8-Pack Cardio Principles
Cardiovascular exercise is a critical component of 8-pack abdominal development. It also makes fat burning easier, lowers risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and a myriad of other diseases. Cardiovascular exercise also increases energy levels while reducing the symptoms of depression and anxiety, enhances joint stability and prevents, and even reverses, the bone loss seen in aging.
Of course, it should come as no surprise by just looking at the physiques of most of the people in the gym taking up all those treadmills, that few know how to properly do cardiovascular exercise to effectuate the development of 8-pack abdominals. My 8-Pack is a totally different than anything you commonly see.
Obviously, the first thing you need to do before doing cardio or engaging in any exercise program is to consult with your personal physician and make sure you have a clean bill of health and are ready for the kind of exercise you want to do. This being the case, exercise for 8-pack abdominal etching should be done at least 5 days per week for twenty minutes each session. Remember that your sessions should involve challenging physical exertion. You want to get your heart rate up and you want to sweat. When you are doing those things, you are getting the most amount of fat burning.
Fat burning 8-pack cardio should be performed on either a Stepmill® or a treadmill on a high incline. These are much tougher movements because they exert extreme force and result in extreme fatigue on the muscles, but cause far less injuries than flat surface work. That’s because the act of going uphill or up steps, while loading the muscles, actually unloads the joints. Furthermore these movements are far superior to flat surface running in that they are much lower impact. I tend to stay away from traditional flat surface running because the injury potential is so dramatically high. Also, most people who think they are running are actually just walking fast and, at best, jogging or trotting at a relatively unchallenging pace. What ends up happening is that so-called “joggers” spend far too much time in this mind and body-numbing experience. They sometimes do this slow, sweaty trot for hours each day, but with little relative benefit.
In sharp contrast, my 8-Pack approach to fat burning cardio is quite a higher intensity due to the incline aspect but also shorter shorter in duration. This higher intensity and shorter duration is shockingly much better for 8-pack fat burning than lower intensity and longer duration work. I know that might sound shocking because it may cut against the grain of everything you have heard, read, or been told. But it’s true. In my experience, fighting calorie intake with straight calorie burning is a losing battle. For example, the ever-popular commercial treadmill is still the cornerstone cardio method commonly used by those same minions that loaf along or jog at an unimpressive pace. These people have themselves convinced they are “running”. There are legions taking up rows of equipment, all with the same notion that if they stay on for an hour or more that somehow all the fat is going to melt away and reveal a trim waistline. Yet the vast majority of these same people that invest so much time on the equipment ironically still look fat and out of shape.
The reason they get little to no results is that they don’t challenge their system and mount enough intensity to actually raise the resting basal metabolic rate enough to burn fat stores throughout the day. The key is intensity of cardio and not duration. That’s why Olympic caliber sprinters have ripped abdominals and next to no body fat. In sharp comparison, Olympic distance runners, while thin and gaunt, actually have very little muscle definition and a far higher percent body fat! Yes HIGHER. To elaborate more, the world-class sprinters I’ve examined over the years have relatively large muscles and almost no detectable subcutaneous fat. In comparison, the same level champion distance runners I’ve seen are terribly gaunt with flat muscle that lack appreciable mass or even good shape. Perhaps most shocking is that, despite the exponentially longer total distances run, they actually tend to have much more detectable subcutaneous fat around the abdomen and flanks! Again, while it may be nothing compared to the average person, it’s a significantly greater amount of body fat when compared to world-class sprinters. It’s a fascinating paradox that you must remember when looking around the gym at others doing conventional cardio and being tempted to climb aboard and mosey along with them in a pool of ineffectual and deceptive sweat.
That’s why, for the relatively small amount of fat “burned” off by way of the monotony of long periods of low intensity cardio, there is also a comparative loss in muscle mass and tone. That’s why doing cardio the wrong way for body fat loss and ultimately abdominal definition just won’t work.
