- What's up? It's Chris Heria.
Welcome to another vlog.
Today, I'm gonna be showing you the 10 levels
of ab exercises starting with the easiest exercise
that anybody can do
and progressing all the way to the hardest level.
Now there's hundreds of exercises for your abdominals,
all which could be categorized into 10 levels of difficulty.
So I've chosen one exercise for each level
and for each level that you're able to pass,
you would have unlocked the strength required
to be able to do all the other exercises at that level.
As each level progressively gets harder,
you'll wanna use all the previous progressions and levels
to be able to build your strength
to help you achieve the next coming level.
So for example, if you're stuck on level five,
you would use level four, three, two, and one
to help you get to level six.
So if you're ready to get started
and to properly follow along with this routine,
make sure you've downloaded the Heria Pro app
in the App Store or Google Play Store,
open up to the YouTube workout section,
and you're gonna find this workout.
And now we're ready to get started with the first exercise
which is the easiest exercise and progression
to start working on your abs
that absolutely anybody can do.
That's gonna be laying legs down hold.
So I'm gonna get down on the ground,
show you what it looks like and I want you to follow along.
Let's go for it.
(upbeat music)
We're gonna start laying down,
put our hands underneath our glutes,
and put our legs straight out.
Squeeze your core.
Keep your legs as straight as you can,
pointing your toes and keeping your ankles tight together.
Also, when holding this exercise,
you wanna keep your head off the ground,
and that's also gonna help you
engage more of your abdominals.
All right, so there we have the very first exercise
that absolutely anybody can do
to start getting into abdominal workouts.
Building strength in your abs and working on your six-pack.
Now this exercise is great for absolutely anybody
to get right into because it doesn't take
any prior fitness experience, equipment,
or any weights, nothing like that.
You can just get right into it.
And although this is a beginner friendly exercise,
it's very effective in keeping your core constantly engaged
which increases how long you're engaging your abdominal
for the time under tension
and it's a great way for building strength in your abs.
If you could do this exercise,
then you should have the strength
to be able to do other exercises at level one,
like plank and hold.
So to know one you're ready to move on to level two,
you wanna be able to hold this exercise
with perfect form for at least 30 seconds.
And now we're ready to increase the difficulty,
take it to level two.
You're gonna be going for laying leg flutters.
Let's go for it.
Again, same position, hands under our glutes.
Legs straight, keeping your core tight.
Head off the ground, toes pointed.
You wanna bring one leg up just as high as you can,
and then switch.
When you're first starting off with this exercise,
you can do little leg flutters.
And of course, the better you get at it,
the more abdominal strength you acquire,
you can do bigger leg flutters
and these are gonna be a lot more effective.
All right, there we have level two.
And what makes the leg flutters a step higher
than the legs down hold is adding the motion in your legs
as you come up and down.
This is gonna increase the resistance
but also the contractions in your abdominals
as you bring your legs up and down,
while still maintaining constant engagement in your core.
Now you wanna be able to do these
at least 30 seconds with perfect form,
and if you're able to do that,
then you'll have developed the strength
to be able to do other exercises at level two
like Russian twists and bicycles.
Now moving on to level three,
we're gonna get into crucifix.
Let me show you what that looks like.
We're gonna make the shape of a cross,
touch your ankles and come right back out,
arms straight, legs straight.
All right, so there we have crucifix.
Now we're taking us a step further
by engaging our lower body
as well as our upper body to complete a repetition.
And doing this is gonna engage your lower
and upper abdominals a lot more effectively.
Now if you're at this level,
you should have the strength
to be able to do other exercises like laying leg raises,
laying knee raises and sit-ups.
You wanna be able to do at least 15 consecutive crucifixes
with perfect form
before being able to move on to level four.
Now level four, we have hanging knee raises
and now we're gonna start introducing
hanging abdominal exercises
which although may be more difficult
to perform from hanging position,
it introduces new angles and positions
as well as applies more body weight onto your abdominals,
increasing the overload and helping you to strengthen
and sculpt them even more.
So I'm gonna go for 10 hanging knee raises
and show you what it looks like.
For this exercise,
you wanna have a very tight grip on the bar
and you wanna be leaning back and engaging your abdominals
before you even start your very first repetition.
You should not be swinging
and your legs should be straight and tight together
with your toes pointed down.
Once you're in a solid position,
you're gonna go ahead and bring your knees up
to a 90-degree angle and bring them right back down
to starting position to complete one repetition.
All right, there we have hanging knee raises.
Now if you find yourself swinging during this exercise,
you need to have a stronger grip,
squeezing the bar harder, engaging your core,
and you can also try going slower at the beginning
which will reduce your momentum as well.
Also if you're just getting started,
you can tap the ground with your feet together
to eliminate any extra momentum
that you may have after each rep.
Now if you've mastered this exercise
then you should have the strength
to be able to do other exercises at this level
like hanging corner raises and bar crunches.
And to make sure
that you've mastered the hanging knee raises,
you wanna be able to do at least 12 in a row
with perfect form before moving on to level five.
And of course, if you're having trouble with this,
you should also be training the previous progressions
like level three, two, and level one.
That's gonna help you solidify your abdominal strength
to be able to move on to the next level.
So if you're ready to move on,
let's get into level five.
That's gonna be jack knife.
I'm gonna go for 10 reps, show you what it looks like.
So you can see I started off
with legs down hold like the first level,
hands all the way to the back.
(indistinct)
Now this is gonna be more demanding
than the hanging knee raises.
We have a wider range of motion
using our lower and our upper body
which fires up all the muscles in our abdominals
from your upper lower abdominals and your obliques.
