. By building your meals around protein you set
your internal environment to “fat burn” and away from “fat storage” so make sure that
the first thing you put on your plate is a good source of protein such as chicken, fish,
lean meat, eggs or any vegetarian protein source such as tofu or soya.
Protein food
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Simple fat loss rule number two – earn your carbs
Carbohydrate is your muscles’ preferred source of energy during exercise and the longer
or more intensely you work out, the more carbs your body can use. Conversely, the
more sedentary you are the less carbohydrate you need and any carbs consumed when
you don’t need them are easily converted to fat.
The best time to eat rice, bread, pasta and potatoes is one to two hours before and
immediately after exercise. If you are taking a day off from exercise then cut down on
your starchy carb intake. On the days you work out include moderate amounts of
starchy carbs in your pre and post-exercise meals.
Eating carbs outside of this window of opportunity means that there is a fuel conflict
and your body is more likely to use the carbs for energy and not your stored body fat.
Limit your carb intake when you are going to be less active and you’ll give your body no
other choice than to burn fat for fuel.
Simple fat loss rule number three – eat your veggies

If you follow tip number two, you need to make sure you follow this tip too! Cutting
back on carbs is great but you need to replace those carbs with something equally
satisfying if you are to avoid feeling hungry. Keep hunger pangs at bay by eating foods
with bulk as they cause
significant stomach
distension which makes you
feel satiated.
Most veggies (with the main

exception being potatoes)
are very low in calories so
you can eat a big pile of
them without any worry of
interfering with your weight
loss. Leafy green
vegetables, mushrooms,
zucchini, peppers, onions,
Vegetables
cabbage, kale,
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carrots...they’re all filling and healthy and major players in easy fat loss. Try to include a
variety of colours in each meal so you get a broad spectrum of healthy nutrients. See
how colourful you can make your plate!
Simple fat loss rule number four – don’t drink your calories
A typical can of regular soda contains around forty grams of sugar which works out
around one hundred and sixty calories. A blended iced coffee drink will contain even
more sugar and a lot of fat too and can contain as many as six hundred calories or more.
Many fruit juice drinks are not much better…
The thing is, even the most calorie-dense drinks do not fill you up and often actually
make you feel more hungry as they spike your blood glucose levels which then results in
a rapid increase in insulin production which can ultimately leave you feeling deflated
and craving more sugar. Save your calories for food and focus on drinking more water,
unsweetened coffee and tea.
Simple fat loss rule number five – be more active

If you are a regular exerciser and clock up three hours of exercise per week you are
already doing more than the vast majority of the population and are well on your way to
getting lean, fit and healthy. But; what
about the one hundred and sixty five
hours per week that remains? Do you
spend the majority of your time sat down
at work? Do you spend your leisure time
sat watching TV or surfing the internet?
Exercise is important for easy fat loss but
most of us don’t do enough general
physical activity to be considered anything
other than sedentary.
Your body is meant to be active for the

majority of each and every day –
something that very few of us do because
of the passivity of modern living. For easy
starvation-free fat loss you need to seek Walking
out ways to be more active every day.
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Walk instead of drive, stand instead of sit, take the stairs and not the elevator, wash
your car by hand, do some gardening, play soccer or catch with your kids…do whatever
you can to get up and get active. Adding this so-called non-exercise physical activity to
your day will ensure that you experience faster, easier weight loss.
Simple fat loss rule number six – minimize stress

