Review by Rahul Alvares

"Flatten Your Abs" turned out to be one unexpected read. In a nice way that is! Authored by David Grisaffi, at sixty pages it is a relatively small book.

Let me make clear at the start some of the things about this book. This book is not a "six-pack in six weeks" training schedule. Because it is not cosmetic in its approach you won’t find much information on extreme dieting and fat loss pills...except a little on why you should stay away from both.

"Flatten Your Abs" is a compilation of exercises that is designed to target core training and spine stability over just washboard abs.

Let me quote Grisaffi himself to explain better.

With over forty exercises, the book is very comprehensive in tackling the subject of abdominal training. You might be surprised to know that there is not a single sit-up exercise in the book. The exercises, like I mentioned, are basically targeted at core training.

Almost all are bodyweight exercises. And many are brand new to me (that means I haven’t seen them elsewhere).

The training exercises also are complete in that there are different exercises for all the different muscles of the abdomen, i.e. transversus abdominus, rectus abdominus, external obliques and internal obliques. For balanced development of the core, lower back training has also been included. For that, a few lunges and squats have also been incorporated into the program.

The exercises with their descriptions and photographs comprise about half the book. The other half deals mostly with questions and supplementation.

The questions included are the most common ones beginners might ask:

Supplementation has been explained in detail. All the fat-loss potions and powders (chromium picolinate, caffeine, citrus extract etc.) have been reviewed with their pro’s and con’s listed. Actually, Grisaffi seems to have included this section only to make the reader realize that real permanent success comes primarily from regular exercise and a good, natural food diet.

The exercises included in the book, though challenging, are not very intense. Even then, I still think an advanced bodybuilder will find much that is of use to him at least as far as core training is concerned.

Most of the exercises require little or no equipment. The Swiss Ball, however, makes a big feature with almost fifteen exercises devoted to it alone. That, of course, won’t be a problem for trainees who have access to one. But I don’t own one. Neither does my gym have one. As a matter of fact, I have never even seen a Swiss Ball except in pictures. You could imagine, therefore, that those fifteen exercises will be of little use to me until I find myself a Swiss Ball.

Another device required (though not absolutely compulsory) is a blood pressure cuff. The cuff is used as a guidance device to ensure proper contraction of the right abdominal muscles with the performing of the concerned exercises.

Core training being downright necessary for every person, I highly recommend this book to everyone including the advanced bodybuilder.

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"Flatten Your Abs"

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Second Opinion

Honestly, having flat abs is one of those goals that I see SO many people taking the completely wrong approach to.

Thousands of crunches...bad idea.

Starvation diet...horrible idea.

Hours of cardio...that sounds like punishment to me!

This is where David Grisaffi and his book "Firm & Flatten Your Abs" comes in...

David takes a multi-pronged approach to flattening the midsection. It's definitely NOT all about crunches...in fact, the crunch is not a great exercise for tightening up the core.

The first part of his approach is the exercises. As I mentioned, these aren't crunches but highly-targeted exercises that focus on activating the deep muscles of the core that are responsible for holding the abdominal wall in tight.

When you train with crunches, you're basically pulling your body down into a hunched position. What we WANT is to improve your abdominal's ability to support the body and keep you standing up straight.

This stretches out the abdominal wall, automatically flattening the stomach area.

The best part is, even if you do have some extra fat, properly training the abdominal wall serves to minimize the "protrudence" (I know, I made up that word) of your stomach fat.

To REALLY flatten your stomach, you'll need to focus on overall fat loss and get rid of the gut entirely. With the right exercises, as you drop the fat, you'll have the flat stomach already there to show off.

David has a masterful knowledge of how the core works and how to properly set up your exercises to guarantee you activate the right muscles. It's not something that's immediately obvious (you'll NEVER see it any magazines) but it can mean the difference between success and just flailing around on an exercise ball.

It's amazing what these small changes in positioning can do for you. If the extent of your ab training has been more "standard" types of exercises, this will be a real eye-opener for you.

By the time you get through the 7 levels of training progressions in the book, you will have not only a flat stomach and a six-pack, but a rock-solid core that will help you get rid of back pain (if you had it) AND give you the support you need to perform at your best.

David also addresses fat loss and nutrition in the book, including dietary information and overall training advice for dropping your extra baggage. It's quality info - nothing revoluationary but that's actually a good thing.

Nutritionally speaking, when you try and make things too complicated, it makes it too easy for something to go wrong and throw you off. The simpler the better, when it comes to eating well.

In addition to nutritional info, David gives you his take on fat-loss supplements. Again, excellent info here.

Conclusion:

Overall, David's put together a powerful book on flattening your midsection. If you follow his step-by-step advice, you'll definitely see results.

It doesn't matter if you're a total beginner or an advanced trainer, David's got something in the book for you. It's top-quality knowledge and you can't go wrong with it.

Learn more about "Flatten Your Abs,"
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