Your first bodybuilding contest is just a month away! You’ve been dieting, training, sleeping, supplementing, and everything else necessary to bring your body in at an extremely low body fat level, without sacrificing any muscle. While your body fat has been getting lower, and your muscles and veins have been emerging all over the body, you’ve noticed your abdominals just aren’t coming out the way you’d prefer. You may subscribe to the newsletter of thought which says abdominals shouldn’t be trained year-round. If you suffer from a wider midsection due to hip structure or if you use insulin or growth hormone, then this is a very valid training protocol. You would only want to hit the midsection immediately before a show so thick sheets of muscle do not grow all year, throwing off your symmetry. Well, that time has arrived and it is finally time to hit those abs. You only have four weeks, however. What steps should you take?

High rep training

You haven’t trained the abs in maybe eleven months (since your last competitive outing) so time is of the essence. Every workout matters, and every set matters. You need to bring a great deal of blood into the midsection in a very short amount of time. High repetition training will do that! Your crunches, leg raises, and Roman chair crunches should be in the 25 to 50 repetition range. This will be very painful in the beginning, but you will adapt very quickly!

Integrated sets

Training abs alone can be cumbersome and cut into time which is already limited in your pre-contest lifestyle. For this reason, you may want to consider combining your abdominal training with your larger muscle group training. Every set of bench press should be followed with a set of crunches. Each set of deadlifts can immediately be followed with lying leg raises. You should be collapsing to the floor anyway! This version of super-setting will keep the abs pumped for a full 30 to 45 minutes, and will help to save you valuable training time.

Avoid weighted reps

The use of any weight with abdominal exercise, particularly when you are using AAS, can lead to a thickened midsection very quickly. Remember that “big’ abs aren’t your goal. You want your midsection to be as compact and manageable as possible. Keep the weight minimal, reps high, and your shape will arrive quickly!

Preparation-H on game day

Your abs should be looking fine by game day, if you stick to the program and keep your diet and cardio in check as well. Here is an additional tip which can make your midsection look even better onstage. If you have hemorrhoids, then you already know the magic that the over the counter cream Preparation-H delivers in terms of drawing water out of an area. Many bodybuilders apply it to the midsection immediately before walking onstage. This cream will make the abdominals cut through the skin better for 30 to 45 minutes – just long enough to dazzle the judges with your complete, dry midsection!

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