Stress, be it emotional or physical, results in an increase in the production of the
hormone cortisol. Cortisol can impair fat burning, increases insulin resistance which
limits your ability to use carbohydrates for fuel and promotes fat storage, reduces
muscle mass and also suppresses anabolic hormone production. In addition, many
people are “stress eaters” and overindulge in less healthy foods which will further
compound the problems associated with elevated cortisol levels.
If you find it hard to lose weight or are showing signs of stress (inability to sleep, upset
stomach, nervousness, anxiety, misplaced anger etc) you should take steps to get a
handle on your stressors and learn some effective coping skills. Exercise is a great stress
buster and so is meditation and deep breathing but as stress is such a big and complex
topic it’s impossible to do justice to it here. Luckily, there are numerous online resources
that can tell you all about stress and how to deal with it. Just use your search engine and
you’ll find lots of stress-busting info online.
Simple fat loss rule number seven – treat but don’t cheat!
One of the common features of very restrictive diets is the so-called cheat day. The
basic premise is that you really toe the line all week, living on little more than a handful
of mung beans and a few scraps of turkey, and then, to stop you losing the will to live,
you are “allowed” to pig out at the weekend. This “strategic overeating” as it is
euphemistically called is often promoted as both a psychological and physiological
benefit as it will rev up your metabolism and also give you something to look forward to
end the end of each week.
While is true that your body will rev up to try and deal with the sudden influx of calories,
it can only work on its highest “setting” for a relatively short time. If the binge continues
for too long, your metabolism simply slows back down to normal and body fat levels
start to increase again. It is not uncommon to hear of dieters who lose five pounds in a
week only to regain six over the weekend!
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So, rather than be super-strict all week and go nuts at the weekend try having smaller
but more frequent treats if you feel deprived. This will help you avoid over indulging and
help keep your fat loss on the straight and narrow. So what constitutes a treat? Pretty
much anything that does not fall into either the weight loss or general nutrition
guidelines in this e-book. Cookies, cakes, crisps, ice cream and chocolate are all good
examples of treat foods.
Make sure you practice good portion control and do not buy bargain packs of naughty
foods with the intention of just having a little portion each day. Chances are, once you
have had a taste you’ll want more so limiting the food you actually have in your
cupboard will ensure you don’t “accidently” go on a junk food frenzy!
Treats
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To further minimize the potential damage of treating/cheating, follow these tips...
 Show some restraint! 1-2 pieces of pizza are fine. 1-2 whole pizzas are not. Don’t
cheat your way out of making any progress
 Buy your treat on the day you are going to eat it. Don’t kid yourself that you’ll
save it until Sunday when you buy it on Wednesday. We both know that, if you
have a craving, you’ll be all over that bad boy as soon as you get home from work
so avoid temptation and only buy your treat on the day you are going to eat it.
 Do some exercise before your treat. It doesn’t have to be a full workout but at
the very least get out and walk for 30 minutes before you relax your diet. This
little bit of activity will increase insulin sensitivity and hopefully result in at least
some of your cheat calories being partitioned into your muscle cells and away
from your fat cells
 Don’t cheat alone! You are a lot less likely to go overboard if you are eating with
someone else. Sitting at home alone watching TV and eating a little of what you
fancy can easily turn a well-earned treat into a cheat-fest! Also, sharing your treat
halves the calories...
 Go for quality and not quantity. The better quality the cheat, the less of it you will
need to eat to satisfy your cravings. For example, I’m pretty sure I can eat my
own weight in milk chocolate but if I eat really good quality dark chocolate, 50
grams is plenty as the flavour is so much more satisfying
To give you an idea of what a week of eating looks like, here is an example.
Remember though, this is not meant to be a diet for you to follow – it merely
illustrates how your diet COULD look if you follow the seven guidelines above.
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Breakfast Snack 1 Lunch Snack 2** Dinner Snack 3
Porridge Small pot of Open grilled Small pot Baked high Small
Monday*
made with cottage chicken salad natural meat handful

skimmed cheese, sandwich on yogurt, sausages, almonds and
milk, whey celery sticks rye bread banana mashed olives
protein shake cauliflower
Scrambled Small piece Brown, tuna Malt loaf, Grilled Beef jerky
Tuesday*
eggs, of Cheddar and mixed peanut chicken,

wholemeal cheese, 1-2 vegetable butter, glass roast mixed
toast, grilled slices of salad of milk vegetables
tomatoes turkey ham
Organic Small pot of Large grilled 2 hard boiled Turkey and 2 hard boiled
Wednesday
muesli, natural chicken eggs, small vegetable stir eggs, small

skimmed yogurt, apple salad, small handful of fry, shredded handful
milk, whey handful of olives cabbage in Brazil nuts
protein almonds place of
noodles
Grilled Whey Turkey ham Small white Grilled fish, Small piece
bacon, protein and cheese bread steamed of Cheddar
Thursday*
wholemeal shake salad chicken vegetables, cheese, 1-2

toast, grilled sandwich on sandwich, small baked slices of
mushrooms wholemeal apple sweet potato turkey ham
bread
2-3 poached Beef jerky, Tuna with Natural Turkey and Small
eggs, grilled small pear, vegetables, yogurt, soft mixed handful of
mushrooms small handful small portion fruit and vegetable Brazil nuts
Friday*
and of almonds wholemeal whey protein curry – no and small

tomatoes, pasta, olive smoothie rice handful of
wholemeal oil olives
bread
Porridge Low carb Grilled fish, Beef jerky, Beef Whey
made with protein bar steamed celery sticks bolognaise, protein
Saturday
skimmed vegetables, shredded shake

