♠KC ACES♠
Kerosene Cowboy AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE EXCEPTIONAL SPORTSWRITER
One part of my warm ups exercises after my Yoga segment is to work on my AB’s Muscles to prevent back issues and stay in shape for my modeling at age 68. Below was a photograph take last November of 2024 a photoshoot we did for my ACE Cockpit apparel & Gear:
Toning and Shaping Your Abs for Summer– The eyes, skin, & hair draws people’s attention; but the Abs are what impresses people of your fitness. In TOP GUN in the Volleyball or Dog Fighting Football scenes on the beach shows Tom Cruise’s Abs at age 57.
Six Exercises for Six Packs Abs
If there is one of the four areas that draws the most attention, it is the abdominal area, especially with spring and summer approaching. If you seen TOPGUN MAVERICK in the beach scene, you understand why I believe the waistline, our abdominal muscles, might just edge out the eyes, skin, and our hair. I was seated behind two older ladies in their mid 60’s during the showing of TOPGUN: MAVERICK movie when Tom Cruise appeared shirtless at age 59 was playing Dog Fight Football on the beach with his cast of 30 somethings; one of ladies remarked “Damn, Tom is in great shape.”
These abdominal muscles are much more than just for looks, but especially important for your health and wellbeing. Our abdominal muscles are our core muscles that provide for our athletic performance, balance, and posture. Strong abdominal muscles for posture provide us with the ability to avoid back problems and ability to enjoy an active lifestyle even in our 60’s or older.
You might not be in your mid-20’s or 30’s any longer, but you will depend on your abdominal muscles even more in your mid- 50’s, 60’s, and older. I still work in my hangar, in my welding shop, and on my farm where I have to have strong abdominal muscles. I work out 6- days per week in order to maintain my active schedule and my Ab muscles; especially since I model my aviation apparel & gear with women in their mid-20’s.
The Main Attraction are Your Abs
The abdominal muscles are what really draws people’s attention the most where the focus is on the rectus abdominis muscles, referred to as the Abs muscles, or where the name six-pack comes from. While we might not be able to achieve what an athlete or model have achieved, we can still strengthen these important abdominal muscles with six simple cardio-calisthenics that anyone can perform to some degree. The key is to do what you can with the range of motion and slowly increase the range of motion.
To be able to achieve a six packs ABS, men need to have body fat below 10– percent while women needs to have body fat below 15– percent. These six pack exercises are considered cardio-calisthenics exercises, where no equipment or weights are required, to work the core muscles as labeled above in the two photograph.
I perform these six exercises just after my yoga workout and before my strength and aerobic training for 60- minutes 6 day per week.
1. Flat Bench Leg Lifts I perform 3 sets of 15- reps between my bench presses to give my arms and shoulder muscles a rest before I perform all of my 2 or 3 sets of 15- reps while hold to the back of the bench. I perform Leg Lifts between my bench presses using dumbbells. I recommend dumbbells for all strength training, because you can drop the dumbbells if you get into a bind. Another option is elastic tubing that comes in a verity of resistance.
2. Flutter Kicks While still lying on the bench I raise my legs 12- inches up above the bench and act like I’m walking with a fast pace. I perform one- minute Flutter Kicks that will be approximately 30 reps.
3. Ankle Grabs & Knee Tuck Still lying on the bench, raise and bend at the knees up and raise the torso up to grab your ankles with both hands. At first you might NOT be able to grab your ankles with your knees tuck against your chest, but try to grab your knee caps and try to tuck your knees as much as you can. You got to start from what you can do in all six Abs exercises. Perform 2 or 3 sets of 15 reps.
4. Reverse Crunches Still lying on the bench, bend your knees to form a ‘A’ shape in the resting position then raise the knees toward your nose trying to tuck your upper legs to your Abs or come within 12- inches of your nose. Perform 2 or 3 sets of 15 reps.
5. Bicycle Crunches From a seated position raise your legs to chin level and bend one knee up at a time toward the mid-section of your torso. At first just try to go as far as you can raising your your knees up like riding a bicycle. As you get more proficient at the Bicycle Crunch, try to sitting on a bench and raise your torso and one knee at a time up like peddling a bicycle with your fingers interlock behind your head. Perform 2 or 3 sets of 15 complete reps.
6. Russia Twist Two options can be used, with or without a Medicine Ball. If you chose to not use a Medicine Ball, then just cross your arms over your crest like you see in creature features movies where mummies has their arms cross over their chest. The other option is to use a Medicine Ball holding it against your chest with both hands. Perform 2 or 3 sets of 15 complete reps.
