In the P90X One on One with Tony Horton series there is a great abdominal routine called the “Killer Abs workout.” After adding this abdominal routine onto my regular workout today, I have decided that it is my new favorite abdominal workout – this is fricken awesome and the burn is there the entire time. This routine is pretty much meant to be done as a supplemental workout to another routine that you’ve already done. Just like in P90X when you had Chest and Back with Ab Ripper X on the same day, think of Killer Abs as being similar to Ab Ripper X in the sense that you are supposed to combine it with another routine. It is less than 30 minutes in length and delivers moves that will definitely murder your abs and set a date for their funeral service…haha.
My abs after killer abs... they burn burn burn
Since the Plyo Legs workout wasn’t really enough for me today, I was really itching to do another workout. Despite the fact that Plyo Legs was a fairly long routine, it just was a little bit disappointing to me in the fact that Tony’s intensity seemed pretty low. I didn’t want to throw on another long cardio routine after doing Plyo Legs so I settled on checking out Killer Abs. When I saw that it was only about 25 minutes in length, I figured that it would be a perfect addition to the plyo routine that I had just finished. I am very glad that I decided to push through this routine because I think that I just discovered my new favorite ab workout – Tony exceeded my expectations with this one.
Killer Abs Review
Killer Abs is a routine that basically combines Ab Ripper 200 from Power 90 with Ab Ripper X from P90X all into one routine. You do Ab Ripper 200, get to take a quick water break, and then you are back for Ab Ripper X. The routine is hard and you had better be ready to go right from the start. Tony drops a little knowledge on the people about the fact that if you want to do this routine, you need to “keep up” like the rules that his ski buddy Jon Egan sets. There are some differences that I don’t think Tony may have realized when he said he was including Ab Ripper X as the second half of this routine.
Killer Abs vs. Ab Ripper X vs. Ab Ripper 200
In Ab Ripper X you do 25 reps of each move and in this you only do 20 reps. Additionally, he does not do any of the Cross Leg Wide Leg Sit Ups. So if we are getting technical (which I am) this isn’t the exact same as doing the full Ab Ripper X in the second half of the routine. With that said, I would definitely classify this as being harder than Ab Ripper X. The only thing about Ab Ripper X is that during the Fifer Scissors, I’m pretty sure he made us hold them for a lot longer duration than this routine. Other than that, I don’t think anyone would try to make the argument that Ab Ripper X is harder than Killer Abs, because it’s not. In fact, I would say that I got the most burn from the Ab Ripper 200 portion of the workout compared to Ab Ripper X.
Get ready for the best abdominal workout
As you may have already guessed, his buddy Mason Bendewald is working the camera, and he does a few shout-outs before the routine starts up including: Warren Day, Rusty Nail, and Paula Martin…haha. Mason gets the tunes rocking from Jason Scheff and Tony does a few arm rolls and counts taking a warm shower as his “warm up”…LMAO. Basically you need to be ready to go as soon as you start this routine. Hopefully you already did a workout and are doing this afterwards so that you don’t need to do any warm up stretches.
Tony Horton: Killer Abs Preview (Video)
Killer Abs Workout Exercises
As I already mentioned, the first half of the workout consists of all exercises from Ab Ripper 200 from the Power 90 series. Although I know Tony was trying to make Ab Ripper X more extreme than the moves from Ab Ripper 200, I don’t think he did. Based on what my abs felt during the first half was certainly more of a burn and more intense than what they felt in the second half of this routine. With that said, in Ab Ripper X, normally 25 reps are done and he does only 20 in this routine while skipping one of the moves. Still though, I think if you do this routine you will agree with me in stating that the first half of the routine is tougher than the second half.
Ab Ripper 200 Exercises
1. Standard Crunches (20 reps) – For these crunches, you lay down in sit up position, putting your hands behind your head. You want your elbows pointing to the side and you want to drive your chest to the ceiling each time you come up. Surprisingly, these actually did a good job of working my abs. Also for these, you do NOT want to pull on your head; you should be lifting with your core.
2. Right and Left Side Crunches (20 reps each side) – For these oblique crunches, you do the same thing as the regular crunches, except you bring your knees together. After your knees are together, you stack them and point them to one side of your body. While they are stacked, your bottom leg should be in contact with the ground. You do 20 crunches one side and then twist them to the other side for 20 more reps. Once again the burn continues to mount and these are among the first few moves of this abdominal workout.
3. Elbow to Knee Crunches (20 reps) – For these you keep your knees and feet in the air while lying down on your back. Your legs should be at about a 90 degree angle in front of you lifted off of the ground. You then put your hands on the top of your head with your elbows facing forward. With each rep, you do a crunch so that you bring your elbows to your knees and then go back down. The move itself is not very complicated, but it certainly is effective.
4. Superman Crunches (20 reps) – These are basically like doing Touch the Sky from Yoga X except instead of just touching the sky, you do crunches. So for these you are on your back, your feet are locked straight up in the air, and you crunch up so that you touch your shoes (or shoelaces) with each rep. Once again you should be feeling the burn in your abs when you are done with these 20 reps, I know I was.