Cardio for 8-pack abdominals actually promotes the etching of the 8-pack, while helping muscle tone and shape. My approach to 8-pack cardio is paradoxical and flies in the face of conventional wisdom. This is where my medical training and practice as a physician really gave me priceless insight. Namely there is incontrovertibly far greater cardiovascular and metabolic stimulation achieved by me performing a cardiac stress test on my patients and challenging age-predicted heart rate maximum and VO2 max than any kind of cardio I see people do in the gym. This is the case in particular when I do a “super-max” stress test on one of my patients, as I’ve done on the ultra-fit athletes at our clinic and those seeking “super-preferred” status on their life insurance. In these cases I am able to combine real-time cardiac ultrasonography with the stress testing so I can visualize the action of the heart muscle and valves in real time. To take it a step further in my investigations, I’ve also tested lactic acid levels throughout the examination, multiple serial blood samplings, and metabolic tests using an enclosed hood to check changes in metabolic rate. The result of all these years of observation and testing was the discovery that shorter and much more intense periods of cardiovascular exercise actually lift the metabolic set point much higher and sustain that level beyond just the exercise experience far more than what is traditionally viewed as “cardio” exercise.
The link here starts with far more muscle activity driving the period of physical stress to a much higher intensity. What is happening is that a nerve and hormonal change takes place that raises the metabolism of the body away from fat retention and toward fat burning. When done with enough frequency, the body actually retains and increases muscle tone. With the resting metabolic rate being higher, more body fat is burned around the clock, even at rest. As a result, you have 8-pack cardio.
My cardio piece of choice for 8-pack abdominals is the StepMill®, or at the very least if you don’t have access to a StepMill®, a standard commercial incline set on at least a 10% incline gradient (most standard commercial treadmills go up to a 15% gradient). The fact is that the controlled stair climbing motion offered by the StepMill® makes it, in my opinion, by far the best piece of cardiovascular equipment available today. It’s very challenging at a high level set when not hanging on to or touching the railings. That’s why most people opt for the treadmills, stationary bikes, and elliptical trainers instead. These standards offer a much more forgiving cardio platform that allows for sluggish pacing, so much so that many have reading stands so you can flip a magazine! That’s when you know that you’re not working hard enough. The ferocious intensity of the StepMill® is a good thing if you are serious about etching your 8-pack, yet it is so often avoided for precicely this same reason—it’s ferocity. That’s why gyms have so many treadmills, stationary bikes, and elliptical machines, and so few StepMills®.
The StepMill® is well designed for a safe, consistent, and biomechanically correct stepping movement. Each step is approximately eight inches in depth and thus has plenty of room. So, unless you are NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal who admittedly had difficulty fitting his feet on the steps when I would force him to do his sessions (he wears a size 23 sneaker), there’s plenty of room. Also the advantage over regular steps you might find outside somewhere or going up a building, there is no unpredictability of surface variation or change in angle or direction that you’d have to adjust for. The speed of the revolving staircase will vary from about 20-165 steps per minute depending on the settings you select. The computer program allows you to pick the speed and rhythm while providing you with data including elapsed time, floors climbed, relative exercise intensity (METs), and power output (watts). Some newer systems include a heart rate monitor capability.
So the StepMill® is a unique piece of cardio equipment in it’s innate difficulty (climbing steps). When done properly, without holding on to the side rails, it effectuates very significant stress on the muscles of the body. In particular it has the added benefit of targeting the muscles of the buttocks and thighs to a far greater degree than any other cardio piece. Amazingly it does this with very low impact (unlike running on a flat surface).
The goal here is to press yourself in a tightly controlled way so that the experienced physical intensity of the shorter duration cardio stimulates a raise in your resting metabolism. That’s 8-pack cardio, my way. Of course, as a doctor I can’t get away from warning you that, before you risk blowing a gasket doing this type of cardio, you need to consult with your personal physician and make sure you have a clean bill of health and are 100% ready for such exertion.
That being in place, you are good to go. StepMill® cardio for 8-pack abdominals should ideally be performed 5 days each week for short but very intense 20 minute sessions. Be sure your StepMill® at a very challenging, high intensity of sustained physical exertion. Select a program such as “Fat Burner” or “Fat Burner Plus” on the newer models and “Mt. Rainier” on the older ones, are all pretty good. But it really doesn’t matter all that much which program you pick, just stay with that same program throughout the 8-pack mission so you always have a good gauge on your intensity. The more important adjustment is the intensity level. The newer models have 20 levels, while the older ones have only 10. As a cautionary note, start on a relatively low level because it’s shocking how even very experienced fitness fanatics find themselves crumbling when they find out, despite all the training they might have done, they don’t have the legs or the muscular endurance yet. In any event, adjust your level to a high enough intensity that you are just barely completing the 20 minutes (remember that you have to perform this session repetitively throughout the week, so don’t over-shoot the mark). So it will certainly take some tooling around.
