Six Pack Abs Blog

Ever heard of Pavel Tsatsouline? Pavel’s a former physical training instructor for the Soviet Special Forces and he has been spreading the unique training methods of the USSR into the US since 1998. He’s written 15 books (mostly on strength training) and has worked with the US Marine Corps, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and the US Secret Service.

Luckily for us, he’s also written a book on abs training, titled Bullet-Proof Abs. With his publisher’s permission, I am thrilled to reproduce one of his best tricks: the scissor sit-up.

Scissor sit-up

Try an experiment. Sit in a chair with your hands on your knees and flex your abs as hard as possible. (Fig. 37)

Now put your fists inside your knees and do the same while squeezing your fists hard with your knees. (Fig. 38) You will see that your abs contract much stronger when you are trying to close your legs. Martial artists have been taking advantage of this phenomenon for centuries with strong stances like Okinawan karate’s sanchin-dachi.

This neat phenomenon, later rediscovered by the East Germans, enables us to design a state of the art situp.

Lie down on a bench with your knees bent to relieve your back. (Fig. 39) Follow every direction given for the regular situps, plus pinch the bench with your knees. Keep the muscles surrounding your knees tight.

Can you feel your abs contract harder when you pinch the bench? In my abs programs, I use this trick with the squeeze crunch, where you squeeze a stability ball between your knees while your crunch.

For more Russian secrets for six pack abs, check out Pavel Tsatsouline’s book, Bullet-Proof Abs. For a free (32-page PDF) course on super-strong abs by Pavel, head over to this page and enter your first name and email address in the form to your right.

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