milk, whey small baked cabbage in
protein shake sweet potato place of
pasta
Healthy 2 hard boiled Lean beef Small can of Cheat Meal Beef jerky
English eggs, 2 oat and tuna, olive Chinese
breakfast: cakes, small vegetable oil, carrot takeaway, no
Sunday
bacon, handful of stir fry, no sticks rice, 1 small

sausages, olives rice or bottle of
poached noodles beer
eggs,
mushrooms
* I’ve made the assumption that you are going to exercise on these days so your carb
intake will be slightly higher to maximise the anabolic effect of insulin.** Indicates
post training snack on workout days
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9) Dos and Don’ts for Optimum Success

Getting lean and building a six-pack is not easy but this e-book contains all the
information you need to be successful. There are a few common pit-falls that are worth
avoiding and by simply adhering to the advice in this section, you’ll be at least one step
closer to your ultimate fitness and physique goal!
Do eat breakfast every day. Skipping breakfast is like missing a fat-burning opportunity.
Consuming protein on rising kicks your metabolic rate up a notch for the rest of the day
and also puts the break on catabolism. Also, if you skip breakfast, you are more likely to
eat badly mid-morning because of unscheduled hunger.
Not a breakfast person? Go with smoothies made from whey protein, soft fruit and
natural yogurt. Easy to consume, refreshing and quick to make, smoothies are the
ultimate excuse-free breakfast.
Don’t use artificial sweeteners. If you, like me, have a bit of a sweet tooth, it’s very
likely that you will consider using artificial sweeteners like aspartame and nutri-sweet so
you can indulge your cravings for sweets without ingesting calories. The problem is,
artificial sweeteners are so good that they end up tricking more than your taste buds
and can actually cause an insulin response, just like you are eating real sugar. Insulin
suppresses fat burning and needs to be kept low except after training when we want to
harness its anabolic power. Save the sweets for treat day and stay away from both sugar
and artificial sweeteners the rest of the time. Like most artificial additives, chemicals
such as aspartame may not be very good for you so steer away from ingredients that
you can’t pronounce.
Do eat the rainbow. When selecting your fruit and vegetables, try to eat as many
different colours of food as you can – providing they are naturally coloured that is! By
eating a wide variety of colours, you are much more likely to get a variety of the
essential nutrients that are vital to your health. Make your plate look like a set of traffic
lights or, better still, a rainbow and you can be safe in the knowledge that you have all
your vitamin and mineral bases covered.
Don’t shop on an empty stomach. Hunting and gathering is hard-wired into your brain.
If you are hungry and then head out to do your weekly grocery shopping, chances are
you will come home with a whole bunch of food you really shouldn’t have bought –
most likely, lots of simple sugary carbs. Only go shopping after you have eaten properly
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and your blood glucose levels are nice and stable. And remember, no buying your treat
meal in advance. If it’s in your cupboard ahead of your scheduled treat day than you are
much more likely to eat it. Possession is nine-tenths of the law or so they say! If you
have it, you’re gonna eat it.
Do get a significant other on board. If you live alone, following a strict eating plan isn’t
as bad as you only have to prepare and eat your own food. If, however, you share your
home, preparing and then eating food that is different to the other members of your
household can be hard. I strongly suggest asking your partner to follow this plan with
you (they could do with losing a few pounds anyway but don’t tell them I said so!) so
you don’t have to sit opposite someone eating the sorts of foods you are trying to avoid.
Don’t leave home without healthy food. So, you are in a rush and need to get to work
in a hurry. You say to yourself “it’s okay – I’ll pick up a big salad from the cafe at work”
but dollars to donuts, the last salad will have just been sold and you’ll be left with a pie
and some greasy chips for lunch. Avoid nutritional disasters like this by always preparing
food in advance. I tend to pack my food the night before so I know that even if I am in a
rush in the morning, I don’t have to worry about the food I’ll need. Buy yourself an
insulated food bag and leave it in the fridge overnight. That way your food will be nicely
chilled and be fresh and yummy when you eat it the following day. I tend to make my
meals as I’m making my dinner – I’m in the kitchen anyway after all.
Do make a shopping list. I really enjoy wandering the isles of my local supermarket
looking for new and interesting things to eat. It’s my little bit of retail therapy! This is
fine when I’m not eating strictly but when it’s time to knuckle down for my annual get-
