Tip Try This Gut-Punch of an Ab Exercise Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip Try This Gut-Punch of an Ab Exercise This ab exercise will make you feel like you just got a fist in your breadbasket but it' ll really build your abs by TC Luoma December 31, 2017March 11, 2022 Tags Abs, Tips, Training The Smith machine and the BOSU ball are horrible. One's a squat rack with training wheels. The other is a useless, pneumatic pimple on the face of the gym floor, just begging for me to lance it with a pocket knife. So maybe you can imagine my revulsion when I saw Brianna Alexander, a Bret Contreras butt protege (shown in the video), using both of them to work her abs. She was lying flat on her back on top of the BOSU and gripping the Smith machine bar like she was going to do a weird, hyper-extended bench press, only she was using it to do partial-range ab contractions. Granted, the Smith machine in the video is one of the new-fangled ones that lets you move in two planes of motion – up and down and back and forth – but this movement works equally well in a conventional Smith machine. Intrigued, I waited for her to finish and move on to another area of the gym so I could try it out. I also didn't want anyone to see me using these two stupid pieces of equipment. Surprisingly, it felt... good. The movement targeted the rectus abdominis perfectly. I pushed out 10 reps, with no additional weight on the bar, stood up, and then doubled over in pain. I felt like I'd been punched. That, or eaten a really bad bowl of chili from a street vendor's hygiene-challenged cart. That's how bad the cramps were. No ab exercise had ever hit me like that. I was in love, in love with the BOSU ball and the Smith machine. Can a Hallmark unconventional-love story movie be far behind? The movement, which I've coined "Smith machine BOSU ab crunches," is a lot like the movement T Nation contributor John Rusin described here: Partial Pulses. While you may or may not cramp up, this is a five-star ab exercise. Just remember the following points: Position the small of your back over the center of the BOSU ball and "wrap" your spine around it. Grab the bar with your arms perpendicular to the ground. Keep your elbows locked. Start the movement by "curling the spine" upwards as far as your range of motion will allow. Make sure not to protract your shoulders as you curl up in an effort to raise the bar higher (remember, it's an ab movement, not a chest or shoulder movement). Reverse the movement until you're flat on the BOSU. Pause a second before starting the next rep. Do a number of reps that's concurrent with your current ab training. Try it first without any additional weight, and then load up as necessary. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Training Advice for Generation Ent You're punks. All of ya'. All of ya' under 25 or so, that is. Mike Mahler calls you "Generation Ent," for Entertainment, meaning you need to be constantly entertained. Well stand by to be entertained, in a manner of speaking. Training Mike Mahler July 21 Training Tip 5 New-to-You Exercises for Legs & Glutes Single-leg work in this plane is missing from most workout plans. Don't leave it out of yours. Here's what to do. Training Jason Brown October 25 Training Tip Hip Thrust Progressions The hip thrust is one of the best glute-builders around, and there are many variations of it. Here's how to progress them right. Exercise Coaching, Glutes, Tips Nick Tumminello December 1 Training The Best of the Guest 3 Q and A with Charles Staley Training T Nation May 30