Any true fitness expert will tell you, that when it comes to getting rid of excess body fat, there is no such thing as spot-reducing. That is you can’t just focus on losing weight from one specific area of your body. When you lose weight, it is going to occur everywhere you have a little extra fat. However, you can still target specific muscles groups in order to develop more strength and definition.

Get the quintessential 6-pack
When you see someone like Laird who has the quintessential “6-pack”, it’s the result of an excellent nutrition plan, as well as a fitness program that has allowed him to develop tremendous core strength. The separation you see between Laird’s abdominal muscles (or anyone who has a “six-pack”), is the combination of low body fat and a strong abdomen. The bigger and stronger your stomach muscles are (when combined with low body-fat), the greater your definition.

Eat properly as well as routinely exercise your abdominal muscles
So if one of your fitness goals is to have a strong and lean midsection, you need to eat properly as well as routinely exercise your abdominal muscles. Of course he recommends that you should always try to do a full body workout, however it is ok to incorporate a high intensity abdominal routine if strengthening your core is a personal goal.

9-set & 90-rep abdominal routine
Laird has his own version of the ultimate abdominal workout, which I can tell you first hand will get your midsection burning.  Try incorporating the following 9-set & 90-rep abdominal routine into your workouts 3 times per week for a full month, and see what it does to your core strength and definition. It only takes a few additional minutes per workout, and you’ll start to feel and see the difference almost immediately. Having a strong and flexible core is one of the best things you can do to improve your sports performance, so not only will this abdominal routine help you develop a “6-pack”, but it will benefit you in most every activity you do.

Laird’s Ultimate Abdominal Workout –
Perform 9 exercises with 10 reps each. Lie on your back with your legs straight in front of you. Use your hands under the base of your spine (palms down) to support your lower back.
1) Low-v leg lifts
2) Alternating scissor kicks
3) Leg-circles
4) V-leg raises
5) Straight legged oblique reach
6) Straight legged toe touch
7) Bent knee toe ankle tap
8) Diving through abdominal crunch
9) Bicycle crunch

Maintaining core strength and flexibility that is critical to optimizing sports performance
This 9-set & 90-rep routine is quick and simple to add to any workout. You don’t need a gym or any special equipment. You should try to progress to repeating this abdominal routine multiple times in each of your functional training workouts. As the month progresses, you should shoot to complete this routine 3 times within each workout. By the end of the month, you will have substantially improved your core strength and have much greater midsection definition. Ironically, Laird doesn’t do this abdominal workout to have a “6-pack”, but to maintain the core strength and flexibility that is critical to optimizing sports performance. However, the much improved abdominal definition you can achieve is clearly an added benefit.

Written By
John Wildman