lean project, this can lead to all sorts of unwanted items making it into my shopping
trolley. When you are eating for leanness, it’s essential you stick to the meat, vegetables
and fruit sections of the supermarket and stay away from the isles where the biscuits
and cakes roam freely. They are just waiting to leap into your shopping basket and undo
your best efforts to build your six-pack. Plan your weeks meals in advance, only
purchase what you need and then get the heck out of Dodge before you end up buying
something that will add inches to your waistline.
Don’t miss meals. It might be tempting to skip a few meals in an effort to speed up your
fat loss but while this might seem logical, it can really upset your progress. Skipping a
meal can result in increased hunger levels so that, when you next eat, you end up
consuming more than you have actually saved. Also, skipping meals may lead to
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triggering the starvation response and you know how detrimental that is to your
progress. Eat between four and six meals a day and remember that the more frequently
you eat, the more often you give your metabolism a little bump. Keep the fat-burning
fires burning hotter with smaller, frequent meals.
Do get enough sleep. Sleep is when your body goes through its growth and repair
processes which are essential for fat loss and raising your metabolism. Also, too little
sleep tends to encourage carb cravings as you seek alternative forms of energy when
you are tired. Get at least seven to eight hours per night and you will promote
anabolism, limit catabolism and prime your body for muscle building and fat burning.
Too little sleep can result in increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol which is
partly responsible for muscle breakdown. Don’t give mean old cortisol a look-in. Get
plenty of sleep and all your bodily functions will improve.
Don’t be afraid of repetition. If you find a really good meal that is easy to prepare, you
enjoy and meets the criteria of this plan, don’t be afraid to eat it a few times a week. By
eliminating choice, you increase you likelihood of diet compliance significantly. That
doesn’t mean that you can eat the same thing 42 times a week but certainly consuming
the same meal three or four times a week is fine. Unless you are a culinary genius
and/or have unlimited time for food shopping and preparation, you will probably find
that it’s so much easier to stick with your diet if you consume the same meals a few
times a week. It just makes things easy. My go to fat loss meal is oven roasted
vegetables (tomatoes, onions, peppers, courgettes), grilled chicken and olive oil
dressing. Very easy, filling, tasty and a real no-brainer!
Do plan your menu in advance. Leading on from the point above, by planning your
menu in advance, you are much more likely to adhere to your diet. If you get home, feel
hungry, and don’t really know what you are going to eat, you are much more likely to
choose the easy option of knocking up some high carb pasta based meal that will take
you a step away from your ultimate leanness goal and not towards it. Take an hour or so
to plan your weekly menu, build your shopping list around it and then see how much of
the food you can actually prepare in advance. One of the reasons so many diets fail is
that they don’t encourage structure and have such a scatter-gun approach that you
never get into any kind of routine. When eating for fat loss, repetition is your friend.
Don’t snack while watching TV. I love a bit of TV before I hit the hay but I also know just
how easy it is to lose track of how many snacks you have consumed while you are zoned
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out in front of the box. On a very low level, watching TV is like hypnosis and while you
are embroiled in the comings and goings on Coronation Street, it’s all too easy for your
hands to keep shoving food in your mouth without realising just how much you have
eaten. Try to eat your meals at a table and take your time to savour each and every bite.
Give the food time to register at the hunger centres of your brain by being aware of
what you are eating. Eating while distracted is an easy way to overeat so avoid this if
you can. If you must snack while watching TV, choose low calorie options like raw
vegetable crudités.
Do stick with it. No plan will work if you don’t stick with it. Commit to the exercise and
nutritional plans detail in this e-book and you WILL improve your health, fitness and
appearance. There will be times where things get hard and you get disheartened but
remember, this is just 12-weeks of your life – YOU CAN DO IT! Knuckle down for three
months and you will be amazed at how you can transform your body and remember, as
great (no, brilliant!) as this plan is, it’ll only work if you stick with it.
Good luck – and here’s to your new six-pack abs!
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10) About the Author