Once set and off on your way, you will see that in a shockingly short amount of time, your heart rate will rise, your legs will burn like crazy, your lungs will tighten, and you’ll be sweating more than you ever imagined in such a short time. Of course the benefit is that it’s all over in far less time than you would have otherwise experienced doing conventional cardio for 45 minutes, to an hour or more. But again, in the beginning, if you are not used to it, maybe just start at a low level and only 5-10 minutes to give you the feel. Build up from there to where you need to be for 8-pack intensity. As I said, be sure not to hang on the hand railings or drape your body over the railings and/or console to support yourself. This commonly seen silliness only robs the legs and buttocks of the needed workload and thus compromises the intensity level you are able to reach. Perhaps worse is that it gives you a false sense of achievement. Once you work up to the twenty minutes, increase the level of difficulty from there as aggressively as you can. Remember that the biggest crime made by cardio minions everywhere is to add time before added intensity. For example, I always run into this one girl at the bank I go to. She’s a plump little teller that claims she “runs” three marathons each year. In truth, I have no doubt she has somehow managed to build up the “tolerance” to waddle through 26 miles. But that sure isn’t 8-pack cardio and surely explains why she is still so plump despite all the jogging (well, that along with her inability to control her eating). The morale of the story here is that you have to force yourself out of the conventional mindset that “time on cardio” is more important than intensity. Again, remember that if that were true, then all those misinformed people in the gym lumbering along on those treadmills for hours would have the most yoked-up and shredded abdominals in the place. In reality, it’s the shortened duration and exponentially magnified intensity that really brings about 8-pack definition.
Finally, if StepMill® is not an option, treadmill on an incline will be fine. But you must remember to use it on at least a 10% incline and work up to 15%. Also, don’t run on it. Be sure to walk quickly with a long stride. Your stride should be long enough that it nearly covers the entire length of the belt surface. For an average size male or female this will likely put the speed at about 3.3-5.2mph. The same rule of not touching the hand railings or hanging on the console applies.
8-Pack Cardio + 8-Pack Exercises: Sample Exercise Routines
What follows are three sample exercise routines at the beginner level, intermediate, and advanced. Obviously the advanced level effectuates the most dramatic changes, but most everyone won’t be able to handle that in earnest from the outset, unless of course you already have 8-pack abdominals! So go easy at first and build up from there.
Beginner Level Routine:
Note that this beginner level 4-day routine has a shorter time duration of only 10 minutes on the cardio to accommodate those with less experience, conditioning, and/or ability. That doesn’t mean you should push yourself any less intensely. Rather you should work as hard as you can within your abilities. You will still make great progress, and that may be enough for you. But work hard to move up to the advanced level if you are set on the 8-pack. You will also see in this routine that the 8-pack exercises are divided into exercises that follow one another in sequence. The first three are separated into sets of 15 repetitions and involve only one set each. Be sure and only rest for 30 seconds between each set. The fourth exercise is adjusted from what at an advanced level is normally 60° sit-ups, to a more achievable 30° angle and involves completing three consecutive sets with 30 seconds rest in between each set.
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StepMill® or treadmill 10 minutes | StepMill® or treadmill 10 minutes |
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StepMill® or treadmill 10 minutes | StepMill® or treadmill 10 minutes |
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| Modified Reverse Crunch—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch—15 repetitions | |||
| Modified Reverse Crunch with Outward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch with Outward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch with Outward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch with Outward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | |||
| Modified Reverse Crunch with Inward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch with Inward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch with Inward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch with Inward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | |||
| 30° Degree Sit-Ups—15 repetitions for 3 sets | 30° Degree Sit-Ups—15 repetitions for 3 sets | 30° Degree Sit-Ups—15 repetitions for 3 sets | 30° Degree Sit-Ups—15 repetitions for 3 sets | |||
| Bench Leg Raises—25 repetitions | Bench Leg Raises—25 repetitions | Bench Leg Raises—25 repetitions | Bench Leg Raises—25 repetitions |
Intermediate Level Routine:
This intermediate level 5-day routine has a shorter time duration of 15 minutes on the cardio to accommodate those with intermediate conditioning and/or ability. You will also see in this routine that the 8-pack exercises are divided into exercises that follow one another in sequence. The first three are separated into sets of 20 repetitions and involve only one set each. Be sure and only rest for 15 seconds between each set. The fourth exercise is adjusted from what at an advanced level is normally 60° sit-ups, to 45° angle and involves completing three consecutive sets with 15 seconds rest in between each set.