5. Leg Lifts (20 reps) – For these, you lay on your back, keep your head off the ground slightly, with your arms by your side; each arm stays on the ground. For these, you basically keep your legs together and move them up and down while using control from your core. These are tough, but you can push through if you stay focused. You want to lift them up as high as possible, but make sure you are lifting and not “jerking” them up.
6. In & Outs (20 reps) – You keep your back on the ground, but upper body in the air including your head, neck, upper back, and arms. Your hands go behind your head and your elbows point out just like you did for the crunches to start the workout. You keep your legs together and simply bend your knees to bring them in, and then push them back out so that your legs are straight. You do a total of 20 reps and these should feel like an abdominal battle if you have been using good form for all of these exercises.
7. Ab Hip Rock (20 reps) – For the ab hip rock, you put the bottoms of your feet together, keep your hands on your head just like you had them for the “In and Outs” that you just did. You then just rock your hips so that your feet come up and your abs muscles get worked. This is just like the move in Ab Ripper X, except in that routine you raise your butt up off of the ground.
8. Bicycles (20 reps) – You actually do bicycles here but one rep counts as both a pedal from the left and right foot. Tony actually calls this move “Dead Turtle on the Highway” but they are essentially bicycles. I don’t know how a “dead turtle” would be capable of this move, but maybe Tony has seen it or something.
9. Full Body Crunches (20 reps) – These are one of my personal favorite moves in the whole Ab Ripper 200 because they really work the core. You raise your legs off the ground so that they are forming a 90 degree angle just like you did earlier with the “elbow to knee crunches.” With this move though, you extend your legs just like “in and outs” and while your legs extend, your arms go back behind your head. When you come up for the crunch, your legs come back in and your elbows go to the ground. Your elbows should be almost even with your knees when you are doing the full body crunches.
Water Break – You take a short break to get some water and shake things out before moving on to the second half of Killer Abs. At this point I didn’t think I was going to be able to handle any more because my abs were absolutely toasted. However, I once the second section of the workout started, I was actually fine. What’s absolutely hilarious is that during the break Tony says, “You know what?! I’m going to run down to Mickey D’s get a cheeseburger, smoke a couple of cigarettes, cuz I got time” – that had me laughing my ass off…haha. Mason then asks Tony if he ever smoked and he said, “In a play once in high school.”
Ab Ripper X Exercises
1. In and Outs (20 reps) – You have the option of doing these with your hands on the ground or in the air. Tony does them with hands on the ground so I followed suit just because my abs were getting worked in a major way. Anyways, you should know how to do “In and Outs” you just put your legs together, keep your chest up, and bend your knees to bring your feet in, and then extend your legs to push them back out – it’s a pretty simple exercise.
2. Bicycles (20 reps) – For the bicycles, Tony decides to cross his arms and keep his elbows up so I decided to follow along. Basically you do bicycles while keeping your chest up with your arms crossed. Make sure that you are using good form and are extending each leg with each rep. Remember with these, each rep consists of both your right and your left foot extending and coming back in. So pedaling with the left foot, then pedaling with the right foot one time each counts as one.
3. Reverse Bicycles (20 reps) – For these, you do exactly what you just did for regular bicycles, except you have to pedal in reverse. Because you will be pedaling in reverse, the range of motion may be a little bit higher for your legs. You do not want to hit the ground with your feet, so make sure you have enough room to do the bicycles in reverse. Also for these, I raised my hands straight up above my head to intensify things because it’s what Tony recommended.
4. Crunchy Frog (20 reps) – Hell yeah, I love crunchy frog, it’s got one of the coolest names out of any moves…haha. Anyways, for this you sit with your chest up and basically do “In and Outs” except each time your legs go out for the extension, your arms also go back. When your legs come in, your arms wrap around them. I’m pretty sure this move got its name from the fact that you are doing crunches and you look like some kind of a frog.
5. Fifer Scissors (20 reps) – In the Ab Ripper X DVD from P90X, these are tougher because I’m pretty sure you have to hold them for a longer amount of time. Here you still have to hold them, but Tony speeds things up and this move goes by pretty quickly. Anyways to do the Fifer Scissors, you have one leg straight up in the air, the other leg parallel to the ground (but lifted in the air) and you switch your legs (which looks like a scissor cut) when Tony tells you to. Although you can have your head on the floor, it is recommended to have your head and neck raised up. I kept my head and neck off of the floor because it increases the burn.
6. Hip Rock and Raise (20 reps) – These are similar to the “ab hip rock” that we did earlier in the workout except for these you actually pulse so that your butt is up off the ground. To do the “hip rock and raise” you put your heels together so that your legs form a diamond shape. You keep your head and neck off the ground and have your arms on the floor by your side. You then rock your hips back and raise your legs up as well as your butt off the ground. You continue this for a total of 20 reps while maintaining good control. This really works your lower abs so that you can really work on getting a full six pack.