Born in Bristol, England, in 1968, Patrick Dale realized at a very early age that sports and
fitness was "his thing" and has devoted almost all of his life to these pursuits.
After studying physical education in college, Patrick began working as a gym instructor
and aerobics class teacher before quickly progressing to facility management. He was
soon personal training a select group of clients before Personal Training became a
recognized job title.
He took a five year break from the Health & Fitness industry to join the Royal Marine
Commandos - one of the most elite fighting forces in the world. The Marines have a
reputation for "training hard and fighting easy" and Patrick's high level of fitness was
tested to the extreme during his service. Patrick saw active duty in many parts of the
world including Northern Ireland.
Patrick left the Marines to resume his Health & Fitness career first as a fitness manager
and then he began teaching other people how to become personal trainers and gym
instructors. He now has his own training company in Cyprus called Solar Fitness
Qualifications which provides professional certification courses for those wishing to
follow in his footsteps in to the rewarding industry of Health & Fitness.
As an enthusiastic sportsman, Patrick has been involved with and competed in a wide
variety of activities including athletics, rugby, rock climbing, weightlifting, bodybuilding,
triathlon, martial arts, trampolining and gymnastics; he has recently competed in his
first powerlifting competition.
His main areas of professional interests are strength and conditioning for improved
sports performance, nutrition, fitness psychology and weight management as well as
family health and fitness - an area he is very passionate about promoting. Believing that
prevention is better than cure, he wants to help people of all ages to get the benefits of
a healthy lifestyle and reduce their risk of the common chronic diseases associated with
poor nutrition and inactivity. Patrick has written three books – Military Fitness Training,
Live Long, Live Long and No Gym? No Problem! The Home Workout Bible which are
available from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Patrick-
dale/e/B00B5HPLRO/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3?qid=1390912860&sr=1-3&tag=csxabweb-21
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When he isn’t researching and writing health & fitness related articles for various
international magazines, lecturing, or writing books, Patrick enjoys spending his free
time reading fiction, taking photographs, watching movies, cooking, walking his three
great Danes and making the most of the sunny climate of Cyprus. He can be contacted
at patrickdale.militaryfitness@hotmail.com
Patrick
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Available from Amazon UK:

25% Off Discount Offer for our CSX Dual Ab Roller

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Six-pack abs have more than just simple genetic

There is more to the health of your midsection

Finally, it is important to remember that your abdominal muscles actually initiate or

2) Anatomy and Functionality

What is the core?

The deep layer

The middle layer

Congratulations! You are now braced and

Muscles of the inner unit

The outer layer

Concentric Contractions – a concentric contraction occurs when your muscles shorten

Eccentric Contractions – an eccentric contraction occurs when your muscles lengthen

Isometric Contractions – if concentric contractions involve muscles shortening and

Whenever you exercise, your muscles will be producing force concentrically,

3) Considerations, Myths and Mistakes of Core

Overload – overload means challenging your body. No overload means no adaptations

Individuality – each one of us is different—different blood groups, height, weight, eye

3. No progression – using your ab wheel for five-minutes three-times a week is a good

4) How to Use Your Ab Roller

General plank performance tips

Standing ab wheel rollouts

5) Introductory Programme – Mastering Your Ab

Day 1 e.g. Monday Day 2 e.g. Wednesday Day 3 e.g. Friday

1. Standing calf stretch

6) Fat Burning Workouts

3 x 50 meters at RPE 8 – walk back recovery

2. 5/10/15/20 AMLAP circuit

3. 10-1 burpee plus 50 jump rope turns descending pyramid

5. Double under challenge

1. Skipping – knee lift sprints. As described above

4. Squats – as described above.

So your workout will look like this:

1. Press ups – as described above. Do kneeling or full press ups as appropriate.

Totals 80 press ups/160 squats

10. Out and Back

7) 12 Week Six-Pack Abs Workout (combining the

Skydivers – 3 sets of 30 seconds

Side plank – 3 sets of 30 seconds per side

Supine hip bridge – 3 sets of 30 seconds

Crunches with a twist – 3 sets of 10 repetitions per side

Good mornings – 3 sets of 15-repetitions

Flutter kicks – 3 sets of 30 seconds

Floor angels – 3 sets of 40 seconds

Single leg Romanian deadlifts – 3 sets of 10 each leg

Single leg Romanian deadlifts

Cossack hip bridges – 3 sets of 12-repetitions per leg

Negative crunches – 3 sets of 5 repetitions

Reverse hyperextensions – 3 sets of 15 repetitions

Reverse crunches 3 sets of 20 repetitions

Romanian deadlift – 3 sets of 15-repetitions

Boat pose – 3 sets of 40 seconds

Feet elevated supine hip lifts – 3 sets of 15-repetitions

Cossack Plank – 3 sets of 40 seconds

8) Eating for Six-Pack Abs

What is a fad diet?

 Promise amazing fat loss results in very short time frames

No need to starve yourself to lose weight...