Get Ripped "6-Pack" Abs Now!

By Jamo Nezzar • Photos By Jason Mathas

Jamo Nezzar is one of the world’s leading authorities on core training for overall health, physical enhancement and improved sports performance. Core training is the latest buzzword in the fitness industry. But what is it exactly? Well the core is the abdominal musculature, hip musculature and spinal musculature…basically the body’s trunk/center area. Jamcore Training activates and stimulates the core area, which allows and enhances the transfer of power and flexibility from the upper body to lower body and vice versa. The result is better overall strength and health, injury prevention, physical enhancement and heightened sports performance.

By now, practically everyone has heard of core training. But understanding and utilizing core training is still a mystery to most people. This is not surprising since core training covers such a vast area of training techniques and exercises. That’s why I’ve developed my own customized system known as Jamcore Training. In future columns, I’ll get into more specifics of Jamcore approach, but for now let’s begin by focusing on “6-Pack” abs.

I spent my youth playing soccer, growing up in Algeria. Long before I was interested in bodybuilding I had a decent set of abs on my skinny frame. Once I began bodybuilding, my abs became a strong point of my physique. While I had the genetic predisposition for a well developed and defined mid-section, I made a concerted effort to focus consistent energy developing my abs.

Before I actually knew what core training was, I was utilizing many of the principles in my current workouts. The act of weight training, in and of itself, develops the body’s core. Almost all exercises, whether they are focused on the core specifically will strengthen the body’s core. So squats, bench presses, rows, pushdowns…practically all exercises involve the core.

That also means, as your core strength increases, your overall strength in all other exercises will increase. This translates into a more powerful body, greater muscularity and definition, plus improved athletic function. So there is a proportionate correlation between increasing core strength and improving overall performance.

Think of it this way, everyone wants to have a ripped mid-section. Well, by performing core training exercises your mid-section will become stronger, more flexible and functionally proficient…and the end result is that you also get an impressive “6-Pack”.

I’m constantly asked how I get my abs to look the way they do. Well, core training is a huge part of it. I’m 41 and am in the best shape of life. I don’t have the mass I did in my competitive days, but my conditioning has never been better.

As I mentioned before, I will delve more deeply into the aspects of core training in the future. For now, though, let’s proceed with exercises for the abs and lower back. For this we’ll be using crunches and hyperextensions. These 2 exercises are not taken from the “secret scrolls” of core training. Everyone is probably familiar with them.

However, I’d like to demonstrate how you can use these commonly known and commonly performed exercises to indoctrinate yourself into a Jamcore Training mindset. Simply going through the motions is adequate if you’re a beginner, or if you’re simply passing time in the gym as if it’s a high school P.E. class. And, honestly, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s better than watching tv and eating ice cream in your spare time.

But if you want to achieve the greatest possible physical development you are capable of, then it’s important that you shift the intellectual approach to your workouts. The first step is prioritizing Jamcore Training movements in your workouts. You must put as much emphasis on them as you do on your favorite exercises, whether bench press, curls etc…

Only when you put the same effort into core exercises will you reap the rewards you’re working so hard for. And, let me remind you, Jamcore Training has effects that extend far beyond the actual exercises themselves. There is a significant cumulative benefit that extends to every area of your physique and performance. Implementing Jamcore Training into your routine is like opening a savings account that is constantly producing dividends, over and above what you’re depositing.

As for the exercises, crunches are not really a complicated or difficult movement, yet still I rarely see them done correctly. To experience the greatest overall benefit from both a visual and core development standpoint, there are a few points to emphasize.

Lie flat on the floor, on a mat for comfort. Keep your feet flat on the floor with your knees bent, so your calves and thighs create a 90-degree angle (approximately). Place your hands behind your head, but do not grasp your head. Pulling your neck to lift your body has no positive impact on your mid-section, but will give you an excellent neck ache. So avoid that ill-advised practice. I like to simply place my fingers on the sides of my head, just above the ears. Use your abs, not momentum and your arms, to pull the body forward and upward.

Unlike the traditional situp, the crunch is a limited range movement. As such, it requires focus and concentration in order to be effective. Study the photos of Julien Greaux and me illustrating these exercises. You’ll notice, our backs are not moving very high off the ground as we crunch upward. Understanding the movement by observing it, then feeling it when you do it, will get you on your way to impeccable form.

