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How to Get A Six Pack

You want a Britney Belly or a Stallone Six-Pack but you're already crunching till you puke and that rock-hard belly is stubbornly refusing to show. How do you make that difference?

Abs, as they say, are made in the kitchen, not in the gym. Which is largely true - for most of us the problem with getting a muscular midriff is not the muscles, it's the layer of fat sitting on top of them and spoiling the view.

That said, what if you succeed in burning away that fat only to find that the muscles underneath are more washout than washboard? Most gym goers who've been watching their navels are already familiar with, and heartily sick of, the crunch, so what else is there to work the abs? Time for the torture apparatus.

ROMAN WHAT?

Roman chairs come in a variety of shapes but they all look distinctly uncomfortable and have two basic features in common. The first is a padded bar to tuck your lower legs under, and the second is a larger pad to take the weight of your lower body (bum or groin, depending which way up you're facing). There may be other bits and bobs to the chair in your gym - it may be at a 45 degree angle, or have handles, or a flat foot-plate, but these are mere frills and frippery.

NOW WHAT DO I DO?

There are two basic ways of using the chair: face down, which gives you a great back hyperextension (and an unrivalled view of the floor), and face up, which also gives you a great back hyperextension (and an unrivalled view of the ceiling).

Notice that word 'hyperextension'. The point of the Roman chair is that it makes your muscles work through a wider range of movement than usual, and if you have a weak back this could be dangerous. If in doubt, take professional advice.

Make sure you're nicely warmed up and then assume the position. Lie face down, with the backs of your calves tucked under the padded bar, your elbows bent and your hands on your ears. Now smoothly bend your body forwards and extend your shoulders down towards the floor. Equally smoothly bring your body back to horizontal, and then arch upwards so you are lifting your shoulders and chest high off the horizontal. This will work your back muscles but you will also quickly realise that you have to tense your stomach muscles (and your buttocks) to maintain the position. That's a rep. Try ten to twelve more. Crunch fanatics looking to add a little more zest to their routine can also flip the other way up, and lock their feet under the bar with their bum on the pad. Now crunch as normal. The difference is that because there's no floor under your back you have to keep tense all the time with no respite.

For killer obliques turn sideways on the chair and extend down and up. Don't attempt the same range of movement as you would face down as you won't make it and it will be very intense.

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