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StepMill® or treadmill 15 minutes | StepMill® or treadmill 15 minutes | StepMill® or treadmill 15 minutes | StepMill® or treadmill 15 minutes | StepMill® or treadmill 15 minutes |
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| Modified Reverse Crunch—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch—15 repetitions | ||
| Modified Reverse Crunch with Outward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch with Outward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch with Outward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch with Outward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch with Outward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | ||
| Modified Reverse Crunch with Inward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch with Inward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch with Inward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch with Inward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | Modified Reverse Crunch with Inward Hip Rotation—15 repetitions | ||
| 45° Degree Sit-Ups—20 repetitions for 3 sets | 45° Degree Sit-Ups—20 repetitions for 3 sets | 45° Degree Sit-Ups—20 repetitions for 3 sets | 45° Degree Sit-Ups—20 repetitions for 3 sets | 45° Degree Sit-Ups—20 repetitions for 3 sets | ||
| Bench Leg Raises—50 repetitions | Bench Leg Raises—50 repetitions | Bench Leg Raises—50 repetitions | Bench Leg Raises—50 repetitions | Bench Leg Raises—50 repetitions |
Advanced Level Routine:
The advanced level 5-day routine has a full-length time duration of 20 minutes on the cardio to accommodate those with ready for 8-pack abdominals. You will see in this routine that the 8-pack exercises are divided into exercises that follow one another in sequence. Each of the first three exercises will be fused into one giant 75-repetition set, incorporating 25 repetitions for each of the three phases of movement. In other words, your legs never touch the ground and never rest between modified reverse crunch, outward hip, and inward hip. You just go from one to the other until the set is finished. Then you’ll rest briefly for 15 seconds, and repeat for a total of three sets of the three-phase, 75-repetition giant set. Again, be sure and only rest for 15 seconds between each set. The fourth exercise is adjusted to the advanced level of the full 60° angle for sit-ups. This motion involves completing three consecutive sets of 25 repetitions with 15 seconds rest in between each set. You’ll finish with bench leg raises, doing two sets of 50 repetitions, again with just 15 seconds rest between the sets.
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StepMill® or treadmill 20 minutes | StepMill® or treadmill 20 minutes | StepMill® or treadmill 20 minutes | StepMill® or treadmill 20 minutes | StepMill® or treadmill 20 minutes |
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| Modified Reverse Crunch—25 repetitionsè
Modified Reverse Crunch with Outward Hip Rotation—25 repetitionsè Modified Reverse Crunch with Inward Hip Rotation—25 repetitions |
Modified Reverse Crunch—25 repetitionsè
Modified Reverse Crunch with Outward Hip Rotation—25 repetitionsè Modified Reverse Crunch with Inward Hip Rotation—25 repetitions |
Modified Reverse Crunch—25 repetitionsè
Modified Reverse Crunch with Outward Hip Rotation—25 repetitionsè Modified Reverse Crunch with Inward Hip Rotation—25 repetitions |
Modified Reverse Crunch—25 repetitionsè
Modified Reverse Crunch with Outward Hip Rotation—25 repetitionsè Modified Reverse Crunch with Inward Hip Rotation—25 repetitions |
Modified Reverse Crunch—25 repetitionsè
Modified Reverse Crunch with Outward Hip Rotation—25 repetitionsè Modified Reverse Crunch with Inward Hip Rotation—25 repetitions |
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| 60° Degree Sit-Ups—25 repetitions for 3 sets | 60° Degree Sit-Ups—25 repetitions for 3 sets | 60° Degree Sit-Ups—25 repetitions for 3 sets | 60° Degree Sit-Ups—25 repetitions for 3 sets | 60° Degree Sit-Ups—25 repetitions for 3 sets | ||
| Bench Leg Raises—50 repetitions for 2 sets | Bench Leg Raises—50 repetitions for 2 sets | Bench Leg Raises—50 repetitions for 2 sets | Bench Leg Raises—50 repetitions for 2 sets | Bench Leg Raises—50 repetitions for 2 sets |