Putting your arms and elbows back is simply to get into the proper position to begin the crunch. With the arms in place and your back flat on the floor, you then lift your back off the mat by flexing and squeezing your abs so that your back rounds. Rather than thinking of trying to simply crunch your mid-section, think of trying to lift your back off the floor while lifting your chest to the ceiling. Of course, this is visualization, but it’s an important part.

Rep speed should be slow and deliberate. After starting each rep, you want to pause and hold for 1 full second at the top of each rep before slowly lowering your torso back to the mat in a completely controlled manner.

A variation of the standard crunch is the twisting crunch. Instead of just raising the body straight up, as you lift the torso upward you attempt to touch your right elbow to your left knee, which results in focused strain on the left side of the abs. After slowly lowering to the start position, you alternate and now attempt to touch the left elbow to the right knee. Of course, the elbows don’t actually touch the knee, but that type of visualization helps align the body properly to maximize the effectiveness of the movement.

You may be accustomed to doing abs like a jackrabbit on crack, but that inefficient system must become a thing of the past. The movement should be methodical and almost machine-like. The upward lift and the downward descent should each take about 1-2 seconds, with a 1 second pause at the top, as I previously mentioned. Your mind should initially be focused on squeezing the abdominal muscles (since this is a core movement, surrounding and stabilizing muscles will be recruited as a necessity and added benefit).

It may take a few reps, or even a few workouts for you to truly understand and process this new approach to crunches, but have faith that it will work. Not just because it will, but because it will make sense to you in ways that you can consciously (and instinctively) implement into all other areas of your training.

Of course crunches primarily focus on the abs, but the core is not a 1-dimesional area. It would be a mistake to neglect the area behind the abs, namely the lower back. Abdominal strength and lower back strength work synergistically. That means as the abs increase in strength, the lower back needs to be stimulated to the same degree to maintain core balance. And as the lower back and abs are continuously stimulated there is a momentum built up which will eventually speed the overall development of both without the expected increase in the amount of effort. That means you get more bang for your buck.

	JAMCORE TRAINING: Abs / Lower Back Routine
	Beginner Crunches 2-3 sets x 10-15 reps Hyperextensions 2-3 sets x 8-10 reps
	Intermediate Crunches 3-4 sets x 15 reps Hyperextensions 3-4 sets x 12 reps
	Advanced Crunches 2 sets x 25 reps Hyperextensions 2 sets x 20 reps
	Followed by 2 Supersets x 20 reps Twisting Crunches with Hyperextensions
Rest period between sets should be limited to 15-30 seconds. If your form is compromised, then it’s acceptable to increase the rest period until you are able to maintain strict form with short intervals between sets. For supersets, move immediately from crunches to hyperextensions with no rest between exercises or supersets.

Like crunches, hyperextensions are fairly simple, but are butchered by people in gyms all over the world…even by people who have impressive physiques, some personal trainers instructing clients, but especially by neophytes (beginners) trying to blindly feel their way by mimicking the form of people in the gym (usually doing things all wrong).

Grab the handles for balance and secure yourself on the footplate with your lower legs locked in place on the pads of a 45-degree hyperextension machine. Now place your hands on your head (with your fingers on the sides of your head, just above your ears, as was the form with crunches) and raise your torso with a straight (or slightly arched) back until your torso is parallel with your legs. It’s not necessary to raise any higher than that. Once at the top, slowly lower your torso, with a straight back, until you create a 45-degree angle with your legs.

Once again it’s critical to keep a slow, steady, controlled rep speed on the positive and negative portions of the rep. Don’t flail your torso around like a cobra being lifted by the tail. The lower back is an area that can be developed into a very powerful muscle center, but care needs to be taken when beginning that journey. For longevity and maximized productivity, that approach should be maintained even as strength and power increase.

Core training is an all-encompassing approach to strength, fitness, athleticism and overall well-being. But, for now I’ve given you an example of how 2 exercises can be utilized JamCore style to simultaneously develop a “6-Pack” and greatly improve core strength for overall enhancement of body function.