How To Invent Exercises - Nick Nilsson Explains & More
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Nick Nilsson is an exercise entrepreneur…He invents exercises to improve his workout programs. You can learn more about Nick's exercises and training methods by clicking HERE.
CB: Nick, your unique abdominal exercise e-book is excellent. I look forward to using some of those in my workouts. How do you come up with this stuff? NN:
Glad you like the book! There are definitely some exercises in there that have never been seen before. I come up with exercises in a variety of ways. Sometimes, I take an exercise I already know (like the crunch, for instance) and I try and think of other variations and unique ways of doing it either through angles, body position or adding resistance. Sometimes, I will actually be doing a completely unrelated exercise for another bodypart and notice that I feel it in my abs a little. Then I'll take that feeling and run with it, trying to maximize the effect on the abs. I've come with quite a few like that - the bench press crunch and curl squat are two prime examples. These use almost the same form and setup as their counterpart exercises but with unique modifications to throw the majority of tension on the abs. I don't think I've found an overall tougher ab exercise than the curl squat, let me tell you, but it builds incredible core strength faster than any other exercise I've ever used. And still other times, the inspiration just comes out of nowhere and I have to check to make sure I've taken my medication
CB: Yeah, we all need our meds. So what are your top 3 keys to getting abs? NN:
The top 3 keys are: 1. Fat loss - this is an easy one.
You can develop the abs all you want and you may notice your midsection to be somewhat tighter but without losing the fat that covers the abs, you'll never know what great shape they're in! 2. Don't be afraid of low reps, tough exercises and using resistance - doing hundreds of crunches every day won't get you fast results.
Usually, it won't get you ANY results! The abs respond best to lower reps and resistance. They thrive on it because they're designed for it! High reps don't build true core strength and definitely don't maximize ab development - that's done with resistance and tough exercises. One of the most frequent comments I get when I mention that type of training is "won't the heavy resistance thicken your waist?" The answer is "no." Using myself as an example, I train my abs with very heavy resistance and with low reps and, at a bodyweight of 200 lbs, I have a 31" waist. Use resistance! 3. Rotational movement will flatten your abs, not hundreds of crunches - one of the biggest secrets that I've found with flattening the abs is that you need to work the deep muscles of the abs that wrap AROUND the midsection.
The frontal, six-pack abs (the rectus abdominus) look great but they don't flatten anything. Think of it this way...if you had an elastic tenser bandage (a.k.a. ACE bandage) and you wanted to wrap it so that your waist was smaller, you wouldn't throw it over your shoulders and in between your legs...you'd cinch it up AROUND your waist. THAT is what the deep muscles like the transversus and obliques do, not the six-pack area.
CB: What kind of cardio do you think is most effective? Does it depend on the situation? Is cardio a mainstay in your own program? NN:
Interval training, by far. Even with beginning trainers, I use interval training. Granted, it's aerobic intervals (e.g. 5 minutes work, 2 minutes rest) but intervals truly put steady-state cardio training to shame. And this is coming from an ex-long distance runner. I use cardio training (specifically intervals) all the time, especially for fat loss training. I always include intervals in muscle and strength programs as well simply because you need cardio capacity to recover in between heavy sets. Plus, it stinks to get big and strong but not be able to climb a flight of stairs without gasping for air (been there!)
CB: What type of nutrition plan have you found to work best for you personally? NN:
In normal eating, I try and stick to unprocessed foods as much as possible. Foods like nuts, oatmeal, veggies, fruits, lean meats, chicken, fish. I'll throw in the occasional peanut butter and jelly sandwich and pizza (not at the same time, of course), but generally speaking, I like to eat more natural foods. I wasn't always like that, though. For a long time, I ate a lot of processed stuff. Never got the results I wanted until I cleaned it up though. I've even found I don't even really want to eat processed food anymore, to be honest. When I'm training specifically for fat loss or muscle-building, I use a cyclical diet where I rotate the nutrients I eat in order to get targeted hormonal responses. That really works well.
CB: What is the best piece of equipment that you think most people should have in their home gym? NN:
As far as the best piece of home gym equipment that most people should have but don't, that would be a power rack and barbell set. It's not an earth-shattering revelation but it's the unvarnished truth. The footprint of the rack is about the same as a typical multi-station home gym but the number of exercises you can do with a simple rack and barbell is really extraordinary. And if you can get a rack that has a cable weight stack attached, you're completely set! This is what I started my own home gym with (in a 10 x 10 room) and it served me well for years.
CB: Let's switch over to building mass…
For Nick's muscle building secrets, read the rest of the interview
by clicking HERE.
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