7. Pulse Ups (Heels to the Heavens) (20 reps) – This is pretty much the same as the “hip rock and raise,” except you keep your legs perfectly straight (or as straight as possible) pointed upwards. Your feet and heels should be pointed up to the sky and for each one of these “pulse ups” you lift your butt off the ground. Your goal should be to maintain control of your legs and not let them fall much. If you can maintain good control and pulse up for 20 reps, you should definitely feel it in your abs.
8. V-Up Roll Ups (20 reps) – You should know how to do the V-Up Roll Ups if you have done Ab Ripper X. These are the exercise where you start out on your back, extend your arms straight up, then go all the way up to touch your feet for a sit up, then as you fall back, you raise both legs and do a V-Up or sit up with your feet in the air while touching them with your extended arms. For these you do not want to jerk or use momentum that you may get when you go back to do this exercise. Start from the core and use your abs to pull your body up.
9. Oblique V-Ups (20 per side) – For these you lay down on your side, stack your feet, and move them so that your body forms a 30 degree angle. If you are lying on your left side, you keep your left arm on the ground, but put your right hand behind your head. As you do this exercise, you basically do V-Ups like you just did last move with your feet in the air, except you only crunch with one side of your body (i.e. one oblique) for the first 20 reps. You then switch to the other side of your body to work your other oblique for the next 20 reps.
10. Leg Climbers (10 per side) – For the leg climbers, you keep one leg bent on the ground, and extend the other so basically you are doing a sit up with one leg in the air. You do 10 reps per leg for a total of 20 reps. Tony doesn’t do the climbs because he is more advanced than most people and has more flexibility. I had to do the climbers where you pull yourself up to “climb” to touch the toe of the foot that’s in the air – I’m not quite as flexible as Tony. These don’t work the abs quite as much as the earlier moves, but still do a good job.
11. Mason Twists (50 reps) – This actually got its name from Mason Bendewald (the guy filming) because he suggested to Tony that he should lift his legs off the ground instead of keeping them planted and Tony realized that it intensified things, so he named it the “Mason Twist.” At the end you end up doing 40 of these. Just because I wanted to out-do Tony, I did 10 extra and ended with 50 because that’s what I remember doing in Ab Ripper X. These are a good way to finish off the killer abs routine – they really work your core.
Killer Abs Review (Conclusion)
Killer Abs ended up being the single best abdominal workout I have ever done. I have done a lot of abdominal workouts and I honestly don’t even specifically target my abs in most workouts because if you are working other muscle groups and staying in shape, you don’t really need to do abs to get a six pack. There are many people that have been able to achieve six pack abs without doing a single abdominal exercise. Although it may sound crazy if you’re a complete noob to fitness, it makes total sense to me.
Abdominal exercises don’t necessarily lead to 6 pack abs
Think about it, if you are really fat and you just do abdominal exercises, you aren’t really burning much fat. You may be working your core and strengthening the muscles, but if you don’t burn the fat in front of your abs, they aren’t going to show up if you decide to do a million rounds of this killer abs workout. That’s why this abdominal routine is basically a compliment to other routines. You need to get your entire body in shape before you can expect to see your abs (e.g. reduce body fat and build muscle). What this routine will do is really help your abs bulge and will help you form a stronger core and abs.
What is the best abdominal workout? Killer Abs.
I seriously think that this is the best abdominal workout that I have ever done. Why? Because it makes the most sense, isn’t overkill, yet it’s really tough. How tough is it? Well, it is tough enough that I woke up the day after doing this routine and had sore abs for the entire day. I consider my core to be in pretty good shape, but when you do this after a main workout like I did, I guarantee that you will feel the effects.
Killer Abs vs. Insane Abs: Which is harder?
I already wrote up a nice Insane Abs review from the Insanity series with Shaun T. That workout is longer than this one and is awesome because you don’t do a single crunch. It works your entire core and I really enjoyed it. However, this workout packs way more of a targeted punch to your abs and takes less time. In other words, you work your core harder than any other abdominal routine in less overall time.
Additionally although I think Ab Ripper X is around the same difficulty as Insane Abs, this Killer Abs workout is better than both. It is not only harder, but if you give it a shot, I think it will give you the best possible shot. Even though Yoga Belly 7 is pretty tough too, Ab Ripper X is tougher than that, and this is tougher than Ab Ripper X because half of it is Ab Ripper X. In other words Ab Ripper X + Ab Ripper 200 = Killer Abs.
How often should you do an abdominal workout like Killer Abs?
Tony recommends that you do this routine 2 to 3 times a week at most. I recommend doing this routine about 2 times per week because if you are working out hard or doing other workouts, you don’t really need to focus that much on your abs. With that said, this is really meant to be a supplemental workout to whatever main routine you are doing. If you are doing Insanity or P90X, I would say that it would be 100% okay to substitute this routine for Ab Ripper X, Cardio Abs, and/or Insane Abs.
Killer Abs = My new favorite abdominal workout
I think that I am going to start incorporating this in my routine twice per week because it is simply the best abdominal workout that I have ever done. It packs the most overall punch in the least amount of time and the break in the middle is definitely appropriate. Anyways, I hope I made it plenty clear that this is the best abdominal workout that I have found and is my new personal favorite. Hopefully you get a chance to try it if you feel like waging modern warfare with your abs.