If you're having trouble sculpting your abs,
you definitely wanna incorporate this exercise
to make sure that you're engaging all the areas
within your abdominals.
All right, there we have the jack knife,
If you could do this exercise,
then you should have the strength
to be able to do other exercise at this level
like toe touches and chair sit-ups.
Now you wanna be able to do at least 10 jack knives
with perfect form consecutively
to be able to move on to level six.
And for level six, we're going back on the bar
with hanging leg raises.
So I'm gonna go ahead and do 10 reps,
show you what it looks like.
You wanna have a solid grip in your hands,
the least amount of momentum as possible,
squeezing your abdominals
and keeping your legs straight, tight together
and pointing your toes.
You wanna be able to raise your legs
maintaining a straight line all the way up
to at least a 90-degree angle and then right back down.
And if you're just getting started,
you can always tap the ground
to eliminate any extra momentum you may have.
All right, there we have hanging leg raises.
Similar to the hanging knee raises
but making it a lot more difficult
because our legs aren't fully extended
as we bring them up,
increasing the overload and the resistance for abdominals
to be able to complete the repetition.
Now if you're able to master this level of an exercise,
then you should have the strength
to be able to do other exercises at this level
like L-sit kicks and hanging alternating leg raises.
Now, before moving on to the next level,
you wanna make sure that you can do
at least 10 leg raises with perfect form consecutively.
And if you can, then you're ready for level seven,
that's gonna be an L-sit hold.
So I'm gonna go ahead hold an L-sit
and show you what it looks like.
This is an isometric exercise meaning
that you're gonna be holding this exercise for a time,
giving you a constant engagement in your abdominals
while maintaining a heavy overload
because your legs are raised, straight out away from you.
All right, there we have the L-sit hold,
one of the best exercises for your abdominals
and a fundamental exercise
when it comes to mastering calisthenics.
This exercise can also be done hanging.
And for a full breakdown
on exactly how to start learning this exercise,
how to master it, check out my video
"Why You Can't L-sit Hold, How To Step By Step."
And in that video, I break down from the very beginning
what's the first thing that you can start doing
and work your way up step by step
to eventually mastering the L-sit.
Now once you're able to do this exercise,
then you would unlock the strength
to be able to do other exercises at this fitness level
like hanging leg flutters, hanging L-sit,
and hanging high knee raises.
Now to be able to move on to the next level,
you wanna be able to do an L-sit hold
for at least 12 seconds with perfect form.
And if you can do that, then you're ready for level eight.
And level eight, we have toes to bars.
I'm gonna go for 10 reps, show you what it looks like.
Feet tight together, toes to bar, come back down.
You're gonna need a really strong tight grip in your hands
and keep a really solid core engagement
with your abdominals.
That's why you're gonna lean back,
bring your toes to the bar
and then bring them all the way back down
in a controlled manner while squeezing your hands,
your core, your back, your glutes,
and while keeping your legs straight as possible.
All right, there we have toes to bars.
Just like the leg raises
but with a way larger range of motion,
engaging your abdominals from top to bottom.
To be able to do this exercise,
you really need to have mastered the L-sit
as well as the hanging leg raises.
Now for a full breakdown
on how to start learning this exercise
from the very beginning and progressing on step by step
to eventually mastering the toes to bar,
check out my video "Simple Exercise So Many Can't Do."
In that video, I break down this exercise
from the very beginning to have you learn step by step
to mastering it in no time.
Now before moving on to the next level,
you wanna be able to do at least 10 consecutive toes to bars
with perfect form and if you can,
you should be able to do other exercises
at the strength level like windshield wipers,
and then you're ready for level nine.
That's gonna be around the worlds.
I'm gonna go for a couple reps, show you what it looks like.
All right, there we have around the worlds.
Just like a toes to bar,
adding a rotation into this movement
and increasing the overload using half your body weight
as resistance for this exercise.
Now for this exercise,
you wanna be able to do it going both ways
to the left and to the right.
That's gonna evenly affect your abdominals.
And before moving on to level 10,
you wanna be able to do at least five of these in a row
on each side consecutively with perfect form.
And if you can do that,
then you're ready for the last level.
That's gonna be level 10.
We have single arm toes to bars.
So let me go for a couple reps on each arm
to show you what it looks like.
There we have one arm hanging toes to bar,
just like the toes to bar
but except we're putting our entire body weight
and overloading each arm with one arm toes to bar
is gonna increase the overload
for each side of your abdominals and your obliques,
making them way stronger.
If you thought toes to bars were hard,
imagine the strength you develop
when you're able to do it with one arm.
So if you've made it this far at a level 10,
then you should have acquired the strength
to be able to do the most advanced abdominal exercises
and on your way to building a solid six-pack,
and likely already have a solid six-pack,
not just looking strong, actually being strong.
And just like all the hardest calisthenics skills,
they can be even harder if you add weight to them
like with the Heria weight vest
that you can find on chrisheria.com.
Pre-order them right now, we're about to restock,
and they sell out in just a couple days,
so make sure you get it fast
and start taking your training to the next level.
And remember, to get this workout on your phone
and more workouts just like it,
getting you in the best shape of your life,
download the Heria Pro app
in the App Store or Google Play Store.
And then make sure to become a member on Heriapro.com
to get full access to all my personal workouts
and programs that I've created with specific goals in mind
like burning fat while simultaneously building solid muscle
with minimal to no equipment.
It's like having me as a personal trainer
right in your pocket.
And of course, if you enjoyed the video,
don't forget to smash that like button,
leave a comment down below,
let me know what you want the next video to be about,
and share this video with a friend
that's trying to level up their ab exercises.
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Mad love. Peace out.
(upbeat music)
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