"How do I get a six-pack?"

Last, but certainly not least, the conclusion of my personal workout regimen falls on the abdominals. The abs are considered your core muscles, in the sense that they are worked every day in a constant effort of stabilisation and contraction. It makes sense, therefore, that you are able to train your abdominals every day (to dispel the excuse of "I don't have time to do my abs").

The fact is, anyone who takes pride in their physique and is determined to display an attractive overall physical presence should have well-developed abs. You can argue 'genetic structure' as much as you like, but the fact is, no matter your strengths and weak points, well-developed abs can hide your weak-points to a great degree, as they are the visual centre of the body.

When performing heavy movements such as squats and deadlifts, your abs and obliques (the muscles that run down the side of your waist) are put under tremendous tension in a stabilising role, but are not subjected to full range of motion exercises which are crucial to proper abdominal development. For this reason, no matter your size, build or strength, it is unnecessary to train your abs with any extra resistance (although some exercises require more effort because you are using more of your bodyweight.

The most important goal of abdominal training is definition. The classic question "How do I get a six-pack?" is actually very simple to answer, but many fail to realise this involves two things - training and developing the abdominals AND reducing body fat sufficiently to reveal the muscularity beneath. So in that sense, EVERYONE has a six-pack (at least). Diet and aerobic exercise are crucial to display them.

When the abdominal muscles contract, a very simple thing happens: They pull the rib cage and the pelvis toward each other in a short, "crunching" motion. No matter what kind of ab exercise you do, if it is really a primary ab movement this is what happens. The back doesn't bend much doing a sit-up, while it curls a lot doing a crunch. That is the secret to full-range, quality isolation training of the abdominals.

For the obliques, many bodybuilders will avoid performing movements with extra resistance to avoid developing an over-developed mid-section, which can take away from the classic 'V' taper that is so desirable. Instead, try to stick to non-resistance movements such as twists and side bends, using no weight, which tighten the muscles without causing them to become too big.

You don't train abs for quality by contracting them against heavy resistance, by doing hip-flexor rather than abdominal exercises, or with fast, short choppy movements. The best abdominal training involves slow, controlled, full-range of motion exercises, and holding at the point of full contraction to achieve a full peak contraction.

For my personal ab training, I've found that the TRX machine is invaluable, as your core is constantly engaged the whole time you are using the machine, and you have a great variety of motion to perform twisting movements with straight legs, or reverse crunches (bringing your knees in to your chest). Twisting knee tucks, reverse crunches, and straight-legged twists (where you bring your legs around in a big arc making sure they don't drop below your hips) are great fun and very intense. More traditional exercises such as cable crunches are also ideal, as long as they are performed in a strict manner with no cheating.

For the more advanced ab training, some useful pieces of equipment include 'ab slings/cradles' - where you place your arms in suspended slings for knee tuck movements - and a big stick. Twists performed with a stick held behind your head are great to tighten your obliques whilst avoiding developing an overly thick mid-section.